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Poets
Ashley Seo
Christina (Tahee) Lee
Ethan Lee
Jennifer Kim
Jiewoo Jung
Jin Lee
Kay Lee

Poets
Eliza Rogers
Justina Rhee
Katherine Kim
Lara Mayda
Layla Cyhn
Lily Kim
Presley Blake
Raina Yang
Ruthie Kang

Chief Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Justina Rhee

Layout/Graphic Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Justina Rhee
Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Samuel Yi

Special Thanks To:

Ms. Aimmie Kellar
Ms. Sarah Beaucham

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 Hightened by the pandemic, we realise how much we are different from
each other. Each has different methods of coping, learning, and living. How-
ever, the one thing that binds our club together is our passion for writing. Our
yearn to express ourselves. Our desire to show our humane sides in an often
static world. But with each club struggling on their own type of obstacles, our
club, too, struggled to create the similar achievements of the past. However,
with the hard work of all club members and past club leaders, we have man-
aged to create another great edition of the Phoenix Word.
After a tough, long year under the control of the COVID-19 Pandemic,
it was especially hard on the Creative Writing Club with competitions closing
and communication becoming limited. And as a first time club leader and ed-
itor of the Phoenix Word, it was challenging to continue and surpass the goals
of the past editions of the Phoenix Word. Through the harsh year we have
went through, the publication of the Spring 2021 Phoenix Word was able to
remain as one of the single constant in our lives.
We proudly present the fifth edition of the Phoenix Word. In the period
of constant change and adaptation, we hope that the Phoenix Word will be a
form of comfort and stability to many students, faculty, and other people out
there. This Phoenix Word especially expresses our combined passion of writ-
ing and hope our deep emotions reach to those who need to hear it.
Thank you to our poets, authors, and readers for all the great efforts this
year. To end our year on a cheesy moral (of the story), don’t let fear of change
rule you. Continue to pursue your passion for writing and speak your truth. I
hope to continue inspiring and working with you all.

Chief Editor,
Justina Rhee

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Poems:
Your Colours by Ashley Seo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Now I relate to the Villain by Christina (Tahee) Kim . . . . 8

Winter by Ethan Lee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

The Girl (pt.1) by Jennifer Kim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Imagine (pt.2) by Jennifer Kim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Rain by Jiewoo Jung . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Love by Kay Lee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

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Your Colors
Ashley Seo
My poem is about dating abuse while dating a partner.

She was my canvas.

For blue,
I plunged her into a bucket of sapphire blue waters.
For red,
I drew lines with blades across her skin for her crimson red blood to run free.
For purple,
I beat her until her face blushed with lavender purple.
But why were the tears, my love?
I thought you were a fan of my art.

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Now I Relate to the Villain
Christina (Tahee) Kim
“Now I relate to the Villain” is a poem that was in-
spired by my childhood. As a kid I used to idolize
the heros and simply labeled the villains as ‘evil’
and something everyone should avoid to become
at all costs. The story gives readers an insight of my
thoughts and how I came to relate to the villains as I
grew up to become a teenager.

When I was little,

Books always portrayed villains to be wicked souls who only want harm
The type that would tear the world into pieces
if it meant that they get to keep their person unharmed
Back then there was no need to think from different angles
There just hasn’t been a doubt to love the hero over the villain

A hero, who would sacrifice you for the world

Over a villain, who would sacrifice the world for you
However, as time flows i’m starting to look from different angles
Starting to understand what might have made them to act that way

No one is born evil

As everyone is a shaped by their setting
There is a reason that villains are so desperate to protect that one thing
Because they have been through the pain of losing all trying to protect things
they value
So they now try their best to protect and ensure the safety of their most valued

The villains themselves are just as afraid

and thought of losing their most valued is what keeps them astray
This is the side that is never heard
The story of the villains and how their wired to act that way
What is truly scary aren’t the villains themselves
but the monsters that created them to be that way

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Winter
Ethan Lee
“Winter” is a poem written by Ethan Lee, a current
sophomore at KIS.

Cold December has come.

As it walks through every crevice of every city
It stops every once in a while
And asks for directions.

Where I go does not concern you,

It gravely replies.

It enters the window

Of the nearest ward.
Observing the sullen sighs of the haggard gray heads,
Whom Winter cannot help but pity,
And swallows life.

Winter’s disconsolate breeze carries across

How is it that Winter,
Whose presence is felt by all,
Feel so neglected?

Perhaps, and just perhaps

It is because Winter
Has been masked by its own false realization
Of its own futility.

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The Girl (pt.1)
Jennifer Kim
My poetry is about a girl who is unable to picture
images in her head. She has aphantasia. she talks about
the problems of having aphantasia and how people
with aphantasia often feel alienated because they can’t
relate with others when it comes to dreams, imagina-
tions, creative thoughts, etc..

I had a girl sitting next to me in English

I remember the time I first saw her:
She was wearing jeans with a cardigan

Every time we had a writing activity,

She would stare into the void
And do nothing

Every time Ms. Fuller, our English teacher, gives us-

a time to close our eyes and reflect,
She would be opening her eyes and do nothing

One day, Ms. Fuller asked us to imagine something –

As expected, the girl would do nothing
But then this time, the teacher saw the girl

She got mad and started asking questions

Of why the girl won’t participate in class
The girl answered she got a --fantasy?

…Uh it was something about her illness

Anyways, she said that she can’t imagine

I thought it was cool so I looked at her
Or maybe even stared at her for a while

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 Perhaps conscious of my gaze, she began to lose her temper
She started screaming that she wasn’t crazy
Nobody had thought she was crazy until this moment

The next day, she didn’t come to school

She never came to school
And I never saw her again

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Imagine (pt.2)
Imagine what you will be in 10 years from now.
Just Imagine.
Close your eyes and think, conjure images in your mind.

well, i would be working in a business company

…or who knows i could be married and have kids.

Oh, come on. Be frank.

Tell me your thoughts.

okay, when i think to myself,

i see nothing,
nothing but a pure black screen

‘Why?’ asks the teacher.

The girl answers:

i have aphantasia
imagination is something that i can’t do
it cannot be done even if i try

whenever i apply for a job interviews,

i tell them the truth
that i am unable to picture images,
recall smells or sensations of touch and taste

some see me as i’m ill

some see me as i’m different
they think aphantasia as a mental illness

does it make a difference if you know i have a mental illness?

let me be clear,
aphantasia is not a mental disorder

do you know how much i hate the word ‘imagine’?

whenever the people demand creativity
i feel alienated by the fact that nobody could relate to me

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 all those eyes make me insane

it’s not a mental disorder

…
The teacher comes toward the girl and says:
Hey girl, you should calm down
You need help. Really.
Do you need to see a doctor?
If you need help, tell me and we solve this together.

The girl thinks:

i just want people to try to understand me
of how it feels to be alone
and yet, you [teacher] treat me like a freak

The girl stands and looks around

She sees countless eyes on her
She squeaks
She runs
And she was never seen again

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Rain
Jiewoo Jung
I wrote a poem that expresses my own experience on a
rainy day. I was inspired by the way how my mood was
easily influenced by the weather. This piece is mostly
focused on the lonely and empty feeling that I had on
a fleeting moment. Imagery is used in order to portray
the cold and gloomy mood. I tried to show the mo-
ment when time goes slow and suddenly one starts to
have deep thoughts in the midst of a busy day.

Its a rainy day

I hate getting wet
but came out anyway

The ponds are overflowing

but why do I feel so empty?
The raindrops are following
but only the wind is left beside me

The place where the wind led me

The bright city
full with boisterous noise
The only one quiet here
who nobody notice

Being alone
under the dark gloomy umbrella
just too large for a tiny person
Yes, my clothes are dry
my clothes in layers inside a jacket
and they are just enough to make me warm
but the damp puddle water climbing up from my toe tips
might soak my empty heart with loneliness
and coldness

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Saplings
Jin Lee
The poem “Saplings” talks about how human’s greed-
iness and selfishness ruin the earth and the environ-
ment. Saplings are young trees that need to be cared
for by sufficient water and dirt in order to become a
big tree with abundant leaves. However, due to the
greed of humans, the earth’s environment gets wors-
ened every year and this leads to the end of a little
sapling that didn’t have a chance to show itself outside
to the earth.

Saplings...
They require a vast amount
Of trust and loyalty.
Without this kind of love and affection,
They cannot flourish and be happy...

Numerous storms have hit this sapling.

Countless times,
The sapling was left with nothing,
Simply used
For what it could produce and give.

Many times, humanity had given

Pink fruit and flowers to the sapling.
In return,
The sapling would always
offer its juiciest yellow fruit,
And purest blue heart,
Willing to do anything for them.
Without seeing the flare of red
Under the glorious pink.

In the end,
Like every other time
The sapling was drained of everything it had
Used only to suit the benefits
Of the greedy and selfish
Humans.

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Love
Kay Lee
“Love” is a poem written by Kay Lee, a current fresh-
man at KIS.

tell me, what is it to love? / is it / sunshine on rainy days / rollercoaster

adrenaline / butterflies fluttering tiny wings, caged between thick-merrowed
ribs? / is it / burning magma / lightning crashing in gold waves / the touch of
a devastatingly warm hand in mine? / is it / windy nights wishing on shoot-
ing stars / achingly lovely kisses under shadowed streets / a weighty lightness
perching on breathless lungs? / is it / your eyes your face your touch your lips
your smile your hands your form illuminated by light reflected in an over-
whelming array of color; / all the things that i will never comprehend and life
will never tell me the secrets to.

/ what is love? / is it the way that you snort deep in your chest / the way that
you leave little sticky notes on all of your mirrors / the way that you always
wander in and out of my mind, heeding no mind to stop lights or sidewalks.
/ is it the way that you will smile and i will see- / (oceans-stars-hurricanes-
moonshine-mountains-fire-sun) / -and my heart will cry in pittance? / is
it the way that i cannot help but pray at wooden shrines and find my way
through winding mountain paths, / the way that despite how far i travel, how
much my soul wanders away to distant lands i shall never remember again; /
despite how much my mind will drift with the cosmos and the dust that flits
through the heavens, / my heart will always linger by your side- / and never
leave. / break. / rebuild itself (overandoverandover) in tatters.

/ “goodbye.” / you tell me this with the smile that i so adore dancing on your
lips. / my heart aches. the butterflies in my ribs wilt. it is still so very difficult
to breathe. / lightning-fire-sunshine crashing in my throat.

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 / you leave. take my heart (the oceans, the stars; hurricanes-moon-
shine-mountains-) with you. / i am haunted by countless prayers. made on
wooden shrines and shooting stars.

/ “goodbye.” /
is this not what it means to love?
is this not-?

-but oh my darling, this is-

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Short Stories:
In the Corn Field Days by Eliza Rogers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Dear You, by Justina Rhee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Kasey & Avery by Katherine Kim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

How I Met Uncle William by Lara Mayda . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Isang Kumatok by Layla Cyhn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Oroltz and Leitihia by Lily Kim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

The Airplane by Presly Blake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Never Apart by Raina Yang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Untitled by Samuel Yi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

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In the Corn Field Days
Eliza Rogers
The nuclear bombing of Japan was a very traumatic
experience for millions of people. It was a big change
in everyones lives and even now some people are still
recovering from it. Experience a women’s story for
yourself in one single page. “I was immediately sucked
in and felt as if I could feel everything she felt”

It was a beautiful day in Nagasaki, the most beautiful I had ever seen and I
was walking out in the glowing corn field. I spent most of my days out here. I
loved to run my fingers through the corn and laugh as it tickled. I would look
up at the glowing sun and feel the burning warmth on my face and talk to the
brightest blue sky I had ever seen because I had no one else. I was lonely but
this place helped me forget that. It convinced me that I belonged when deep
down I know I don’t. But I had nowhere else to go, I would stay here with no
one else except the corn and the blue sky. Sometimes my thoughts would run
wild, dreaming about another day when I could have someone to spend my
life in one of the beautiful houses at the edge of my field, and we would walk
in the corn for hours and hours and just talk about nothing. But other times,
most times they would just stay in one place thinking I could be out here
forever. And then I think, wouldn’t it get lonely to stay here alone, forever?
Wouldn’t I eventually convince myself that I truly don’t belong, even here? I
imagine I would but then I come back out here and I feel the sun on my face
and the corn and grass in between my fingers and I can’t ever imagine leaving.
And I know that the only thing that could push me out would be not having
the corn and the blue sky above my head. And then it comes, I see a flash of
light and everything around me goes white, it burns but not like the beauti-
ful sun on my face, like I’m in a fire and I can’t get out even if I try and I do. I
try to run but everywhere I go there it is the heat, the pain and I know I can’t
escape this horror even if the burning stopped. I would still remember it every
time I thought about the blue sky, the wonderful blue sky thats only purpose
now is to torture me. Suddenly I can see again but not the beloved place I ex-
pect to see when I open my eyes.

