The Odd Lives Of Jennifer And Luke Luke Smith listened to the haunting tune on the radio while lying on his bed. His legs and arms were all splayed out. The#moonfiltered in through the window and the breeze made the curtains sway just a bit. It was a new song, but the title hadn't been announced. Luke closed his eyes and let the soft acoustics fill his mind with dreams of his future. Maybe his band, Small Square Murderers otherwise know as SSM, would become as famous as the Beatles one day. But he'd play only happy songs. Luke had enough gloom in his #life already. Luke found himself suddenly annoyed by the song on the radio. He switched it off quickly and sighed. SSM would never get anywhere. That much was obvious. They didn't even have a drummer anymore. Rob had graduated high school and gone to military school two months ago. On top of that, Jeremy and Nate were too high on drugs to even practice most afternoons. Jack was a great singer, but a terrible songwriter. And Luke himself wasn't enough to compensate for the incompetence of the others. All in all Luke saw that his band was a failure. Now that he thought about it so was the rest of his #life. He was water boy for the high school soccer team. His grade average was a C... barely. He hadn't had a girlfriend since sixth grade ( which did not count anyways). He couldn't even grow a beard as a jumior in high school. Luke sighed again and closed his window. He drifted off into a unhappy sleep. *** Jennifer Tracy did not like to move. At all. It wasn't because she had to leave friends; she had none. It was because it meant leaving all the squirrels and rabbits and deer and other animals she had learned to love in her backyard. And this move was the worst type. It was to an apartment. "Tell me again why we can't get a house." Jennifer stared out the window of the car as she asked wearily for the millionth time of the trip. When her mom was silent, Jennifer began to play with her necklace. It was a simple silver chain, but it meant the world to Jennifer. Her dad had left it for her tenth birthday right before he took off. It was funny how he gave his unborn daughter a gift right before running as far as he could away from her. Sometimes she hated him for it. "I didn't want you to play with the animals anymore, it isn't normal." Her mom finally answered. This time it was Jennifer's turn to be silent. A loving mother would embrace her daughter's strange gift not suppress it coldly. Jennifer kept her face turned out the window as one warm tear rolled down her cheek. ***

I Hope I wonder sometimes When I'm falling asleep Whether I will be forgotten Or burned into memories Do I mean something to the people I love? Will they remember me long from now? And then I think the answer is yes Because if the answer is no I have nothing left to hope for So I hope Once we part ways for a short time They miss me and think of me Once in a while They give me a call and see me again And we laugh like we did before they left It'll be hard to stay in touch But we will No matter what Because friends are friends no matter how far And love is for friends no matter how faded

Square Sometimes I wish That we were blind All of us So we wouldn't know the difference Between a pretty face And an ugly one We wouldn't have boxes For people to fit in Because if there's one thing we aren't It's square

Humans They go And hide And crawl away They cower And whimper And hope for help They fall And curl up And shield themselves They scream And squeal And flinch away They go And run And save no others They weaken And fall And cry too much Not me Not you Not us We say But they lie as well And we are they

Low A setting sun A burning run An itching pain For no gain No good for me No one can see They don't believe What they can't perceive So on I tread In this world with dread That and this Faking bliss A mountain peak A failing streak Mark my way From day to day Don't follow me I'm not what you see I'll change, I tell you Stay if you think it untrue And by my side, Those who reside, Will leave me soon When they hear my haunting tune The sun has set Leaving me with regret The pain I deserved Has left me reserved Change I said Now look ahead What do you see? Not this not me Promises broken Fragile things lost as token Not gained For this you haven't trained I'm sorry But my nights aren't starry They're filled with storms Doubts and worries come in swarms Courage fake I swim in a murky lake Don't follow me Through my mist you could not see I'm sorry I'm sorry Let me go Down to the depths of low