THE AWAKENING OF YOUNG ADULTS

THE AWAKENING OF YOUNG ADULTS A Collection Of Unorthodox Short Stories Colegio Jefferson PROM 2020

EX LI B R I S This book belongs to:

Colegio Jefferson Dapa Km 1, Yumbo, Cali, Valle del Cauca

This book is a work of fiction. Written by the students from twelfth grade. While, as in all fiction, the literary perceptions and insights are based on experiences, all names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

The Awakening of Young Adults Published 2020 by Colegio Jefferson Prom 2020 All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

Graphic design by Natalia PĂŠrez Penagos.

For information about Colegio Jefferson High School, please contact the phone: +57 (2) 6582700.

THE AWAKENING OF YOUNG ADULTS A Collection Of Unorthodox Short Stories PROM 2020

“I have witnessed how T h e A wa k e n i n g o f Y o u n g A d u lt s started as a keystone activity that gradually became the compendium of great stories. Result of a committed, quality, and teamwork process, I pledge that each story symbolizes the greatness and human condition of each of the participants.”

MS. EDITH VALENCIA OSMAN, SENIOR HIGH COORDINATOR

“ T h e A wa k e n i n g o f Y o u n g A d u lt s written by Prom 2020 is a compilation of stories full of feelings, emotions, and experiences arisen from the hearts of young people whom we have seen grow and develop at Colegio Jefferson. This reading deeply moved me.

My admiration goes to all the authors.”

CLAUDIA AMPUDIA, THE LIBRARY DIRECTOR

“I went into the reading as any teacher would and ended up stripped of all my techniques. T h e A wa k e n i n g o f Y o u n g A d u lt s unveils the heart and soul of our youth in modern times, revealing the essence and vulnerability of what it means to be human.”

STEPHANIE HERNÁNDEZ, HOMEROOM TEACHER, PRIMARY

“ The book is at its best when the details are personal...

The students harrowed their experiences as young adults... In this book, everything is manifested with greatness.”

FIACRE INNOCENT, JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR, BELGIUM

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 8

Dedication

9

Acknowledgements

10

Introduction

12

Arbeláez García Catalina, To Love Is Not Just Love

22

Arias Otero María Paula, Betrayed Loyalty

30

Benoit Escobar Martin, Unbroken Dreams

35

Bustamante Vacaflor Federico, Murdered By Business

41

Buverte Patiño Sofía, The Hidden Reality

49

Cerro Medina Julián Andrés, The Tragedy

57

Chang Gómez Natalia Lin, Without A Future By My Side

66

Chaux Martínez Gabriella, The Accident That Changed My Life

75

Cobo Madriñan Mateo, Those Who Shall Never Be Forgotten

84

Duarte Peláez Santiago, Lost Brother

91

Durán Falk Mateo, Just Keep Swimming!

97

Echeverry Tafúr Andrés Juan, Relentless Wishes

104 Espinosa Aristizábal Juan Felipe, War-Torn Diary 116

Figueredo Aragón Germán Alejandro, A Dream Of The Immortal

124 Gable Álvarez Antonia María, My Lil’ Friend Jaar 131

García Reyes Sebastián, My Dark Secret

138 Gaviria Caicedo Ana Sofía, 15Th Of March, A Day To Remember 144 Giraldo Obando Daniella, The Phoenix Must Burn To Emerge 150 Gómez Lotero Natalia, From Colombia To France With Love 158 Gómez Pulido Gabriela, The City That Never Sleeps 165 Gómez Rodríguez Pablo, The Roller-Ship 173 Gómez Valencia Sebastián, Notification Alert 178 González Gil Mariana, Unforgettable 188 Grun Valencia Isaac, The Purpose 194 Gutiérrez Mejía Margarita Rosa, Somnum 204 Guzmán Giraldo Valeria, Until I Decided To Be Me 212 Henao Llanos María Del Mar, The Endless Battle 5

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 218 Hernández Fernández María Del Mar, Him 226 Hurtado Betancourt Santiago, The Dismal Garden Of Delights 236 Jiang Liu Fiona, Far-Out Choices Of Love 248 Kremer De La Espriella Gabriel Jacoboh, Heritage Story 259 Kuri Abadía Juan José, The Warehouse 265 León Hurtado Evelyn, Uprightness Till The Grave 273 López Ramírez Gabriela, Broken Or Bonded 281 Losada Delgado Santiago, Young Survival 288 Losada Maglioni Mariana, The War Between The Mind 297 Luna Cantillo Valeria, Love Is The Most Dangerous Weapon 306 Manotas Vélez Sofía Margarita, The Savoir 314 Martínez Bocanegra Emanuel, The Legacy Of A Legend 320 Medina Calle Sebastian, The Art Of Living 329 Medina Díaz Alejandra, Blue 336 Medina Díaz Carolina, The Royals 342 Moná Herrera Nicole, The Twists And Turns Of Life 350 Mosquera López Sara, Secrets Ruined By Acceptance 356 Ochoa Borrero Manuel, A Dangerous Addiction 365 Ochoa López Manuela, Rise With Self Love 371 Osorio Cárdenas Daniel, The Cow Massacre 376 Pacheco Peña Sofía, The Hair-Raising Incident Of Three Friends In Europe 382 Ramos Berrio Santiago, Death Is Dark As A Shadow 392 Riascos González Sofía, Those Ocean Eyes 398 Rodríguez Bedoya Juan José, Make A Mistake To Learn, Forgive To Be Forgiven 404 Rosal Llano Esteban, War Of Art 411

Sánchez Potes Lucas, The Mysterious Hero

417 Sánchez Potes Mateo, La Clé Des Champs 423 Santacruz Ramírez Sebastián Alberto, The Fault In Our Friendship 430 Sluga Delgado Sebastián, Hazy Forthcoming 438 Suescún Tenorio Daniel, Gone With The War 448 Terreros Hoyos Daniel, The Hidden Sorrow Behind A Bullied Dweeb 6

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 458 Uribe Ariza Daniela, Reverse Happiness 467 Valencia Maldonado Sabina, My Mirror Of Lies 474 Varela Alencar-Ponte Natalia, On The Road To Social Acceptance 482 Vásquez Renjifo Nicolás, The Paradox Of Trust 488 Velásquez Tobón Virginia, Metamorphosed Grief 495 Verdesoto Contreras Martín, The Cavern 506 Zapata Valdés Alejandro, The Butcher 513 Zapata Valencia Martín, Life Has Not Always Been What We Expected 520 Zapata Valencia Sebastián, The Irresistible Choice 525 A Note From The Editor

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Dedicated, with great love, to the families that love us and to every single one of our teachers.

You were the light in the way, the fire in our hearts.

This is a token of our respect and admiration.

Dedicated, with great love, to those tracing this same trail. Taking the last step into the unknown brightness of our future, this book hopes to be an inspiration and an inheritance to those who come after us. We were the first promotion to publish our own book, never done before. A feat of great effort and care, that despite all odds, was a job well done... We add that if our prom managed to do this, so can you.

Even further, we are sure you can do better things, greater things...

It’s in your hands to achieve what no one has done before. Our strength is with you.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS From the Student Committee

W

e thank our teachers, from kindergarten to the utmost place in twelfth grade. The individuals with love and deep care have guided us and given us the tools to fight in this world and the vision to bring light into it. Those who devoted their time and efforts to accomplish this. Those who placed our education before their lives and put their souls into the craft of making us more humane people. There are no words to express our gratitude to all of you who took part in this long journey. On behalf of the students’ committee (Prom 2020), we would like to send you all, “A huge thank you for the outpouring of love and support for the past 14 years of greatness” We would also like to pay our sincere gratitude to everyone who contributed to the architect of our book, The Awakening Of Young Adults. You put a part of your souls into each word and action, and in doing this, the fruit was inevitably sweet. In the end, these words feel like an understatement, they truly do.

You are forever with us.

Finally and yet importantly, we pay respect to our English teacher, Issa Muvunangoma. You ignited the spark of this project and set our hands, minds, and hearts in the way of crafting a legacy of our education thus far. As we face the ending of all we know, and the beginning of all that we will create, this book is a testament, proof of our determination to never back down, like you have done Issa. Thank you.

PROM 2020

THE AWAKENING OF YOUNG ADULTS

INTRODUCTION

By Issa Muvunangoma “He who does not know one thing knows another.”

—African proverb

A

phrase that practically tells us that no one can know everything but everyone knows something. As our adolescents experience their maturity transition from adolescence to adulthood, they face some hardships and enlightenment, which comes with rising and falling, but this transition is not foreign for them, they’ve done this before —as just an infant when they were learning how to walk, holding their parents’ hands tight like a clinging vine to a tree. Parents stayed close to them, held them up, and let go when they needed to. For they knew they wouldn’t learn to walk if they didn’t let them fall.

The aforementioned transition works the same way in twelfth Grade, and the temptation to hold on tight to our young adults’ students and control the path that lies ahead of them is bigger and more fierce than ever. Except our response to helping them at this stage of their lives is different. As littles, they craved a hand to help them get up when they fall but now as young adults, all they seek is someone to understand them.

During the transition to adulthood, things start to veer.

Parents and teachers more often than not feel their children separation and sometimes, we might miss them even when they’re sitting in front of us in the classroom, and long for the way things used to be. That’s when we feel that our relationship with them is falling to disrepair. We might wonder whether to hold on tighter or stand back. The answer is, we need to do both. We hold on to them but we give them the space they need to again, fall and rise.

Throughout my past experiences working with young adults, 10

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I have learned to understand that I needed to understand them well enough. That is what inspired the creation of this particular book. A wiseman once told me that writing is the painting of the voice, we created this book to give them the voice they needed, as they had all the freedom to write from their souls and speak from their hearts.

One of my best students from last year, Miss Lusiana Martínez (Prom 2019), wrote the following statement in her story, “The truth is that being a teenager is frustrating, as they treat us like kids, but expect us to act like adults.” A message that empirically embodies her heartfelt emotions as a young adult in this world, the truth is that being a 21st Century teenager is so complicated and this book, The Awakening Of Young Adults will allow you to grasp the reasons why our teenager’s life might be more stressful than ours.

Knowing is power but knowledge sharing is empowerment.

Our young adults’ students want to do the right thing and the key is to honor their intelligence by helping them figure out how to make the right choices on their own. For this to happen, they have to understand our words. For us to know how to put our words together, we have to understand how they think, and the best way to do that is by learning how to listen to them.

This book is unequivocally a living testament of young writers of the 21st Century, it unveiled all the light we can not see.

The words used in this book moved human hearts with emotions, honesty, greatness, and praise. All the writers collectively concerted their remarkable hard work and gifted talent of writing to be open about some of the sources of their own perspectives.

If we want to see a better tomorrow, we should all play a part in the solution. A meaningful solution that would require benevolence and efforts. It is for the sake of the future of this beautiful country, for our leaders of tomorrow to share their life-long experiences, their stories.

TO LOVE IS NOT JUST LOVE Written By Catalina Arbeláez García 12

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M

y name is Bella Matthewson, and I’m a seventeen-year-old teenager who knows what she wants and is determined to have it even though I can feel a little insecure about myself sometimes. I decided that if I had to spend my senior year in this town, I wanted to have a dramatic appearance change for me to make more friends and to try to enjoy my last school year. The story begins at the hairdressing salon when I was having my hair done, to change my look. But let’s take a look at how I got here.

One day, I was sitting in my armchair reading a book while drinking coffee, the laughing wind crept up to me, following me up through the windows in my room, hissing at the warmth of my body. The cold readied to strike at me with its venom like a snake as if it was foreshadowing something ominous to happen that day, then my father entered my room and gave me the big news. He said that we were moving to New Jersey because his boss decided that he will be more useful for the company in that place that I referred to as horrible. Why New Jersey? I’ve lived in New York for as long as I can remember, and I had all my friends there. This news caught me by surprise, and by the look of my father’s face, I could tell that he was still waiting for me to say something about it and also that he seemed happy but a bit worried about my unusual reaction.

“New Jersey?” Those were the only two words that came from my mouth in that specific moment.

“I know that it is a little hard to digest this information, Bella, but see it as an opportunity to meet new people.” My father answered me.

“I don’t like meeting new people. Dad, you know that.” I said, and then he walked away.

Three days later, he made us move to New Jersey with him, and we couldn’t oppose to it, as he didn’t have a choice in this 13

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situation, and I didn’t want to live away from him, so I told myself that I would at least give it a try. That’s when I decided that I wanted to change my look, went to a hairdressing salon, and told the stylist that I wanted to cut my hair in layers and to have some blonde highlights in it. A few days later, after changing my look, it was formally my first day at “Highland High School,” the place where I am going to study from now on. I woke up at 6 am, and my dad asked me if I wanted him to give me a ride to school, but I figured that I could go by myself and try not to call so much the attention, so I took the bus and hoped not to get lost on the road.

When I arrived I felt utterly lonely and lost; I missed my New York friends so much. My dad reminded me in the morning before living the house, that I had to go to the principal’s office to register myself and also look for a girl named Carla, as the principal had told my father on the phone, that she would show me around, so; I directed myself to the board room looking for the principal, and he introduced me to Carla.

She seemed very nice and kind to me, she walked me around the school, giving me all the information that I needed to know related to the school and she also explained how the schedule works at school. Then, she helped me find my class of mathematics, and when we found it, she briefly introduced me to the teacher and the class itself, and then the teacher told me to sit down close to the board and to ask questions in case I didn’t understand anything.

And that’s when I first saw him. He illuminated the whole room with his beautiful smile when he entered. He had tousled dark brown hair, which was thick and lustrous. His eyes had the same colors of a mesmerizing deep ocean blue with flecks of silvery light performed ballets. His face was sharp and defined, his features molded from granite, and he had dark eyebrows, which sloped downwards in a stern expression. I 14

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heard some girls in the back talking about him, his name was Ricky Hale, and he was the gorgeous person I had ever seen. I followed him with my eyes, to see where he was going to sit down, which was at the back of the classroom with all his popular-friends, and three minutes later, the class started. When the bell rang at the end of the first period, I turned around again looking for him, but he took his stuff and went out of the classroom pretty quickly so I couldn’t make eye contact or see where he was going at.

I spent the rest of the morning looking for him, but I couldn’t find him until lunchtime when I arrived at the cafeteria. There he was in the cafeteria but wait…; “Who is the girl sitting next to him?” I thought.

I convinced myself that she might be just a friend of him, and then I went to sit with my chemistry lab group that had invited me to have lunch with them, but I couldn’t keep my eyes from looking at Ricky, hoping that maybe he may notice me while I was pretending to eat my sandwich and not paying attention to the conversation, my lab group was having about their holidays, I laughed at everything they were saying and acted as if I was listening to them until suddenly; one of the girls who was sitting next to me asked a question.

“When did you arrive in New Jersey?” she asked.

And I kept laughing without giving her an answer, and she noticed that I wasn’t paying attention to her and that I was actually looking at Ricky and way too interested in him, so she decided to change the subject of the conversation and told me some facts about him.

“The girl by his side was nobody else but Donna Cobb, the meaner girl at school, and also, the girl who happened to be his girlfriend.” The girl said firmly.

“Why do such things happen to me? When I just find

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something… someone in this town that I like, he is already taken.” I said to myself.

Few weeks passed by; and just as I was starting to accept that Ricky may not be the one for me as he didn’t even look at me or even noticed that I existed. Until one day; coincidentally, my math teacher peered us for a group project of calculus tutoring, which turned out to be his less favorite subject, as he wasn’t good and I happened to be pretty good at it.

“So, what’s your name?” He asked.

“I’m Bella nice to meet you,” I said.

“Some people say that you’re pretty good at maths, aren’t you?” He mentioned.

“Yes, you shouldn’t let advanced math intimidate you…

It’s as easy as a “pi” I said, and then I laughed.

Unfortunately, I noticed that he didn’t get the joke; by his facial expression, I could tell that he thought that I was a weirdo, and I couldn’t help to think that I embarrassed myself and possibly ruined the moment, just a few seconds after talking to him for the First Time.

After what seemed to be an infinite silence, he finally said, “let’s focus on the tutoring, how about at my place at 5 pm after football practice on Tuesday?”

“That’s perfect,” I responded quickly and then we both exchanged our cell phone numbers.

Days passed by pretty slow, and I just wanted for it to be Tuesday already to be with Ricky. Every Time I saw him at school, I tried to call his attention, and I even gave him my place in the cafeteria line, but sadly he didn’t seem interested in being friends with me at all. Finally, the day arrived, it was Tuesday afternoon, and I was heading towards Ricky’s place.

When I arrived I decided to call him first to confirm that he hasn’t forgotten that I was coming, he answered my call, and then he opened the door. He seemed a little different as if he 16

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had been crying for some reason and I noticed that his beautiful smile vanished from his face, so I decided to ask him if he wanted to reschedule our tutoring for another chance and maybe get some rest.

“I’m okay,” he told me, “Let’s get to it before I fail tomorrow’s test.” He added.

“You don’t seem to be okay,” I replied to him.

“It’s just a couple of issues between my girlfriend and me, don’t worry about it.” He said And I answered, “if you need someone to talk to, you can talk to me, I won’t tell anybody.”

And that’s how I realized that my suspicions about Donna being a horrible girlfriend were right. Ricky told me that the real reason why he was acting like that lately, was because he found out that his girlfriend cheated on him with his best friend Mark.

“Oh, my God! That’s terrible, how can someone play with others’ feelings like that?” I said very sadly.

He also told me that Donna said, “it was a huge mistake and that she will never do it again,” but those were lies, I could tell that she only wanted to be with him because of his social status, I’ve met people like that in my last high school.

“Don’t let her get into your head Ricky; you deserve someone way better than her,” I said.

“The thing is that I thought that things were going good between us, you know? When I first met her, I felt that she was the one for me.” He answered.

“There are some people that are just meant to be in our lives for a certain period, and that’s fine, we just need to move on,” I told him to make him feel better.

“Let’s just not talk about Donna for now, why don’t you tell

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me something about yourself better, like what’s your biggest dream, for example.” He finally said to change the subject.

“Let’s do the math for a while, and then I’ll tell you whatever you are curious about,” I said.

We studied for around two hours, and when we finally finished, we kept talking about our last conversation. I told Ricky how I wanted to become a successful and recognized lawyer in the future, and to have a big loving family by my side, we laughed together for a while, and I felt how we were beginning to feel more comfortable talking to each other. Later on, he mentioned how people used to bully him when he was younger because he had acne problems and some horrible brackets that made him seem awful.