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 I see brown dirt that has replaced my shining corn, houses now piles of stone,
the beautiful blue sky is now the ugliest gray I can imagine. Everything I loved
so dearly is gone. And my face still burns, it burns more and more the more
the air touches it. And then I think of how dreadful it would be to stay out
here forever, with no field I can run my fingers through, no sky I can talk to,
no thoughts I can turn to, no houses I can imagine living in and I run, as fast
as I can. I run ‘til I can’t see the ugly dirt field anymore, ‘til I can’t see the de-
stroyed houses, and the gray sky. I run ‘til I’m gone.

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Dear You,
Justina Rhee
My story is a short story about the reminiscence
of childhood, childhood friendships, and youth. It
includes the main character remembering their sum-
mers from when they were young spent with their
then best friend. It conveys the raw emotions of grow-
ing up and coming of age. As the entire story is set as
a flashback, it has a wistful and melancholy feeling of
missing not only their past but also their old-self and
how they have now changed into a different person.

I miss summer.

The bright ray of golden sunlight would beam on our skin, radiating a soft
glow of sweat and shine. The buildings, the streets, and the people that
seemed to drip of a spectrum of orange, yellow, and gold, illuminating their
warmth to the world. The trees were full of life as the green roofs of leaves
offered us small bits of safety from the glaring sun. The cicadas would screech
loudly; their sounds layering into a symphony of notes. The wind rustled and
swam throughout the world, tickling our ears and hair with their playful danc-
es. The air smelled so sweet with the peaches and nectarines hanging above
our heads on their trees.

We ran down the hill as the soft brown and green grass scratched at our an-
kles, leaving the small dews from the morning on our skin. We would laugh
as we tumbled to the ground, falling onto the mat. Savouring a bite from my
PB&J sandwich while you churned the glass of lemonade with a red straw, I
would try to steal a sip from you but you laughed, running away, only to start
the chase once more. When the heat and the sweat was too much to deal with
any longer, we would jump into the flowing rush of the river, yelping at the
sharp bites of the cold water. You dunked my head in only to be pulled in too.
By the time we were finished trying to drown each other, even our underwears
would be soaked. We laid under the blue sky in each other’s arms, pointing at
different shapes the white clouds formed as our clothes gradually dried. The
sound of my voice mixed with the rustling of trees and the cicadas were your
muse while your soft singing was mine.

We would walk back home; each of us with one side of the basket. There
weren’t any words spoken but the silence was almost as comforting as any
laughter. I smiled softly, content with how our vacation was going. Your clear,
brown eyes compelled me to look at you once more with that usual charm of
yours. I could never get tired of your eyes.

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 Although it was probably my innocence and naiveness that caused this feel-
ing, I felt as if nothing was wrong; the world was perfect when I was with you.

Instead of the joy I wished to see, you seemed drifted off, staring into space.
I teasingly bumped my shoulder onto yours and only then you smiled back.
You laughed, pushing me away, screaming, “Race me home!” You left with the
picnic basket, gaining only a few seconds ahead from surprise. Although we
laughed at our childishness, I couldn’t help but wonder why you were so wor-
ried then.

Despite the eternity we could’ve had together, it only lasted a week. You were
packing your belongings into the cardboard boxes, as if one’s entire life could
fit in that tiny space. We didn’t speak then either but this time it was different.
The silence suffocated us, allowing me to choke back the tears I struggled to
keep at bay. I helped you pack, silently wishing a clown would jump out and
say that this was all a prank. That my life wasn’t falling apart right now. That
you weren’t going to leave. But we continued to pack your whole life away, not
leaving a single trace except a mattress and a closet.

Sitting on the mattress as the movers stacked your life away onto a truck,
I hugged my knees tightly, gulping small bits of air while picking under
my nails. I desperately needed a distraction. You only combed your hands
through your hair, occasionally looking at your phone to check the time every
3 minutes. There was so little space between us yet it already felt like you were
on a different continent.

Unable to hold it in, I blurted out, “When will you be coming back?” “Will
you text me still when I’m gone?” You asked at the same time. We sheepish-
ly grinned, looking down in embarrassment. You spoke first. “I don’t know.
Probably not in a while.” My chest clenched at the words, unable to answer
yours. I couldn’t imagine a summer without you, much less my life. We sat
there in silence for what it seemed like an eternity with the mattress creak-
ing at even our smallest movements. You clenched your fists and unclenched
them again, over and over.

I could hear your voice tremble when you spoke, “Will you text me?” I looked
at you in your eyes, surprised at the sudden display of emotion: an ocean of
tears that could no longer hide the amount of sadness and fear you held in-
side. I couldn’t bare seeing you sad. You were the one who always wiped my
tears. You were the one who hugged me tight to steady my shaking shoulders.
You were the one who helped me breathe when the world’s skies tighten its
grasp on my neck. Seeing you like this broke me. Broke me.

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I smiled wistfully, ignoring the aching pulse of my heartbeat that echoed in
my ears. I held your hand between mine, steadying its tremble. “Of course
I will, you dumb dumb,” I laughed wistfully. “I will text you–no–I will call
you every day.” You stared back at me and the oceans that distanced us apart
seemed to disappear. We hugged each other tightly, both terrified of the fu-
ture and what would happen to the walls that had sustained our lives all this
time.

I miss our days at the park, our splashes in the river. Our weird, crazy mid-
night thoughts that were secrets between us two. I miss the sunshine peeking
through the layers of green leaves. I miss the blue sky that seemed endless to
our eyes. I miss the symphony of cicadas that harmonised with your voice. I
miss our laughter, our childhood, our youth.

“Promise me you won’t forget me,” you whispered into my ear.

I miss you the most.

“I won’t.”

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Kasey & Avery
Katherine Kim
Short story of Kasey & Avery proceeds as two oppo-
site character fall in love to each other. Throughout
the timeline of the story, the emotional state of the
characters and the development they go through are
portrayed. By writing a love story between two girls; I
wanted to emphasizes how normal the relationship is
and should be treated in current world. I hope you all
enjoys it :)

Brunette colored hair, little blush, paints on her clothing- she is Avery. Inter-
ested in every single piece of art, she takes ceramics as her favorite and loves
to wear glasses. Pretty cute girl, people describe her.

Normally people don’t recognize her, Avery doesn’t talk that much.

It’s her very first time being around this many people. As much as she loves
her art, she also loves to act and play roles in a theatre. She dreamed about
being an ancestress since she was like 7 in kindergarten. She loved how she
could transform into everything. Sometimes she becomes the most malicious
witch with an evil, but attractive smile. And sometimes she is the princess
from the largest imaginary kingdom. Her parents strongly hated her acting.
However, Avery yet gave up on her dream. She wants to act. She wants to be
on the stage. Shiny dress, sparkling lights, crowded people, and the smell of
the upper air- she loves everything about being on stage.

The day she decided to grab her dream one last time was any other fall days-

The smell of fall morning, the atmosphere of a fall afternoon, and the over-
all colors surrounding the streets. While she was walking down the college
streets full of fall-like leaves, she saw one poster hanging around the side of
the wall.

It was covered with dust.

When she was brave enough to pick it up, the poster made a crusty sound- a
pretty interesting poster, she thought to herself.

“Calling all the actors in Highland Hills! If you’re interested, please come join
us at 399-3900-177- THIS Wednesday night. ”

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 The place she never heard of attracted her more than anything. Huge desire
winded her, telling her to be there.

“Wednesday night,”

At the same time, between two old buildings, there was a small theatre pro-
duction gathering the people. Kasey, who is one of the most important and
bossy people in this production, is doing her best to duct tape the posters into
the walls that kept falling off. She is a quite intelligent young lady with a full
passion for science. You will probably wonder what she is doing here, in the
theatre club. Yes, Kasey was never meant for this place. She never wanted to
be a part of this stupid role-playing. She never even liked plays. It was all her
friend Mark’s fault for dragging her in here. However, unlike her intuition,
she seemed like she was getting along.

Sometimes aggressive and most of the time she is bold, people describe her.

Oftentimes people call her handsome. Short silverish blond hair with a black
suit every day.

These two characters here together might sound like the most unrelated peo-
ple in the world. But all things started that Wednesday night.
Avery was still thinking- thinking whether she should be there or not. The fear
of meeting new people made her hesitate. But this time, she didn’t want to
lose her chance to be on stage. Her dream stage.

Finally, after thinking about it for a whole day, she decided to go visit that
small space.

Mark texted Kasey,

“Heyyy yk that we have new ppl coming to our place today night right?”

“YOU NEED TO BE THERE OK??

Mark was always the definition of “annoying” to Kasey. She even had a dinner
meeting with her mom today. And exactly at the moment when she was tex-
ting Mark about her not being able to join, Avery walked right across her with
the poster in her hand that Kasey made.

Kasey saw her, felt something, something tickly and cringy in her heart.

She knew at one sight that Avery was the person she ever dreamed about.

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Her fingers started to type in the fastest manner of all time.

“OK fine, stop texting me, I’ll be there.”

And the night has come; the night everybody wanted to come for different
reasons.

Kasey looking forward to seeing a girl she walked past by-

Avery looking forward to being on the stage-

The night that everybody was excited but also nervous.

It was exactly at 9 pm when Avery entered the door of this little, intimidating
place full of unknown faces. They all looked happy- she thought. the smile
they all had on their face allowed her to feel way more comfortable than her
home.

“ Okay guys, I think it’s time for us to gather up and start an introduction for
our new members!” Mark shouted. Centering Mark in the middle of the cir-
cle, tons of people started to join the circle. Avery was one of them. While her
nervous eyes were finding the spot to lean, Kasey, who was sitting on the right
opposite side of her, caught her sight. The red lipstick that she was wearing
made her heartbeat ten thousand times in a second. She was really pretty- this
was the very first impression Avery got from Kasey.

Kasey, who only has the intention to find the girl, was looking for her every-
where. Kasey desperately wanted to find her, see her and maybe go talk to that
mysterious-looking cute girl. Indeed, she blew Kasey’s mind away.
When Avery was laying her eyes on Kasey, Kasey was still finding the girl who
went across her, without knowing that the girl she is finding is looking right
into her eyes.

The introduction of the club started without them knowing that they had
completely blown each other’s minds. Kasey was sad, sad enough to leave this
place in a second. The only reason for her to come here now does not exist
since she cannot find the girl. However, when Mark was separating the large
group of people into smaller units, she recognized Avery’s yellow shoes. The
yellow converse with messy shoe ties- wet by multiple colors of paints on
the side. Kasey knew right away that Avery was the mysterious girl that she
passed by. Straight into the eye, they made long eye contact. Staring at each
other for no specific reason full of curiosity and interest.

39
 In the smaller unit of people, Mark suggested people play multiple games to
get to know each other. Kasey is one of the main staff in this club and start-
ed up the game as she described herself in three words. “Passion, power, and
cool,” she said. Everybody laughed. At that moment, Avery thought that Kasey
was cool. The funny person who can joke around with people that they just
met and pretty enough to make random people like herself fall for her. The
little smirk of Kasey was a single scene Avery wanted to keep forever.

