Stone Soup

Where young artists paint the world with words

The international magazine of stories, poems, and art by young writers and artists. Published continuously since 1973.

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Scarlet Eyes

And the feeling surged through her body. Althoughshe was unsure what exactly it was, the feeling was bold and clear, it made her feel as thoughshe could do anything. Suddenly, the impossible seemed only a few steps away from achievement. Karma stepped closer to the edge of the balcony, andpeered down below. Cars drove quickly, their bright red lights a blur as they sped down theroad. It was dark outside, she could have done it, and noone would have noticed. She stared into the empty sky, her arms resting onthe cold marble of the balcony. Not a single star in sight. Even the moon had chosen to stay hidden tonight. She closed her eyes as the immense guilt hit her again,trying to pull her down into an ocean of darkness. It was times like this, where she would regret. Karma could spend hours regretting her choices, forshe had made so many mistakes. It almost seemed like she never learned. Police sirens wailed in the distance. Her scarleteyes shot open, as she backed away from the balcony. “No, this can’t be happening” She murmured, tryingto reassure herself, but her mind was already thinking of the worst case scenario. How could they have found me? I never told anyone I was hiding here for the timebeing… Unless, it was Rowyn, her childhood friend. But he couldn’t have… Rowyn and Karma had been good childhood friends andhad grown up together, but she had to be suspicious of everyone. And right now, her priority was getting out of here.This hotel wasn’t safe anymore, now that that The police had followed her here too. She needed to move quickly, and quietly. They didn’tknow what she looked like, the only thing that gave her away was her scarlet eyes.