Then I confessed to him, “you know, people used to bully me too because I used to be way too shy, I had to use glasses, and I hadn’t discovered contact lenses or beauty products and makeup by that time.” I said sadly.

“I couldn’t imagine how someone can bully a girl as beautiful as you are.” He suddenly replied to me, and I blushed. We kept looking at each other, and after what seemed to be an infinite silence I finally said, “it’s getting late, I should better get home before my dad worries about me.”

“Oh, okay.” He said, and then he walked me to the door.

Next day at school, I was learning about the WW1 in my history class when the principal announced through the school’s megaphones the following; “Don’t forget to buy your entrances to the school’s Halloween Party that will take place at the coliseum this Friday night, and remember, there will be prizes for the best individual and group costumes, teachers and students have the same chances of winning.”

All the students cheered with happiness, and I was super excited about the Halloween party, I had a feeling that it was 18

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going to be a night to remember as it was going to be my first party in this new town.

Friday afternoon came pretty quickly, and I was heading home from school to get ready for the big night. When I arrived, I dressed up as a vampire as my favorite Netflix series was Vampire Diaries, and then my dad gave me a ride to the school’s Coliseum. As I was getting closer to my destination, I could see more and more people disguised walking in groups.

Finally, when I arrived, I got off the car and entered, hoping not to find Ricky as things between us since the moment we had at his place has been a little weird.

The coliseum was full, I said hi to everybody, and I joined the dancefloor and I started to sing with my chemistry friends, I was having fun until I crossed my eyes with Ricky, he was gorgeous as always, and this time, he looked at me. I tried to escape from the dance floor the minute he turned around and realized that I was looking at him, but he managed to get where I was very fast and he asked if we could go somewhere private for a moment. I told him that it was okay, so we went to the girl’s bathroom, and when we arrived there, we stayed in silence for about ten more minutes.

Then he finally said, “I wanted to talk to you about something very important.”

“Tell me,” I responded hurriedly.

“I think I’m falling in love with you.” He suddenly said, and I was in shock at that moment.

“I didn’t expect you to say that Ricky, with all the Donna stuff going on.” Those were the only words that came from my mouth.

“I know that it’s not the right time for me to confess my love, but I just wanted you to know that I love you, you’re special for me, I can feel a strong connection with you, and it’s weird because we met just a few days ago but it feels like, 19

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I have known you my whole life.” He said, and then he kissed me, and I kissed him back.

To our surprise, as I was kissing him, Donna entered through that door as she was going to retouch her makeup, and when she saw us kissing, she freaked out and started shouting and throwing stuff around, making a scene. She grabbed my hair and pulled it so hard to get me off Ricky; and I screamed so loud, that some school teachers had to enter the room we were in and take her outside to calm her down, and then the teacher called her parents to come and pick her up and informed the principal about the situation for him to give her a sanction for misbehaving at school.

Ricky and I stayed in that room looking at each other. He told me about how things with Donna were really over and how much he loved me, but I just didn’t know what to say due to the situation that I had just lived so I told him “I need some time to think about all of this, maybe we should talk about this later.” And I walked away.

When I arrived home, I stayed up all night thinking about how Ricky, the guy I had a crush on, told me that he loved me and kissed me, and the Donna theme just vanished from my mind. I just wanted to be happy with him now that I know that he has feelings for me, and I decided that I will tell him that I loved him too, but I figure it would be best if I wait until morning, as it was pretty late, and I didn’t want to wake him up.

I fell asleep as I was thinking about him, and my cell phone woke me up on Saturday with many messages and calls from Ricky. I called him back, and he answered after the first tone, without even saying hello to me, he said “look, I know that you asked me for some time to think things better but I just really need to say this to you...” and he started charmingly telling me all his feelings, making me fall for him even more.

He also mentioned that Donna got into a massive trouble 20

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as it was a school party in the school’s facilities, and she was quite tempered with the teachers after they called her parents to tell them about the situation, and the disciplinary sanctions assigned by the principal. After he finished telling me the story, I decided to open up my heart to him; finally, it was the time to start trusting my feelings, he loved me for real I could tell about that. He waited until I finished expressing myself, and then he told me that he would do anything to see me happy and to be with me, and he emphasized how much he wanted our relationship to work out, and so did I. We kept texting the whole weekend, and when I arrived at school on Monday, everyone was looking at me as I walked through the corridor. The minute I saw Ricky, I ran directly to him and kissed him in his rosy pink lips as he grabbed me from my waist. At that moment, my heart was so joyful pounding in my chest, and butterflies filled my stomach. All the students and teachers in the hall were looking at us. As the kiss finished, I felt warmth as his body embraced mine in a hug and the smell from his gentle cologne all over my clothes, I’ve never felt so protected and happy in my whole life. And that’s when I knew that whatever you do, do it following your heart.

BETRAYED LOYALTY

Written By María Paula Arias Otero 22

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Part I

T

he smell of coffee filled the room. Fresh bread just came out of the oven, they were putting it on shelves. Soft jazz music was being played in the background. A beautiful, skinny girl was sitting at the back of the coffee shop, in a table for two, but she was alone. Her winter gray eyes observed people’s monotonous flow going in and out of the coffee shop in detail.

She had this soft cherry-red lipstick that beautifully colored her lips. Her freckles stained her face as the dew at dawn and the mesmerizing movement of her hair threatened the waves themselves by the fluidity with which they moved, She was stunning, simply perfect.

All of a sudden, her elbow, in a foolish and unwanted move, spilled the coffee mug right in front of her. She was now covered with this dark substance that tainted her white blouse and her jeans turned brown. When she stood up from the chair, a tall boy was standing next to her with some napkins in his hand and said; “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, thank you. I’m so lucky the coffee was cold already, I didn’t burn myself.” the girl said.

She stayed still when she looked at him, staring at the new guy carefully from head to toe. He had some ocean eyes, a wavy and dark brown hair, and he was a broad-shouldered man as strong as a bull; then he approached her.

“Let me help you. Take these napkins and try to clean yourself a little bit,” he said.

Her sight was interrupted by the guy’s intervention and she had to answer quickly before embarrassment consumed her completely.

“Oh, thank you very much. What’s your name by the way?”

She asked as she grabbed the napkins to clean her blouse.

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“My name is Thomas Brown, and yours?” The boy replied.

“Amina Bonavich, nice to meet you,” she responded cheerfully.

Once she removed as much coffee from her blouse as she could, she sat down again on the same chair and kept cleaning her jeans. Amina asked Thomas if he wanted to sit with her and chat for a while. They bought two ice teas and some cookies and passed the whole afternoon getting to know each other, laughing, and having a good time.

A few months passed, and destiny wore its tale, they kept seeing one another. Their special place was that same coffee shop where they met. One day, Amina invited Thomas to her big white house, which had an enormous entrance, and beautiful gardens full of flowers. She introduced him to her parents, and they spent the afternoon in the living room, talking about life, and trying to get to know him. When the 20-year-old boy left the house Amina’s mother said; “Amina, what is going on with this boy, he isn’t too old for you?”

“Mother, I’ve been meeting with him for the past three moons, we are just seeing each other, but I am starting to like him, he is a really good guy,” Amina answered.

“But Amina, you are 17 years old, and he is 20; what are you thinking? He is never going to love you, he sees you as a baby.” Amina’s father said.

“You may not like him now nor trust him, or think he will never be good for me, but believe me; from the past few months, we spent together, I had the chance to know him and he is a good person,” Amina answered loudly.

There was a long silence, but it was interrupted by Amina, who said, “If you pardon me, I am going to my room.”

She went upstairs and shut the door. Amina didn’t care 24

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what her parents told her. She kept seeing Thomas, but this time they were not hanging together as friends, they were trying to be more than just friends. Their first date was at the cinema, and from there on, every weekend they went out on a date to a different place. They had their first kiss on the London Eye when they were at the top of the observation wheel, which had the most spectacular view of the city.

Thomas approached Amina in a very slow way, she had this doubtful flinch when he took her hand. She finally got the strength enough to let him get close and kiss her on the lips. Amina softened all her muscles and enjoyed the moment.

Everything was going perfect, as destined to be; Thomas asked her to be his girlfriend several dates after.

Part II A few weeks later, the parents found out about her affair with Thomas and they confronted her.

“Amina, for the fifth time, I don’t trust him” Amina’s mom shouted angrily.

“I can’t believe you’re dating a guy, three years older than you.” She added.

“Oh, come on, mother! He’s a nice guy and you know it,” Amina said.

“Yes, but he’ll dump you anyway. That is not real love, Amina,” her dad intervened.

“He’s just using you.” He added.

“Why are you all telling me what to do? I love him and he loves me. That is true love.”

Angry, Amina ran upstairs to her bathroom, shut the door, and stared at the other Amina beyond the mirror for some seconds in complete silence. Then the piercing silence was cut

by Amina’s murmur as her tears started to fall on her cheeks; “Is it real love though? Does he really loves me?”

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Tired of crying for almost an hour straight, laying on the bathroom’s floor, Amina decided to finally go to sleep even though she was full of doubts and fear.

After a few months of being together, they had a special moment. Amina was ready to take a step with her sweetheart, and they fooled around. Before it occurred, she was feeling frightful, because it was something new for her, but it was a step she was willing to have with Thomas. They relished the moment, and it was an experience that Amina enjoyed, and it exceeded her expectations.

Part III As days went on, Amina started to feel peculiar, she commenced complaining to herself that she was feeling dizzy. She just came out of taking a shower, when she stood still staring at her reflection in the blurred mirror due to the steam of the hot water. She was thinking about something when all of a sudden a shady smile was portrayed in Amina’s face. If only she knew that you can burn the house, but never hide the smoke.

A few weeks later, Amina arrived home. Her face was pale as a white tissue, it was possible to see misery through her eyes. She approached her parents, that were sitting in the outside deck, they were reading the Daily Telegraph. When they saw Amina, they stopped what they were doing, and both said at the same time; “Amina, what happened, why do you have that look in your face?”

“Mother, Father, I have something to tell you.” She sighed with fear in her face and she added; “Mom...Dad, I am pregnant.” Amina said with a broken voice.

“What? Amina I am bloody disappointed in you, how come you didn’t protect yourself. How do you know you are pregnant” Said Amina’s mother with grief.

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“I just came from the hospital. I took a pregnancy test, and it came out positive.” Amina respond The father stood up and threw the teacup to the ground with anger, while her mother was crying disconsolately.

Amina couldn’t believe her parents’ reaction.

They were in shock, the three of them didn’t say a word, it was the longest minute of silence, the atmosphere was strained, they were not able to see Amina in the eyes. Only negative arguments came out of the Mother and Father’s mouth. Amina couldn’t handle it any longer, so she ran to her room. and she cried for the rest of the day and night.

Part IV Days went by, and Amina was able to tell Thomas about what was happening with her parents, and the fact of her being pregnant. Thomas took the news in the best way, he was attentive, supportive, and the most important thing for Amina was that he still loved her. Meanwhile, Amina’s parents still didn’t accept her, they started to reject her, even stopped talking to her for a few days.

Amina was passing through a rough time with her parents.

The day of the ultrasound arrived, and she went on her own.

When she was over there, she texted Thomas and her parents to be together in her house by the time she finished the exam.

Amina arrived home, and she found everyone sitting in the living room, she had an envelope in her hand. She opened carefully and passed a medium-sized paper to her mother.

Both started crying, and Amina’s mother hugged her daughter and began to apologize about being so rude, about the fact of not being present and supportive with her during this crucial moment. The photo felt into the floor, and Amina’s father picked it up and observed it, it was a black and white image, and in the middle, there was this little tiny fetus, but he didn’t 27

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show any kind of expression. On the other hand, Thomas was very happy and he hugged Amina and didn’t stop saying that he loved her.

Amina’s mother changed since that moment, she began to be supportive, attentive, she started to love the baby.

Otherwise, her father started to change as time passed, it wasn’t an immediate switch, but he realized that what he was doing wasn’t the right thing to do, he is Amina’s father, and he needs to be with her in any situation or adversity.

One day, Amina called everybody to the living room.

Thomas was sitting next to Amina’s mother and father. When all of a sudden these words left the three of them speechless; “I need to confess something. Do you remember the day when I arrived home and I told you that I was pregnant? That I said that I came from the hospital? Well, that wasn’t true, I never went to that place. I was never pregnant, this is all fake.

Instead, that day I went to an agency that helped me plan all of this, and I was able to fake everything; the pregnancy test, the ultrasound, the whole thing. I did all of this, to test your loyalty, to let me see if you would be by my side even in the worst situations.” Amina said firmly.

Nobody said a word, Thomas felt betrayed at first, he thought that wasn’t the right way to test those things, but that he still loved her. Her father felt bad because he realized that he hadn’t been a good father for her, that he needed to show Amina that he was loyal, and he would be by her side no matter what because he was her father. The same thing happened to Amina’s mother, she felt bad, and guilty, that it was her words and actions that led Amina to do such a thing like fake a pregnancy to test someone’s loyalty.

Since that day, things changed. Amina stayed in a relationship with Thomas, and she strengthens her relationship with her parents, they got even closer. Amina learned also 28

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something from that experience, that she needed to protect herself when she wanted to have an intimate moment with somebody. Always trust people who would be there by your side no matter what situation, if it’s real love, they would never leave your side.

UNBROKEN DREAMS

Written by Martín Benoit Escobar 30

COLEGIO JEFFERSON · 2020

“

What is that sound? is that a cardiac monitor? where am I?” I was lying on a pail white room, on a stretcher, connected to many medical machines that I couldn’t comprehend their use. All I saw were two celestial bodies; a beautiful whitedressed woman and a tall broad-shouldered man. All these remissions to heaven just freaked me out, I wanted to live more.

At that moment the nurse touched me; “Good morning sir, you’ve been out for a long time,” she said.

Passed out? what’s going on, I couldn’t understand at that point, where was I, why was I there and who were these two people next to me, It was as if I was disconnected from some sections that my brain needed to fully work.

The nurse added; “You will need a shot of epinephrine to recover some lucidness.” She said.

When I felt the injection entering my bloodstream, memories started to flow through my brain, like water on a river.

Suddenly I remembered my name; Marco Stewart. I remembered that I was 19 years old, I could even bring back the five world champions of my grandpa James Stewart, This reminded me of the difficultness of filling in someone else’s shoes, all my life I’ve been living up to the expectation of being like my grandparent, a supercross champion.

After all the memories ran back at my brain, I was stabilized. I saw at the corner of my eye my father who has been sitting next to me, the whole time. He asked me how I was feeling, and it was a very difficult question to answer because I still didn’t know what had happened to me, so knowing my feelings were quite complex. I tried to rewind my memory but it was very difficult, red patches appeared in my mind, some parts of the story appeared but it was mixed up. I had a small fragment of me riding my motorcycle, another one of me rolling down the mountain, and finally, I had a memory of myself with a bunch of boys-scouts and an Ambulance.

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I tried to compile them on chronological order and this is what I came with. I was at Idaho National Park, Training for the Red Bull Romaniacs —Red Bull Romaniacs is the toughest and most important enduro competition in the world. Enduro is a motorsport in which your goal is to get from point A to point B as fast as you can on a dirt bike. It is different from motocross because is not on an enclosed circuit, it’s on a wide open space, where races can be up to 90 km long.— As I was saying, I was practicing, the day was beautiful, It was a very chilly morning, beautiful sun but also, some beautiful shadow patches. Training started as usual at 6 a.m., I rode my dirt bike all morning, I was practicing jumps and cornering, but after a while, I decided to practice my hill climbs.

There’s was an Empire State of a mountain, a very tricky section full of loosening up volcanic rocks, lots of gravel and a vertical 80 degrees angle ascend. I dropped a gear into 1st and started the hill climb. The bike was shaking like crazy, I was wide open, full gas heading to the top of the mountain until I hit the technical section and everything went sideways. This section had a lot of logs, each one positioned perfectly in front of the other, so I proceeded to accelerate as fast as I could, and go through them, but the back tire slipped on a log, my dirt bike lost control and I flew away from it. I rolled down the mountain, spinning very fast as if I was a kind of armadillo. I was gaining a lot of speed, I thought I was never going to stop until I felt a big impact on my legs. A branch went through my left leg, I felt a stunning sharp pain, and I started to lose a lot of blood, I felt nauseous, the light started being brighter, I was breathing heavily, and a group of boy scouts found me and called the ambulance. I woke up in the hospital and thought.

“What is that sound? is that a cardiac monitor? where am I?” It was 8:50 PM and the nurse entered the room, she had a face fully covered with disappointment and sadness, she 32

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gave me the bad news that the cut of the branch may have affected the circulation of the blood through the arteries into the rest of my body and that this could, unfortunately, lead me into paralysis or internal bleeding so she explained that the doctors had to amputate my left leg. I felt devastated, my dream slipped between the tip of my fingers, imagine all your life dreaming about competing against your idols and lose the chance to compete the weekend before the race. As expected, my dad was pretty sorrowful about the news, his whole dream was for me to compete professionally and be the greatest enduro rider. I often thought that he wanted me more as a bike winner than a real son.

That night I cried myself to sleep, I couldn’t process the idea that my life was going to take an opposite direction.

When I woke up I was moved into the Operation Room, with six doctors, and the nurse who I specifically asked to be there holding my hand since she had been so nice to me, because I was frightened. The surgery lasted for 7 hours, the doctors told me that everything went well on the procedure, I’ve never felt so happy to be alive but so miserable at the same moment.

The recovery was like hell, everything was so dark and depressing. I couldn’t get up in the morning, I couldn’t shower myself alone, everything would have been even worse if I didn’t have Helena next to me.

Helena is the nurse, she was the reason why I am who I am today. During my days at the hospital, she always took care of me. I remembered the days she surprised me with a prosthetic leg, she motivated me back into walking, every day we walked from my room to the cafeteria of the hospital, I started to like her, it all started as a nurse and a patient, but then we turned into friends and after that, into a couple. When she was taking me back home I felt extremely happy of going back to my place, but at the same time I was very sad because I was 33

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leaving my other half at the hospital, Helena was one of the most important people in my life, she did everything in her hands to help me, and I will always appreciate that.

After a rough year, I gained some confidence back, every day I went out for a jog. Life was at its fullest, but something was bothering me, I couldn’t feel complete, Motorcycles were a must in my life. Helena had a plan of introducing me back to motorcycling. This was very complex because enduro is a sport in which there is a lot of contacts. The hardest thing to achieve was to gain the balance, I bought a bicycle which had special pedals that connect to the prosthetic legs. At first, maintaining myself on top was very difficult, I was learning all over again. Helena helped me by sustaining the bike and then letting me go as if I was a little kid. This process was completely nerve-wracking, every time I got my speed going, my hands were sweaty, my arms were heavy and it was as if something didn’t let me move, I could feel everything coming back to me; from my father’s feelings, the crash and Helena being scared to death for my health. It was a very rough process, but I finally got over my fears.