After those short awkward games, the group decided to stand up and be more
active with others. They played several sports, catches and continued to talk to
each other in the process. In the middle of the game called “catch the queen”,
Kasey’s role was to protect Avery who was selected as the queen in this team.
Tall pretty girl with a perfect smile protecting me! Avery felt sudden but-
terflies inside of her belly right away. The more they were attached through
the game, the more tension was being created between those two. Whenever
Kasey’s blue eye caught the shape of Avery. It trembled like it was supposed to
fall in.

The night has passed like that- continuing the weird attraction for both of
them.
Kasey couldn’t take her eyes off her, kept searching for her and everything.
Her everything made Kasey feel something nobody was able to set off.

Kasey loved how Avery smiled.

Avery loved how Kasey talked.

Her voice- her single motion of act, meant something to Avery.

The tone, volume, and even the way she talks were special and unique.
Uniquely good, perfectly matching, queerly satisfying- Avery wanted to be
buried down her breath of sentences.

After the night had passed, and everybody was on their way, neither Kasey
nor Avery was able to shake off the bizarre feelings they felt from each other.
Kasey thought for another whole day about how she smelled, Avery was think-
ing about the shape of Kasey’s body.

Both desperately waiting for the next club meeting.

“Hey Mark, when is the next theatre meeting?”

40
Always talking in the most rational sense of manner and not going any deep
in emotions or feelings, Kasey thought she was becoming sick. Feeling a weird
type of trembling and tickles inside of her mind. It felt like Avery was running
inside of her brain every night.

This was not the symptom only Kasey experienced. The same thing hap-
pened to Avery. Every time Avery tries to erase Kasey out of her mind, more
and more thoughts and imaginations about her would knock down any other
thoughts she was doing. She never let her phone get out of her hand, wait-
ing for the theatre club group chat to send her any type of notification. Avery
wanted to know more, explore more about who Kasey is.

“What kind of person is she?” Avery would ask herself thousands of times,
definitely knowing that she, herself cannot answer this question at all.

“Bing”

The short type of phone sound ringed up and made the bright sound in
Avery’s hand.
The type of notification two girls waited for so long and painfully.

“Announcement, guys! We are meeting this Saturday at lunch at the same

place. Please let me or Kasey know if you are not able to attend the meeting!
We will be discussing the roles in the new play: “Romeo and Juliet”. Expect to
see you guys all there :)”

Simple and short- Mark sent the group message, informing them about the
new play the club is starting.

“Romeo and Juliet”, the classical love story between a boy and a girl, was not
Avery’s favorite, but she has always been admiring this piece since she was a
little kid.

The tragic end of love, what love is that makes people crazy.
That can even make you risk your own goddamn life!

Avery wanted to be Juliet. She wanted to feel the spotlight and the thrill the
main character always went through. Harsh family, tragic but beautiful love,
magic, and the scent of mysterious perfume. Everything sounds so romantic
in play.

41
 For several days, all Avery did with her time was watching the movie ‘Romeo
and Juliet’, memorizing some of the scripts, and imagining how she would
look on the stage. She knew she needed to get this role. Or else she would re-
gret this for her entire life. For this one time, Avery decided firmly, she will be
brave.

Kasey had a very busy weekend. Her science projects, assignments, labs, and
even internship were all together cramping- killing her. She spent every single
night with an energy drink- drinking and drinking almost drowning herself
into the dump of the red bull ocean. She sometimes thought about Avery, her
smile, and the sensations she woke up.

When she was finally finished with everything, it was the early morning of
Saturday. Quiet birds were tweeting, the early sunrise created the fog, and the
lovely dawn air scent made her refreshed. Kasey’s eyes were not okay, but the
satisfaction she felt at that moment made her happy enough. Out of nowhere,
she suddenly felt the strong desire of going out and taking a quick walk along
with this fresh scent. Her tiredness was killing her almost- but- she felt like
she would miss something really special if she doesn’t go out right now. Final-
ly, around four in the morning, she gradually opened the door of her house.
Cold and fresh air surrounded her right away. How peaceful and calm that felt
like. Everything was alright.

Avery woke up this morning with a weird dream going inside in her head. She
was with Kasey, holding her hand, looking at each other like they were the
only people left in this world. It felt so odd, queer, and wrong to have a dream
like this- Avery storm out of my dormitory. Four in the morning, everyone
was fast asleep. The sun was rising through- making some kind of calming
and relaxing mood. Fresh air touched her skin, pacifying down her blushed
cheek. She liked how the early morning made her feel; thinking that she
should come out often at this time.

In the middle of the campus, there is a huge water fountain that holds the
story of two impossible loves. Nobody seems to believe the story itself, but,
the students did take the water fountain as a romantic place on the campus.
It was well-made architecture, to be honest, one of the best architectures on
the campus. Students, moreover, just general visitors of the college throw the
coins inside of this fountain to find real love.

Kasey was looking at this water fountain, of course, with no water running
down. She thought of herself not having any love life. Oftentimes, she blamed
herself, thinking that herself has the fundamental problem. But, that isn’t
true; she knew it. Kasey was never meant to love men.

42
Although she was forced, forced too hard to choose who she wants to love- it
was impossible and still is impossible. Well, she realized this when she was in
high school. However, since she is too scared to come out and make a confes-
sion of her love towards other girls, she just decided to never have a love life.
The water fountain tale about two impossible lovers stimulates every kind of
thinking in her head.

Avery was on the other side of the water fountain, also wishing her real love
for the fountain. She never believed this kind of tale, but today, the scent of
dawn and the color of early blue sunrise made her feel mysterious and ob-
scure.

Bling- the bright sound of the coin fell to the ground of the water fountain,
and reflected the light to the other side.

Avery glanced to her coin, and to the place where the light was pointing.

There was Kasey.

Kasey was shocked. She couldn’t believe her own eyes. The girl she met in the
theatre club, the girl who walked right across her, the girl made her feel every
weirdness in the world- Avery was standing right in front of her.

“Hey.” Kasey carefully opened her mouth. She didn’t want to destroy her
peaceful smile on her face.

“Hi, good morning,” responded Avery, also not wanting to disturb the feeling
of rest and symphony that existed at that moment. Both glanced at each other,
for several minutes.

“It’s weird to see you out this early, I’m Kasey. I think we met in the club last
week?”

Kasey’s heart was beating so fast, every second, she felt like her whole mind
would crush right now. She thought she was ill. Ill.

“Oh, yeah, nice to see you again, Kasey. I’m Avery.”

Avery was so happy to talk to her. Finally, oh finally. She screamed in her
mind.

“Wanna grab an unexpected breakfast with me?” asked Kasey.

43
 She was trembling her hands. Never did she know that Kasey, herself could
ever be nervous. It was all of a sudden she had the desire to ask Avery for
breakfast. Every kind of thought crashed in her brain. ‘What should I do if
she says no?’ ‘Does she have a boyfriend?’ ‘Is this too much to ask in the first
place?’ ‘What is she doing outside this early?’ ‘I don’t want her to think I’m a
creep.’ and lastly ‘Oh my god, why am I feeling in this way.’

“Sure, I would love to,” answered Avery, with the cute blush around her chick.
She was blushing. In her brain, every romantic situation was happening.
Kasey’s quick smirk was sexy enough to make Avery’s mind blown away, like
the wind of chilly 5 am morning weather.

Kasey walked toward Avery, checking her out from head to toe, admiring how
beautiful she looked even in the morning.

Avery was gazing at Kasey, thinking how she seemed incredibly perfect even
though Kasey was literally in her pajamas.

It’s quite a shame, Kasey thought. To ask out a pretty girl in pajama.

“What do you wanna have?” asked Avery, this time, noticing the height differ-
ence between Kasey and her. Kasey was quite tall, Avery was quite short. They
looked just like a perfect couple from the back.

“Everything works for you, works for me,” Kasey smirked. Her goofy smile
was cute- I mean it, really cute.

“Oh, I know this one cute place that sells bagels for breakfast. It’s just after
this corner, also!” Avery shouted, mentioning her favorite place in this town.
Full with plants, artworks, and colorful lights- she secretly hoped Kasey would
enjoy the place as she does too.

“Sounds fantastic,” Kasey responded.

While they were walking down the street together, an inch between their
shoulders, they slowly started to get to know each other.

The more they talk and the deeper they go in with the conversation, the more
they felt something to each other.

Kasey realized that Avery was a different person compared to her.

She was colorful, sunny, free, and lively. She made Kasey smile the most.

44
Avery made her think about values in life, the beauty of nature, and eventu-
ally how lucky Kasey was. She was a way better form of person than Kasey
thought. Avery was the best person Kasey met so far- that made her happy,
bright, and energetic. She was just like an energy drink. During the entire
time they were talking, about 20 minutes, the amount of happiness Kasey felt
was incompatible.

Avery thought Kasey was the coolest person she ever met. Kasey was an
achievable, well-organized, and hard worker. She was more than an amazing
person. Avery felt like if she was with Kasey, she could learn more. Not only
about the subjects in college, but also about the people and life. In Avery’s
eyes, Kasey was the smartest person among all.

‘Her eyes are so pretty.’ She had those blue eyes. But not like other people. It’s
deeper than a sea than an ocean. It was more like a space in her eyes. It was
sparkling with intelligence. Avery felt like she could last forever just watching
her eyes. She was falling for her. Falling for every aspect of Kasey.

It is quite sudden that they caught feelings for each other in an absolutely
short amount of time. Hence, both of them were more careful in expressing
how they feel for each other. Considering if their words could make each other
feel burden or shock.

The place Avery introduced was very cute. It gives off a cozy mood with all
those charming plants and lofi music. Avery was thrilled that Kasey seemed to
like the place.

The meal was out but they didn’t stop talking.

Like two soulmates, everything they say was extremely attractive and interest-
ing to each other. End of the breakfast, Kasey knew almost everything about
Avery, and Avery likewise learned a lot about Kasey.

Kasey thought Avery was very adorable when she’s talking about things that
she is into. When she was talking about arts and plays, her eyes shined, her
actions got bigger and her voice became higher.

Avery loved it when Kasey told her fun episodes that happened in the science
laboratory. This time she fell and broke her arm, the time that she spilled the
bacteria all over the microscope, and the time that she sprayed a fire extin-
guisher to herself because her hair was on fire. Avery laughed and laughed.
The sound of Kasey’s voice and Avery’s laugh filled the entire store. They be-
came more than just strangers, today.

45
 In the end, Kasey didn’t want to let Avery go like this. Regardless of the time
being 8 am, she still wanted to be with her a little longer. Her eyelids were
falling and she couldn’t resist the sleep coming into her arms, but still, she
wanted Avery to stay a little while longer. Avery knew Kasey was tired and
sleepy. She heard how long Kasey was studying last night and how many days
she went on without actually getting any sleep. Avery didn’t want to let Kasey
go either. Yet she also didn’t want to make Kasey double her tiredness.

“Can we meet tomorrow too?” in a bashful tone and smile, Avery asked Kasey.
Doesn’t matter if they have breakfast together or not, Avery wanted to be with
Kasey, spending more time with her and learning more deeply about this per-
son.

“I would love to. Sorry for being so tired today, haha” she laughed awkwardly,
actually being sorry.

“Since we had breakfast today, how about lunch tomorrow? I’ll show you my
favorite place around this town.”
“ And the next day, can we have dinner together? ”
“And then the next day we can grab some snacks at night watching movies in
my place.”
“Yes, I’m asking you out, please don’t say no.”

Kasey finished her sentence. She tried her best to look and sound cool, keep-
ing her anxiety inside of her. But little did she know that Avery was able to
detect how nervous Kasey was asking those questions. Kasey was bold. Those
questions were really brave, but also smooth. There was no way Avery was re-
jecting this. Avery already fell for her at the first sight and fallen again by her
conflicting personality. She was such a charming person.

