When I was a young priest, fresh out of seminary, I was assigned to a small parish in Spain, a place steeped in history and tradition. My mentor, Father Mateo, was a middle-aged priest in his early 50s, a man who had enjoyed a peaceful career with little drama. He was kind, wise, and deeplyContinue reading “Signs of Darkness”
Category Archives: Creative Writing
Virginia
It was a clear, crisp night in Cedar City, the kind that Southern Utah is known for. The sky was a blanket of stars, the air was cold enough to bite through the uniform, and the campus of Southern Utah University was unusually quiet. As an officer fresh out of the academy, still carrying theContinue reading “Virginia”
Whispers in the Pines
I grew up in the heart of Oregon’s Willamette Valley, where the air is thick with mist and the scent of damp earth clings to everything. The early 2000s were a strange time—an era saturated with ghost hunting shows, urban legends, and a growing fascination with the supernatural. For most people, these stories were justContinue reading “Whispers in the Pines”
The Shadow
The night was a blur of laughter, snacks, and the muted glow of a TV screen as my best friend and I indulged in a sleepover. We were typical teenagers—14 or 15 years old—who often found ourselves on the edge of trouble but always managed to stay just this side of innocent mischief. That night,Continue reading “The Shadow”
In Madness, Truth
When shadows fall, my mind begins to fray,A tempest fierce within me starts to rise.In anxious clouds, my light is swept away,And with it, truth beneath the quiet lies. In these dark times, I feel my truest core,Unveiled by sorrow, raw, and bare to see.Yet when I mend, they seem to shut the door,For ’tisContinue reading “In Madness, Truth”
Silent Visitor
It was the kind of night that seemed almost timeless. The house was quiet, the only sound coming from the rhythmic breathing of my wife, who lay peacefully asleep beside me. Outside, the world was still, wrapped in the dense hush that comes in the early hours between 2 and 4 a.m. Throughout my entireContinue reading “Silent Visitor”
Eyes in the Darkness
The highway stretched out before us, a ribbon of asphalt cutting through the Idaho wilderness. It was late—so late that the darkness seemed to swallow everything whole, leaving only the dim headlights to guide the way. The GPS had taken us off the freeway due to construction, rerouting us through a desolate stretch of anContinue reading “Eyes in the Darkness”
Thy Memory I Keep
Oh, how my heart still bleeds in hidden woe,For youth once vibrant, stilled in sorrow’s night.Thy vibrant smile, now distant afterglow,Does haunt thy dreams and dim thy guiding light. What torments clouded that young earnest brow?What words, unsaid, might yet his course have swerved?Would kind outreach have mended, couldst thou know?Or was his tragic pathContinue reading “Thy Memory I Keep”
In Storm & In Stillness
In the vast expanse of blue,A shifting tapestry of moods—The ocean speaks in tonguesThat only the quiet heart understands. Tidal pulls, like synaptic firings,A dance between moon and sea,Neurotransmitters and thoughts—Ebb and flow, push and pull. Surface calm belies the currents below,Waves whisper to the shore,Are they murmurs of peace?Or cries of a storm yetContinue reading “In Storm & In Stillness”
Siren’s Call
The waves advance, the waves retreat,Upon the shore where horizons meet.With each crest and trough, the ocean sings,Tales of time and ephemeral things. The sun ascends, casting golden hue,On waters deep, of cobalt blue.Yet, as day turns to shadowed night,The moon takes charge with silvery light. Fishermen cast, with hopes held high,While gulls above theContinue reading “Siren’s Call”
Hayden Coombs 