A Manic Mind

It is a wild ride so well told

Nicole Lyons

Imagine if you will, the fair has come to town. Take in all of the sights and sounds, from the toddlers crying to the pre-teens, laughing. They’re running and trying to cut in line at the ride that promises the biggest thrill. You smell the deep fried donuts, french fries and cotton candy. You hear the carnies yell out, “Bet you can’t make this shot, three for a dollar, step right up.” Every sound is amplified, from the creaks of the rusted gears on the ferris wheel, to the poor kid who is puking behind the fortune teller’s trailer. Everything is alive. You look right and then left, which way do you go? It’s a maze of debauchery and adrenaline.

Chaos and pleasure are hidden around every corner. You want it all, but where do you start? You have only purchased enough tickets to ride two…

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Fancy Shoes – Stephanie Bennett-Henry

Stephanie is just amazing

Nicole Lyons

There’s not a simple way to explain the process of this sickness disguised trick or treat surprise guessing game. No easy way to help you understand. But I can tell you; these fancy shoes have never felt good. They feel permanent. They feel like forever swirling around in quicksand turning to concrete. Stuck on a path that never stops circling the replay of my own crash landing. I can’t slow it down, I can’t speed it up. I’m on autopilot. Choking up my daily to do list and watching as it goes up in flames, while it burns through me but I never flinch. I never flinch. It darkens me. Peels away at this skin I never learned to love, and layer by layer, a revelation of what lies beneath, and it’s ugly. You wonder how many wars have been fought on the inside, how many feet are in my…

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Guest Post: Who Cares if the Wrong Person Went to Prison? by @bobmueller

Must Read

Pen and Keys

Photo Source: Pixabay.com

Someone else was released from prison last week after serving time for a crime they didn’t commit. This one served 19 years. The one last month served 23. Or was it 20? And the average time behind bars is 14 years. The stories come so often these days that we’re in danger of becoming numb to them, because they all sound the same. A black man (and statistically it’s more likely to be a black male), wrongfully convicted of a violent crime, released due to DNA evidence that negated an eyewitness identification, or a false confession, or faulty evidence.

The National Registry of Exonerations, a statistics project of the University of Michigan Law School, reports 1,777 exonerations nationwide as of April 27, 2016. Black men make up just over 46% of those exonerations. 116 of them were on death row. That means the State…

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AGONY

Hasty’s dreams continue very dark and scary, but well told, mystery intact.

FEARING CRAZY

He was in agony all night.

I only remember bits and pieces.  Flashes of that night.  I knew the surgery was successful even though I was paralyzed.  The nurse talking to me sounded like a skipping record.  I’m sure it was my brain losing part of her words.

“As the swelling…  brain goes down… regain feeling… eventually… walk again.”

“Man… open heart… eating… people.”

Wait?  What?

I tried to focus on her face but it was blurry.  Everything was blurry.

His moaning was joined by screams.  Those screams became more gargled moans.  It sounded like an odd opera with the beeping machines as accompaniment.

I had to move.  I focused on my nurse again just as she started stripping off her uniform.  She kept repeating, “It’s all because of you.” Each time she said it louder and louder until it was an unbearably loud scream.

I couldn’t move.  All I…

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Make It Count – Jason King

Tomorrow isn’t guarenteed – make today count

Nicole Lyons

I told my girlfriend today that I loved her….and she didn’t say it back….( I think I heard a gasp from the audience)….so why am I not freaking out….or losing my shit….or curled up in the fetal position crying about it….well for one my ego isn’t that fragile….two….I know she’s falling in love with me….we’ve danced around it for a bit now….as she said….padded it….the joys of writers dating….and three….because I know she’s scared.

So the first one….my ego….yes of course I have one….we all do on some level….I’m quietly confident….because I know what I bring….and that I’m good….it’s honestly not much more complicated than that….

Now I’m going to jump to three….she’s scared….and that I fully understand….when I was with my ex I had a conversation one night in her apartment….well into our relationship….she was upset by life and wrapped in a blanket and crying….she told me I’m scared….love…

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I Love Myself and I Love You More

Sarah and Courtney talk about how we learn to love

ORGANIC COFFEE, HAPHAZARDLY

by Sarah Fader and Courtney Keesee

I love myself. But, there is this societal trend of forcing people to love themselves before others. If you can’t love yourself, then you can’t love another person. I don’t believe this to be true. The emotional connection that comes with loving other people escalates my self-confidence: loving other people makes me feel great. Calling attention to wonderful human beings makes me feel good about myself too. It’s not all about me. When I was in a deep dark depression, I would focus on the good in others to get me through. Loving yourself is a process. It’s something to work towards. Let’s honor the appreciation of other people.

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Six Words

These are worth much more than the tiny bit of timeit takes to read them.

Nicole Lyons

It’s amazing how much can be said, or not said, in six little words.

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HIM

This ins a scary dream and deserves the trigger warning, but Hasty writes it so well.

FEARING CRAZY

***TRIGGER WARNING***

The sound of my phone woke me up.

I had forgotten to silence it last night and it wouldn’t stop dinging.  With each ding I could feel it vibrate in my hand.  I had fallen asleep with it apparently.

I had been talking to him again. With that thought fear spread through my body like a dry steam bed flooding with dam water.

Him.

I couldn’t get away from him.  He wouldn’t leave me alone.

I ignored my phone and let it ding insistently perched on top of my messy sheets. I needed to wash my face.

I realized I couldn’t get up.  My legs were tied to the foot of the bed.  Tied with? My heart was racing as I searched my memory for more.

I was texting.  I was upset and crying.  I cried myself to sleep.

That was it. So why was I restrained?

I…

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#BeReal- AMANDA HALL

Another inspiting installment of #Be Real

HASTYWORDS

My #BeReal guest today is Amanda Hall.

My name is Amanda Hall, I just turned twenty-eight and I’m just now learning who the real me is and how to accept myself for who I am and to not let other people’s opinions of me stand in my way.

I am by no means a writer, I suck at grammar and I let myself stand in my way of doing so many things out of fear and self-doubt. But, when I was asked to participate in the #BeReal series not only was I shocked but I just knew it was a sign that I needed to step out of my comfort zone and try something new.

Growing up I had ADHD, I was overly hyper, bouncing off the walls, and had no filter (well I still don’t have much of a filter). I was judged, ridiculed, and told to think before…

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THE ROOK – A TALE OF BIRACIAL BULLYING

Read this

HASTYWORDS

I simply love how Byron Hamel tells a story, so I am giving you all another one to read since it fits the bully theme.  The end alone is worth reading the whole story.  Racism is just another reason to be a bully… and it needs to stop.

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THE ROOK by Byron Hamel

Did I ever tell you about the time I protected two black children from a Neo-Nazi skinhead who was crazy angry and getting violent because their mother was white? No? Well sit back and get ready for a good story.

But first I want to make something clear. I’m not some douche bag here trying to take credit for merely doing what is right. Just because I came to the rescue of two kids and a mom in harm’s way doesn’t make me a hero. Yes, I would, and have, put my life on the line to…

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