46
47
48
How I Met Uncle William?
Lara Mayda
My story is about a man who is living alone in a small
town and he is the butcher of that town. He is so strict
with his timing and he always repeats his schedule
everyday. He is quite large and tall so many people are
intimidated by him. He has a quite sad background,
his whole family abandoned him when he was little
and he was always alone. One day, he meets this little
boy who he later becomes best friends with and he
discovers a side of himself he thought he lost.

William lives in a small village. He has been living there for all his life.
For 47 years, he did not leave the village, he was a butcher; everyone went to
his shop to buy their meat.
William has finished with his work again like always, right at 7 pm, he
started walking to his home. He had the same routine, every day he would
wake up at 7 am, eat his breakfast, and would walk to work. He would open
his shop at 7:45 and he would sharpen his knives and start to welcome all the
customers right at 8 am. Anyone who came to his shop earlier than 8, knows
that they would need to wait.
William was really strict with his timing and he always needed
everything in place. If a table or chair was not in its original spot, he would get
nuts and run there to make everything perfect.
He has lived alone all his life, this butchery was everything that his father left
for him after he died. His mother and baby brother left William as soon as his
father died. He didn’t know where they were but William never felt their ab-
sence. None of his family members made any contact with him for 32 years.
William wasn’t even sure if he would remember them if they visited his butch-
ery or if he ran into them in the small streets of his village. He sometimes had
stupid thoughts like this. He didn’t like them, he did not have time to day-
dream about something which will never happen.
Everyone in the town knew that William did not like talking about his
family, it was a sensitive topic for him and he didn’t allow anyone to question
him about this issue. William cared about his past and his family even though
he acted like he didn’t. He never gets along with kids well, he would get all
mad and stressed when a kid stepped into his shop or a kid playing in a play-
ground. No matter what they did or how those little creatures acted, it did not
matter, they always would find a way to get on William’s nerves.

As William was lost in thought while blading his knife, someone

knocked on his shop’s door. The “knock knock” sound ran through his empty,
cold shop.

49
 William checked the big old white clock on the wall, it was still 7:47 am. He
was staring at the door confused, that person should not be someone from
the town. He ignored the knock and continued on blading his knife. He heard
a knock on the door again and again. It was getting repeated, over and over.
William was getting more frustrated at every knock, he could feel his ears
getting red and his hands turning into a fist. He looked at the clock one more
time, 7:48.
The knocks on the door were getting louder. William couldn’t resist it,
he ran over to the door, stomping his feet, and opened it with a rush. He was
so mad that you could hear him deeply breathing. He looked out the door but
couldn’t see anyone present. He was mad, he couldn’t believe that someone
would knock on the door and just leave. He yelled “Who is it?” still staring at
the emptiness. There was no one. He was going to close the door until he felt
someone touching his leg. He looked down and saw a little boy looking up to
him. William was shocked, his anger turned into grief. He stared at the little
boy with empty looks. The boy was looking at William with a smile. He was
not scared of Williams’s anger or his huge body. The boy asked William “Can
I get some chicken?”. William was still confused, he never saw a kid in this
town who was not scared to come close to him.
All the kids of this town were scared of him. William did not know the
reason but it might be because he is tall and huge or because he was so intim-
idating, for some reason. Whatever the reason was, this little boy was the only
one who smiled at him and who was not scared to stand near him.
William acknowledged the little boy’s question and said “My shop is not open
right now. Can’t you read the label?” he said pointing to his front door. The
little boy looked at him confused, he looked inside the shop and pointed at
the clock “It says 8 at that clock, sir.” William looked at the clock. It was true
it was 8 am. He stepped aside, feeling like he lost to this little boy, and let the
little boy enter his shop, while still being quite frustrated.
William acknowledged the little boy’s question and said “My shop is
not open right now. Can’t you read the label?” he said pointing to his front
door. The little boy looked at him confused, he looked inside the shop and
pointed at the clock “It says 8 at that clock, sir.” William looked at the clock.
It was true it was 8 am. He stepped aside, feeling like he lost to this little boy,
and let the little boy enter his shop, while still being quite frustrated. The boy
examined every corner of the small shop. He looked at the white old walls, the
counter, and sad-looking tables. He finally arrived at the counter and repeat-
ed: “Can I get some chicken, sir?” William stared at the little boy, he had some
blue pants on with a small white t-shirt, which had red stripes on it. The boy
was wearing a blue baseball cap which matched his shoes. After looking at the
little boy, William realized that all his frustration was gone, he did not feel
angry that the little boy came into the store early, he wasn’t mad that he inter-
rupted him and ruined his everyday schedule.

50
William was rather calm and relieved. He was quite at peace that this little
man entered his shop and was just waiting there, patiently for his order. Wil-
liam started to pack the little boy’s chicken and asked “Do you want to get
some legs, chest, or some wings?” You could sense no emotion from the ques-
tion he asked. He kept a straight face for the whole time.
The little boy got into his tippy toes, trying to look at the chicken pieces
from the glass. He could barely see anything but he also did not want to get
the ‘butchery sir’ sad or mad. So he answered “ Whichever part is the best sir.
You can pick something for me” with a calm voice.
William was confused but he carried on and gave the boy a little bit of
everything. While he was still packaging his order, he asked “How much do
you need?”, the little boy was still on his tippy toes, trying to make eye contact
with William. He did not know what to answer so he repeated “Whatever is
the best. You can pick for me sir.” William was still quite confused, who would
send this little boy to shop at a butcher when he doesn’t even know what to
get. He carried on the packaging and when he went in front of the cash box, he
saw the little boy, holding a small amount of money in his hands. He was on
his tippy toes trying to give the money to William.
William took the money from him and it was barely enough to buy even
one piece of chicken breast but he continued to pack. He made long eye con-
tact with the little boy and handed him his order. The little boy said thank you
while leaving the store. William was still confused about the situation but he
tried to continue on with his work. For some reason, that little boy made him
open a door to somewhere William never knew existed. It felt like William and
that boy was compatible in some way. They were similar in the sense of their
stubbornness. He was smiling, as soon as he realized, he loosened his muscles
and walked back to his chair. He couldn’t help himself but think about why
the boy came in here without even knowing what to order. The big old clock
kept ticking and ticking and Williams’s thoughts and wonders about this boy
kept adding up.

When the day finished, William was walking home, his eyes still search-
ing for the little boy. There was no one, not even a soul around him. He kept
on walking and walking until he arrived at his house. He opened the door,
which created a huge crack sound. He closed the door and went up to his
bedroom. He turned around after he heard a whisper. He heard it again and
again. He tried to follow the sound, which was leading him to his living room.
He searched the small room but saw nothing. He looked out the window and
there he was, the little boy who asked for chicken. He was staring at the boy
being shocked. He was sharing the chicken with a woman and a boy. William
tried to listen to what they were saying, he heard nothing but whispers.

51
 He opened his window trying to be quiet but at the moment he opened
it, he recognized the woman. She had long brown hair and dark green eyes.
Her hair was braided and she was cooking the chicken for the boys. They were
living right across from William. It was crazy because William never saw them
before. He wasn’t even aware of the fact that he had neighbors. That’s when
it hit him, he was so focused on working and following his schedule that he
was actually separated from the real world. That woman was his mother and
the boys were his brothers. He raised his hand to knock on the door but he
couldn’t do it. He was standing frozen in front of the door, not being able to
move a muscle.

William was still in denial why did he saw that woman why did he saw
that little boy today. Suddenly all the questions which he tried to avoid for
all his life hit him. If that woman was really his mother why did she left him?
Why did she never come back? Never called? Why didn’t she visit? William
was still standing in front of the door. Suddenly, his whole body turned and
they started to walk to his own house. William had no control over it, he
couldn’t stop it. It felt like his body and mind were running away from the
fact that, the woman might really be his mother. He had so many unanswered
questions but he did not want to know the answers. Why? Because he was
scared to find the truth, maybe he was scared that his family wouldn’t want to
see him again or maybe he was just avoiding this situation like he did every
day.

“This was the story guys now everyone go to sleep,” said, John. The kids
looked sad and one of them in yellow pajamas said “But dad we want to hear
more about what happened to uncle William?” The other kids shook their
heads saying ‘yes’. The girl spoke again and asked “Why did he not wanted to
see you and knocked on the door?”, “Could he tell that you were the little boy
who bought chicken from him?”, “How did you guys meet now?” Many ques-
tions were raised from the kids but John was too tired to answer them all. He
said, “ Perhaps uncle William can tell you guys more about it another day but
you guys should sleep now”. Kids walked to their beds in disappointment.

52
53
54
Isang Kumatok
Layla Cyhn
A story about how far impact of what we donate can
reach and how it can be shown in the rarest of situa-
tions, even standing in traffic, waiting for the light to
turn green.

With a wobbling lip, I turned around and stared at the leather car seat
in front of me. My mother, as always, urged me to ignore the kids as they
came, stretched up on their tip-toes to knock desperately on the car window,
and it was an order that I did not plan on breaking. In the corner of my eye, I
saw the plastic flowers and beads coated in chipped paint hanging off of their
small, dirty fingers, rattling together from the wind. Only thirty pesos, I saw
the little girl mouth. Only thirty, ma’am!
Today was the day when I finally decided to break the golden rule of the
car. I turned and made direct eye contact with the little girl. She stared hope-
fully at me, her brown eyes shining with a newfound sense of optimism, and
pressed the plastic flower package against the window. As she held it against
the glass, I couldn’t help but notice the mass effort it took her, her scrawny
arm quivering with the unexpected endeavour. The rest of the kids were even
younger than her, chewing on their thumbs and pulling at their oversized
shirts as they waited impatiently for any response from our car. Almost sub-
consciously, I reached for the small Hello Kitty coin purse in the pocket of my
dress, only to be stopped by my mother.
“I want to help.”, I argued weakly, trying to ignore the second round
of knocking the children had started. “It won’t help them.” she stated sadly,
looking firmly ahead. “Street gangs send these children to panhandle in order
to gain sympathy from drivers. Anything we give them will go into their pock-
ets, not a child’s hands.”
I stared, comprehending her words but not willing to understand. With
the green light, the car started again, jolting me out of my daze, and caus-
ing the children outside our car to scramble out of the way. I quickly twisted
around in my seat, peering over the headrest to watch them as we sped off. I
made eye contact with the girl only to feel a twinge of guilt as I saw her once
round-with-hope eyes dullened and weighed down as if she had suddenly
aged forty years. The bead necklace hung limply, clasped in her small hands,
as she quickly grabbed the hand of the nearest child next to her and rushed
them away from the roaring cars.

55
56
Oroitz and Leitihia
Lily Kim
A story about how far impact of what we donate can
reach and how it can be shown in the rarest of situa-
tions, even standing in traffic, waiting for the light to
turn green.