After three years of practicing and riding bicycles, I gained the confidence to return to a dirt bike. My father and Helena were very nostalgic, seeing me again on a machine that almost killed my life, wasn’t easy for them but they supported me.

It has been a very complex process but I’m still learning, it feels as if I turned back time and become a little boy again, it still is very difficult to get on the bike again, and more with a prosthetic leg, where I don’t have complete control of the bike.

All this experience was very difficult and thoughtful for me, but in the end, I’m still pursuing my dream of competing in the Red Bull Romaniacs, the plan is to compete in the next year.

MURDERED BY BUSINESS

Written by Federico Bustamante Vacaflor 35

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B

ruce and Callium were close friends... They had a lot in common... They were partners, their families were close, had the same aspirations and almost all their hobbies were similar...

Bruce; a man with such an amazing personality always had a good word for everyone, he loved the orange color and he had those cheeks that dimple when he smiled, I suppose you could call them chubby, he was a father, a surrogate brother, a guardian angel. His only dream was to become financially successful and be able to provide for his lovely family. Callium on the other hand; a middle-aged man with a long beard as thick as a gardening flower, he liked to keep it so neat, as neat as the rest of his hair.

It was a sunlit day in Cali, everything was hot and people were burning inside. After an incredible weekend spent by Callium and Bruce, they had to go back to work and finish all the pending things in Bruce’s enterprise, which is called “Ecoservicios Premier.”

One day just like any other day, Bruce picks up his friend Callium at his house because Callium was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and he couldn’t drive. While both were in the car, they started talking about the outstanding weekends spent together with their families and old friends.

Callium greeted his friend and he said; “Hey Bruce, do you only have one orange t-shirt? I think you need to ask Santa Claus to give you something else on Christmas this year” They both laughed very hard and Bruce replied; “Ha Ha Ha! It’s my favorite t-shirt, you don’t know fashion!” as they both laughed amusingly, Bruce added; “Hey, Callium, do you remember that weekend at your farm with Axel, Philip, and Will? That was an unforgettable Sunday” Bruce said emotionally.

“Yeah Bruce, just like the bible says; we spend our years as 36

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a tale that is told,” Callium said while remembering the beautiful memories.

“You are right, man it was like 10 years since the last time we had met.”

“We should do it more often,” Callium said.

After they arrived at Bruce’s enterprise, each of them started to work on their pending stuff the whole morning. At 2:00 P.M. Bruce called Callium to ask him if he wanted to go and have lunch together. Callium agreed but told his friend that he wanted to invite him to eat seafood because he wanted to eat “Cazuela de mariscos.” They went to a place called “Doña coralina” which was near their workplace, and they both asked for the soup. While they were waiting for the food, Callium asked Bruce how was the negotiation of Buenaventura going.

“Hey, how is everything going with the business?” Callium asked firmly.

“We are waiting for them to confirm, but I think we are getting it” Bruce answered confidently.

“Holy cow, that is good news,” Callium said very happily “Yes my friend, but not everything is good as gold,” said Bruce “Why? Why not?” said Callium surprisingly. “two weeks ago, a man approached me while I was having lunch somewhere around town and he told me to leave the business I was looking for, or there were going to be consequences” Bruce responded calmly, and he added; “I haven’t told you about this because I didn’t want you to be worried” Callium was caught by surprise, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing from his friend Bruce, so he said; “I don’t get it!

Please, explain well” Bruce later explained that one of his business competitors had been threatening him, by sending different men to talk to Bruce, those men told Bruce that their boss has always 37

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had this business, year after year and that this wasn’t going to be the exception. They also recommended him to retrieve himself from the negotiation because if not the boss was going to act, and Bruce and his whole family would suffer the consequences. Bruce also explained that he felt threatened and that he couldn’t tolerate the fact that they were threatening his family in his face, so he reacted aggressively and told those men that he was not scared of their boss and that now he was even more motivated to close that deal. And Callium responded immediately; “Oh no! this can’t be happening Bruce, you can’t tolerate this type of threats because you are an incredible and hard-working man, that is doing the right things in the right way, If you need anything, you know you can always count on me,” “Thanks, Callium but please don’t tell anyone about this” Bruce said firmly.

“Don’t worry I won’t tell anyone” answered Callium.

After they had lunch it was time to go back to work, so they left the restaurant and went back to Bruce’s factory until it was 5:45 p.m. the time to go back home, after a hard-working day at the office.

Callium and Bruce got into Bruce’s car, and they started their way back home but first, they had to stop at a gas station before arriving at Callium’s house. Belatedly after, they arrived at the gas station named Terpel to fuel the tank and while they were waiting they started to talk with the man that works at the station about Venezuela’s crisis because the worker was from Venezuela, and at that time the country was facing a huge social problem.

From one moment to another the three of them heard a sound like fireworks, but after they turned around to look at what was happening, they saw two men in a motorcycle 38

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coming in front of them, shooting at the car and they left right after. Callium tried to cover himself, but Bruce didn’t have the same luck because he couldn’t react to what was happening, and sadly he received around 15 shots everywhere in his body, it all happened so fast that none of them could have done anything to defend themselves.

Suddenly after Callium recovered from this woeful incident, he turned around to check on his friend, and he noticed that Bruce’s favorite orange t-shirt had turned into a gleaming red-orange color because of the blood that had been spread all over it, he shouted his name repeatedly begging him to wake up, and that’s when he realized that his friend wasn’t responding, he started to cry for help but he was still in shock after everything that occurred. Callium tried to get out of the car to get some help from the people that were around the gas station. A few moments later, many people arrived immediately to help them out and called the emergency line 123 for them to send an ambulance.

While people arrived Callium tried to call his family to inform them what had just happened, and he told them that he was shot but not so bad and that he was worried about Bruce because he wasn’t responding. After 5 minutes two ambulances arrived at the crime scene to take them both at the nearest hospital, for them to get all the medical assistance they needed, and see if there was anything they could do to save for Bruce’s life. While Callium was in the ambulance, he couldn’t believe that his great friend was dead, as he was still crying for help, he prayed, begging for a miracle so that God could help the doctors bring Bruce back to life. He didn’t want to accept that his good friend Bruce, who was alive just a few minutes ago had gone forever in a matter of seconds, so he prayed and prayed that this was not the way Bruce’s life had to end.

When they arrived at the hospital, the doctors were 39

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waiting for them and they had everything prepared for both of them. Callium as he only got one shot, he asked the doctors desperately to look after his friend Bruce, the doctors tried to calm him down so that they may control the wound and stop the bleeding because he had lost a lot of blood. A few moments later; the doctors told Callium that they were so sorry that there was nothing they could do to save his friend, Bruce, as he died before he was brought to the hospital, this news broke every last hope he had in his heart and as he had lost a lot of blood, he passed out, the doctors laid him down and checked his purse to make sure that he was alright.

The family from both friends arrived at the hospital and they were received by the doctors who gave them the news, that Bruce had passed away but Callium was alive but in intensive care, this news broke both families apart, everything became dark into their world, as they didn’t have any explanations on what had just happened because Bruce never told his family about the threats he was having at work.

Unfortunately, Bruce died immediately beside his good friend Callium who luckily had only received one bullet in his stomach was still alive. That day, Callium lost his beloved friend in his hands from the two hired shooters that wanted to kill them. To this day; Callium hasn’t been able to forget that day. Bruce’s life was taken by the people who believe that money comes before anything and any person in this world, and people who are capable of doing anything including hurting anyone just to get their business going.

THE HIDDEN REALITY

Written By Sofía Buverte Patiño 41

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T

he year was 2015, in Miami country school; the wind roars as the students arrived through the gates, running and bustling down the hallways. Friends are greeting each other with a hug or a playful punch while newbies stand to look scared. The seniors stand, tall and proud, a confidence born of experiences. Soon the bells ring and everybody rushes back to their classroom and there I met Blake Gilbert, a petite girl thin, her large natural green eyes held such a charming and calmness that it was impossible for me no to be held prisoner by them. Her cheekbones weren’t just pronouncedly high but also very beautiful and her nose was a little too thin to be perfect, but there was an undeniable balance to her features and perhaps that’s what caught me so mesmerized.

It was all I could do not to continue and blush when she addressed me with her beauty. Blake was the weirdest girl in school, she loved to dress in shorts with holes and long earrings with skulls, she really liked rock music. But what she disliked was her social class. Her parents were part of the upper class of Miami Beach, and they were a very classical and traditional family. Their parents John Gilbert and Isabel Forbes, wanted their children to be part of the high society and study in the best school in Miami, but Blake had very different dreams, she hoped to be in a musical band and travel around the world playing music. Otherwise her brother Mat Gilbert, an 18-year-old boy, the most handsome boy in the entire school, with a tall body type, huge muscles and strong as a bull, the sexiest boy in the school, he had a brown short hair, and his eyes looked the same as Blake’s, the most beautiful eyes in the entire world. He has a cinnamon skin color that every girl wanted. And his dream was to continue with his family business and marry a girl of a good family in the USA. Anyway, Mat and Blake were different but they really loved each other.

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During the first day of class, I arrived, my name is Tayler Bass and I stared at Blake without taking my eyes off her. I won a scholarship to study at this prestigious school. I was slim and with an average height, I had soft rosy skin color that contrasted with my black short hair, my eyes were brown. I used dressed very differently from the rich students that studied in this school, I was wearing some dirty shoes and torn jeans, everyone in the classroom turned and looked at me very badly and started saying things to each other. I started to feel bad and thinking that I was in the wrong place. But when I walked into the room Blake didn’t stop smiling, she thought I was friendly. Finally, during the break, Blake sat down with me and said: “Hello, my name is Blake, I know this school is total shit” I said: “Hello, my name is Tyler, I feel really confused, this is not my kind of people, I think I’m in the wrong place.”

Blake: “What do you mean?”

I said: “I don’t have money, I won a scholarship, and this is not my world” Blake smiled and said “Don’t worry I will help you to handle it” When classes ended, Blake and I went to a park near the school, and she became my best friend, and we began to spend more time together, she was nice, everything with her was perfect.

After a week Blake and I started dating, I could not believe it and we started liking each other. Meanwhile, Blake’s brother, Matt, and his best friend Paul that were physically very similar were the most popular boys in the entire school and formed part of the football team, and they also held parties after school with their football team.

At school Mat said: “Today, party at the colosseum at 7 pm”

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Blake and I looked at each other, a very fixed look, and I finally said: “You want to go to the party with me?”

Blake answered: “Yes I would love to” I said: “Okay, see you at 7” Chloe and Sarah, the most popular girls at school, laughed when they listened that I had invited Blake to the party, and Chloe said: “Poor Blake, look who invited her to the party, the poorest child of school”.

During the party everyone was drinking alcohol, dancing, laughing and there were some drugs involved, I was a little bit drunk and I told Blake to go to a quieter place. We went to the pool zone and we started dancing around, laughing, and kissing. We were really happy and cool.

Our drinks finished so I left the pool zone for a minute to get Blake something to drink. When I arrived back at the Colosseum looking for some drinks I noticed that nearly everybody was drunk, including Mat, I found many guys under drugs effect, they were consuming several drugs. I was ready to go back to my loved Blake when I saw Paul (Mat’s best friend) coming out of the pool zone, I had a bad feeling, he wasn’t looking good, so I hurried to the pool zone. When I went to look for Blake, I couldn’t find her where we were last settled, I looked around and finally saw her, she was floating in the pool. She looked unconscious, I threw our drinks and threw myself into the pool to take her out. She kept unconscious, I turned desperate, trying to make her come back, but she was lying there without any reaction, I screamed her name, moved her but after I don’t know how much time, for me it was eternity I realized she had gone, she was dead and had several blows on her body.

A cold air felt my body and soul, I felt very scared, I didn’t know what to do or how to react. Blake was dead. I couldn’t believe it. I finally found the love of my life and that person 44

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died in a second. I felt guilty for leaving her alone for some minutes I went looking for something to drink. Her death was a big mystery. I was just thinking about her red blood streaked in the pool like a floater. When I was still trying to figure out what had happened, I found myself surrounded by many people. A policeman came to the scene of the events and began to ask me many questions as if I knew the answers. A detective came up and asked me; “What happened? did you do this?”

“No I was in love with her I would never hurt her” I responded furiously.

“It’s okay, everyone makes mistakes, if you tell me the truth I will help you, So what happened?” Before I could say anything else, he added. “she has several hits from a big fight, someone hit her too hard, tell me, son!”.

It was really difficult that everyone thought I was guilty.

After many hours of questions, they took me home. When I arrived home I started throwing everything to the floor, and I stayed awake the entire night because I couldn’t sleep thinking about what had happened, realizing that Blake was dead.

During the first days of school after Blake’s death, everyone kept talking about her death and how weird it was, everyone mentioned I was guilty of Blake’s death, and that I could be the only culprit. Mat was very affected by his sister’s death and couldn’t bear to talk about it anymore, he even fought with his friends because people wouldn’t stop talking and gossiping about Blake. Mat’s family was very affected and only argued because they made Mat feel guilty for not taking care of her sister. Thusly after, Mat became aggressive and with uncontrollable anger. Moreover, the detective who was handling Blake’s case interrogated all Blake’s classmates to investigate their relationship with her and if anyone had any reason to harm her. But still haven’t found the culprit.

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After a week I went to school, and when I came back, everyone started to stay away from me, saying “You are a killer”, “You killed Blake”, “Get out of here murderer”, In my locker, there was a big note saying “MURDERER” and one day I found inside a book and a dead bird and it smelt horrible. Everyone started saying bad things to me accusing me of murder, and this was extremely difficult for me to handle. When Mat Gilbert looked at me he threw himself at me like a lion on his prey, I fell to the floor and Mat started to hit me like he wanted to kill me, he hit me really hard, he was so angry that I could feel his heart beating so fast, everyone around us began to shout and support Mat, but finally, the director came and took him off on top of me. I was injured with several scrapes and my ribs hurt a lot, I felt really bad. Blake’s family was shattered, Mat was devastated, he looked really bad, with dark circles around his eyes and his attitude was very aggressive.

Later that day, I started to do some thinking, and I remembered that Paul had entered the pool zone before I arrived in and he was the last one who might have seen Blake alive that night, I decided to confront Paul about and also threatening that I was going to call detective but he insisted on telling me that I was lying and that I simply wanted to cover my guilt. I was sick and all I wanted was to stop feeling so bad and everyone blamed me. I was innocent and nobody believed me and Paul didn’t want to tell me what happened that night. Things around me were so dark and without any further light to come, so in a very desperate moment the only choice I found was to kill myself, it was the only way out of this mess.

I hoped that someday Blake’s family will realize that I loved her so much and that I would never be capable of hurting her.

I know that the truth always comes out and that I would stop this pain in my soul and that Paul someday is going, to tell the truth, because he’s not going be able to handle his guilt 46

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forever. I was going to miss my family a lot and I was going to fail them but it was the best I could do. I decided that the moment arrived, with two razor blades in my hands, I began to slit my wrist. It was very painful at first and after the blood started to run all over my body, I was covered with blood my entire body, it looked like strawberries juice and I started to see everything very bright, it was the end of the pain forever.

Gilbert’s family heard from the news that Tayler had killed himself and his family was devastated. It was on the news, they talked about that Tayler couldn’t stand the social pressure of Blake’s death and that’s why he committed suicide when Paul heard the news he could not manage his anger and his fear, and in amid of despair and guilt, it made him tell his parents the truth, he wanted to talk to the detective and put an end to this story.

The detective said: “I am ready to listen what is important to know” Paul took a deep breath and said: “I was the person who killed Blake Gilbert, I was very high and at that moment with a fit of rage I reacted the way I should not, by the time I got to the pool Blake was there and she started to ask me a lot of questions, my reaction was very aggressive, I had so much in my head, I pushed her to the floor until she hit her head so hard and then fell into the water” The detective responded: “Alright, I advise to get a lawyer” Paul started crying saying: “I swear it wasn’t my intention to hurt her” The detective told Paul; “You delayed confessing the truth and you lied to us and made an innocent person die for this, you should pay for your mistakes.”

The truth always comes out, and Paul learned to be more honest and take responsibility for his actions, his parents paid a lot of money for him to get a shorter sentence, but still 47

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paid for his mistakes. Anyway, Gilbert’s family was devastated and they couldn’t believe that Mat’s best friend was the one who killed Blake and for them, their life had never been the same again.

THE TRAGEDY

Written By Julián Andrés Cerro Medina 49

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he alarm rang at 6:00 a.m. as it always does, of course, I went back to sleep for five minutes, or so I thought.

Thirty-three minutes later I realized I was late again. It was a cold morning, the winter of 2008 was in a full course. My family lives in the east of Missouri, in a little town called Drexel near Kansas City. Drexel is a small town, therefore, its houses are detached and have land around it, and there is a significant distance between our neighbors.

The routine was normal, it was beginning to snow, the same old boring day. I had to go to the university, so, I got out of the bed, bathed, had breakfast, brushed my teeth, and well, the usual. I was then twenty years old, and I looked just like any other guy, I was tall, and my face was a little bit rounded, but I have a very thin nose, thanks to mom. My hair black, and blue eyes, they are like water from a mountain, falling through a rock. As I begin to recall my twenties, I can remember that I used to wear black clothes all the time. I also liked going out with my friends and my girlfriend, we usually went to the movies, to play video games, and sometimes went out dancing to clubs. My favorite music was electronic and rap back then. So, I jumped into the shower, got dressed, put on my leather jacket, grabbed the keys of my car, as I sneaked out of the house, and run away.

Then I drove my 1969 Mustang to College, I loved that car, and every time I drove it, I got the same feeling. I was arriving when the sun was rising, what a beautiful place, white as a polar bear, but still serene. I parked the car and then I went through the lockers, and there was Melanie, how not to describe her? She is a beauty, the most attractive girl in the state of Missouri, there are many things to say about her, but for now, I can say that we have been dating since middle school and she has made a huge impact in my life. Melanie is a beautiful young woman, her hair is light brown and it flows over 50

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her shoulders. She has honey sweet lips, red as a rose, her eyes are hazel and when the sun shines on them they actually look green but the best part is, she has safe eyes, perhaps that is the best way to say it. I feel comfortable around her, there is beauty in being a good listener, someone who searches to make connections, and someone that sees things from new perspectives, that person is Melanie. I always tell her that she has a beauty that makes traffic stop. Like other adolescents, we love each other, and we can say that we have been through many things.

