by Lauren Williams In a dim light of dawn, Killian woke up in what he saw as a cloud of haze. Upon awakening, he felt this nagging feeling of unease that lingered in the back of his mind with a whisper of impending doom that he could not escape.
“Morning Killian,” his roommate, Lorelei, greeted him with a smile while finishing their breakfast. “Morning,” Killian replied, his voice tinged with a hint of uncertainty. As the clock struck 8:00 AM, a subtle chill crept into Killian’s bones, a shiver that indicated the beginning of a silent invasion. He brushed it off as a passing discomfort, unaware of the storm brewing within him. “Hey, are you feeling alright?” Lorelei asked, her brows crinkling with concern. “Yeah, just a bit off,” Killian muttered, trying to push aside his growing unease. By 9:00 AM, a scratching sensation began to claw at Killian’s throat, every word he spoke felt like a grain of sand rubbing against raw skin. His sentences began to emerge into whispers, each syllable a struggle against the growing grip of agonizing pain. “Killian, your voice sounds raspy. Maybe you should rest today,” Lorelei suggested with a worrisome tone in her voice. “I’ll be fine Lorelei,” Killian says trying to force a smile with a tremor in his voice. The clock strikes 10:00 AM, a wave of exhaustion crashes over Killian, dragging him under a relentless current of pain. Every movement back and forth became a battle against invisible weights, each step felt like a marathon through the desert. “Lie down, Killian. You need to rest.” Lorelei’s voice held a note of urgency, her eyes acting as a mirror by reflecting her growing concern for her friend. “Just need…to sit for a bit,” Killian mumbled, as he could barely open his eyes since they were so heavy with fatigue. By 11:00 AM, feverish flames burning at Killian’s skin, a blazing inferno that began to threaten to consume his body. Sweat ran down his forehead to the rest of his body. Nothing but the relentless burning sensation consumed his body, even ice cold water could not bring down his fever. “Killian you’re burning up. I’m calling for help,” Lorelei’s words revealed through Killian’s haze of pain. She touched a cool balm against his scalding hot skin. Through the haze of fever and pain, Lorelei’s voice was a lifeline in Killian's darkness. “Stay with me, Killian. We’ll fight this together.” At noon, the infection continued to tighten its grip on Killian, each hour stretching before him like an endless expanse of suffering and solitude. Every heartbeat echoed like a drumbeat with a relentless rhythm that pursues that battle within Killian’s body. In that moment, as the infection raged on, Killian found relief in the warmth of a friend’s presence, a beacon of hope in the most awful storm. As the day wore on, the infection tethered its tentacles deeper into Killian’s body, each hour the human spirit faced a challenge. In the quietest moments between fevered dreams and whispers of reassurances, Killian found strength in the knowledge that he was not alone in his struggles. By the time the clock struck midnight, the worst of the infection had passed, leaving Killian weary but victorious with his battle. The first light of a new day, Killian knew that he had emerged from the darkness of his illness stronger, wiser, and grateful for the gift of his health restored. Comments are closed.
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LRHS Literary Magazine StaffEditor-in-Chief:
Alejandra Jones Senior Editors: Sariah Meeker Lee McCormack (fall) Artistic Editor: Bryson I. White (senior) Instagram Editor: Rania Brown (senior/fall) Editors & Staff: Sophia George Blase Harriss Meaghan Kelly Chloe Meeker Adrian McCall Liliana Palermo Estefania Quintino(spring) Katelyn Ranheim Maria Rodriguez (spring) Mario Rodriguez (spring) Livia Weekley Faculty Advisor: Ms. Sarah White Spring 2024 Table of ContentsArtwork~"Beyond the Storm" by Kennedi Ward
~"Forest at Night" by Richard Bui ~"Dulce Tentasion" (Sweet Temptation)" by Maria Rodriguez ~"High Priestess" by Yamil Hernandez-Santiago ~"Echoes of the Mind" by Estefania Quintino ~"Tigre Real" by Mario Kelecic ~"A Glowy Night" by Richard Bui ~"Modern Musings" by Alejandra Jones ~"Maximum Efficiency Soul" by M.T. Foxtrot Poetry~"Trauma Loop in the Cradle of Life" by M.T. Foxtrot
~"I Am the Daughter of My Father" by Mary Boyce Williamson ~"Devout" by Belladonna ~"Line" by Mary Boyce Williamson ~"Tangled: A Villanelle" by Anonymous ~"The Last Nineteen Trumpets" by Sydney Giles ~"The Dryad and the Woodcutter" by Sariah Meeker ~"Void Awakening" by Zamir Ruck ~"It's Not the Ends, Just the Means" by Liliana Palermo ~"What You See When You See Me" by Kira Steverson ~"Deux ex Machina Moritur in Sola Cordis" by Kam H. ~"A Secret Society" by Sophia George ~"Fine" by Victoria Cook ~"Forgot My Watch" by Deniz Kara ~"Leaves" by Leo Marx ~"Paradox" by Leo Marx ~"The Pit" by Quinn Kelleher ~"The Freedom of a Jellyfish" by Kayla Ruffin-Winn ~"Platonic Nature" by Riley Butler ~"Life Imitates Love" by Claudia Wright ~"Towards Shore" by Caitlyn Kiefer ~"A Lover's Sun" by Anonymous ~"Bloody Halberd" by Zamir Ruck ~"To Know Me is to Know Them" by Reagan Rawls Fiction & Prose~"Fireworks" by Lemon Pepper
~"Twenty-Four Hours" by Lauren Williams ~"Fear" by Tiger Royal ~"A Soldier and a Nurse Share a Smile" by Walker Anderson ~"Mental Photography" by Heaven Robinson ~"Felled Crows" by Meaghan Kelly ~"A Few Thoughts on the Matter of Sign Writing: A Tribute to Creative Writing II" by Sariah Meeker and Benjamin Bradley ~"To Live for the Hope of It All" by Lily Fields ~"Two Sides and One Sun" by Ilya Kalinin Fall 2023 Table of ContentsArtwork~"Jellies" by William Lemaster
~"Mini Landscape" by Richard Bui ~"Leesville Lion" by Bryson White ~"Zuzus bday 4 skool" by Rose Van den Troost ~"A Study in Winter" by Chloe Meeker ~"Les Plaines Liminales et Étranges" by Bryson White ~"Night Sky" by Richard Bui ~"Sunrise" by Elizabeth Cawley Fiction & Prose~"Retribution Through Strife" by Nikholas Svajlenka
~"To a New Frontier" by Nikholas Svajlenka ~The Storm's Echo" by Meaghan Kelly ~"Lines" by Meaghan Kelly Poetry~"Sailor" by Caitlyn Kiefer
~"Walk-on" by Caitlyn Kiefer ~"Connection" by Riley Butler ~"The Sun Rises in the West for it Falls in The East on Many" by Nikholas Svajlenka ~"What if" by Sariah Meeker ~"Dark Cold Alone" by Jeanne Baker ~"Deceiving Heart" by Jayana Russell ~"The Life of a Wave" by Sophia George ~"The Melting Snow" by Sophia George |