There are two types of paladins, in Oroitz’s opinion. One is the well-
known paladins that represent the kingdom. The second is the undercover,
forced to deal with most of the dirty work. The latter is the paladin that is
willing to kill anything in its way for the kingdom. The paladin, facing Oroitz,
is part of the latter. Her armor contrasts against the forest that they are both
standing in front of. The fog, thick and hazy like his future, moves gently
through the dead thickets. She is unmoving. A statue. He can’t tell what her
expression is. The ivory helmet conceals any sort of reaction towards the rot-
ting odor he emits. She tilts her head, and she’s about to say something when
the rogue, who brought him here, greets her.
“Leithia!”
“Harika,” Leithia calmly greets back. “Who is this?”
The rogue smiled. “This is our new healer, Oroitz. You know–since our
previous healer ran
away.”
“...Right.” He knows what she’s thinking. A suspicious healer, covered
in bandages from head to toe, with a mask concealing his face. Worse, he
smells like death. Harika gives him a brief sympathetic smile.
“Hey, don’t be upset now. You know how hard it is to get a healer these
days,” Harika patted Leithia’s shoulder, “I know you’re still sad about what
happened to him, but I think you’ll like the new guy.”
Oroitz doubts she will.
He only hopes that he won’t have to talk to her.
–•–
Within two days of traveling with the party, Oroitz’s hope immediate-
ly dies. They have their first encounter while they’re crossing a swamp. He
remembers how it started. Someone from their party had set off a trap. Now
he’s sitting behind a tree, arrows flying through the air. He swears that the
rogue told him it was going to be safe.
‘It’ll be okay,’ she said. ‘Nobody is going to die.’ she said.
He wonders what she’ll say if he told her he was an undead–the exact

57
 enemy they were fighting. Leithia, while taking cover beside him, is holding
Harika close to her chest, the blood dripping down the armor.
“Oroitz!” the paladin urges. He blinks at Leithia before sliding to her
side. Mud slips under the soles of his boots as he tries to balance himself. Hes-
itation takes over him for a moment before he heals Harika. As he’s healing
the rogue, he tries his best to ignore the sickly scent of his body rotting. The
large puncture wound that came from the trees is slowly closing together. If
he keeps going, it would be enough to get Harika back into consciousness. All
he needs is a few more minutes–
“Stop,” There’s a gloved hand that pushes his hand down, “why are you
rotting?”
When he looks up, a realization occurs that she is looking at his hand.
His decomposing hand. He doesn’t say anything until he sees blood seeping
under her armor. It’s not only Harika’s blood but also hers. Without hesita-
tion, he places his hand on her stomach and starts healing her. Even though
Oroitz hears Leithia urging him to stop, he keeps healing her until his arm is
yanked away by Leithia.
“You’re going to die if you leave that wound open,” Oroitz says.
“And what about you? You’re an undead, aren’t you?” When Oroitz
doesn’t answer, she grabs his hand. “I don’t care if you’re one. The problem is
that I can’t let you get hurt.”
“Hey–just–let’s not talk about this now, alright?” Oroitz pulls back his
hand, and she gazes at him. He doesn’t know what she’s thinking, and it’s
unsettling him. Before he’s able to ask for confirmation that she won’t say
anything, Harika wakes up. She has this confused look on her face, unaware of
what had just happened to her.
“Harika?” Leithia asks. “Are you alright?”
Harika looks at Leithia, lost. “Well, looking at the fact that I’m still
breathing, yes.” They think everything is good until Harika looks at Oroitz.
“Who is this?” Oroitz’s heart sinks. There’s no recognition in Harika’s
eyes. She doesn’t recognize him. They don’t have time to talk about it, howev-
er, as more enemies begin to attack.
It’s a blur after then.
By the time it’s over, it’s already night. The rest of the members had
already finished cleaning up the bodies. Now Oroitz is sitting at the fireplace,
looking at the leftover stew in the pot. It’s quiet. Harika and the rest have gone
off to sleep. When he looks up, he sees the paladin waiting for him. It’s only
Oroitz and Leithia. Leithia is the first to break the silence.
“So you are an undead.”
Oroitz looks down at his bandaged hands. “Yes.”
“How long?”
“A few days,” he answers.
“Figures,” she tilts her chin towards the cloak he wears, “I’m guessing

58
you were part of the army that the West King took care of.”
Oroitz tilts his head, unsure of who that is. He then peers down at his
cloak, noticing the strange symbol on his right shoulder. It’s obvious to any-
one’s eyes. Leithia continues.
“The West King relies on repurposing corpses,” Leithia points out. “It
doesn’t matter if you wanted it or not. He’ll use them until they’re completely
gone from this world. That symbol, you’ve
got there, is the symbol of his army.”
“What about the healers,” Oroitz leans forward, “What happens to their
body?” She stares at him for a moment, deep in thought. He can’t tell what
she’s thinking.
“He’d still be able to revive them. The problem is the healing magic they
use. Once they start using it, their body starts rotting. Repurposed, like every-
one else, but they’re the ones that quickly die.”
“Do you know who I am?” He asks.
“Well, I wouldn’t know because you have your mask on.”
“Ah,” Oroitz realizes and removes his mask, “how about now?”
For a moment, Leithia doesn’t reply. She simply sits there, silently. He
thinks he might have heard the sound of a sharp inhale of breath. A popping
noise comes from Leithia before her helmet rolls towards his legs. She leans
forward. In the dark, he barely sees the scars that cross her face. It’s a face
that has seen enough. For a moment, he thinks she looks familiar. As if she’s
trying to repress a memory, she has her mouth tight-lipped.
“I might have killed you.”
“Well, that’s certainly nice to hear.”
“Can’t say I’m not sorry.” She hands him a loaf of bread as an apology.
“Have you thought about healing yourself?”
Oroitz shook his head. “I did that before. Healing does work, except I’m
still rotting when I do so.”
“That’s a shame,” she glances at his arm, “can I see your arm?”
In the dark, as the ember crackles and glows, Oroitz puts his hand in her
palm. Her fingers latch into the hem of worn-off bandages and pull it back.
There’s a silence as Oroitz processes what will happen next. When she looks
up at him, there’s regret in her eyes.
“We should have brought a second healer,” she murmurs. They don’t
say anything for the rest of the night.
As their journey continues, they both start getting along. Leithia saves
Oroitz. He saves her. Both of them are bonding through near-death experienc-
es. Oroitz tries to ignore that each time he heals her, she looks more and more
worried about his health. He knows he can ignore it. What he can’t hide away
from is the way others look at him.
As their journey continues, they both start getting along. Leithia
saves Oroitz. He saves her.

59
 Both of them are bonding through near-death experiences. Oroitz tries to ig-
nore that each time he heals her, she looks more and more worried about his
health. He knows he can ignore it. What he can’t hide away from is the way
others look at him.
Sometimes he wishes some things would change.
How the bandit that used to joke with him doesn’t greet him as a
stranger.
How the cooker that used to discuss the meaning of life talks to him
again.
How the archer that used to help him bury the dead would pray with
him.
And each day, the list of wishes grows longer. Each time Oroitz saves
someone from death, he tries to ignore how they don’t recognize him. Every
confused look at him as to why he’s here breaks a part of him. There’s a bur-
den on his shoulder that counts every second to his death. Despite knowing
that nothing will change, he continues to heal everyone until they reach the
West King. He knows he won’t survive if he keeps ongoing. Is it worth being
forgotten? Would everything have been better if he just let them die? Oroitz
doesn’t know.
It’s another night just between Oroitz and Leithia. The fire crackles once
more while Oroitz pokes at its burning wood with a sword. The rotting stench
he emits is thick in the air. His hands are rotten and worn out from all the
healing he did. The bones in his body groan in protest as he leans forward.
Now Oroitz isn’t sure what to say. Should he tell her about his curse? How
every time he saves a person, they forget him?
Oroitz doesn’t know.
All he knows is that he won’t survive.
The first thing he does is bring out alcohol.
“Leithia,” he takes a swig, “what if every time you save someone from
death, they forget you?
Would you do it, still? Leithia shrugs and taps her fingers against her
knee. “I’d do it,” she answers. “Why?”
Oroitz does his best to act nonchalant. “I’m just wondering. After all, tonight
is the last day. I’ll have your back for tomorrow, just focus on killing the West
King–”
“You’re going to stand back.” Leithia cuts him off. “I’m not joking. ” He nods
at her before shrugging.
“Hey, as long as both of us are alive, we’ll be fine.”
It doesn’t go fine.
How did it all go wrong? Oroitz tries to play it back. One by one, they forgot
him. Second by second, he rotted. He was healing the other party member,
while Leithia was fighting against the West King.

60
There was a thick scent of blood filling the air. Thirty of their teammates were
dead on the ground. Her sword snapped in two, clashed against the king’s
spear. Even so, she was gaining the upper hand.
They were so close to winning this fight.
So close to ending this fight.
As she was trying to block the attack to the left, the king had stabbed
her in the chest with a spare spear. Oroitz doesn’t remember when the king
had managed to get the spear. He knows that the blow was fatal. Unwilling to
go down, she had snatched the left spear and stabbed the king back. The king
went down.
So does she.
It is now his decision on whether to save her or not. The healing has left
a toll on his body. Oroitz looks like a corpse, and Leithia looks like one too. He
lets out a deep sigh. How did it all go wrong? Was there ever a moment where
anything went right? There’s an urge to whimper, scream, or shout. Oroitz
is scared. If the frantic thumping of his heart isn’t evidence, then it’s how he
keeps recalling back to their last conversation.
Would you still do it?
He doesn’t know.
–•–
When Leithia wakes up, her memories are blurred. Pain shoots through
her chest as she pulls herself up, looking around. There’s blood everywhere.
Her hands. Her chest. Her stomach. It’s everywhere.
When her vision focuses better, she sees a creature. A rotting figure.
He notices that she’s awake and raises his hand. The rotten fingers are reach-
ing for her. The face, sunken and covered in soiled bandages gazes into her.
Leithia holds her breath and grabs the sword beside her. For a moment, be-
hind those glazed eyes, she sees acceptance in the monster’s eyes, but she
must be hallucinating. She doesn’t know him.
He makes a noise, almost as if it’s an apology before his body falls. Un-
moving. Dead. Gone. Leithia doesn’t say anything. She only stares at the re-
mains as it starts to turn into dust, which floats in the wind.
At first, there is a hushed silence as she watches from the corner of her eyes.
People rise from their wounds. They look around. Then she hears the cook,
Orland, murmur.
We won.

61
 From behind her, there’s a growing noise murmur. Disbelief. Joy. Vic-
tory. Then it turns into a celebration. A celebration that it is over. The cheer-
ing turns into a roar. A roar of victory. As the forest is filled with sounds of
joy and triumph, Leithia’s vision turns blurry with tears. She looks up at the
sky, the sun embracing her with warmth. It’s a beautiful day today. A perfect
day where she should be smiling. And yet. And yet she weeps and weeps and
weeps. Leithia doesn’t know why. Perhaps she is simply happy that it is all
over.

64
63
64
The Airplane
Presley Blake
They say that family is forever, and Tessa Mason
knows that. So when her sister stops replying to her
calls, Tessa knows that she needs to go be with her
sister and make sure that nothing is wrong, and heads
on a plane towards her sister. On the plane, though,
she may find that her sister has been hiding something
from her, and that something is out to kill them both,
no matter what.

Tessa tapped her foot anxiously, waiting for the plane to take off. It was taking
much too long, and she’d already been delayed a few hours ago. Her two bags
were tucked into the overhead compartment, and the young man sitting next
to her had already fallen asleep. Tessa envied his sleep. She wished she had
the ability to not worry as much as she did.

Tessa looked around the plane, trying to figure out when they would start to
move. The plane needed to go, now. Tessa rummaged in her small purse and
pulled out her phone, hoping to be able to contact her sister.

She dialed the number with shaking fingers, and held the phone up to her ear.
One ring, two rings, three rings. Tessa felt her foot begin to tap faster. Four
rings, five rings, six. One of the attendants was looking at Tessa now, a frown
on her face. It was only a matter of time until she came over to reprimand her
for using her phone. Seven rings, eight rings, nine rings, ten. The attendant
started to make her way over to Tessa and she snapped the phone shut, trying
to hold back angry tears. She hadn’t been able to contact her sister for a few
days now.

“Excuse me, ma’am?” The attendant was here, and she was trying to look po-
lite. The tiredness of her face told Tessa otherwise. She was annoyed.

“I’ll keep my phone off, don’t worry,” Tessa whispered, trying to keep quiet so
the man next to her wouldn’t wake up.

The attendant nodded wearily, and walked back to the front of the plane. To
Tessa’s surprise, as soon as she got to the front, the plane began to move.
Trying to stifle the relief she felt, Tessa leaned against the window and let out
a quiet sigh.

“Do you not like planes?” a voice asked.