“Hey Berkey!” she used to say when she saw me. Melaine does not know it, but I love her enough to marry her, one of my dreams is to marry my longtime girlfriend because she understands me, she helps me become a better person. I do love her enough to make her my wife and have a family with her.

Humans remember the weirdest things, for some reason we only remember what has made an impact on us, being positive or negative, as long as it was meaningful to us, we will always remember every detail. It is exactly how I remember it, it seems as if it was just yesterday when we were happy and planning our future together, Melanie and I. We had gone to the movies, and it was a dark and rainy day, just like in the movies, it started to thunder as we crossed the street to the movie theatre. I paid for our tickets and popcorn, and went in with Melanie, I do not remember the title of the movie, all I can remember is that it was Melanie’s turn to pick the movie, so, obviously the movie was a romantic comedy. I remember having a great time, as we always did, we laughed, we ate, we talked, what else could I ask for? Then, for some reason, the beautiful day turned into a nightmare.

A couple of hoodlums came inside the theatre and began to threaten the teenagers that were sitting in the last row, they looked very strange, but there was something peculiar which 51

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caught my attention, they gave me bad vibes, and to top it off, one of the guys had a gun inside his jeans, I saw it as he walked to the last row and demanded the teenagers to move. As the teenagers were getting up to give up their seats, Melanie turns around and demands the gangsters to sit somewhere else, she tells them that they had no right bullying younger teenagers and that it was also illegal.

“Excuse me, you have no right telling these kids to move and sit somewhere else. Mess with people of your own age and go away!” Melanie said.

The hoodlums didn’t know what to do, they looked at us, and not in a friendly way. I honestly thought we were going to get shot I could not believe that Melanie was sticking up for other teenagers, and did not ask me anything before doing so.

I, of course, was very upset, pissed off, and I screamed at Melanie. “How did you talk to those criminals like that out of nowhere? We can easily be shot for a theatre seat. You know that! Next time, if you want to play hero do it alone!”. Of course, I was not thinking. Melanie did not listen, she ran out of the theatre, and I could not find her. I did not know what to do, I started to worry and to breathe heavily, immediately, I began to call her cell phone to apologize and speak to her but she did not answer for a while.

Finally, she answered twenty minutes later, she was upset, I’ve never seen her like that, but she was sad, she could not speak clearly. I tried to apologize to her and asked her where she was so that I could go and pick her up. The night could not be worse, it was dark, it was raining, it was thundering, the noise of the cars passing did not let me think clearly, we were speaking on the cellphone, while Melanie was arguing me, and suddenly as she is telling me that she is on her way to her house, something unexpected happened, as she was crossing the street, I heard her scream and a loud crash, then silence. At 52

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that exact moment I realized that there was no turning back, I had made mistakes, and the love of my life was hurt.

Little did I know that as we were talking on the phone, Melanie was crossing the street she was hit by a bus. She did not see the bus because she was talking to me on the cellphone. thusly after, Melanie was taken to the nearest hospital and the doctors were able to connect her to a life machine, Melanie had fallen into a coma, my Melanie, my future wife was in a coma, and it was my fault, at least that is what I felt.

If I had not screamed at her, she would not have run out of the theatre and we would not have been talking on the cellphone as she crossed the street. It was my fault, Melanie was in a coma, and nobody knew what was next.

Months went by before Melanie showed any signs of recovery, she looked normal again before she was too swollen and bruised up. Her parents and I got closer because, in the end, the only ones who visited her at the hospital were her family and me. In the beginning, most of her friends would visit but as time went by her friends stopped going to the hospital. It was during the visits that her parents and I got to know each other. It was nice to make a bond with them. Then, one day three months and three weeks later she woke up. Her parents were at the hospital as I got there. I remember when her father took me by my arm and asked me to go with him to the waiting room. He looked as if he had a deep dark secret to tell me, as we speak all I heard was the word, “amnesia”. It was as if I was daydreaming, I heard what he said, it just didn’t register to me.

Finally, after a couple of minutes, I began to listen to his words again. This time I heard, “She does not remember who we are, and we are her parents. So my dear Berk, do not get your hopes up, and do not feel bad because she does not remember who you are.” The words cut through my heart like 53

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a knife, as Melanie and I truly loved each other. As I prepared myself to go into her hospital room, I thought I could help but to think that as soon as Melanie saw me, she would remember who I am, run to my arms and go back to being normal again.

As I entered the room Melanie looked up from her bed and said, “Hi, do I know you?”

Those words stung like a bee, I said, “Hi Melanie, it’s me, Berkey!” Then, her face became serious and sad, and she asked, “Are we related?”

There are no words to explain what or how I felt, all I know is that I felt a horrible pain all over my body. My stomach was in knots, and I felt as if I was going to faint. I did not want to answer her. All I knew was that I felt like crying, running, screaming, like… Pain erupted from every place on my body like being wrapped in a blanket of nails. I was in a sea of sadness, a sea of uncertainty. The doctors had advised the family to leave her in the hospital for a couple of weeks and they also explained, that memory loss does come back 90% of the time and that Melanie could also get her memory back.

Moments later; when I finally dared to speak, I told Melanie that I was just a friend of a family, not to worry, but she gave me a puzzled look, and my heart broke. I realized that she did not recognize me, so I left the hospital room in tears. As time passed, I learned that Melanie was discharged from the hospital and she was allowed to go home, and even though I was happy for her, I was still sad that she would not call me or reach out to me, nevertheless, I understood her situation and gave her space and time to heal.

A few weeks later, I started to visit her a couple of times at her house, but it was always the same, she treated me as a friend that she had just met. Then, suddenly one beautiful morning as I walked into her bedroom, she greeted me with her sweet smile that I knew so well, “Hi Berkey!” she said. “I 54

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am happy to see you.” I knew right there, that she remembered who I was. “Please come in and sit down I have something to say.” She began by telling me how grateful she was to me, and how my visits helped her gain most of her memory back, but then she said, “Berkey, I remember you now, I remember up until three months ago. I know that we were a couple and that we were planning to get married, but I want you to know that sadly, I’m not the same Melanie. I do not have the same feelings or feel the same way about you or life in general. I appreciate you, as my dear friend. But right now, I’m just starting to get my life back, and I do not want to mislead you nor play with your feelings.”

When I heard those words, my heart fell into pieces. And then she added, “We can still be friends, but I need you to understand that I need to do this for myself, I need to take some time and be with my family, and I want you to know that I’ll always love you. But right now, I just need to be by myself.” those words tore me apart and I was devastated, “It’s okay my love, Melanie, take all the time you need, I’ll be waiting.” I said with a broken voice and perhaps my heart was also broken.

Nowadays; I have learned that love is a battlefield, there are no winners or losers, every participant is a broken and hurt soldier at the end. Love is like a rollercoaster, with many ups and downs and unexpected turns, and my ride had just started. I knew that the break-up would be hard when it came, but I never imagined how hard. It has been a year now since Melanie had the accident and her memory has improved significantly, but unfortunately, she has not called me. Even though I am happy for her I cannot help to feel miserable, and I have learned to accept the fact that she will probably never call or reach out to me. Therefore, I must say what I have learned from all of this; I should have been greatly supportive 55

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despite the situation. You never know if your life’s dreams are shattered in a couple of minutes. I have learned to value everything and everyone, I have learned to never take anything for granted, especially love. I have learned to love and support the ones you are with and make the best of it.

WITHOUT A FUTURE

BY MY SIDE

Written By Natalia Lin Chang Gรณmez 57

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T

he sound of the rain over the windshield, the lights of a truck coming towards us, the blood of Luke all over the car, and the screams of our kids, Emily and Jacob. That night of 1940 when we took highway number 10 outside town to visit my sister Amanda we never thought it would be the worst night of our lives. After we crossed over the Lake Pontchartrain bridge a torrential rain started and Luke told me that we should go back home, but I had promised my sister we would be there for her birthday. About 45 minutes later, when we were crossing a bridge I saw a man wearing a cap and talking on the phone while crossing the curve, and suddenly he lost the control of a cargo truck he was driving and it came towards us, living me unconscious, killing my husband and my little boy, but leaving Emily crying and with some scars.

A few days later, I was still unconscious at the closest hospital to Amanda’s house, when I woke up I did not understand what was going on, so I started asking lots of questions but neither of my parents was able to explain to me anything. I asked for my husband, but they didn’t answer. Then I asked for Emily and she came right across the door and hugged me, but I didn’t understand the reason why she was crying, so I asked her about Jacob and she told me with her innocent voice; “mom; he and dad are dead.”

In that instant my heart started to beat fast and the tears were falling down my face, my sight turned white and I could only think about, how was it possible to lose my husband and my kid in a car crash, how was I possibly going to be able to raise a girl all by myself, how was I possibly going to live my life without the man I loved. Then the nurse came into the room and asked for my name, my age and my job, but I wasn’t able to answer, so she asked again.

And I said “My name is Eve, I am 28 years old and I am a journalist” 58

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Then she said, “That’s correct, and you know why you are here?” But I didn’t understand what was happening, so I answered “No, what is going on? What happened to my husband? Where is he? Where is Jacob? I don’t believe you, Emily, they are not dead” The nurse said; “Eve please calm down” But I couldn’t calm down, my mind was racing thoughts and none of them were good.

“No I am not calming down, where is Luke? I want him right over here. Where is my little boy?”

And the nurse said, “I am sorry Eve, there are things you need to kno...” Before she was able to finish her sentence, she was interrupted by my sister Amanda, who was also in the room and she said; “Eve, please calm down, you need to listen, take a deep breath and listen to me” She then asked her husband and Emily to wait outside for us to stay alone. I was still upset, however, she repeated; “Calm down and listen to me”, It took me about 5 minutes or more to be able to calm down, and she started talking to me, saying; “Eve, now that you have calmed down, you need to understand what is going on. The night you all were going to visit me, you had a car accident, a man was talking on the phone in a cargo truck and lost control of the truck and it crashed with your car” Some tears started to come off her eyes and continue saying; “You have been in a coma for 7 days, Emily just got some scars but Luke and Jacob didn’t make it, I am so sorry” Her voice began to cut so I asked her if she saw their bodies, and she said “Yes, I did” and started crying, trying to say something else but I wasn’t able to understand her. Then she went out of the room and Emily came in, I was in shock,

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I wasn’t even able to cry, to talk or to understand the reason why God has done this to me.

A few years passed, my little girl wasn’t any more little, now she was a teenager with so many friends and a lot of parties to go to, so I was so happy, but often we both cry in the living room for our loved ones. We were still living in New Orleans, since the accident, but in a different apartment, the other house reminded us of Luke and Jacob.

By the time Emily was growing turning into a real woman, I started to notice that my face did not have any wrinkles, and usually when you are just about to get in the 40s your face used to have some wrinkles. However, when it was time for Emily to go to college she decided she wanted to study in another state, and I decided to go with her because I couldn’t let her go by herself. We moved to Los Angeles.

Living in this big city was really hard, even though Emily made friends fast, I just had my old school friend Samantha. I used to call her Sam, She used to be the prettiest girl at school, but when I saw her, she was looking old, her hair was already starting to turn grey, a lot of wrinkles and the clothes she used, made her look even older. She was stunned because I was looking exactly like my last college years, with the same brown and long hair and my eyes with the same brightness as the day I married Luke.

With time, I decided to visit a dermatologist in town, because my face still the same as if I was 28, but now I was 42.

I knew something was wrong with me, even the doctor was surprised with the magnitude of my skin, he made studies to my body, and all of it looked like the body of a 30 years old woman, so it was unusual for him to find a case like this one.

About 4 years later he continued his studies, but to my surprise, he wasn’t able to find a scientific explanation of my case.

A few years later, Em graduated from college and a 60

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multinational business company wanted her to work for them, of course, she said yes, but the work wasn’t in LA, it was in London. In this case, I decided to stay in the US, but not having my little girl Emily in the house, my loneliness haunted me and I was moving from one state to another looking for happiness, Then finally I decided to have a fresh start but now in the city of new york, I created a new identity, new name, new age, I painted my hair and put contact lenses.

The year was 1951, I arrived in New York City and rented a nice place near central Park which wasn’t what you know nowadays like the big and famous Central Park. On New Year’s Eve, I went to a party at one of the most elegant and famous hotels in NYC, during the evening I met a guy who looked extremely familiar, so I introduced myself and used my journalist’s abilities to know him better and try to figure out where I knew him from.

His name was John, he was 32 years old, worked for one of the political parties of the government, he did not mention anything that called my attention or helped me remember where I knew him from until he mentioned his born place. He was from Cincinnati, Ohio, the same place where I grew up from —felt in love for the first time.— In that instant I realized that he looked just like Patrick, which brought a lot of pleasant memories; Patrick my childhood friend, we grew up together, our families were closer and with the time that friendship became intact, We shared so many beautiful childhood memories, Patrick was my first love, but it was just a teenage love. Everything was perfect then my father had a new job in New Orleans so we had to move with him, for my family it was easier Because everything they loved was going to New Orleans but in my case, I was leaving Patrick, the only guy who understood me, and made me feel alive, yeah I know I was just a teenager girl but I loved him.

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At this time, I was interested in getting to know me better, because he reminded me of Patrick, my first love, we spent the rest of the night talking, laughing, dancing, and we later exchanged our cell numbers.

A few months later, we started to spend more time together, and I felt like I was regaining my life again and as days went by, I grew to like John even more and he didn’t even know my real identity, then one day, he invited me to his house to meet his parents and his entire family, unfortunately, I couldn’t do the same with my daughter, because she was in London and she looked older than me, and it wouldn’t have made any sense to him. But John reminded of Patrick every day, and It felt like it was meant to be and his feelings were sincere. Nevertheless; I hesitated to give him the answer to his invitation.

One long weekend, we took a trip to Rhode Island, and while sitting in the sand, in front of the sea, watching the color of the sunset I decided to tell him the truth. Since he had been asking about it tirelessly and our relationship was becoming very serious, I told him my real story and my real age and to my surprise, he was very understanding, he also said that he found it interesting being with someone who never gets old but with a lot of full experiences, and he also added that regardless of my ageless condition, I was still the same person he fell in love with, this made me feel happy and relieved.

A few days later, we decided to be together, and the time finally came to meet his family, we went back to Cincinnati and his entire family was waiting for us, they knew about me from John, but he did not share my secret identity. Arriving at his house, I was shocked to see the real Patrick at the door, he had gotten older, but his smile was still the same, Apparently, Patrick was John’s father.

He recognized me, as I had the same face since the last time we met. A strange smile was placed in his mouth, Although I 62

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was introduced to him as his future daughter in law, he knew something was not right, but he never mentioned anything to anyone, then we were told to sit down and the first thing he asked was; “Do you know Eve”?

John and I looked at each other, and I said immediately; “No Sir., I do not” John held my hands stronger and he changed the subject by asking his father about his health, and everybody else at his house.

We both had a wonderful time together with his family.

Later on in the afternoon, John had organized a surprise engagement party for me, most beautifully, anyone could propose to the person they loved. We were with his entire family having dinner, everything looked perfectly nice, flowers all over the table, my favorite food, Italian. Then he kneeled and asked if I wanted to marry him, It was the most beautiful night I had had in a long time, His family was happy for both of us, and amid my happiness, a lot of unsecured thoughts came to my mind; “What was going to happen to my real identity, Would I ever be able to be Eve again, Will John family ever forgive me for lying to them?”

For so long I was scared, running and hiding from the society, But I felt like I couldn’t hide it anymore, so I stood up and thanked everyone for the enormous love they have showing me and for sharing this beautiful moment with us, and I also added; “..but, there is something you all need to know”. My voice started to break but John held my hand so hard, that it gave me the courage to continue my speech.

“My real name is Eve. Eve Brown, I grew up here, in this beautiful country house, I know Patrick since I was a child 63

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and we were close friends until I moved to New Orleans. I was married once, to an incredible guy, who later died in a car accident with my youngest son Jacob, and left me with my oldest daughter to raise, her name is Emily and years later in my early forties, I found out that I have a condition of eternal youth which is basically not being able to age, that’s why I look so young.”

Everyone on the table was confused, and they couldn’t believe my story, however, Patrick who was sitting in the head of the table stood up and said, “I knew it was you, I have missed you since the day you move to New Orleans” the old Patrick walked towards me and gave me a strong hug.

Then the rest of the family started to ask questions, all at the same time, but I continue saying; “I know you might be confused about my ageless condition, I consulted different doctors and specialists in the country but there was no answer as to why I don’t age, and people treated me differently, and that’s the reason why I changed my identity, I was so tired of being judged by my condition every year” Some members of the family were okay with my situation, however, some of them didn’t approve the fact that I was older than John and that I wasn’t able to get older, they all cared about John so much.

Even though some family members didn’t accept our marriage nor attend our official wedding, we got married in a beautiful ceremony near Rhode Island beach. Emily came to the celebration and I introduced her to the family, without being afraid of what they could say. Patrick gave us a large land in Cincinnati near his house as a wedding present. After a couple of years, we decided to move to Cincinnati and built a country house where we would be spending the rest of our 64

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lives. Belatedly after we had three children, Mary, Roger, and Alexa. Cincinnati was the best place for us to escape from the big cities and judgments from the societies routines.

One day, when I was trying to fix the electricity in the house, I felt a strange current through my whole body as if I was going to explode. I felt down and was brought to the nearest hospital where I was comatose for seven days.

When I woke up, I wasn’t young anymore. I couldn’t feel my body, my face, my hair, everything about my body had changed. It seemed as if I had traveled 100 years in the future.

My family couldn’t believe it, I was looking like a granny, I didn’t know my age, my kids were outside of my room and this time they were the ones confused. John took my hand so hard that I could say that he was shattered, he told me he didn’t know how to raise three kids on his own. Mary, the oldest came into the room asking for answers, so we told her to call her siblings for us to tell our story.

Mary youngest born asked who I was and this is how I began the story; “My name? I had a lot, but my real name is Eve Brown, and I lived through different generations, Heres here’s my story.”

THE ACCIDENT THAT CHANGED MY LIFE

Written By Gabriella Chaux Martínez 66

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T

he rush was pumping in my veins. For the first time, I felt scared. I felt the whole thing, the horseshoe rushing my face, the whole weight in my body. I was nervous, edgy, agitated, aghast. I felt the sun rays penetrating my skin, it was a sunny day. Just like the day of my most important competitions. Moments that I wished I had lived longer to cherish.

