Lilith

By Kiara Simcocks

“You have to tell her, it wouldn’t be right not to,” Aspen stared down at the girl. She was stunningly beautiful. She had a pale complexion and short auburn hair. Her hair seemed sloppily cut, like she had just slid a pair of scissors through and didn’t bother to clean it up. There were unusual markings under her eyes and on her forehead, nothing like the markings Aspen had ever seen before. “No, if she new where we found her, she would have a panic attack,” Aspen insisted. Zedd raised his eyebrow and shrugged his shoulders, “Fine,” Zedd smirked, “I understand, she is really pretty” Aspen perked up and threw a pillow at him, “Go away Zedd!” Zedd snickered as he stumbled out the door. Aspen turned his head to the girl. “Who are you?” he sighed. “Hey Aspen!” he turned to his fellow guard, “Sitting and staring at her won’t make her wake up faster,” Aspen nodded and followed him out the door.

Fire, shouting, all I here is shouting, stop. I want it to stop. I can’t see, I want to go home. There’s a light, it engulfs me. I need help. I ne-

The girl shot up, breathing heavily. She touched her face, it was red and hot, covered in tears. She took a few deep breathes and her markings faded. She took in her surroundings, she was sitting in a bed with white sheets surrounded by wooden walls, what is that called? Oh yes, a house. She turned to see a tall man with chocolate brown hair in the doorway. She immediately notices the sword hanging from his belt and jumps to grab it. The man starts to speak but she can’t hear. She can’t focus on anything but that sword. She is consumed by the anger and confusion. She successfully unsheathes the sword and pulls it to his throat. He raises up his arms. “Please my lady, we don’t want to hurt you,” She doesn’t believe him. She heard that to many times, “Where am I?” She pushed the sword closer. “Please, put that sword down so we can talk,” She was sceptical, but lowered her sword. The man sat down on her bed and began to speak, “You are in the village of Andershire,” He explained, “We found you-“ he paused, “in the woods. You were unconscious, so we bought you here,” She nodded. “Your taking this well,” he said. She perked up, he continued, “but first, my name is Aspen, what’s yours?” She looked down, “Not much of a talker, are you?” She looked back up at him, “Li-Lilith,” she said, “I think,” Aspen smiled. “A beautiful name, where are you from Miss Lilith?” Lilith fiddled with the bow on her nightgown, “I-I don’t know,” She stammered, Aspen raised an eyebrow, “Any family?” She shook her head. “I don’t think so,” Aspen thought for a moment, “Do you remember anything?” He asked. She slowly shook her head, “The last thing I remember was waking up here,” Aspen stared at her for a moment and then back at the ground. “Hm,” Aspen stood up and offered his hand, “Well Miss Lilith,” he said, “let’s go for a walk shall we, hopefully we can find something out about those markings,” he looked down at her, “And were you came from,”

Aspen and Lilith had gone on a tour all around Andershire. Everyone was quite welcoming, despite Lilith’s unusual markings that would show up whenever she was touched. Every time someone would ask questions, she would always have to say ‘I don’t know’ to all of them. She felt useless. She needed to give these people something. As they made their way around the village, they stopped at a small house. Aspen nocked on the door and a tall person with the same coloured hair as him, “Yo little bro!” The person exclaimed. “Bro?” Lilith asked as she stared up at this person, “Oh yes, Lilith, this is my older sibling, Aron,” Aron gave their brother a hug and went to shake Lilith’s hand. Lilith immediately pulled away. Aron stared at her, stunned. “What are those?” Lilith looked down, only just noticing the markings had reappeared on her arms and face. Aspen raised his hand and slapped Aron

HIDE

By Amilia Nikolas 11G

“You have to tell her. It wouldn’t be right not to.”

You tell yourself over and over

But it’s hard

This isn’t something you can undo

You don’t want to hide

You know there’s a ‘better’

But now you remember

Those who died

You’re incredibly cautious

You know she’s your friend

But the thought of that stare

Will forever make you nauseous

So, for another day

You put off the idea

Of living as yourself

It doesn’t matter anyway

Tears fall down

As you hear the slurs

Silently thanking yourself for your silence

In the tears you drown

Again, and again

You think “what if”

You could hold your love

And not feel shame

You just want to live your life

You aren’t hurting anyone

But because you can’t tell her

You’ll never have a wife

You’ll always have to act

You’ll never get to be

You know that they won’t love you

Because of who you attract

So, in this safe space you stay

Until perhaps a better day

When you’ll be able to say

“Hey friend, I’m gay.”

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