What I Believe

I believe that if it’s not a bad day,
Then it must be,
By default,
Forever and always,
With no exceptions,
A good day.

I believe in making art on the driveway
With simple colored chalk
And watching the colors bleed together
When the rain comes to wash it away.

I believe that even the most brutal winter
Will eventually give way
To a beautiful spring.

I believe in the magic
Between the pages
Of an amazing book.

I believe that when you have nothing more to give,
Give a smile;
Even for a second,
The day will seem much brighter.

I believe in placing a hollow object to your ear
And being taken by the awe and curiosity
Of the empty sound
That remotely sounds like the ocean.

I believe in the
Unbreakable bonds
That hold my best friends and I together.

I believe that the sky is the limit
And once you’ve reached it,
You should aim for nothing less
Than the stars.

I believe that you shouldn't have to wait for someone to listen
to make yourself heard.

I believe that everything
could use a pinch of
sparkle.

I believe that we must never surrender our beliefs
because each one
is like a part of you,
and we should never
lose ourselves.

The Lost Empire

Many, many years ago, in the sweltering jungle of Africa, stood The Empire. It once stood strong and powerful, then, calamity struck and anarchy shackled the once growing kingdom.

Once, long ago, before the dissensions and the conspiracies, The Empire controlled most of the continent. It assimilated many nomads and travelers, but not without meticulous planning. Soon they decided that they would draw them in with promises of wealth, happiness, and freedom. As time elapsed, the population continued to grow, and The Ruler was lionized, for he had kept his promise and all who lived in The Empire led successful lives.

But The Empire's prosperity was short-lived. Soon after it had reached it's peak, it's downfall began. It started when an obscure and bizarre illness began to infect the population. No one could apprehend how such a disease could have entered The Empire. The Ruler decided that a citizen must have started the illness and ordered all his subjects to interrogate every individual in order to find out who had done this to The Empire. Once found, The Ruler decreed that the person found guilty would be held prisoner and without being arraigned, would be sentenced to death.

In all the confusion, subjects began to make accuse each other of conspiracies to start the epidemic and dissension broke out between them leaving The Ruler with few subjects. Though the search for who had spread the disease continued, no one ever found out who or what had caused the illness.

In the following months, The Empire's population had dwindled to a couple hundred as the disease killed off all it had infected. Then, The Ruler fell ill and the end of the once great Empire was imminent.