It was a Saturday, nine in the morning, March 10, 2018, in Wellington, Florida. I was sitting on top of my horse, Liverpool, one of the most astonishing horses in the entire world, he’s been with me since I first started riding. He is a tall horse, as white as the snow, he looks intimidating as he has a strong appearance, with some huge muscles on his legs, which is one of the things I love the most about him, Although he looks powerful and well-built, he is one of the most amorous horses. The connection I feel with him is unimaginable, we are like one.

And giving the fact that I am a small girl, just 15 years old, with a thin complexion, which gives the impression of a soft and kind little girl, My parents used to say that, I have auburn hair and some huge green eyes. I love eyes, My dad used to say that they are the windows of a person’s soul. On the other hand, some people might think that I can’t deal with Liverpool, as I am small and he is such a big boy.

I was just waiting to be the next at the riding track. My mom was standing right next to me and she lightly touched my thigh, and she smiled at me. I knew what that smile meant, she always did it before one of my competitions, it meant “you can do it”. She is the one person I love the most in the whole world. She has a heart-shaped face with some beautiful freckles around her nose, and some green big almond-shaped eyes that have a compassionate expression, and a big toothy smile.

She has thin dyed chestnut brown hair, that always looks with a messy bun, giving the impression of a relaxed look. She is always standing still with her thin body, wearing those skinny 67

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jeans, with those black boots and the sunglasses she always wears to appear intimidating but in reality, she is nice.

The time came for me and Liverpool to be next to the competition. I was nervous before a show jumping competition, but in the end, we did an amazing show, no faults and at the right time. After I finished organizing Liverpool in the stable again, I bumped into an old man, he had a wrinkled face with some blue eyes that look just like the sky, he had a bald head; he looks really old but nice as he was small and chubby that he wore with that leather shirt. He looks stylish and polish.

“Valerie Stone,” he said enthusiastically “yes?” I responded “Sorry, we haven’t met yet, my name is Clinton, I’m a sponsor of the top Florida showjumpers, and I’m here because I want to invite you to a showjumping tour competition in Europe for two months” I didn’t know what to say, I was so excited, this is my only life opportunity to have my horse jumping career that I’ve always dreamt about. I just had to go and tell mom about it. Right after I told her, she got more excited than I was. She always supported me with every decision I had to make and this wasn’t the exception. Little did I know this invitation was going to change my life.

“Thank you so much, Mr. Clinton, for giving my daughter this amazing opportunity, it is the best news we could ever imagine,” mom said.

“The pleasure is mine, Ms. Stone, your daughter is an amazing amazon and I know for sure she is going to do just great. Oh, sorry I forgot to tell you. The competition starts in two weeks, so we have to get there as soon as possible” He responded.

I was shocked, I had less than two weeks to practice to get there, I had to do my best. And so I decided to practice a lot.

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And one day I was practicing in the arena and I had to do a really hard jump, it was high, more than what I and Liverpool are used to. We started going towards it a lot faster, and when it was the time to jump Liverpool inclined but he tripped. I have to mention that I usually fall a lot, it is part of the whole jumping deal, and every time I fall it happens in just a blink, as nothing had ever happened. But this one was different, I felt the whole adrenaline, step by step, the whole thing was like a nightmare that didn’t end. I felt like the fall was infinite and I was never going to stop falling and touching the floor. I remembered when I was a kid and my mom always told me that I couldn’t be afraid to fall. And I hold on to that, but the floor never came, I couldn’t feel it, the only thing I felt was the wind in my body and that nervousness in my heart. Finally, the knock came, the ground was hard as a rock, well it is supposed to, as it is meant for the horses to jump there and not join, but after I knocked the floor I couldn’t feel anything else.

My body was like a rock, I could feel my heart beating fast, just like if it was going to explode.

The next thing I remember was me waking up in a hospital room. My mom was there, sitting next to me, she looked worried. I looked at her and tried to speak but no words were coming out of my mouth. I tried to move to one side so I could touch her and let her know I was awake, but my left hand wouldn’t respond, I couldn’t reach her. I felt powerless like everything was going wrong and there was no way I could fix it and go to Europe. My mom then saw my eyes open and she came to me, I couldn’t say a word, I looked at her and started crying. She immediately called a nurse and a doctor. The doctor said I wouldn’t be able to speak again and that the left part of my body was not responding correctly. I didn’t know what to do, but my mom looked so calm, she always does, even in bad circumstances. This is something I admire a lot 69

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about her, the fact that she can get the best out of every bad situation and always thinking positive. I couldn’t. The only thing I was thinking about was my trip to Europe and the fact that I couldn’t speak or move ever again.

Questions where popping out my mind like a storm.

“Where is this going to leave my career as a showjumper, and what was I supposed to do now, and how was I going to get out of this mess.?”

Every question possible was coming out of me, questions with no answer. I couldn’t speak to anyone about it, not even my mom. I knew from that moment that I was on my own now, it was me against my thoughts, and I didn’t know if I was able to control it, or if one day I was just going to explode and get crazy.

Some weeks have passed and I wasn’t getting any better. I felt worse every day that passed. On the contrary to my mom, who is always trying to cheer me up and trying to get me in the best mood, making me laugh to forget about everything. It worked sometimes but still, my thoughts were killing me. My mom said I should start physical therapy so that my left part of the body wouldn’t get any worse, she said someday I would be able to walk again, she was so sure about it, but I wasn’t. I knew at that moment that my life had come to an end, I was certain I wouldn’t be able to walk ever again or even speak.

But she always reminded me of how good I was in everything I did, and she constantly looked at me with the same face she did before I get into the track, meaning —you can do it—, she believed in me.

I got out of the hospital and finally got home. It was weird being there, it felt so different. But my mom did everything to make me feel at home. She even made my favorite meal, pasta with butter. And I started my therapy. I was going there every day of the week, Monday to Saturday because Sundays 70

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were not opened. My mom went with me, and she always gave brownies to the people who worked there. She did take the best out of it. I, on the contrary, hated that place. Every Time I got in I felt that weird sensation, like when you don’t like something. But my mom reminded me of what they were doing for me and that I should be grateful.

One day when I was home, I decided I wanted to go to the stables to see Liverpool. Mom came in with me. And when I tried to get closer, trying to touch him, he immediately went back, as if he didn’t recognize me or as if he didn’t want to see me after the accident. I got afraid of him. For the first time, he was acting different around me. He has always been the most adorable horse ever. Every time I went to see him, he just neighed at me and looked so excited to see me. But now is different. Maybe he feels my fears, he feels I’m afraid, and he gets afraid as well. But I’m just not ready yet, I don’t feel ready.

And I’m afraid I’m never going to be. After what happened maybe I just have to forget about Liverpool and riding ever again and just move on with my paralytic and dumb life. After all, that is what I am, and that is how everyone around; sees me. Lonely, weird. I hate those people, the ones that judge you without knowing you, the fakes ones. I got to live with them for quite a long time. The type who greets you as if they’ve known you since forever, and they look so happy when they are around you, but when they turn around they just criticize you, judge you. Well, I just think that one day something is going to happen to them that they’ll have to learn from life, just like I have to.

As time passed, I started to become closer to the people, I couldn’t talk to anyone but I decided to learn sign language, it isn’t that hard. I started to become more conscious and aware of my situation, and every time I got a negative thought I immediately take it out and replace it with a good one. This is the 71

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best option I could have ever chosen, starting to think positive, just like my mom does, really helped me out, to get off a bad situation. And that way I got to overcome my difficulties. I started to become someone new, someone, who doesn’t give up even if everything is drowned apart. And that is how I got out of it, by reminding myself every single day, “you can do it”, “you are strong enough”, by seeing myself riding again because I did, I imagine myself jumping once again, being with Liverpool, having that great and amazing opportunity.

One day I woke up, it was early in the morning, the sun hadn’t risen yet, it was cold as if I was in the north pole, and that is strange, as in Florida the weather is not that cold, even in winter. And I got out of my bed, sat down in the wheelchair, which is not something I was used to doing by myself; mom always helps me out but I decided I can’t go on living just waiting for mom to do everything for me, if I want to get out of this I have to start by doing things by myself. And so, I got to the stables to see Liverpool. I never went by myself out there, mom said it was dangerous, but I didn’t mind at all. When I arrived there he looked at me for the first time with different eyes. He gave me that look of compassion and love he always did before the accident. And right at that moment, I felt safe again like everything was right again, and I feared nothing. I was being myself and I was getting to be the person I always dreamed about after being in the accident. I took Liverpool for a ride, no saddle, no reins, it was just him and me again, like one, as we always were. And at that moment we were back, the only team. And at that moment, when I was on top of him, riding, feeling the strongness of his movements galloping, feeling the air rushing my face, sweeping me off my feet, and instantly it felt familiar like the moment of the accident. I feared a little, but then I felt it, that feeling of happiness in my chest, of excitement. I was happy, for the first time in a while.

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I knew I could do anything if I just devote myself to it and determine as nothing else matter. I knew at that moment that I had to let everyone know about this, that I had to teach others how to get out of bad situations as I did, that they can’t just give up their dreams, that no matter what happens in your life you have to stay positive and sure that you are going to get out of it.

Some time passed and with the help of mom, I decided to open a horse riding school for handicapped people; where people from all around the world who suffered from an accident, just like I did would bring their horses and with my help and from other professionals will get over it, and make their dreams come true. Because that is the whole life purpose, no matter the bad situations, never give up, fight, you are strong enough, and you can do anything you want, you just have to love it that much. And I had to learn that, life gave me the amazing opportunity to learn from it, to make the best out of it.

And something I will always hold dear to my heart, bad situations happen, not for you to suffer, but for you to learn from it.

THOSE WHO SHALL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN

Written By Mateo Cobo Madriñan 74

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I

t was at dawn, the shells seemed to have spit black venom on the gloom land where a black mist always hung. The forest thicket that veiled the camp had fallen and had a sad look like it was resting eternally except it wasn’t at peace. The glittering sunny day had sucked the skins of the remained soldiers. It was just another day on the western front.

Bloody soaked. This vicious rain has been falling for weeks now and we are bloody soaked in these dugouts. Soaked in mud in our trenches. Not even the putties keep the moisture out of our toes. “Bear it lads” our sarge usually blurts as he slugs through the ditch. It’s quite chilling, seeing this chuffed fellow soaked to the brass making a mockery of our situation. Far too much for some of the boys to handle, but, I’ve seen worse.

The mud here isn’t liquid at all, it isn’t porridge. In reality, it is a curious kind of sucking mud ... Perhaps it is a real monster that sucks at you. It seems as if rain and artillery are making an effort to turn the trenches into cesspools where the men flounder and drown. A true nightmare of earth and mud. After living amidst these white-faced men with their rosaries and copper crosses, never getting away from this grotesque atmosphere, you gradually succumb to the mystic languor exhaled by the rifles of the Hun. Rank doesn’t even matter anymore. Private, Lance Corporal, Brigadier, nothing of that rubbish is of use when you find yourself at the end of a muzzle. The first thing I did when I was promoted was to exchange that bloody piece of tin and ribbon for wine with a French officer. Distinctions and ribbons don’t serve good to a dead man.

This is a weird state of affairs down here. Every once in a while, The Hun shell something about a quarter of a mile on the left, while on the right there is a lamb running wild.

Miles of country scorched into hell. But, most of the time I find 75

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myself trapped in endlessly, tedious and terrifying moments of silence. I generally manage to grab myself a book or some goods every time I am at the O.P. as there are many hours in the early part of the day when it is too hazy to see anything on the other side. For all I know, maybe it is that all of us dread boredom, as we happen to wait a long time for orders to attack, lazing in the sunshine. That’s the reason some of us are so eager to jump into jerry’s best.

War has been going on for quite some time now. two years ago we were told that we would be back home for Christmas, the year is 1917 and it seems the —war to end all wars— doesn’t have an end on sight. Last year we Brits helped the Poilu repel the germans from the Somme. —Old Somme is a field where every yard is soaked in British blood.— They surely gave up a fight.

It’s “do or die” this time and everybody knows it; the Americans, Australians, New Zealanders, the Indian troops.

All of our allies. But for now, we stand alone with jerry’s elite pinned against the wall. Even from one hundred feet, we can easily see that german lines are wired so heavily that only a rabbit could get through. We soldiers now talk of war lasting two years more.

That is why I don’t think of getting back home anymore.

It’s best that way. I just can’t stand the thought of getting back with most of my best pals sunken deep in France. I enlisted back in the spring of 1915 before conscription was introduced.

I was tugged by my best friend to the nearest recruitment office. His name was Daniel Blake, he was three years younger than me back then. When we were stationed in the reserve trenches near the Somme, Blake was itching his hair off for combat. He would always have his hand over his mouth and eyes. He would be fully geared up leaning against the wall. But, It always looked as if he had failed as a soldier. Dirt seemed to 76

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have worked him so hard that the lines of his face were barely distinguishable. Blake’s appearance was rather deceptive, to say the least. He always looked battered, as if he had never seen the sun. But he was quite the brave fellow if I may say so.

I was always impressed with how he was able to fool the recruitment office when he lied about his age. He would always say, “Come on, we will go to some town in France or Belgium, we will shoot twice and come back home with patches and ribbons”. I never understood blake’s optimistic tenacity.

A few hours before the big push on the Somme, I was tasked with resupplying a few saps along the frontline. I was told to pick three other men, so I picked blake and some other lads I barely knew. we proceeded through the crowded trenches, filled with postboxes and long lost memoirs from a distant place. The boys were young as ever. I swear to God that each day they get younger. Poor lads, so fond of piercing themselves with Willy’s bayonets.

As we walked to the post, I took out a piece of barker from my mess tin and shared it with Blake. As he chewed he said that it tasted like a rat. I said, “Cheer up mate, this time, next week it’ll be chicken dinner”.

“Not for me” he sighed.

“My eve got canceled”. He added.

“Did they say why?” I said.

And he replied, “No idea but it’s easier not to get back at all”.

We were hustled to one side of the bolt hole while a few men of the machine gun corps carried some guns and ammunition through the traverse. There were men of the Scottish highlanders that sat in a muddy puddle on the floor of a ditch called “Pusieux”. They were cleaning a Lewis gun. Behind them, as the trench bends round to the right, a group of men stood on guard, one of them with his bayonet fixed.

“Something’s up”. Blake said reluctantly.

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Have you heard anything?” he asked. “No”. I answered.

Then he said, “Has to be the push right? Twelve bobs and I say that we are going out”. I refused that offer. It was crystal clear that he didn’t have twelve Bobs.

We hadn’t gone far up the frontline before we came across three of our lads lying dead. Their heads had been badly damaged by a shell and half of their body was covered with a cape. Their collar tabs read Brown and Evans. We had to go scrambling over the poor fellows. Further in there was one lad who shoveled the wall of the trench. I asked for the Yorks which was the unit we were resupplying.

He said, “ Next bend you’ll be standing over half of them.

They shot the hell out of those poor bastards two nights ago”.

I led the men through the trench until we reached the Yorks. Trench’s name was “Death Valley”. It was pitch dark and most of the men lied buried deep underground. We resupplied the sap and when our task was fulfilled, we made our way back to our former positions. On our way back, we stopped by the command post.

“Lance Corporal Davies and Blake” One man said loudly.

The Major had his head wrapped in bandages and his insignia was warped. He held a piece of paper against his chest.

He said, “ Gentleman, I have an order for you. this is from command. We need a team of runners to forward this message to our artillery line.”

He pointed out to one red circle drawn into a map and said; “Yesterday morning orders were for artillery to fire upon the germans stationed here. Tomorrow there will be a major offensive against the enemy’s new line. The attack is to be held shortly after dawn and those artillery batteries have no idea of what they’re getting into. We have no way of warning them.

This is a direct order to call off tomorrow’s bombardment. If this message fails to reach general Hughes, Those batteries 78

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will rain hell upon two of our battalions. The commander is convinced that he has the Germans on the run. Think you can get there in time?” he asked.

“Yes sir” Blake answered.

“Any questions?” The major asked. “No sir” both of us answered. And he said, “they’re all yours, lieutenant.”

The lieutenant standing right to the major said, “Here boys, supplies. A map, some torches, grenades, and a couple of treats. Leave immediately. Take this trench west up to Sauchiehall street and then northwest on heavens alley to the front. You’ll cross there. I hesitated to ask but I said, “It’ll be daylight sir, they’ll see us. The lieutenant answered, “there is no need to be concerned, a small team of two men shouldn’t ring any bells.

We followed the lieutenant’s directions until we reached the narrowest corridor that reached out into no man’s land.

There was a signpost with a cap riddled with bullet holes. The sign read; “watch out for snipers”. When I looked through the perisher, I could only see about fifty yards of golden field rendered into a death trap by unexploded ordnance, and that field was poisoned beyond habitation by the arsenic, phosgene and chlorine gases the germans spat at us. The craters were so big that there was no hope of getting out if you happened to fall on one. As we cocked our rifles and fixed our bayonets, I warned Blake about the dreadful german mine mortars.

The German Minenwerfersare quite a hassle. you hear a slight pop and the next moment you see the bally thing coming over. It is very hard to judge where they will let, so you are kept in suspense with your eyes protruding out of your head watching the torpedo whistle till it hisses down….

Ditches were not much use against these blighters, this is why we needed to keep our eyes peeled for those bastards.

It wasn’t a long way to the batteries, but we struggled to 79

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make our way through all the barbed wire and scorched land.

Half a day had gone by before we knew it. It was getting dark and we were about halfway to our destination. We were somewhat oblivious to the fact that we made fine targets for either side. It was nice though. Living in the trenches meant that you needed to be wary about lice and rats. Not even rats survive in no man’s land.

In the distance, we spotted a pillbox shaped structure.

We had no way of identifying if it was friendly as it wasn’t marked in the map we had on hand. We made our best to keep our heads ducked in the dirt while we crawled out of sight.

We both knew that if you raised your head, even if it were a few inches, a Boche sniper would take a shot at it. A minute or two later, rifle shots ring out, and several grenades are thrown near our location. I can only remember that there were blinding flashes and explosions, Pieces of land flying up to the sky and the scurry of feet coming from stumbling figures that loomed up and scrambled over the structure. Stop! Stop! for fuck’s sake, That’s one of ours! A man yelled loudly from the structure. I laid on my back, motionless as if time had stopped around me. Blake laid on my feet in a natural position, but his ashen face and fearful eyes suggested that he had just fallen.

