the stars remain etched in the sky

I wish these scents remained immortal

etched to our bodies, written in our souls

I wish we were written in the stars 

and the stars remained etched to the sky 

And when we broke apart, they fall down into the tears gleaming in our eyes. 

I wish we’d forget the worst, remember the best. 

And persuade ourselves to lie in rest. 

Dream of the simple, easy past. 

Imagine ways to make history last. 

Keep running and run so fast 

that we make it back to old times, at last 

And we live in the memories we wish we’d made 

Become the ghost that haunts my pretty face 

And the girl behind you in every polaroid is not a figment of your imagination, but your future self, wishing you’d stayed, 

But today or tomorrow, these stars will fall. 

And all that remains are the tears gleaming in your eyes. 

Don’t let them drop 

For you break if they fall.

I’m Aatika Riaz. I’m fourteen years old and I am from Islamabad, Pakistan. From a very young age, I have been an enthusiastic writer and I always fantasized about writing stories just as good as those I had read. By eleven, I started writing little songs, basically crafting random words into melodies. Then, I started working on four different novels. At the age of thirteen, I found a global writing forum called Write the World. Since last year, I have progressed a lot on the site, having written seven chapters of my first novel. Apart from that, I had my work published in another magazine called Cathartic Literary Magazine. When I grow up, I aspire to be a professor and a writer. Platforms like yours have helped me in getting my writing out into the world.