Poetry

by Amber Faith Robbins

​This poem captures the brutal reality of loving someone through a timed jail call. It turns the phone itself into a cage, trapping the person on the outside in the exact same sentence. The narrative looks back at a chaotic street past, showing how their fierce loyalty was forged in the trenches. Everything builds to that ruthless 60-second countdown where love, regret, and survival are forced into a mad dash. When the line drops, it leaves a cold, heavy silence where the entire world is put on hold.

by Jacob Harvey Redloh & Véronique Margot

**Two agonized hearts, what can become of them?** **Love-lost and weariness prevail within his forlorn and aging heart. He has not seen love beyond his childhood home, which was true in his life. When love was claimed, it was not real, or in time turned away, never having been actual. Mutual affections were no more than dreams or lies. His heart had become hardened until she came to ease her way between the blocks set so long within his mind to protect his damaged heart.**  **She was lonely, emotionally bruised, and many false loves came into her life, with her being used to fill their needs, their only purpose. Bravely, she remained hopeful despite the troubles seen through time.** **A man to be loved, cared for, and preserved, her dream, and for which she is expressly skilled. He is an image online, yet important. As chats begin and continue, things change for each; affections build slowly for him and rapidly for her. He resists every allusion that more could be between them than good company, while she is determined to break down his emotional walls to mend his broken heart. Reluctantly, he is drawn in by her. Their chats become deeply important.** **All seems well, with love growing and moving forward to mend hearts and lives**  **A heartless hacker steals the love-determined woman’s social media account. With evil, tricky, and conniving means, the interloper took her place, deceptively cutting into the love-dance between this man and this woman, taking him in through the use of his lady's exciting words spoken earlier, newly restated with evil intent**  **While his true lover is grieving his loss, his precious and gracious words and poems, she yet remains unable to give up that last vestige of hope which would have him return and be restored to the love she and he had found together.**  **Here is the story, told in verse, an epic of love lost, deception, with a struggling possibility of love’s recovery, and restored trust the key.**

by Sarah Bantu

**About the Story** What if the key to your survival was locked inside a secret, ancient bloodline?\ Spun from a fascinating true piece of Russian history and set against the brutal, breathtaking backdrop of the frozen north, *Daughter of the Falcon* blends gripping suspense with an unforgettable romance.\ For centuries, deep within the endless, snow covered forests, an elite and hidden clan of warriors lived by their own laws. They did not just survive the winter they ruled it, training lethal military falcons to hunt, fight, and protect secrets hidden from the world. Today, that fierce bloodline legacy is alive, but the isolation of the frozen north is cracking. A dangerous, unpredictable threat is closing in, forcing old secrets into the light and testing the loyalty of a clan that has never bowed to anyone.\ Filled with high stakes twists, deep betrayal, and a slow burn love story that burns hot against the bitter ice, this fiction novel proves that some family histories can never stay buried. Step into a harsh, beautiful world where danger hides in every shadow, trust is a luxury, and you never know what's going to happen next. Discover what happens when the frost bites deep, and the falcon finally takes flight.