A few of the men came out rushing from the outpost.

They carried some stretchers. I remember seeing Blake being taken away. To this day I have never seen my friend again.

Apparently, the artillery positions we were seeking, had been pushed back a few yards hours ago. With the greatest difficulty, I got myself together and started mumbling for the commanding officer. I remember being taken by some of the lads into a dugout. Inside the rat’s den, was general Hugues.

I quickly pulled a piece of paper out from my satchel and I said to the general; “Sir, This is a direct order to call off today’s

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heavy bombardment over the north sector. The 2nd and 8th battalions are going over the top this afternoon” The commander got hold of the piece of paper and read it in silence. Then he replied, “Cease all artillery activities for today. Tell the men the 11th and the 12th are joining the offensive”.

After that, I just laid down for a bit. I remember myself looking up to the sky and seeing the sun glittering through the clouds. At that moment I believed that the world beyond war was just out of reach.

Belatedly after, Before I could ask for Blake’s condition, I was assigned to one of the battalions that would storm the german trenches. Our battalion was ordered to “dump everything and fix bayonets” They also added that at 5 pm. An officer was going to go down the trench and check the other soldiers, anybody who didn’t stand on guard with a fixed bayonet was going to be shot on sight for cowardice. A few seconds later, after whistles were blown, we went over the top and crawled.

As soon as you’ve climbed that bloody ladder, fear has left you and only terror remains. You don’t look nor hear. Your nose is utterly filled with fumes and putrid odors are exhaled as you stick your toes in the ground. You now carry the weight of your rifle...The veneer of civilization has surely dropped away. I was a few yards into hell when I came across what I reckon was a Cornishman. He was ripped from his shoulder to his chin with shrapnel and his insides were gushing out from his belly. He yelled; “Shoot me, shoot me!” Before I could draw a revolver to shoot him he was beyond human aid. He was dead. And he only said one word. He called for his mother.

That has haunted me since then.

When we reached the trenches, there were about five germans that got out. They did not run. They got out to fight.

One of them was coming towards us aiming to stab with the 81

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bayonet fixed at the end of his rifle. As I have always been a crack shot, I took my rifle and I shot him in the shoulder. At that moment I only thought; “Maybe he’s got a family to go back to. I can’t kill him”. That Cornishman’s mother was stuck in my head.

We then landed at the trench we were making the run for and we saw some awful sights in it, for a lot of wounded men were left unattended. There was one german that was struggling in hand to hand combat. “Pour la France!” A french soldier yelled while he took out a spiked club and bludgeoned the hell out of the poor devil. The spikes sank deep into the side of his forehead. The straps were cut clean and his helmet flew off.

That’s when I saw that he was an old man. I have never forgotten that bald head, and I don’t suppose I ever will.

The battle of the Somme went all the way from July to November. More than a million men from both sides were killed or wounded by the end of the fighting. I am just grateful for being able to reduce the bloodbath by alerting about the bombardment. It’s now winter of 1917 and it is starting to get cold in the trenches. I’m now stationed east of the Belgian city of Ypres. At this point, I only know for sure that one day, all this will be over. The truth is, that war will eventually be won, by one side or the other. Guns will rust and grass will grow and there’ll be nothing left of any of this.

We were taught not to overthink the act of killing. Our enemy wasn’t human. Killing those seen as the enemy of our country was just part of the job. We had no choice at all. In combat, you’ll seldom get to see your enemy face to face. Even if you do, it is no more than ahead or a passing silhouette.

Those targeted as enemies are no more than lifeless shadows in the background. Perhaps this lessens the guilt for ending someone’s life. Maybe those that we called enemies were taught the same thing. It could be that those men we tried so 82

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hard to kill were conditioned by the same high-ranking blokes that didn’t bother with coming here to fight their bloody war.

Neither the Germans, the French or the British asked for this.

This was never our war. As for our future, well, many of us will be long gone when peace finally arrives but, maybe, we will not be forgotten. Even when history only remembers one in a thousand of us, the stories of who we were and what we did will remain.

LOST BROTHER Written By Santiago Duarte Pelรกez 84

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I

was sleeping very peacefully on my thin sheeted cot, the day before I had been training all day and doing A1 physicals, so my muscles and head were throbbing from the excess activity. Another day in the army base in Iran, and I felt like my sleep had renewed my energy and it woke me up from my dreams. I had been in Iran for four years now, serving in the military to pay off the university scholarship I want to attend when I arrive back home.

Home, the word home seem so distant as if it had been something that was snatched from the back part of my brain and taken to another planet or maybe the bottom of the ocean, I felt as if I haven’t seen my family in ages and I missed them like nothing else in the world.

It felt like I had forgotten about them, their little things.

Back home, I have a mom whose name is Paula and she bakes the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever eaten, my father Mario, Who falls asleep reading the newspaper in his large armchair every afternoon, my younger brother José, who drinks cereal with orange juice and my younger sister Emilia who was just a baby when I left and now she’s four years old.

It feels as if I’ve missed out on these last years of their lives even though I’ve been calling them and sending the messages almost every day, they send things back, But they feel empty as if they were a whisper of something that they were living through. I know they miss me my mother cries on the phone sometimes begging me to come back, but I can’t not until I’ve paid off my scholarship to study what I’ve always wanted to study, culinary. I joined the military to pay off a grant for the culinary school that I wanted to go to in California.

“SOLDIERS, UP!” The sergeant’s voice snapped me out of my daydream, and I am crouched for my car and stood in standard position, my hand against my forehead saluting the sergeant spot. I decided to walk down the long row of soldiers 85

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just like me, all in front of their cots, looking pale and half awake. I knew I looked the same. I held my posture as a sergeant walked by me, he looked me in the eye and yelled: “ARE YOU DAYDREAMING AGAIN, SOLDIER?!”

I swallowed hard “No sir.” He turned his entire body towards me, and I knew I was in for it. “I CAN’T HEAR YOU, SOLDIER, WOULD YOU LIKE TO START YOUR DAY WITH 500 ROPE TWISTERS AND 700 NOMSKIS!?”

I looked the Sergeant dead in the eye and calmly but firmly said “No. Sir.” The sergeant kept walking down the aisle, and I knew I had been triumphant. I looked over to my right, my best friend, Diego Morales. I have known him since I came to the military and on my first day, he was the one that showed me around and taught me all the most important things that you ever learn about being in the military. Like who you do not piss off, what place in the lunch line is better, what day is the skipped lunch because it’s meatloaf, good hideouts to smoke a cigarette or two, and most importantly who to become friends with. Diego was always making me laugh, And reminding me of the life I had left outside the camp and everything that there was to enjoy about life. . as I looked over to him he smirked because he had always taught me that yelling back at a sergeant is never a good idea. Saying things calmly and firmly is a way to get to their head. I smiled back at him and after the sergeant had been done saying his morning prayer we went outside to begin training for the day. Little did I know that it would later become the worst day of my life.

As we were going outside and had already sat on one of the turned tires by an old tank name Shelley, A message boy came in from across the field and talk to the sergeant. What happened next happened in a flash. The surgeon told all of us to group up and go get our stuff, there had been an attack in a nearby US Army base Made by government officials of 86

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Iraq, and we were to serve the country in this turn of events, Because there were Iraq soldiers all over the base that had been attacked. I grabbed my stuff and Diego and I quickly put on all of our equipment to go for the counter-attack. Diego turned to me as we were getting Onto the vehicle that would take us until the other base, and asked me to join him in a quick prayer. I obliged, though I was hardly religious at the time. He lowered his head and mumbled, “God give us the strength and fortune to fight on this day and come out alive, God rest the soul of any lives lost today, God willing, Amen�

I lifted my head to see the soldiers in front of us praying with Diego also, and at this point, I felt like my stomach dropped. I was going to be sick so I hung my head outside of the edge of the truck and puked onto the moving road below me. Diego patted my back and said that it was all going to be alright, and we would be in and out before I knew it. I only wish this were true to this day. We got to the army base and I could instantly see that this was going to be something that would change my life forever.

There was smoke coming out of all the holes in the army base civilians were screaming and running for cover, where I heard Iraq soldiers hovering over the base and American soldiers fought for their lives inside we got out of a ruthless vehicle, and instantly Got set into place for battle.

The sergeant had stayed behind with another troop that would be coming in five minutes later, so the soldiers that were in our truck went into battle in an organized way, Despite the constant training that we had gone through. It was heavily ironic, that we were just prancing into our deaths after having spent countless hours training for this kind of situation. As I went into battle with Diego by my side I could feel the heaviness of the four years that had gone past me, what is this? Had my dreams to go to culinary school finished amid an 87

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hour? I couldn’t place my finger on it but I felt like I had been betrayed by myself. I closed my gun to my test and went into the Battlefield that had become the backfield of the base, the base itself was burning and American soldiers were coming out completely burned or scratched up from crawling.

I felt sick to my stomach again but managed to grab my gun and shoot at what I thought were some Iraqi soldiers, hit again with the irony of having been prepared for these types of attacks and not even being able to tell if they were your own or the enemy. Then again I have never really known who were my people or who are my enemies. My whole life I’ve been told that my dreams were a joke, that no amount of passion for food cooking and culture could pull a man like me through culinary school. I thought about how much I wanted to prove them wrong and how much I wanted to be able to show only to them but truly, myself that I was able to do something that I could put my mind to especially if I was passionate.

Before I would realize, I was zoned out again thinking about All of these things cluttered in my mind and hadn’t noticed that more Iraqi soldiers Coming out from the back part of the base. I shot at them I managed to hit some of them In the chest as I ran for cover the bullets showered the ground around me. I looked around for Diego and saw him battling hand on hand with Iraq soldiers, he seemed to be handling the situation well So I looked around for more targets as an American soldier leading out on the ground in front of where I found cover. I came out of my cover and went over to help him; “P-please, help m-me get to cover” he said desperately.

He was holding his ribs and they were teardrops coming out of his eyes, I grabbed him and slung his hand over my shoulder and moved him over to where I had found cover, I laid him down and looked at my handkerchief to put over his gun wound.

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“Sit here, I’ll be back,” I said as if he could move. I ducked out of the cover and ran once again towards the Iraqi soldiers coming out of the back of the base, shooting at some of them and covering myself with my arm as I moved closer to the base. I heard a yell over my shoulder And looked over to see Diego shooting at Iraqi soldiers and heading towards me. What happened next, truly, woefully happened in slow motion, as he was facing his gun towards the opposite side to shoot some Iraq soldiers they were coming out of the burning base behind us, one of the Iraq soldiers coming out of their own tank managed to shoot Diego in the shoulder. I saw it happen in slow motion I saw the bullet left the gun and as soon as it did I knew that it was going to hit, I don’t know how, but I saw it hit Diego in the right shoulder And saw his knees buckle below him as his mouth slowly curled into an, “o” and his hand raised towards his already bleeding upper arm.

I remembered the very first time that Diego truly became my friend back at the military base. it had been a long cold day and it rained for around a week, and I couldn’t finish the rope ladder segments so I had to run 3 km carrying a duffel bag filled with sand in the rain. This was the old punishment for when a soldier could not complete a daily mission in physicals.

I was new so my muscles had been sore since I got there and I was catching a terrible cold because of the rain and the cold.

It took me five hours to run that 3 km because I kept stopping to throw up or pass out. The other soldiers had been heartless to me since I got there, because I made the mistake of sharing my dream of becoming a chef in California, and I had always been shorter and skinnier than everyone there. Once I finished my 3 km, there was no food left in the canteen that day, but Diego came over to where I was sitting and offered me a bowl of soup and some bread. He’s always been kind to me, and even though he wasn’t the most emotional person I knew he 89

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showed his love in other ways and I knew that I would never find a friend like him again.

I snapped back Into the reality and ran over to my friend, who is laying on the ground with two other gunshots that had fired while I was zoned out. I kneeled next to him on the ground and pulled him over to a cover behind some sandbags that were laying by truck. I held his head up and Covered the gunshot in his chest with another handkerchief that I had in my pocket and grabbed his handkerchief from his pocket and put it up to the one in his low ribcage. I looked at his face and saw that he had started crying and his eyes looked glassy and bright. I felt my eyes watering “Diego man, stay with me,” I said furiously.

Diego smiled, and said tremblingly “I know you’re going to be the best chef that the world has ever seen” I started to cry and held his neck up with my arms “Don’t say that man, c’mon you’re going to be alright, let’s get you out of here” Diego patted me on my arm and winced at his own pain “I’m dead weight now. It’s ok, Santiago, thank you for being my frie-end.”

He closed his eyes and went limp in my arms. I let out a sob mixed with a sort of scream composed of pure pain. Diego, my only friend, the best man I’d ever known, was gone. I knew I would never forget the day I lost my bro.

JUST KEEP SWIMMING!

Written By Mateo Durรกn Falk 91

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I

had just finished sixth grade, vacations had just started and my cousin Daniel had just arrived from Bogotá, and he was staying at my house. We were enjoying our holidays playing at my home with my siblings. Then belatedly that day, my parents arrived from work; surprisingly, with some vital information to share with us; the atmosphere broke the silence, and we were extremely nervous and anxious. We had utterly no idea of what the notice was going to be, and then, after a short while, they told us that we were going to be traveling to a special place in exactly one week, but they did not tell us where. My cousin and I thoughts for almost an hour about all the places we could visit, and we ended up supposing that we were going to Bogotá because my siblings and I had never visited it before.

During the week before the flight, I spent a lot of time with my family, and my cousin and I; were instigating my fathers with a lot of questions about the place we were going to visit, the only one who answered was my dad, but he gave us clues that we could not understand. My dad is an amusing man, but also strict and organized, like my mom; they are both spectacular human beings; always give everything for their kids, and they teach us valuable things every day. They provide us with love and confidence and guide us to develop into the respectful people that we are going to be in the future. The night before the flight my parents told us to prepare our luggage, but there was a little problem, we did not know what kind of clothing we needed to take so we took shirts, Jeans, Shorts, hats, scarfs, jackets, flip-flops and everything that we managed to get into the bag.

The next day we arrived at the airport, and as we were little kids, we didn’t know how to read the signals, so we didn’t know where we were going. Few minutes After boarding the airplane; we were already dying to know our destination.

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Then we decided to ask somebody on board. My cousin lied to my parents that he was going to the bathroom; but he wanted to find out about our itinerary. When he came back, he had a massive smile on his face, his green eyes were shining, and his loud voice was cracking; he sat down next to me; and told me in a shallow voice that we were going to San Andres. A small, beautiful island known for having some of the prettiest beaches in Colombia and for having a beautiful and colorful ocean; some people call it the sea of the seven colors.

I knew these things Since I had visited it before.

Additionally, I made a presentation at school about touristic places, and also because my parents held their honeymoon ceremony in San Andres, and the stories that they told me were amazing. I tried to stay quiet because I had no intention of disturbing anybody. Still, my joy was so great at that moment that I was not able to compress everything that I was feeling, and I just had the loudest belly laugh, and we talked about the things that we could do once we touch down.

When we arrived at the airport, we get off the plane; a hellish heat hit us, we felt sticky and without energy, but the excitement was still there. We got to a large and beautiful hotel, we entered the corresponding apartment, and we noticed that it had only two rooms. We were six persons, and we decided that there were going to be two persons per room, and the other two lasting would sleep in the living room, my surprise was little when they told my cousin, and I; that we are sleeping in the living room. That first day we didn’t do much, we arrived late, almost at seven p.m., so we just ate and went to sleep. The night was awful on the first day, and we were two skittish kids trying to sleep alone in a vast living room, the sounds and the lights of the streets got us to imagine some of the worst things. We decided to fight the fear for hours, but we were not able to defeat it. After a few hours, our eyes just 93

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closed, and without more energy in our bodies, we fall asleep until the next day.

7 a.m. of the second day and my dad start screaming, “wake up, wake up everybody,” we woke up immediately, shocked by all the noise that my dad was doing. The same situation occurred again and again until the last day. On the second, third, and fourth days on the island, we just went to the tourist places and famous restaurants. Still, Daniel and I wanted something else, we wanted adventure and adrenaline, we wanted to explore the ocean and its secrets, so we decided that we were going to explore the island ourselves, with no grown-ups around.

The fifth day was the day. We had already planned where we were going and what we were going to do. Around 5 p.m., we told my parents that we were going out to explore on our own, “Alright, you do you,” said my mom, “We’ll wait for you right here; please return early,” she added.

We cross the door, and we started our way to a new adventure; we were very confident but, we were also scared because we were in a place we didn’t know. We got to the main street, where we found a lot of shops and stores, we had some money in our pockets. Hence, every once in a while we visited the stores that seemed interesting, people looked at us, I don’t know if it was because we were two young little kids with long blonde hair alone in the streets, or if it was because we were doing something we weren’t supposed to, but either way, I was frightened. We kept walking, and at some point, we arrived at the beach, we took our sandals off and put them on the bags with the stuff that we had bought, we bought a football, a pair of sunglasses, some shirts and a pack of Coca-Cola, we found a dry trunk on the sand. We sit on it to rest for a 94

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moment while we took our beverages, we played soccer for a little while and then drank another round of Coca-Colas. After we finished them, we continued walking again, but this time; we went back to the other side; as if we were returning to our apartment; and on the way, there was a disco. It had already been at night, a lot of people were there waiting to enter the disco; we walked pass in between all of them; and somehow, for some reason, I lost my sight on Daniel, and I started to scream his name out; until I found him. After that event, we got terrified, so we decided to return to the apartment, as we were near to it.

The day before the flight back to Cali, my family took us to a place called La Piscina where you can see different types of fishes and feed them. But it is a courtyard pool, and we wanted to explore more, not just one piece of the sea, so we stayed there for almost 1 hour and then Daniel told me “hey, Mate.

Come here”, I listened to him and followed him, he showed me the rope that divides the space in which we could swim and the area in which we are not supposed to swim. He asked me, “what if we cross it and explore the real ocean?” and I answered him in the only way that you could answer a pressing question like that, “YES! Of course,” I responded.

We swam under the rope and took a last glance at my family before the expedition.

Five minutes later we were all by our own in the blue world, and we saw sea creatures that we had never seen before; beautiful coral, stones that looked like buildings and we were so into the adventure that we did not perceive the time, we stopped for a while on a little, rustic dock that we found. We took off the swimming goggles, we were exhausted, but nothing was stopping us, we were having a great time, we dove into the sea. We began swimming and exploring again without noticing that we had been there for more than an hour, we just kept 95

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swimming, we didn’t even know where we were. Still, we kept going until I saw a jellyfish between us two.

