#dylanflores

As Dylan wrapped Alzena in the fuzzy comfortness of the blanket, he noticed Alzena phone lighting up next to her as a notification went through. Dylan glances at the phone and all he could tell was that several people were messaging Alzena through her small blog. The blog wasn’t big or anything, there were only a few dozen people following it, but whenever Alzena wanted to update people on her writings, she would always post there. 

Dylan tilted his head at this and he took out his phone, to check on Alzena’s blog quickly before he went back to work. As Dylan read through it, he froze and looked at Alzena with worried eyes. The post wasn’t long but it had a lot to say. 

‘Hey, all you great fans. Thank you so much for all you love and support as I make it through college. I don’t know how I would have made it this far without you. That’s why it pains me to say that I have to take a break from writing. College is difficult and with finals coming up, I need all my attention on it. I don’t know when I’ll be able to get back to writing but I promise that when I do, I’ll be better than ever.’

Dylan didn’t know what to think of this. Of course he knew about how stressed Alzena has been lately and this news didn’t surprise him but… Damn, it still hit hard. Alzena loved writing stories and now she was going to do it less. Gosh, he hoped she would be okay. That’s all he hoped for at the moment.

Dylan strolled down the post to read through the comments and he smiled a little. The comments were nice. Despite the few mean spirited ones, people usually left encouragement for Alzena. They all wanted the same thing for Azzy. They wanted her to be happy and to take care of herself. That’s it. It was a simple thing to want but it went a long way.

Dylan glanced over at Alzena again and he frowned when he saw a small tear rolling down his girlfriend’s cheek as she started muttering to herself. He leaned over Alzena and gently hugged her. He whispered something into her ear before he pecked Alzena’s cheek softly. After a moment, Alzena slowly relaxed.

“It’s okay, Azzy…” Dylan whispered softly. “We’ll figure this out.” Dylan sat down next to Alzena and continued to work on his essay. 

First 

Pervious 

All throughout lunch, Dylan was talking about his struggles during work. He talked about how the author didn’t know how to spell and how a random plot line was also dropped in the middle of the story. Overall though, Dylan liked the story, he just got frustrated during parts of it and being sleep deprived didn’t help with his struggles.

As Dylan talked, Alzena listened as she ate. She smiled a lot as she listened to Dylan talk about something he loved to do, even if he complained about it a lot.

Towards the end of the conversation though, Alzena frowned as she slowly looked out the window. They were on the second floor of a building, so Alzena was able to watch the cars drive through the city that they lived in.

Dylan noticed Alzena drifting off and he tilted his head. “Hey, you alright?” 

Alzena looked over at Dylan and nodded a little. “Yeah… Just thinking.”

“About?”

“It’s nothing. And besides, your talking about your edits.”

“Dude, I’ve been talking for the past 30 minutes about my work struggles. It’s your turn to talk so what’s on your mind?”

Alzena placed her hands on the table and stared down at her palms, trying to think. “It’s just… I’m still unemployed and you’re doing most of the work while I’m trying to find a job. I’m sorry…”

Dylan slowly took Alzena’s hand. “Hey. There’s no reason to be sorry. Work can be hard to find. I’m sure you’ll get something.” He gives an encouraging smile. 

Alzena slowly breathed out and looked over at Dylan. “Do you remember all those years ago… When I used to write a lot. You remember that I said I would eventually come back to it. Remember when I told my fans that I would come back better than ever?’

“Um… Yes, I do remember that.”

“Well, all those fans probably moved on by now but, I haven’t. That post that I made still lingers in the back of my head everyday. And, um, maybe it’s time to get back to writing?”

Dylan’s eyes sparkled a bit at this. “Azzy! That would be so cool… But… Are you ready to do this?”

Alzena nodded. “I have no idea what I want to write about but I know that I want to get back into it. I remember writing being such an amazing thing. I kind of regret falling out of it.”

Dylan smiled and hugged Alzena. “Well, whatever you come up with, I know it’s going to be the best.”

Alzena flustered at this and quickly returned the hug. “Th-Thank you, Dylan… Just thank you so much for your support.” 

“It’s nothing.” Dylan brushed Alzena’s hair a little. “So, do you have a plan.”

“Not really…” Alzena thinks for a moment before she remembered something. “But, I do know that Drew owns a bar now in Tennessee. He’s always texting me about weird stories that the patrons have told him. Maybe I could visit him and see for myself. That way I can get all the inspiration I need. Gosh, I haven’t seen him in a while.”

“Oh, that would be cool. When do you plan to go?”

“Now.”

“Wait, what?”

“Well, you need to rest since you’ve been up for a while. So, I’ll be out of the house so you can rest. Right? You’re going to sleep.”

Dylan sighed and slowly nodded. “Yeah, I’ll rest.”

“Good. It’s time for the busy beaver to become the lazy cat.”

“Azzy?... What did you just say?”

“It’s nothing.” Alzena hugged Dylan more.

“Good luck on your adventure. I’ll call you later to see how things are going.”

Alzena was driving through the beautiful mountains of the southern part of the country. The sun was setting behind the outer parts of the forest making the mountains glow. The trees that grew just along the road was covered in leaves and vines making it was impossible to see the bark of the trees. The other side of the road dropped off into a steep, rocky cliff that fell straight down into the bottom of the mountain below. 

Every time Alzena turned, it almost felt like she would fall off the mountain and tumble to her death. It wasn’t a really nice car ride. 

Alzena tried to distract herself as she thought through her plan. After a minute or two, her mind lingered to an event that happened to her when she was a kid. She could have chosen any genre to write about. Fantasy, sci-fi, comedy. So why out of all of them did she chose thrillers?

Well, the answer seemed dumb to Alzena now but when she was a kid the answer was a big deal. One day, she was at a playground in a park. She didn’t have many friends at the time, so she was swinging on the swing set by herself. And that’s when she saw it.

It was most likely some kind of an animal, but all the ten year old Alzena saw was a dark blob with white eyes- eyes that seemed to be staring straight at Alzena. It was deep in the woods, covered by the shadows of the trees but Azlena wanted a closer look at it. 

Alzena jumped off her swing and stared back at the animal. The animal took a few steps deeper into the forest and Alzena started to walk towards the woods, curious. The animal didn’t move and soon, Alzena was only a few yards away from the woods. Yet, Alzena was unable to figure out what the animal that was staring right at her was. 

And then her father called her, saying it was time to go home. Alzena turned to her dad and stayed that she’s coming before she glanced back at the woods. The animal was gone.

From then on, Alzena was always curious in the weird and creepy. She talked about it with many other people and they’ve had similar experiences. From feeling like they’re being watched to walking into a spiderweb in the middle of an open field.

There was probably a perfectly reasonable explanation to all of that, but these conversations only made Azena more curious. It only made her wonder what things other people have encountered and did they really see ghosts or not?

Well, what was the harm in asking? 

First

Pervious