Crystal Starr

  • There is a strange rule that governs every meaningful relationship in this life. If I cannot teach you something…If I cannot show you something…If I cannot help carry a piece of your burden… Then eventually I become decoration. If you cannot teach me…If you cannot sharpen me…If you cannot challenge me to become something greater…

    Read more →

  • Chasing Butterflies

    There is a strange little meadow that very few people ever notice. Not because it is hidden. Because nobody stays still long enough to see it. The butterflies there are unlike any you’ve ever imagined. Their wings shimmer with colors that seem to change depending on who is looking at them. Gold for the ambitious.…

    Read more →

  • Wearer of the Amulet

    There are people who wear jewelry because it matches the outfit. People who own drawers full of glittering things that are changed with the weather, the season, or the occasion. Gold on Tuesday. Silver on Friday. Diamonds for the gala. Plastic beads for the beach. Nothing wrong with that. Adornment has always been part of…

    Read more →

  • Waiting Room 7

    There is a waiting room that every person eventually finds. No one tells you where it is. No one hands you directions. One day life simply walks you through the door, takes a seat beside you, and says… “You’re going to be here awhile.” The room isn’t fancy. The chairs are comfortable enough to keep…

    Read more →

  • Barstool Royalty

    There is a throne no respectable person wants. It isn’t made of gold. It isn’t earned. It isn’t admired. It’s bolted to the floor of a bar. And every night someone climbs onto it believing they’ve become royalty. Nobody likes a bad drunk who thinks they’re a good one. Matter of fact… Nobody likes a…

    Read more →

  • I don’t normally wake up on an average Tuesday looking for trouble. Tuesday is usually reserved for coffee, ambition, and pretending emails don’t exist for another five minutes. But every once in a while… Pettluyah clocks in for her shift. She doesn’t work often. Only when absolutely necessary. Today she adjusted her sunglasses, smiled at…

    Read more →

  • No one remembered hearing the machine start. Everyone remembered wondering why the silence felt so loud after it stopped. It wasn’t announced. There were no flashing lights. No emergency broadcast. No countdown. Just a strange feeling that somewhere beneath everything…something enormous had sighed its last breath. Then the world blinked. Not dramatically. Not with explosions…

    Read more →

  • The carnival had closed hours ago. The lights still blinked. The music still echoed from speakers no one had bothered to shut off. Popcorn drifted across cracked pavement. Prize booths sat full of stuffed animals that no one had won. The mirrors inside the funhouse reflected empty walkways. Yet one attraction somehow still had a…

    Read more →

  • The heat had already settled over Texas before noon. Not the kind of heat that asked permission. The kind that wrapped itself around your shoulders, settled into your skin, and reminded you that July had arrived exactly when it intended to. Fresh-cut grass drifted lazily through the afternoon air, mixing with the scent of warm…

    Read more →

  • There was an old mirror that had never belonged to anyone. Not because no one wanted it. Because no one could keep it. It refused to tell the story people wanted. It only told the story that was. Collectors tried to frame it in gold. Kings tried to hide it behind velvet. Actors rehearsed in…

    Read more →