Jellyfishes had never been my preferences, as I am terrified by them, so when I saw something like a little pink bubble beside me I stopped and called Daniel pointing at the fishes, with an intense fear growing in my body, theoretically, peeing myself, and when Daniel noticed the jellyfish, he also stopped, and jellyfish passed us; while we were waiting for it to get far enough we heard someone shouting like crazy, we wanted to know who it was so we approached the shore, the sound of the man screaming got louder until we saw a gray-haired man far away; we listened carefully to his echoed voice, and we noticed that he was looking for us, “It is my dad, let’s go,” I said, he yelled back at us “kids come here, right now.” we swam back and ran into his arms, and he asked us if we were crazy, we had stayed there for almost two hours, and we got far from our parents. When we got back home after a silent and awkward return, my parents called us and told us that we had to be careful while being in the sea because there are lots of dangerous animals. We could get lost; we understood what they were telling us.

The last day we woke up early, earlier than usual and we started to do our luggage, we felt sorry for what we had done.

We were doing everything trying to make everyone forget it, but it was impossible; even though no one got hurt, we felt very guilty. Still, that feeling decreased with the pass of the days until we stopped thinking about it, but we already knew we were not going to do anything like that ever again.

RELENTLESS

WISHES

Written by Andrés Juan Echeverry Tafur 97

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T

he new generation empowers everyone with their global campaign of teaching people that the greatest value of human life is dedication, they motivate us to have dreams and follow our hearts. Although, Life is not easy and far from being perfect, finding happiness is a right that we are all born with.

This short story that I am going to tell you, will teach you the lesson of persistence. A wise man once said that; sometimes a break from your routine is the very thing you need, and here is where the story begins.

One day like any other regular days of his last year of high school, Cameron a very smart 19-year-old guy who liked to read a lot of books. He was wandering around at school during recess when he met his two friends Mason and James, A few months ago, they had been trying to figure out what career, they were going to be pursuing at the university. Cameron and Mason had already decided what they were going to do after high school, But James had always avoided this conversation because he had doubts and he didn’t know what he was going to study at the University, So when Cameron brought this topic to discuss it with his friends again, James immediately changed the topic.

From an early age, Cameron had a strong opinion towards life, he used to say that life was very short and unfair and that he wanted to be his own boss. Unlike his friend Mason who wanted to study entrepreneurship abroad from a country that could give him the methods and facilities that he needed to become a successful entrepreneur. On the other hand, James was quite the opposite of both of them as he was utterly afraid of graduation and his life after high school, he felt that he wasn’t prepared enough to face the college life and he didn’t know what to study. James had a very rough past, he lost his parents in a car accident when he was only 12 years old. since then, he lost the meaning of life, and most of the time he 98

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didn’t care much about taking important decisions about his life. And sadly, In that moment of his life, nothing motivated him. Nevertheless; despite their differences, the three of them were very close friends.

The time raced by, and the graduation date arrived, a day that was meant to bring joy in their heart but also Joylessly; the day when they were going to say Goodbye to each other.

James didn’t sleep well that night, he had a nightmare derived to his fears and thoughts about the university. He was the first to wake up, and he decided to prepare himself well for his big day as he didn’t want to arrive late for the ceremony graduation. Cameron had promised to drive him and Mason to the school but Cameron had to pick up James first.

Both friends made it to the ceremony on time, there were so many people, family, friends, teachers, everyone looking neat and smiling, except James, the ceremony went along beautifully, But James couldn’t understand why some of his classmates were emotionally happy about the ceremony.

Finally; the three young friends received their diplomas and were officially high school graduates.

Once the graduation was over; now they needed to make the most important decision of their lives, about what and where they should study. Cameron wanted to study in Berlin and Mason in Ibiza. James was still confounded about what to do next because he didn’t know what to study. But since he was little he had always shown passion towards music, and his friends used to tell him that he had many abilities in music production. At that moment, he remembered that a friend of his family had advised him to follow up with music and learn more about it. Amid his doubts and confusions, He finally thought about moving to Seattle to learn about music but he wanted his friends to join him, so he said; “I know that both of you have already made up your mind 99

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about studying in Europe, But would you be interested in joining me in Seattle to start a new life?” James said Calmly.

This request caught his friends by surprise because they never thought that James wanted to leave his country; they were all pleased by the idea of studying at the same place, Cameron didn’t have any problem, but Mason needed more time to think because his parents had already organized his trip to Ibiza, but later on that day, he was able to convince his parents to send him to Seattle instead along with his friends.

A few weeks later, It was a cold night when they arrived in Seattle, they rented a small apartment for the three of them which was little but comfortable, and they were all ready to begin a new chapter of their lives, little did they know that it was going to change their lives forever.

The three friends started to look for a job to support their housing expenses, Mason as he had always wanted to become an entrepreneur, he convinced his friends to take part in his idea of organizing events and parties, Although this thought wasn’t as easier as he portrayed it in his thoughts. The boys tried to make it happen, but they didn’t have all the requirements, as they didn’t have any of the required means of organizing an event in Seattle which were, a permit, enough capital, and marketing connections in Seattle.

They tried to contact local music businesses to find a partnership but they had no luck. One day the three of them were having dinner at the apartment. Cameron was angry about the situation they were living in and he said; “I’m tired of being here, we have tried everything to get a job but we haven’t found one, I am tired of trying. sorry pals but I can’t do this anymore, I would rather go back to my country, I appreciate our relationship but now it is time to go our separate ways.”

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that Cameron was right, so they respected his decision, the next day Cameron flew back home to follow his dream of starting a small business. The threshold relationship started to break down, Mason and James weren’t in good terms, James started to pick up some daily job to earn some income and Mason kept looking for a real job and at night James dedicated his time in writing songs which were something he knew, he was good at.

One day; Mason was at one of the local stores, buying groceries, where he noticed an announcement that said: “We are looking for musicians composers and people with the abilities to organize music events”. Mason took a picture of the notice and he rushed back home immediately and he told James about the signpost he saw at the market, they called the number that night and a person responded on the line, who later identified himself as Carlos, the artist manager of a famous rapper at the time, named “Z Lee OG.” and that he needed some help with his album.

James was very excited to hear this news, and after a long discussion on the phone, the manager asked them to send him their catalog and music through email, and that he would later call them back if he finds them interesting, James and Mason were equally excited and nervous at the same time.

At 11:00 pm they received a call from the manager, who gave them the best news that they had been accepted for the Job and that Z Lee wanted to see them in the morning, the manager sent them the address that night. They hung up the phone and started to scream, they were both overjoyed that they couldn’t wait until the next day to arrive.

They woke up very early that day, they couldn’t believe that they had gotten a Job, they both loved and they felt like luck was finally on their side. they arrived at the address, they had been given on the phone at exactly 08:00 am and Mason said; 101

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“We are here to meet Mr. Carlos and Mr. Z-Lee OG.” The security allowed them to enter the residence, and he told them; they were waiting for them.

The meeting started, they were still nervous, but they needed to control themselves, then Carlos broke the silence; “I’m going, to be honest with you guys, Z-Lee loved the work you emailed me last night and I’m going to give you this opportunity to be a part of this album, you seem like you know about music and events and I love your energy. so, your job begins tonight, We have a party tonight and you will be the managers and DJ of the party, this is your shot to show us what you are capable of doing.” Carlos said.

The agreement was done, and both parts were equally excited and happy to work together. they shook hands and everything started, the day was long, James and Mason started to prepare the show, they were looking for the direction of the place, James was on the phone talking to the radio presenters in town, promoting the events, Mason, on the other hand, he was looking for the best place in town to hold the event.

Belatedly after, they had everything they needed and they decided to name the event; “Jupiter is not for everyone” and to their surprise, So many people attended the events, prettiest girls in town, great quality music, Good food and drinks for everyone, Z-Lee said that it was the best party he ever had.

James and Mason were touched by those words, the feelings of happiness and freedom rushed in their veins and they started to drop tears of joys as they remembered everything they had to go through to get where they are right now, they both dropped tears of Joy. When James lost his parents he thought that he had lost happiness forever, his only taste of happiness came through the threshold relationship he had with his friends, Cameron and Mason and when it started to break, he felt like he had no reason to live again, but that night 102

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James learned that Happiness is a right that any human being deserves to claim and have. Nowadays; James and Mason are well-known respected music advocates all over the country, they own different night clubs and they the biggest events planner all over the united states of America.

WARTORN DIARY Written By Juan Felipe Espinosa Aristizรกbal 104

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W

hen I was a child, a group of boys was caught stealing from the local shop. My father was furious when he found out and he accused me to have taken part in this act but I said to him insistingly; “I didn’t take anything” “Maybe not, But…you were there.” He said.

My name is Erich Wagner of the 64 Infanterie-Division, and I was there when I was drafted, my father asked if I was truly ready to go to war. He told me that; “a good soldier kills without ever thinking about his enemy as a human being.” At this moment he sees himself as a fellow man, he is no longer a good soldier, And I am a good soldier.

I was drafted into the army in the summer of 1944, I was just 17 years old at the time. But my training was cut short and I was sent to Normandy when the allies invaded in D-day, it was my baptism of fire. My division barely escaped annihilation and we were able to retreat to Alsace in the border with Germany. There we were able to hold the US third army but at last, had to retreat in the winter after our failed counterattack in the Ardennes. Now we were tasked with holding the key bridges that crossed the Rhine river. If the allies were to capture one of these, the heart of Germany would have been cracked and the dream of a 1000-year Reich would have been shattered. Our story begins here, we were not just fighting for our families and fatherland but to keep the dream alive, the dream promised to be fulfilled by our führer, we were fighting for a cause we believed in, for our ways and our glory.

It was a lovely day in spring. I was thankful for the gentle touch of the sun that had been absent through that infernal winter. But I was worried about the beautiful sky because a beautiful sky only meant one thing —We were going to get bombed by the allies.— Wolf the captain of the squad

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told me to get my equipment ready and to listen to the Sturmscharführer because he was going to deliver a speech.

I knew the guy; his name was Fritz Weber; he was one of the most prominent officers of the SS in the sector.

“Sons of Germany! we are here today to make the statement clear to the allies, we are invincible! United and with faith in the führer we are going to defend our fatherland and make the allies crash against a wall of fire, we are going to make a defense so great that at the end we are going to push the allies back to Paris!”

He ended his speech with; “Sieg Heil!” We all cheered and cried out “Sieg Heil!”

A fellow member of the SS named Dutch asked me if I had any spare mags. “I will spare none,” I said to him. He smiled and went to look for more ammunition. Wolf told us to get moving, we were going to march into the city of Cologne to defend it. All the troops were scrambling to get their equipment ready and get going. We had to cross this huge metal bridge across the Rhine to get into the old town. We were marching through the bridge hungry for a fight and Horst began singing.

“The cry resounds like thunder’s peal, Like crashing waves and clang of steel: The Rhine, the Rhine, our German Rhine, Who will defend our stream, divine?

Dear fatherland, no fear be thine, dear fatherland, no fear be thine,” We sang all the way, looking for a place to establish our defense in the city. We reached the main square, there Wolf said that we were going to defend a house with a strategic position overlooking the main road in the old town. Hans brought the mg42 and looked for a position between the rubble because the city had already been bombed and the house next to the 106

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one we were in, was hit directly by a shell. We were building our barricade when the sirens of the city began to ring. It was another air raid. The whole sky was covered with planes, there were so many of them they covered the soft rays of the sun and they cast a shadow that made us feel at night in the ground.

We rushed for cover in all this commotion and I reached for the basement and I let in Horst and Wolf. My body tensed with the situation, and I braced a hundred times for impact and I started to feel the bash of the bombs in my chest and hear the thunderous bombs beating the ground as if it was drummed then I passed out. When I woke up it was already night.

“Ah you are awake,” said Wolf.

When I tried to stand up, I found rubble everywhere, the city was in flames and I could feel the burning in my face of some buildings a street away. I stepped outside and found Hans lying dead in the street with a wooden beam and debris covering his body. I could not almost recognize who he was.

At that moment I heard a shot and it flew past me. I took cover in the debris.

Wolf shouted; “Americans! up the street.” We began to rain fire and calling for reinforcements, but Horst’s radio was damaged by the bombing. We held them for a while until the fire died down.

Wolf said; “We cannot hold alone here, we will just die trying, we have to look for reinforcements” “But if we kill enough of them, we can hold or if we have to, we die trying!” Horst responded.

“It is futile, we will serve Germany better if we live another day.” Wolf contested firmly.

So, we picked up our equipment and went down the street looking to reach the bridge whose silhouette could be seen from all over the city. In our way, we heard screams coming from a burning house. We went there to see who it was and we 107

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found a woman trapped between the rubble. She was blond and young but had a string of blood coming down in her face.

“My baby! Hannah is upstairs” she cried desperately.

Meanwhile, Horst, Dutch, and Wolf were helping her, I went upstairs. The whole building was on fire and collapsing.

I tried to walk through the hallway in between the debris and heard a baby crying coming from a door, but the door was blocked, a wooden beam had fallen from the ceiling and was blocking it, I tried to push it aside but I couldn’t move it. I fire my gun at the wall trying to make a hole in it, after a small burst, I went in. I found the baby in a crib and I held her in my arms and went downstairs and told everyone to go outside, the boys lifted her and we all went outside running, after reaching a few meters away, the house collapsed from the flames. She woman thanked me while I handed her the baby.

We continued to reach the bridge with her. She told us that her name was Erika. We were about to cross the bridge when suddenly we heard a bang and Dutch fell to the ground.

“Dutch!” Horst screamed.

He was dead, there was nothing we could do. In those fateful seconds, everything stopped I could feel the bullets pierce the air around me and I couldn’t think I just ran, I forgot about everything, our mission, I just thought about the others, I wasn’t even thinking that I could be the next one to fall. We sprinted across the bridge seeing the bullets bounce in the concrete of the road beneath our feet. In the end, we reached the other side of the bridge, but there were just two guys, the rest of the army was gone.

“Where is everybody,” I asked them “We are blowing up the bridge, the rest of the 64th division is still in the city or retreated with the 43rd.” He said “But we found no one else, we came here to look for reinforcements,” I said hurriedly.

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“Then everybody else is dead or deserted,” the other one said.

“Traitors! they deserve death for leaving the cause” yelled Horst.

We told Erika to continue the main road to the countryside, that she was safe now. She said goodbye and went on the road. We helped the boys to finish with the cables. If there was someone left in the city, he would have gone down fighting because there was going to be no escape for him. It began to rain, this was good because it meant bad weather for the night, and no more bombings. We exploded the bridge, it flew up in the sky spreading its iron skeleton all over the river banks. We weren’t going to have the big defense, but we had negated the bridge to the Americans. We stayed silent admiring the spectacle, we couldn’t do anything else, we had to look somewhere to stay for the night. We went down the road out to the outskirts of the city and into the countryside. We found a farming house no to far since we had left the city. The house was occupied and we were not going to break in so we settle inside a barn beside the house, it had some holes in the ceiling from which the rain fell but we could finally rest.

The next morning, we woke up with misty fog everywhere.

It was still early but we had to continue. We continued up the road passing by endless fields of wheat and berries. A convoy of trucks loaded with wounded soldiers passed by. We aren’t going to win this war I thought. I never said something like that because you can get hang for misconduct and creating dissent in the army. But I think about it. I wasn’t sure anymore if we were going to win.

“All of my friends had died for what?” I said to myself.

We were retreating again, and we also had heard, a few days before that the Soviets had crossed the Vistula river and

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had captured Warsaw. “Was everything falling apart?” I asked myself but I still had hope.

“Do you think we can still win?” I asked the group “Of course! We have never been defeated in battle, we have just moved to better positions” said Horst.

“Look kid” spoke Wolf “I am sure we have done our job and we have served well our country, don’t worry about it,” said Wolf.

We reached some woods where the road went through and found a checkpoint, it was Fritz. Captain Wolf briefed him about what had happened. Nevertheless; he seemed uneasy about something. he mentioned a Jew that had escaped and Fritz believed he was in the area. As we continued some kilometers down the road we saw something moving through the woods so we went after it. The three of us ran through the woods to catch it. After some time, I got lost, but then I heard.

“Steady or I shoot!” in the distance. I tried to follow the sound and I found that Wolf had captured the Jew that had escaped. the prisoner seemed wore down from running; he looked like a spaghetti stick, weak and skinny. His face appeared as if life was sucked out, physically, he was dead but inside, he was still alive. He had a tattooed number in his arm “654321” it said.

Then Horst arrived and he shouted; “shoot him,” “No,” said Wolf with empathy. and he added; “He deserves our help, he deserves it, he escaped after all...” before he would finish, He was interrupted by Horst; “What are you talking about, he is a Jew! He is not less than a rat” “Is their fault Germany lost the first time, they will eat you!” Horst added angrily.

“The war is lost! Can’t you see it? We have fought through all these years for a wrong cause” Wolf claimed.

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“A wrong cause! Are you crazy! You were the first to join” Horst said.

“Maybe I did… but now I can see that I was wrong” Wolf continued; “the least we can do is help this man” “Well, then you are lost!” Horst argued.

“I will kill him!” he said.

Meanwhile, all of this was happening I was there looking like a rock sculpture perplexed at the situation. Horst drew his machine gun, He closed his eyes that were anyways blind by rage and pressed the trigger. Wolf jumped to stop the bullets to save the man. Then he fell.

“What have you done dirty fucking Jew!” yelled Horst.

“This is your fault now you are going to pay!” claimed Horst pointing his weapon at the Jew to shoot again.

I was enraged by what had happened so I pointed my gun at Horst.

“What’s the matter kid, are you going to shoot me?” those were his last words.

After a sudden burst from my gun, Horst’s smile disappeared and he closed his eyes instantly before falling to the ground. I didn’t think about what I had done, I just did it. War can be like that. It is dirty and once you are trapped in it, it is impossible to get out. I went to see Wolf and to get the Jew to help me but Wolf wasn’t going to make it, his last words were; “Get this man to safety Erich…after all these years of war it is time for the world to see a little…humanity” He passed away on the spot.

I had a new mission and I had decided to do it for Wolf.

But then Fritz came by and said; “What the hell happened here?” He asked furiously.

“We heard shots…oh, I see that you have captured the Jew, good!” he said.

“Yes sir” I answered. I noticed that he cared more about 111

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the captured jew, rather than the fallen soldiers, as he didn’t even mention them, and he said; “Good get him inside the truck and let’s go to the train station”. I had to go with them they were the SS for goodness sake, they killed for fun. Once we got to the station Fritz said to me; “For the capture of the Jew and the efforts in defending Cologne I will give you the Iron Cross, for your service to Germany”.