65
 Tessa whipped her head around to see the young man who had been sleeping
next to her. He was undoubtedly awake now, and his green eyes were glitter-
ing with amusement.

“No,” Tessa said, letting annoyance leak into her voice. “I just need to get
home as quickly as possible.”

“Did something bad happen?” the man asked. He didn’t really seem con-
cerned, but Tessa noticed his face was turning more pale as the plane moved
down to the runway.

Tessa laughed, despite her worries. “You’re scared of planes!”

“Not willingly,” the man said. “And I’m not scared of planes themselves, just
taking off. Besides, aren’t you scared of dying in a plane?”

“Not right now, no,” Tessa replied, just as the plane readied itself for take-
off. Tessa laid back in her seat as the plane built up speed and raced off the
ground. Her heart was beating rather fast at the sudden motion, but she didn’t
let that bother her.

As soon as the plane was in the air, the man next to her relaxed. “So,” he said,
smiling. “What’s your name?”

“Tessa,” Tessa replied. “What’s yours?”

“Robert,” he said. “But you can call me Rob.” He winked at her, and Tessa
rolled her eyes. She was way too old for him.

“Okay then Robert,” she said, reaching down to grab one of her books. “I’m
just going to read now.”

The man nodded and she opened to the first page. She found, very quickly,
that reading could not distract her from her worries. Her hands were still
trembling, and the words on the page were spinning. Taking another deep
breath, she tried to relax in her chair. She crossed her legs, then uncrossed
them. She leaned back, then moved back forward. Nothing made her relaxed.

“You seem tense,” Robert said, his green eyes still glittering. “Is there some-
thing wrong?”

Tessa shook her head briskly. “Nothing’s wrong.” She brought her hand up to
her face and began to bite her nails, much to her embarrassment.

66
Robert smiled. “It seems like something’s wrong.”

Tessa sighed. She didn’t want to spill her problems to a random stranger, but
at this point she felt so stressed it was better to just get the words out. “My sis-
ter hasn’t been replying to any of my calls for a few days. I know it’s silly, but I
feel like I need to go see her.”

She expected Robert to laugh, as he was a young man who seemed to be quite
sarcastic, but instead he pursed his lips together. “It’s not silly.” His statement
shocked Tessa with its maturity. “It’s good to worry about family.”

“So why are you traveling?” Tessa asked, trying to get the topic of conversa-
tion off her.

“Vacation,” Robert said, grinning. “I have a high demand job, and I haven’t
had a day off in a few good years. I decided it was finally time to take my first
vacation.”

“You’ve never been on vacation before?” Tessa didn’t really care, but all of
this talking was distracting her. The plane ride would only be a few hours, but
Tessa was dreading every second she wasn’t with her sister. Her gut was tell-
ing her that something terrible had happened, and although Tessa wasn’t sure
what it was yet, the feeling was haunting her.

“Nope!” Robert replied happily. If he could tell that Tessa was just trying to
distract herself, he didn’t mention it. “I’m a bit busy, and my family was never
really big on vacations.”

“How strange,” Tessa said. “My family loved to go on vacation.” She winced
internally at the reminder of her family, and her sister. Her foot started to tap
against the seat again.

“You’re thinking about your sister, aren’t you?” Robert said, tilting his head.
“You must really love her.”

Tessa lowered her head, feeling embarrassed. She didn’t like to share feelings
in general, and sharing them with a stranger was just uncomfortable to her.
“Yeah,” she said awkwardly, twisting her hands together. “Yeah, I do.”

“I have a sister too,” Robert said grinning. “Her name is Emily. What’s your
sister’s name?”

“Lara,” Tessa replied, her mouth twisting into a frown.

67
 “She’s the youngest in the family, and everyone has always been protective of
her.”

“Emily is actually older than me, and good thing too, because she’s the only
one who can make competent decisions in my family. Besides my mom, of
course,” Robert said, and he smiled as he talked. Another thing Tessa was
envious of. “I’m sure your sister is just fine,” Robert continued, nodding his
head. “You’re probably just worrying for nothing. As long as you stay calm,
I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

“Thanks,” Tessa said, but she wasn’t really listening to the man’s words any-
more. She was staring out the window, at the blue sky. How long had it been
since the plane had taken off? Twenty minutes? Fifteen? It felt like hours, but
Tessa knew her reality was much different than what was actually happening.

“Can I ask why you think something’s wrong with your sister? Besides the bad
feeling and the missed calls, of course.” Robert suddenly asked, looking in-
sanely curious.

Tessa sighed. “I’m not exactly sure why, besides the bad feeling and all. I just
have a sisterly intuition that something has gone terribly wrong.”

“Hmm,” Robert said, scratching his chin. “And what will you do if something
is wrong?”

Tessa eyed him strangely. “I’m not sure. I’m more focused on just getting to
my sister first. After I do that I can decide what to do.”

“Well, what if she’s really hurt or something? Or maybe she’s been kidnapped.
How will you find her?” Robert demanded, practically vibrating with the
words. One of the flight attendants shushed them, and the gleam in Robert’s
eyes died, making him glare at her angrily.

Tessa wasn’t exactly sure why Robert was asking these questions, but she
knew she didn’t like them. The gleam in his eyes had made her nervous. Sud-
denly, she realized that he was a complete stranger. She had just told all of her
worries to a complete stranger. All of them! Tessa wanted to cover her face
with her hands. What was wrong with her? Robert seemed a little crazy, and
she had told him all of her worries!

“I don’t know what I’ll do, okay?” Tessa whispered forcefully, trying not to an-
ger the already irritated flight attendant. She leaned back against her seat and
closed her eyes, trying to ignore Robert.

68
“I know what you’ll do,” Robert whispered back, and the gleam in his eyes was
back. Tessa warily leaned back against her seat, fully aware now that she was
in the window seat, and Robert was blocking her from the rest of the aisle.
Maybe she ought to irritate the flight attendant again.

“You’re sounding crazy!” Tessa said, this time at a normal tone. Her hands
clenched the seat carefully. A few minutes ago this stranger had seemed nice,
and now Tessa regretted having ever talked to him.

“Maybe I am a little crazy,” Robert whispered back. “But if you don’t listen to
this crazy man, your sister, Lara Mason, will be dead by tonight.”

Her heart stopped. Time slowed down. Tessa could still see the irritated look
on the flight attendant’s face, but it seemed blurry and disproportionate now.
“What?” she said softly, and her voice broke. Her brain seemed to be yelling
at her that she had been right, that her sister was in trouble. “What?” Tessa
repeated, a little louder this time.

“Lara Jane Mason. That’s your sister’s name, right?” Robert asked, leaning his
head back against the seat. He was still smiling. “Of course, you already told
me her first name. I saw her a few days ago. Quite a nice girl. Easily scared,
though.”

“You...you what?” Tessa asked, trying to wrap her head around this. Robert
had seen her sister? And he knew her full name? “I...I don’t understand. Why
have you seen her? Is she okay?”

“She’s alright for now. Probably scared out of her mind, but that can be dealt
with later,” Robert said, waving a hand in the air as if her fear meant nothing
to him. And it probably didn’t, Tessa reasoned. This man seemed like a psy-
chopath. “Now, when I heard you were flying here, Lara’s amazing older sis-
ter, I just had to meet you.”

“Why?” Tessa asked, and she glared at the man. Her shock and fear was wear-
ing off, and now she felt nothing but anger. This man knew where her sister
was, and had obviously done something to her. He deserved no mercy.

“She talks about you all the time, you know. She’s very much enamoured with
you. Wants to be just like you, in fact, with your fancy job and fancy house and
amazing life,” Robert said, and each word felt like a slap to the face. The ache
Tessa felt for her sister suddenly felt like a stab wound.

“Where. Is. My. Sister!” Tessa hissed, her eyes flashing dangerously.

69
 Robert’s smirk made her a little uneasy, however, and she slunk back in her
seat a little. Despite what her sister thought, Tessa knew she was not perfect.
If it came to a physical confrontation with Robert, Robert would win for sure.

“I have her,” Robert said simply. “And you won’t see her again unless you
come with me.”

“How do I know you’re not lying about all of this?”

“You don’t,” Robert shrugged. “Either you trust what I said is real, and you
come quietly with me, or you don’t believe me, and take a chance that I don’t
have your sister tied up right now, and let her die. Your pick.”

Tessa’s jaw dropped. He was asking the impossible. Of course she would have
to come with him. Lara was her sister! And if she was really tied up, she must
be so scared, and so very, very alone. A lone tear slipped down Tessa’s cheek,
and she quickly wiped it away. She would not cry.

“You know what I’m going to say,” Tessa said simply, trying to keep her voice
steady.

“I do,” Robert said, and he looked so supremely happy, it made Tessa feel a
little sick. “And so the power of love breaks someone else,” he muttered softly.

“Why are you doing this?” Tessa whispered suddenly, feeling her resolve
break. “Why me and my sister? What have we ever done to you?”

“You haven’t done anything to me. At least not yet. But your sister, on the oth-
er hand, she’s done a lot.” Robert’s face darkened, making Tessa shudder.

“What do you mean?”

“Your sister and I used to date,” Robert said, smiling at the horrified expres-
sion on Tessa’s face. “We were quite serious. She asked me to move in with
her a few months ago.”

“You’re lying. She would never have dated you!” Tessa hissed quietly.

“That’s where you’re wrong, sweetheart,” Robert said teasingly, winking at

Tessa. “She’s quite a fireball, your sister. Reminds me a bit of you. Quite fun-
ny, considering how much she wanted to be like you. And I can be rather
charming.”

70
“Why would you want to kill her then?” Tessa asked slowly. His words made it
sound like he had cared for Lara. Tessa didn’t even want to imagine that, but
if he cared for Lara, it meant that he might not want to kill her.

“She used me,” Robert said, and he sounded hurt. “I work for a company she
was trying to get a job at, and she used me to get the job. I recommended her
to my superiors, and did everything I could to help her. Then, once she got the
job, she broke up with me.”

It would have been a sad story about a cruel girl and a naive boy if Robert
hadn’t now kidnapped the cruel girl. Tessa shook her head. “That gives you no
right to tie her up and take her away. She has a family, you know. My mother
has been trying to contact her for days! She is absolutely distraught over her
right now!”

“Soon it won’t just be Lara she is distraught over,” Robert said, leaning in
close. Tessa could see his pupils dilating. “I wonder what you mother will
think when both of her daughters have been kidnapped?”

With tears in her eyes, Tessa gasped, and suddenly knew what was going to
happen to her. She was going to die. Robert was going to kill her and her sis-
ter. There was nothing she could do without making Robert kill her faster.

The rest of the plane ride was silent and short, and Tessa was in agony. She
was hopeless. She hadn’t even gotten to say goodbye to her parents. Hopefully
Lara was alive, and they could say goodbye together. It was her last wish.

As the plane landed, Tessa found she couldn’t contain the tears, and openly
cried as she was led off the plane by Robert to her doom. He was angry about
her tears, but Tessa just couldn’t stop.

Tessa knew her sister had been in trouble. She knew it. She had felt it in her
very soul. And now that very feeling was going to kill her. Tessa knew she
wasn’t mad about it. She loved her sister, and now she was going to die with
her.

And so the power of love breaks someone else, indeed.

71
72
Never Apart
Raina Yang
This is a short story about best friends meeting again
after ten years of going through different paths in life.
By spending time together, the two girls rediscover
the initial passions they had when they began their
social lives, and they end up motivating each other to
give energy that brings hope for the rest of their lives.
Friendship is the main theme of this story, and I tried
to focus on how friendship can be so impactful that it
changes one’s life in various ways.

Dear Skylar,

Hey, Skylar. It’s me.

