#writopia lab

[metalalia]

Ever had a day when you wanted to peace out and ride a cloud into the beyond? Lilliana is having that kind of day. Experience her tale only in Writopia Transformations, the latest mixed media story collection from Beyond Books in collaboration with @writopialab!

Download Beyond Books free for iOS: itunes.apple.com/us/app/beyond-books/id916965673?mt=8

[metalalia]

Only two days to go before we release our latest collection! Have you downloaded our app already? Make sure you're ready for Writopia Transformations on Friday 18th!

Cover art by Jarrett Csupo.

[metalalia]

We’re so excited to be releasing Writopia Transformations on August 18th! Here’s a sneak peek at the art for one of the pieces. Hope you’re looking forward to downloading it too! Make sure you have our app on your iOS device so you can experience the collection: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/beyond-books/id916965673?mt=8

Art by the wonderful Amy Faigin.

[metalalia]

Our anthology with Writopia Lab is coming along nicely. We can’t wait for our talented contest winners to see their work published!

[tcpl-lit-mag-2016-blog]

Sitting in a Circle

by Anna, age 13

Sitting in a circle

On rugs not Mats

Writing about

The things

In our head

I put the suitcase on the bed

Usually I’m quiet But instead

I read

What 

I’d said 

I told 

What 

I thought 

And you

Listened

No one

Listened before 

Daisy has Anger-management issues

Talking and crying I think you need tissues

We talked

And we wrote

And we spoke

What we thought

About what you’d 

Taught 

What we felt

In that room

On rugs

Not mats

I shared things

I never would’ve 

Before

In that room

On Rugs

Not Mats

You let me be me

[tcpl-lit-mag-2016-blog]

[tcpl-lit-mag-2016-blog]

The Blade

by Josh, age 16

"We shall drive them from our lands! And then we shall take back the holy lands in the name of Christ!" The crowd yelled in support, waving weapons in the air like flags. 

I reached down to draw my sword, and show my support for the battle that would soon take place. I felt the hilt of the blade, calming and cooling in my hand. I pulled my sword from its sheath with all my might, and thrust it into the air amongst many others such weapons, joining the sea of support. I then heard a scream from my left, and turned to see a man with his hands over his mouth as though to vomit on the green grass covering the ground. I heard everyone stop shouting to see what the matter was. They all stared at me. I felt a drop of liquid fall to my forehead. That was odd, as there was not a cloud in the sky at the time, and it was only when I looked up that I saw the crimson red covering the tip of my blade. 

A drop of blood landed in my eye. I tried to rub it from my eye, looking over to the man I had stabbed. I gasped, as did the rest of the crowd, for when he opened his mouth, his tongue hung by a thread from his mouth. He looked at me, and tried to speak, but that was a mistake, for when he did, his tongue fell from his mouth! Someone in the crowd vomited on the ground. 

The man with no tongue looked down at his former appendage, then glared at me with a burning hatred. He bent over, and picked up his blade. He charged at me, with an almost inhuman growl, having lost his tongue. I tried to run, but his blade tore through my flesh. I felt the world fade away from me, and as I saw the green field dim, the man knelt down, and cut out my tongue. I could see him hold it high in the air as though it were a treasure before I fell completely into the darkness below.

[tcpl-lit-mag-2016-blog]

Never to Return

by Adowyn, age 12 

When I woke up, it took me a moment to remember what had happened.  I still hoped that it had all been nothing but a dream, but I knew that was wrong.  

The frigid air of winter met me as I walked slowly out of the cave.  The ice below my feet was slippery, but my claws held tight as I pawed my way to the top of the mountainside.  Smoke from their fires still drifted into the sky from below, fires that my anger had extinguished during the night.  

I recall thinking that this was their fault and I had every right to do what I had done, but now I know I was wrong.  There was only one thing I could have done to change this, and it wasn’t what had happened.  Instead, I had reopened the old wound, become what I had been before.  I knew I was not a creature of darkness.  I could be better than that, I could calm my anger, my instinct to despise with a sizzling hatred.  

Even now, my anger was sinking down, down, fading away to be replaced by sorrow.  I alone had destroyed these people, my people.  I was their protector, and yet now they were all gone.  

I howled at the moon above me, knowing that this time there was no going back.  It was a simple act, to cry to the moon.  Even when I was most alone, it had always made me feel like there was someone listening.  But not even the moon would listen to me now.

I slumped down the hill to my cave, thoughts racing through my mind.  I would have to leave now, and soon.  After gathering my few belongings, I left the place I had called home for many years.  

Once outside, I glimpsed my blurry reflection in the thin sheet of ice that covered the ground.  My one red eye and one purple eye blinked back at me, reminding me of who I really was.  

My image was part of me and part of my curse, the curse to be like no other and to be alone forever.  It seemed that I had forgotten that lately in my anger.  I had forgotten all the things I had lost and the many things I had yet to lose.  It was something I shouldn't have forgotten.  I promised myself that I would never again forget, but try to accept myself for who I would become and live past my horrible mistake.  

Without looking back, I left my cave, I left my home, left this place that I would never — could never — return.