The Novella Life of Illuscia Nester Himawari

I moved out on my own just a few months ago. My house is in a pretty decent neighborhood, and at 25 going on 26 I’m doing pretty good career wise. Socially, however, I am lacking. I mean yes, I had friends back where I used to live, but after high school and college everyone just kinda went their separate ways, which is understandable. Being a high functioning autistic, it's kinda hard for me to meet new people, especially when your autism makes even picking up a phone to call your parents seem like a chore. I did manage to take one friend with me; my best friend and roommate, Nyx. She’s the cutest black cat I’ve ever seen, and my Dad found her for me about 15 years ago when she was just a kitten. We lived together in this two story house for about two or three months. It was the night before Halloween, and I was carving a pumpkin for a jack-o-lantern. This would be my first Halloween alone, but my parents were coming up for my birthday on the 2nd of November. I was pretty congeste...

I can't stop running...because he'll be behind me. I know that he will catch up to me. That man....no.....that thing.....that monster. I will take you a few hours back. It is October 13th, 2003. Five of my friends and I made a dare...stay in the old abandoned school yard at the edge of town overnight....bring no weapons, no cellphones...nothing but the clothes on our backs and a flashlight in handy. And one particular rule that I would later come to regret...do not meet up with each other. You are to stay alone in a separate part of the building. For the entire night. As my friends and I entered the school building, we looked at each other, nodded, and went our separate ways, switching our flashlights on. I looked back briefly, seeing my friends' flashlight lights disappear in the distant darkness. If only I had called it off then....if only I knew....if only I had listened to the freaking "superstitious" neighbors, then we'd all be safe. But me and my so call...

This is a love story. Please try to remember that as you read this, love. It’s really about Julie. I knew from the moment I set eyes on her that I’d do anything to have her. Fortunately though, I didn’t have to work very hard. I could see it in her eyes the first time I talked to her and asked her out. She wanted me to and she said yes before I even finished asking. Her eyes sparkle li ke diamonds, it’s one of my favorite things about her. We were quick to say “I love you”, only a few dates in, but we were sure. My place is full of my idiot friends and we’ve started talking about getting a place of our own. My best friend, Greg, doesn’t get along the best with her and isn’t very happy about me moving out but he understands. We all hang out together sometimes, see movies, bowl, normal stuff like that. Well, I got a call a couple nights ago from Julie’s parents, who live out of state. They said they got a call from the police and that Julie had been in a car acciden...

STRAW, COAL & BEAN An old woman lived in a village. She had gathered a serving of beans and wanted to cook them, so she prepared a fire in her fireplace. To make it burn faster she lit it with a handful of straw. While she was pouring the beans into the pot, one of them fell unnoticed to the floor, coming to rest next to a piece of straw. Soon afterward a glowing coal jumped out of the fireplace and landed next to them. The straw said, "Dear friends, where do you come from?" The coal answered, "I jumped from the fireplace, to my good fortune. If I had not forced my way out, I surely would have died. I would have burned to ash." The bean said, "I too saved my skin. If the old woman had gotten me into the pot I would have been cooked to mush without mercy, just like my comrades." "Would my fate have been any better?" said the straw. "The old woman sent all my brothers up in fire and smoke. She grabbed sixty at once and killed them. Fortuna...

Once upon a time there was a woman who was truly a witch. She had two daughters, one ugly and wicked, whom she loved because she was her own daughter, and one beautiful and good, whom she hated, because she was her stepdaughter. The stepdaughter had a beautiful apron, which the other girl wanted so much that she became envious, and she told her mother that she just had to have that apron. "Be still, my child," said the old woman, "and you shall have it. Your stepsister has long deserved to die, and tonight when she is asleep I will come and chop off her head. Just be sure to lie down at the far side of the bed, and push her close to the front." It would have been all over with the poor girl, but just then she was standing in a corner, and she overheard everything. She was not allowed to go outside all day long, and at bedtime her wicked stepsister had her get into bed first, so she would be lying next to the wall. However, after the witch's daughter fell asleep,...