I apologize for not answering your letters for a month, but at the moment
you’ve finished reading this letter, you will understand the reason for my sud-
den disappearance.
I’m currently having the happiest moments of my life. As you know, I’ve al-
ways desired freedom. School, family, friends… Everything in life has put
me into a trap that I could never escape from, but now, I’m free. I’m frankly
feeling myself for the first time. Before I decided to accept your suggestion
to move to this town, I thought that I would never be able to enjoy my life.
Honestly, I didn’t even know what the word ‘enjoy’ meant as every second of
my life was filled with misery.
Now, I’m living a completely different life. I know what I want, and I’m feeling
the passion to fulfill such desires. 24 hours are not enough for my passion!
Thank you, thank you for listening to my story. Thank you so much for thor-
oughly helping me have hope in my life. Without you, I would not be able to
feel the way I’m feeling right now.
Remember the time when you asked me about your path? I’m sure that you
will achieve your dream. At least for me, you were more than just a consult-
ant. You were my friend, my hero, and my mom.
I don’t know if I will be able to write another letter for you, but I’m telling you,
I will never give up on my life. Please don’t worry about me.
Goodbye, Skylar, I hope we will get to see each other someday in our lives.

2010. 08. 21
Your friend, Elena

This was the time that I decided to become a psychologist.

I thought that it was meant for me and could not think of myself doing any-
thing else.

73
 I did become a psychologist, and I own a hospital, even though it is so small
that people barely know about it.
I’m definitely not one of those famous ones that appear on television to pro-
mote their private hospitals, yet, but even if I had the chance to, I don’t think I
will ever want to become such a “celebrity.”
I looked at the letter that I received from Eleana for an extra hour.
Elena, who was too beautiful inside and outside for this cruel world, was my
old friend who helped me find my career when I was struggling with my par-
ents.

S: “I still can’t believe this, Elena. You and I meet again in ten years?”

Last night, Elena sent me an email in ten years that she is thinking of visiting
Korea next week. She wrote in her email as a P.S. that she would love to spend
time with me while she is visiting here.

S: ‘What could it be…?’

Knowing of her circumstances and childhood, I could not hold myself from
worrying about her as soon as I finished reading the letter.

Elena left Korea ten years ago and went on a long journey to follow her will.
The last letter I received from her ten years ago was the last thing I remember
about her.

?: “Ms. Kim, so you told me that you are thinking of closing the hospital for a
month, right?”

S: “Oh, yes, yes… I’m so sorry for such a sudden announcement… You know…”

?: “I know you more than anyone, Ms. Kim. You should take some time to
rest. You’ve been working for a year with just five days off. Don’t worry about
me, and please enjoy your break!”

S: “Ms. Han, thank you for saying so. My old friend is coming to Korea for the
first time in ten years. I think it is a perfect time, isn’t it?”

?: “Wow… yes! But do you mean that you guys are meeting for the first time in
ten years?”

S: “Yes, for the first time! She and I… We have a long story. Haha, I will tell
you after I get back from the break.”

74
?: “Haha, sure! I’m excited to hear about it.”

I’ve been working like working was the only thing in my life for no less than a
year, without having any break.
During the last nine years I was studying psychology, I dreamed of becoming
a great psychologist who can treat people with sincerity. With such mindsets,
my passion for psychology remained constant throughout nine years, but
now, as a psychologist, I do not know what to call myself.

Sometimes, when I’m meeting patients, I feel like a big hypocrite who talks
about things that are not even helpful for them.

I’ve started to doubt my ability as a psychologist as soon as I began my career,

and such thoughts have led me to work even harder as I wanted to rebut such
doubts on my decision.

For such reasons, the email from Elena was a welcome rain in the drought
that allowed me to thoroughly think about my own emotions for the first time
in ten years.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

S: “Elena…? Is that…. Is that you…?”

E: “Sky! Yes, it is me. You look the same, oh my gosh.”

My first impression of Elena of 2020 was that she was extremely cheerful, and
that was not something that I anticipated about her.

E: “How long has it been? I’m so sorry that I did not contact you for such a
long time, but you know that I’ve always thought about you, right? I missed
you so much, Skylar.”

S: ‘Direct expression of emotions. People with such abilities are usually the
ones who grew up in a happy home environment.’

As soon as I met Elena for the first time in ten years, I became extremely curi-
ous about her past ten years.

Skylar and I decided to go on a trip for a week to Jeju Island, and I was kind of
disappointed to hear that she is planning to stay in Korea just for a week.

Her only purpose to visit Korea was me, as she explained.

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 As a psychologist, I kept trying to examine her emotional state, and such hab-
its contributed to evaluating myself as a hypocrite.

Elena was too naive for her age. That was my first impression of her.
Ten years is definitely a long time, but Elena seemed like a completely differ-
ent person compared to the one I knew ten years ago.

This made me even more excited to go on a trip with her.

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E: “Skylar, you know, there are actually reasons why I did not contact you for
ten years.”

On the night of our first day of traveling, she finally opened her mouth. As I
thought her to be my soulmate when I was in high school, her story was a little
surprising to me.

E: “You know how my childhood was just a nightmare, right…? I know it is so

cruel of me to talk like this, but remembering everything related to my home,
including you, was such a pain.”

S: “Oh, oh… Elena, don’t worry about that. You know me, I don’t really mind
about such things like that, haha.”

A big shock. She was the joy of my high school life, and she was the one who
led me to dive into the path of psychology.

E: “Yeah, but this doesn’t mean that you were the pain, Skylar. You were like
the only reason why I did not leave this world during the time.”

It was funny how I, who is the psychologist that deals with thousands of peo-
ple’s emotions, am still influenced by the fluctuating emotions of my close
friends and family.

E: “After I left Korea, I went straight to the small city in Australia. You know,
the only thing my parents have done for me was giving me opportunities to
go to college in Australia. Even though I didn’t get any more support from
them after, I guess I’m grateful for the fact that they actually allowed me to go
there.”

Being a psychologist for more than a year, listening to stories of other people
was not always a pleasant thing for me.

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However, listening to the story of my friend, my favorite friend, was a little
different. Her story actually gave me a feeling that I felt on the first day of
opening my own hospital. I felt like I was alive.

Elena told me that she had to restart everything in the city of Australia when
she first went there. Her English was not fluent at the time, so she had to go
through many struggles until she could adapt to the environment without
having any difficulties.

But, one interesting thing that I found about her while she was talking was
that her eyes were actually shining when she was talking about her experi-
ence, even though her story was not just about positive, happy events that
gave pleasure to her.

She seemed like a child who was too excited to know about things in the
world.

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As I spent time with her while travelling, I could learn a lot

On the last day of our trip, Elena told me that she has been making a song
with her guitar and asked me if I could listen to it for her. When she played
the song, she seemed like a completely different person. Her eyes were spar-
kling like stars. This was another shock I received from her.

Elena left Korea as she promised, and she told me to meet her again after an-
other ten years.

Another ten years… How would we look different?

Despite being in the field of psychology and meeting various kinds of people,
meeting Elena brought me the feeling that I felt on the first day that I decided
to become a psychologist. The passion, excitement, and hope. Those were the
things that I have been forgetting about for such a long period of time that I
felt so strange to see someone who is full of such fascinating characters that
will bring positivity to their lives.

What were the reasons for me to choose the field of psychology as my major?
What could have been the reasons why I felt like psychology was my destiny?
study the field.

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 Even though she called me as a pleasure of her life, I guess Elena was a gift of
my life who gave me hope once again after losing the initial feelings that I had
towards psychology.

After spending time with her for a week, I felt alive.

I felt like I could do anything.

Even though I still consider myself as a practical person who doesn’t get
swayed by emotions, I guess emotions are an essential part of people’s lives
that they can never live without.

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The Midst of Silence
Ruthie Kang
The narrator of this story is a 12 year old black girl
who experiences racism. She finds herself wanting
to fit in with the others despite the fact that her best
friend left her because of her skin color. Being left
out is terrible on its own but being bullied because
of something you can’t change is worse. This story
teaches you on how one may feel in the midst of all the
silence. It fills you with empathy as the reader can feel
with this young character through her experiences.

Though I’m now a 6th grader, I’m not allowed to walk to school. I nev-
er was allowed to. Even though we live 5 minutes away. Mother always said
it was because the weather was not nice, or because it’s too cold outside; de-
spite the fact that California is always at least in the 80’s. However, in the
midst of my mother trying to protect me from the angry lions trying to gobble
the goodness in my soul, I know the real reason. The real reason I can’t walk
outside like everyone else. The real reason people glare at me whenever I do
anything.
I don’t know how I feel about being black. Yes, getting picked on be-
cause of how I look does hurt. Yes, I do wish that they would treat me like
everyone else. Yes, I do wish that I could look like them; maybe then dad
wouldn’t have left us. Maybe then mother would have a better paying job.
Maybe then, I could have some friends; but that’s not a problem I should be
worrying about.
When we finally got to school after walking for so long because of my
sloth-paced mother, I ran away as fast as I could. I don’t like hanging around
the playground. Bark chips, monkey bars, and angry children running around
just like a dog when they see another puppy. oh the horror. I freaked out in
my head as I slowly walked back to the blacktop near the playground, the
most isolated place I could find, and trudged to the corner of the basketball
court. I sat down and pulled out my book from my new pink lace backpack
that mother worked hard to get me. I was reading the magnificent story
about Tom and Huck, when I couldn’t help my eyes dart across the room as I
watched Lisa walk in. Lisa was my best friend; until 4th grade when she final-
ly realized that hanging out with a black girl was ruining her reputation.

“Hey my girlies!” she squealed as she twirled her hair with her new
golden locked friends. “I’m having a mini party later at my house to celebrate
surviving the first day in middle school and of course it isn’t a party without
my fav girls! It’s at 4pm right after school, we can walk to my house together!
” she said as I leaned in closer.

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 Wow! A party! At Lisa’s house? I’m never invited to parties! Maybe she
will invite me. Oh please oh please.
“Alright. My mom said I can invite a total of 10 people, and I chose you
3, so that leaves me with 7 more people”
“Wow Lisa! Quick math!” one of her friends said as they all started to
giggle.“Um, there’s no one here that would want to come so lets go over there
with the guys!” Lisa said with stars in her eyes.
Of course. Why am I even surprised? I never thought that being black
was a disadvantage but the more time goes on, it just gets harder to ignore.
After class ended, I held my head down low. I felt like my chin wasn’t
able to leave my chest. I saw mother waiting for me at the doorway and I slow-
ly walked to her, knowing that I was going to be the only girl not talking about
Lisa’s party tomorrow at school. We walked home and afterwards I told moth-
er I was going to get the groceries while she made dinner, and she approved.
My head kept telling me to go shopping. Go shopping. Go shopping. However
the temptation in my head was pulling me like a game of tug-a-war. I carefully
walked out of our apartment and slowly walked left. Not towards the groceries
but towards Lisa’s house.
I quickly passed our window, I started to sprint towards school, know-
ing that they wouldn’t have left this early, after all school ended 10 minutes
ago. They were probably there taking pictures or something. I creeped around
the side of the building and saw them starting to leave. I quickly gathered my
steps and followed them as they giggled and talked together. ‘Wow it must be
nice to have friends like that. Always there for you, even when bullies come
your way. Side by side. That’s what me and Lisa used to have.’ I thought as I
felt my heart drop a million miles south.
They kept walking, stopping, and talking over and over again. But then,
all of a sudden, in the corner of my eye, I saw red and blue lights flashing.
That could only mean one thing. I felt the blood in my face drain as I slowly
froze in the middle of my tracks. I put my grocery bag on the floor, and held
my hands where they could see me. However, I noticed that Lisa, and her
friends kept walking. They walked, and walked and when they approached the
police officer, they laughed and went on to even introduce themselves. I start-
ed to worry until I noticed that the cop was laughing with them. How could
that be? When I was younger, the first thing mother taught me was that when
we see a cop, we put our hands up. I thought that was for everyone. I started
to lean forward, trying to listen to what they were saying, when I accidentally
tripped over one of the tree branches on the floor, making a loud crunch. The
police officer ran towards me and told me to keep my hands over my back,
saying that anything I say can and will be used under the court of law as he
explained that I was trespassing some kind of land.

82
At that moment I felt the happiness and curiosity drain from me as my face
flushed with embarrassment. This is why my mother told me not to go outside
alone. This is why I wasn’t allowed to walk alone. This is what mother tried
to protect me from. I tried to squirm away until I realized that that is what
makes him grab tighter. Then I realized that Lisa and her friends were still
there. Watching.
“Hey Lisa can you please tell him that I was supposed to be with you?” I
said gasping for air as the policemen grabbed my arms together tighter.
“Sorry but I don’t tell uh lies.. Lets go guys. This seems. Uh. personal”
She explained as she quickly scrambled like frantic ants, giggling as they left
me. Alone.
What does it take to get Lisa to help me. To notice me. To say hi to me. Just
because I look different doesn’t mean I should get treated like this. Lisa and
her friends were trespassing too. Why am I the only one caught? This all
didn’t make any sense. But right now, the more important thing was to get
out. Instead of squirming I laid still. Heart pounding, chest racing. I felt like
my heart was going to beat out of place. Sweat dripped down my face and got
into my eyes and they started to burn. The police man slowly stood me up,
and started walking me to his cop car. However that’s when I saw my mother
running towards me. Well I mean I couldn’t really see, I just saw a woman,
instantly dropped all of her things, her purse, grocery bag, and phone, she put
her hands up and said
“I apologize Mr. cop. I wasn’t looking for a second and she ran off to
help me pick some apples. This is all my fault and I promise this won’t hap-
pen again. I promise.” He glared at both us as he shoved my arms as he huffed
full of anger. I turned around and ran back to mother as she opened her arms
wide with love. I felt like a strong waterfall as the tears in my eyes wouldn’t
stop coming.
As time went on, I continued to see different reactions people see be-
tween mother and I, compared to other white women. For example, the dif-
ferent ways cops treat us, the glares when we accidentally bump into them,
and the constant snickering. It started to feel like we were tiny annoying flies
that no one could handle. But why? The only thing different is that I’m black
and their white. We are both girls, we are both still human, we are both 6th
graders but why does that mean one is more higher than the other. I for one,
believe that all people are the same but it seems like no one else agrees with
me. Even the people who do, still have that look, the feeling of uncomfort. It’s
shown all over their face. No one will truly understand how us, black people
feel unless they are in our own shoes. Feel what we feel. See what we see. Ex-
perience, what we experience. And maybe then, we will get a loving, support-
ing, community. Maybe then, the silence will be broken.

83
84
Untitled
Samuel Yi
A short story describing an astronaut landing on the
surface of the sun and feeling the full totality of it’s
cosmic might and the insignificance of humans on the
grand scale of existence. This story is an attempt to
portray a sense of cosmic horror and emphasize just
how big and beyond us a lot of thing we take for grant-
ed like the sun or the stars are.

With a mere thought, a blazing ball of unfathomable brightness came

piercing through the ceaseless void, sending it’s radiant beams down, lighting
up her face. First came the sun. She knew this by instinct. Next came the cliff
top and the surrounding woods. She began absent-mindedly conjuring up
trees and rocks, extending the slab of rock she was standing on into a mon-
olithic mountain. She lifted her head to see the world around her now com-
plete. A pleasantly cool mountain top facing down a lush valley of pine trees
with streams that gleamed like serpents of pure diamond in the light of that
sun.
Her mind wandered onto more important thoughts about her old friend.
She knew he would know what she was about to do. After all, she creates him.
A part of her went into him every time she did so. She briefly considered sit-
ting here alone, wondering if maybe it was better not to bring him here to
begin with. But no, it wouldn’t be right to leave him without an explanation.
She let out a sigh, and started to bring him up. Behind her, the wind sudden-
ly started to curve into an unnatural pattern, forming ever flowing lines that
glowed like gold when sunlight hit them. The streams of air spun and bent
into a large silhouette possessing horns, a tail, and radiating power even in
this state of half existence. Then, a split second later a burst of light, almost
equal to that of the sun during its creation flooded the valley. Several startled
birds flew off into the sun. Leaves fell from the branches, but never reached
the ground. The light faded to reveal a dragon, gold in scales and whisk-
ers standing where the silhouette was. And he did not look happy. The girl
turned to face her mentor. She tried her best to crack the usual smile she had
whenever she saw him and began to speak in what she hoped was an endear-
ing tone,
“Hey buddy? I wanted to talk to you about something.”
The sun beat down on both of them as the two of them started into each
other’s eyes. Both felt as though they were caught in an invisible battle; the
narrowed slits of the dragon’s pupils engaged matched blow for blow by the
furrowed brow of the girl.

85
 The sun beat down on the mountain top where they stood. In a few sec-
onds that had passed, trees had begun to shrivel up and die, rocks had started
to erode into a fine dust. The change was starting to creep in here too. Her
mentor, her friend clearly didn’t like it. He shook himself to clear the dust
that had coated his illuminated scales. He looked around at the world they
had both known so well,
“So. Here to send both me and this beautiful place into nothingness?
Couldn’t take the time to take care and maintain this world that you created?”
Drenched in sarcasm as always. Despite his calm, almost disappointed
tone, she saw him tapping his claws against the ground at a rapid rate. She
narrowed her eyes and forced herself to look straight into his soul, and at its
center, for a brief moment, she saw a flash of fear. She was about to give him
her goodbye, but he would refuse to accept it. And no wonder, for a being of
his nature, it meant almost certain death.
The sun beat down as the girl clenched her scrawny fist, a flash of rage
heralding her sudden tide of frustration.
Her mentor seemed to sense the surge of anger within her. He lifted
himself into the air in response and twisted his snout into a scowl. It didn’t
suit him in her opinion. She had never made him to be scary or dangerous
in any way and despite his size and power, she thought he looked like a child
trying their best to act as fierce as possible to impress or frighten their unim-
pressed friends. As they continued to stare each other down, the birds above
stopped chirping. The blades of grass around them began to pull back into
the ground, retreating into a mundane existence of being trapped under an
incomprehensible pressure.
“You know I have to give this up” she called out, attempting to make
herself sound as stern as possible. As she spoke she gestured around her at
the world of her design, the place which she had created years ago and had
always returned to. “The time for me to go out there has been long overdue,
this is what you trained me for the first place!”
Smoke suddenly spewed from the dragon’s nostrils and his mouth; his
face clearly showing that he remained steadfast in his goal.
“They can take care of themselves. You and I both know that. You’d be
just one of millions.” Her mentor’s voice boomed across the mountains, caus-
ing a shockwave that bent the few trees that remained standing. And yet she
could sense that towards the end of his words, he faltered. What should have
been the apex of the shockwave sounded more like a voice crack. It didn’t
seem to go unnoticed by him, and he lowered his voice back to his standard
pitch
“And besides, we both know what it’s going to be like out there. How
long until you’re forced to sacrifice for something you don’t care for? “How
long until you’re trapped by the bureaucracy, the droning lectures, how long
until you forget about this place?”

86
As he finished the sentence, the dragon spread his arms, gesturing to the vast
world around them.
The girl shook her head sadly, looking like a tired parent addressing
their child. “It’s going to be hard, I’m not denying that. But what use is it if I
stay here forever, if I refuse to move on, what good is it going to do me or any-
one else?”
The dragon barked back, his voice tainted with frustration, “Who cares
about their good? What does it matter what good comes of it? We could stay
here free of all the burden and misery the outside would bring!”
The girl let out a sigh before wordlessly turning her back to him and be-
ginning to walk away. Maybe it was better to just let him go without a word.
A sudden but painless process of letting him rest in the annals of the forgot-
ten.
Suddenly, a golden blur. Before she could take another step, the dragon was
in front of her, raised to his full height. His eyes were jet red, a torental wave
of rage and fear trapped in those snake-like pupils. He opened his mouth and
a roar came rushing from his gaping maw straight at her, tainted with a sort of
primal desperation.
“I. Am Not. Leaving!”
They rang out across the entire mountain and beyond, snapping all of
the nearby trees into a pile of pine needles and twigs as far as the eye could
see. He roared again and crashed onto all fours, her face now only an inch or
so away from his own snout. A jet of fire erupted from his nostrils and singed
her hair. Still, she felt unchanged. She knew her own creation couldn’t harm
her and even if he was real, she knew he wouldn’t really try to hurt her in any
major way. Seeing her mentor like this, it only reaffirmed her idea. He was
starting to become a danger, both to herself and him. Even if he somehow
convinced her to stay, she knew that he wouldn’t be able to go back to what he
used to. Her thoughts must have shown on her face, as upon staring directly
at it, the dragon’s fury broke, and he quickly pulled his head back. His own
face now shifted to startled confusion. She looked wordlessly at him.
And then he broke.
He lowered his head and asked her, “Don’t you want to stay?” His voice
was cracked and choked. The desperation that he had managed to confine in
his eyes now flowed in his voice like his tears. “Don’t you want to fly with me?
To spend our days hunting bears and squirrels? To play pranks on whoever
made fun of you down at the market that day?” She let out a faint smile at
those memories. Even the dragon himself couldn’t help but let out a choked
chuckle at the memory of those adventures she had made for the two of them.
She leaned in to hug his crest, like she used to do so many times back when
she couldn’t even fit her arms around his horns. She heard him take a deep
breath as he slowly pulled his head out of her hug and angrily whipped away
the golden tears from his eyes.

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 His scales were duller now, their hue more akin to that of sandstone
rather than the radiant gold they had been mere minutes before. All except
one. He looked down to see the single gold kite at the center of his chest,
still gleaming amongst a sea of petrifying dullness. The sight of it inspired
a thought. His pupil might have to leave, but that didn’t mean she had to
forget. The dragon brough his claw to his chest, and with a small tug, neatly
pulled the scale out like a puzzle piece. It was smaller than he had thought it
would be; only about the size of the girl’s hand. Yet it would do. He slowly
put the scale in her outstretched hand, and stepped aside.
The landscape began to fade and dim. The mountain top she and the
dragon were on now began to climb down into a flat landscape, and even that
began to shrink back. Trees started to shrivel back into the ground, their
leaves and branches falling to the ground then fading away to nothing more
than dust. Soon, too soon for her own liking, it was the void again. With her,
her old friend, and the sun. And now came the hard part. Her friend’s scales
started to dim even further, losing their color and being reduced to an inky
black. Next, the lines that made up his body began to churn, returning to the
streams of wind they had been before. But he didn’t seem afraid, or even sad.
On the contrary, he began to do something she had least expected.
He began to laugh.
It rang through the void, at first like that of a child finding their lost toy,
then it crescendo into a deep, roaring laugh like that of a proud parent at their
first child’s graduation.
“Go! Go! Take that chaotic mind of yours and use it to pummel the
world out there! Refuse to bend to it! Never forget, even if everything out
there tells you to!”
The girl stood in the middle of her room, now having landed back into
the grounded word of reality. As soon as she could, she closed her eyes and
furiously tried to re-enter her world, a tidal wave of doubt and fear over-
whelming her. But she couldn’t. Her room refused to fade, the void refused
her call and her mind failed to sprout its wings like it had so many times in
the past. Her thoughts began to churn in a mass panic, it hadn’t even been a
second yet she already felt overwhelmed by the prospect of the future, of what
would await here ahead of the road, until a strange texture in the palm of her
hand drew itself to her attention. Her fingers pulled back to reveal the scale,
much smaller than it was a few mere seconds before. It now fit cleanly in the
palm of her hand, it’s texture so mild and the scale so fragile that light itself
pierced through the golden tear. But it was still there. She gently clenched
the small fragment of her old friend in her palm, afraid that she might acci-
dentally shatter it into a thousand irrecoverable shards. Her hand trembled
for a moment.

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The scale seemed to almost be illusionary as every now and then her fingers
would slip into the phantom jewel. But it was still there. She stood there,
clenching the scale and smiling to herself. Alright. This bit could stay.

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