An improvised parade was held at the train station plaza in my honor and Fritz gave me the medal. Once it finished, I went to the bathroom with my new shiny medal hanging from my neck. Meanwhile looking at the mirror, I decided to honor Wolf’s last words and save the Jew, it was a new cause, a good cause I believed in, not for my country this time but for the humanity in this world, to try to save the little that was left. I threw my medal in the gutter and went to catch the train that was going to transport the Jew back to Haddamar, a close-by correctional center. Later I would know that it was, in fact, a concentration camp. I ran through the rail yard in pursuit of the off-going train and I was able to catch it. When I got on board, a guy congratulated me on my medal but I interrupted him and asked him where was the Jew. “In the cattle wagon,” he answered.

When he turned around, I grabbed the keys in the wall of the wagon without being noticed. I went to the cattle wagon and I found him imprisoned and beaten up. I told him I was there to rescue him but he seemed unbothered by what I was trying to do. He said that he was a lost cause but I had enough of lost causes. I opened his chains and helped him out. I had to carry him up in my back to the next wagon. We had to escape somehow, but the train had already left the station and we were moving quickly. Our only option was to jump. We passed 112

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through some cargo carriages but the door of the hallway at the end was opened, and a man said; “What are you doing” there I realized that it was Captain Fritz who had opened the door.”

I drew my Mauser and fired at Fritz, then he fell. I could see his astonished face with a string of blood coming through his mouth looking at me. I felt… I had done the right thing. I didn’t think of it more after that until this day. I opened the door of the wagon and helped the Jew climb the external ladder. It was really difficult because the train was going fast and he was reeling from one side to the other tying to place his feet correctly to climb to the top of the train. I heard screams and shouts coming from the hallway. The guards had found the corpse. I had to rush up the ladder, thankfully the Jew was already on the top and extended his hand to help me. Once I struggled to get on the top of the wagon, I saw that a tunnel was coming after a bridge… I knew what we had to do.

“We have to jump!” I told the Jew hastily.

“We have to jump in the coming bridge into the river, we could survive the fall in the way” I continued.

“Could!?” say the Jew “I don’t know how to swim!” he said.

I heard shots coming from below. I just grabbed him and pushed him over the bridge then I jumped. I struggled to get some air amid all the water. The equipment I was caring was holding me down, I couldn’t breathe. In this desperation, I looked for the Jew, but he was nowhere to be found. Finally, I got some air and then dip down to look for him. I couldn’t find him. The river was running wild like a horse in a race.

The rapids pushed me against the rocks and to the bottom, I fought to stay breathing. I looked to the front and saw the Jew holding a tree trunk, he had been dragged by the current. I grabbed myself to the same trunk and went floating downriver. After the rapids I helped the Jew get to the river bank it was 113

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really difficult to swim carrying him and all the equipment I had at the moment. When I reached the shore I stumbled and fell, I was exhausted. The Jew stood up first and dragged me to a tree line. He then went into the woods and left me there. I just closed my eyes and got some rest.

Belatedly after, I was woken up by a man in a US army uniform. I tried to reach for my Mauser but it wasn’t there.

He said something in a foreign language and then laughed I couldn’t understand it. Then two more guys arrived and discussed something. Then one of the guys that arrived pointed his Thompson at me. I knew that I was done for. Suddenly the Jew arrived yelling and spoke to them in a foreign language… they lowered their weapons and then they grabbed me and put me on a jeep with the Jew. They drove us through a windy road along the woods and we ended up on an American camp. We stopped outside a big tent, then the driver said something to me and made the gesture signaling the tent. I got out of the jeep and went in.

There, the commander expected me. I spoke to him in German he seemed to understand my situation. Then he made the Jew come in. The Jew spoke with the commander and then he told me to leave, they both stayed inside. After a while, the Jew came out and told me.

“I explained to them what you did for me, they were going to kill you for being a Nazi, so I think we are even, you saved my life and I saved yours” he then laughed.

Then I laughed with him and in a moment that the world lacks these days we shook hands out of respect and went separate ways. I turned around swiftly and said, “You never told me your name”.

“Paul, but I will always remember you, Erich, you saved my life,” said the Jew. We parted our ways, the war was over for me and soon it 114

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would be for Germany. I was sent to a Pow camp, they treated me well there. Days later I learned that the mustache man, the fascist leader of this madness had shot himself. I had learned we were wrong and all the pain we had inflicted in humanity.

That’s why I was thankful for what I did, I learned that belief is not a matter of choice but of conviction.

A DREAM OF THE IMMORTAL

Written By Germรกn Alejandro Figueredo Aragรณn 116

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S

even thousand moons before the sudden dawn of Man, something came into existence. Nothing noticed its birth, for there was nothing to see and it came out of the ground. It was fragile, and it wasn’t impressive. Unlike the trees that reached the sky above, unlike the giant planets that swallowed and swirled the void, unlike the behemoths that roamed on the earth. This creature, unlike any Power visible or invisible, held a special place in the cosmos….

For blood and dust piled, mixed with the clay of time and space, became the Essence Of LIFE; a thunderous, fatal presence. A creature that walked on its hind legs, that grabbed and modified the universe around it with its limbs, that wondered at the stars above and became perplexed at the strange beating inside its own chest. A being who saw beauty, who enshrined desire, who brought Old Light upon the land.

This being was the highest creature; for it held the knowledge of The Outer Ones in its blood, in its nails, in its eyes; a Magnum Opus of the Outer Ones, the UNIVERSAL Masters.

Nothing could destroy it, nothing could deny it. It was the Alpha of Cosmic Reason. Its name, uttered by himself, Binduk.

As the years went by, The Creature learned its place in the world. The environment was hostile, but this Creature exuded the silent charisma of The Outer Ones, God, and Archons of the Universe. Alone, but unafraid of the originally hostile environment, he started to learn to live comfortably amongst all living beings.

But it came to pass that, with the downfall of rain, many of the mightiest beasts began to spawn ravaged and consumed, scattered across the land. Creatures of all sizes and species appeared feasted upon and left in bones everywhere as if a silent disease had made itself known; death beat its universal wings upon the land of the living. Once a lush tropical forest, now desert.

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A man was born. With it, The Gods abandoned binary design, for, in his body, conjoined the explicable with the inexplicable. Walking paradoxes, errant immigrants of the cosmic cavalcade. But when the Immortal met Man, the creatures of the land were forsaken and left to their own devices in a changing environment. For it knew the closeness it felt to the men, and the admiration it felt for the women. It wished to lead them‌to show them the way into greatness, to inspire them to become the truthful servants of the Outer Ones. But these same Gods thrummed in disapproval, for the stars dictated a sign. On one lustful night, where the smokes were smelling of fat and the tents vibrating with couples, Binduk was alone. He dreamt of a lion, a creature of Leo, defending a rat from a sand storm. He dreamt of this lion lasting eternally, a witness of the timelessness of the desert of immortality, And a horrid face opening its maw, as a cosmic abyss from which the Outer Ones called. The rat in the dream died, but from its rotting corpse spawned its offspring, and so this process carried on eternally.

He woke up, and in the ecstatic atmosphere, he howled like a starved dog and cried bitterly.

He refused to lead, but he taught them all science, art, skill, and wit. And they claimed him as a God and desired to give him everything they knew; wine, women, gold, cattle, and power. He remained silent. And the skies showed temperance. With time, Binduk came to despise mortals for their perceived lack of perception, the empty walls they clung to, the sadness they chose to reside in for the short amount of time they lasted. For the potential he saw once, now he felt pity.

And yet, envy burning in his heart.

The tribes thrived and multiplied. In a couple of centuries, an empire born from nothing, as a question mark rising upon the desert. The first civilization born, and God Binduk as its guardian. Death could no longer touch it, for Immortality 118

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held its walls. And many centuries did Binduk disentomb and direct the same simple begging question to the Outer Ones; “Why? Why immortality? Why do I have to do this? Why is it that with endeavoring escape, punishment rains upon me?”

He said to himself.

Although he was wise, and he knew the power and knowledge like no other being, his physical immortality anchored him to suffering, so he tried to numb it down. Many centuries spent in frustration, suffocating his desperation with beautiful dancers, wine and music, and private attempt at self-destruction.

So it passed, that he began writing a book in which he recorded the existence and history of man, down to the finest details, because he had already exhausted his own range of experience and motion. In anger, he recorded their stupidity, mistakes, and their awful morbid desires; but also, their inventiveness, their joy despite their predicament, and their growth.

It was from there, when mankind grew to his utmost development, so did the earth wither completely and the bowels of the lakes dry. So did war feast upon nations, and greed implode into itself. Wisdom whispered like the wind in the silence, and Binduk was nevermore such wind.

As for man, his days passed like dying midnight lights.

Wandering around the streets of the City, he met with a sculptor; a slender man with rough eyebrows, yet deeply curious eyes. They spoke and so, midday shattered into a dark, cloudy afternoon. The sculptor was a man of various opinions, one of them being that the poor populace of the City was beginning to overwhelm its streets. The god shivered but wrote it down.

After parting Binduk stumbled upon an old homeless man, who reminded him of the sculptor’s opinion.

This man spoke of the Earth as having enough fruit to provide everyone; “Why, then, was he in such a state?” Binduk 119

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told him that the Universe knew not of ideas man conceived and that equality of life was a sheer dismay civilization tried to enshrine, to maintain its own rate of survival. Out of compassion for his good disposition, He put his hands on the head of the homeless man and uttered a noise that vaguely resembled a word; he left him with the assurance that wealth would come, but that his path would be changed.

And so Binduk headed towards the center of the City like anyone would‌ And at the sight of the curves, the skin, and the revealing clothes, he craved for something. He thought a while; some exotic ones from the Northern Regions, where blonde hair is natural. Others from the Orient, and some black like coal from the South. As an honorable guest, he could pick whichever he liked from brothels and homes, and one struck his fancy; sculptural hands similar to a goddess’ that could remold the world if she so pleased.

Gently came the nightfall, and ecstatically did it come to pass. But the mind of an immortal is a faddy thing. Lying next to her naked body, tired and sweating, his face was empty, and within, despite his strong appearance, his will was fractured and his chest was a vacuum, for this was one encounter of infinite encounters already lived and experienced. Despite his intention of drowning his sorrow in beauty and sensuality, pleasure could never bring him peace in immortality that weighed like the entire mass of the ocean. And mortals were never enough; his life was ephemeral in its longitude. He longed for meaning, for personal purpose, for something reminiscent of true company. In his heart, a terror was delivered discreetly.

Still in no condition and in the silent hours of the night, he headed towards the royal complex. He knew the King of the city; a man of much power but not many aspirations besides

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resting in his palace and remaining king. Such endeavors led him to unmeasured fear of the immortal.

The day rose and he met with the vizir, which told him about the king’s concerns: the Gate of Ea was in a delicate position. It was being threatened by a witnessed colossal; a leviathan that had already destroyed various populations near the Coast at The Edge. So, it was the moment to tend to his duty.

Binduk, with melancholy falling from his face, exited the colossal City walls with a prayer to the Outer Ones. To finally die and not remain forever.

And the days passed and time became thin. The desert was constantly covered by the soft shade of the vast clouds.

And timelessness covered the horizon. Slowly arriving at the end of the desert, and of all known land, where salt and sand united, The Edge was reached (men knew not the reaches of those obscure waters). The sand was thin, and stone scabbed out of the ground. Bellies of sulfur accumulated along the shoreline, innocently clear like water pools reflecting the darkened sky. Blood had been drunk by the sand. It was a no man’s land.

A silhouette laid on the shore, sitting cross-legged, with his eyes closed. White and thin, it wore the night sky on its shoulders. Revealing the soft contour of an old man, the dark hair was ravaged by the salt and dry blood. And Binduk closed in on him like a dog sniffs upon finding an interesting object; he could not believe that presence was the only survivor of the massacre. This figure was divine; mortal as it was, as the silent sound it made by existing was enough to lure Binduk into a trance. After some attempts at addressing the character, all he heard from him was the word “Sunra”. But Binduk could not see, could not understand. Sunra was The Omega of the Cosmic Paradox. Binduk could sense its importance, and he spoke to it like trying to understand. Because no mortal had he 121

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ever seen remain with such glee, with such peace, with such monumental tranquility with nothing more than silence and solitude. And no food did he eat, and so little sleep did he get...

Many nights and days he spent inquiring into it, but no more than a few simple words escaped its mouth, infuriating Binduk. And months passed, and years without eating nor leaving the shore. Binduk could not leave its side, always staring into the distance, always crashing against the stone.

The City wondered and trembled at the absence of its only membrane against annihilation and oblivion.

Sunra aged with the years, and Binduk still could not understand. He resigned himself to stand close to him and stare at his daily actions. He would sleep, wake, sit cross-legged and remain silent for hours on end, before kneeling and licking the sand. Then he’d fall asleep again.

And so Binduk, tired and desperate of the apparent indifference of the mortal, and his impotence regarding him jabbed to its throat with a clawed and powerful hand, to suffocate it whilst swallowing the noose in his own. He could not withstand the existence of a mortal being in more apparent peace than he was, indifferent to the external world. The movements stopped when, Sunra, with a smile, pointed towards the City’s direction with a soft demeanor. Binduk made an insane look, and suddenly his eyes went white, falling unconscious. And in a dream, they spoke of Wisdom. Of desire, of sex, of cancer, of suffering, of deliverance, of reincarnation. In their dream, A lion ate a putrid rat with glee. In their dream, Sunra taught Binduk the simpler mysteries of Existence and the True Master of the Universe (AUM). In a dream did they unite as one.

And as one did they leave, for there was but one body. And treading the soft distance of the desert, smiling all the way through, they got to see the City from a distance. Beautiful as the Desert’s Jewel, it was. Crossing the gate and entering 122

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the City walls, the close guardians thought they recognized Binduk’s silhouette. Quickly did their smiles flee from their faces when they saw the terrible form that had become present, and their skin went white. They knew they were going to die.

From afar, the City could be seen on flames, the wild spikes contrasting against the starry celestial vault. It rained that night. And upon skulls and ashes, The True Immortal, now joyful and content, took hold of his one priced female, a woman with hands that seemed as if they could remold the world; and he gave her a child. And after the ritual had been carried out, The Immortal immersed himself in deep meditation, where the loud paradox of silence thrummed. In the deep, like an error erased from the face of the earth, mankind was forgotten.

And the new dawn had begun.

A dream of the Immortal, or truth. Perhaps both are the same in the end.

MY LIL’ FRIEND JAAR Historical Fictional Short Story

Written by Antonia María Gable Álvarez 124

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I

t all started during Shemu, ten years ago, when I was a flowering 9-year-old. That Shemu the harvesting had gone well for our city, and the Pharaoh was planning the construction of Mer, the pyramids that would be made to bury, honor, and protect the Pharaoh and his family when they passed away. I had always been close to the Pharaoh and his family, because my mother was the royal seamstress, and she made and fixed all the royal family’s clothing.

Since I can remember, she would take me with her and have me play with the Pharaoh’s children of my age, Lapis, Rashida, and Adom. The Pharaoh had always had a soft spot for me, even more than he had for his own children. See, I always did what I was told, I was a soft-spoken, shy child, and the Pharaoh had taken a liking to me, for he was the same as a child, or so he told me. One day, while I was watching the other children play in the pools formed by the river, sitting on my mother’s lap as she sewed a headdress for the Pharaohess, I decided to go home early to get some sleep. I turned and told my mother “Maut, I am going to go home and sleep now, please” My mother looked me in the eye and said; “Very well, you be careful Tutu, and don’t cross the river by yourself” and she blessed me with her thumb on my forehead. I waved goodbye to the royal family, yelled “ila alliqaa`” and walked alongside the river towards the city, watching the swirling currents become dark with the water as the sun, set behind me. I reached a part in the river bank which was curved and met by a large sand dune covered in large leaves that sagged over the dune, making a small, dark hole, invisible to the distracted pedestrian. Inside this natural coverture was the tiny playhouse my father had made me when I was very, very young, and in it, I kept sweet figs and grapes from the market, pretty pieces of cloth from mother’s most gallant 125

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dresses and a small carving knife I kept to cut my fruit and carve shavings of papyrus to throw in the river on hot, long days. I always stopped by my playhouse and checked to make sure everything was there, and I did so that day, even though it was getting quite dark and my mother did not like me getting home after dark. I popped my head in and grabbed a fig from the bag on the floor, and proceeded to walk along the river bank until I reached the first large cluster of houses of our city.

The city was not very far away from the Pharaoh’s house, and getting there before dark was not too difficult.

The city was loud that night because the next day was the first day of the Nmside market, a traveling market that sold everything you could think of during Shemu, harvesting season.

I slipped between the cracks of the city, looking up at the towering, stacked houses between the alleyways, and walking quietly until I reached our house. My mother and father would not be home until late, for my mother was to finish the headdress for the Pharaohess, and my father had been churning cement since the morning, and probably would not be home until the sun rose again. I pushed open the door, kicked off my sandals, and served myself a bowl of Molokhia that my mother had left for dinner. I sipped it in silence and watched the cool wind make the curtains rustle from the table. The noise outside was growing louder, drums, yells, and singing had broken out in the center of the city, festivities to honor the harvest of this year. After I finished the Molokhia, I washed my hands and face with the bowl of water by my parent’s bed and closed the door to the house. I climbed up the small ladder in the corner of the main room which led to my own room, a dark, tiny attic which was covered in pillows and a soft cloth, and had a window that looked out onto the other side of the river, where the sand dunes were larger and the bushes were scarcer. The moonlight was bright, bright enough so you could 126

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see across the east side of the desert clear as day. I curled up into a ball and laid a thin sheet of cloth over my body. I slowly fell asleep to the distant drumming and chanting of the festivities and descended into swirling, peaceful darkness.

A few moments later, I snapped awake, with my heart beating heavily, to nothing. I lifted my head to see what had awakened me but everything was still and silent, and the moon was still shining in the sky calmly. I looked out my window into the dunes, the palms, thin acacias, and tamarisks moving lazily in the soft breeze. As I was dozing off again, my eyelids slowly shutting, I saw it through my halfshut eyes. A bright, blue light, brighter than anything I had ever seen before, zooming over the dunes. It was so fast that I barely saw it as it crashed into the far side of a larger dune, and saw instead that it had left a trail of light, fading by the second, that lead to the place where it had crashed. I was now fully awake. The light had been the brightest I’d ever seen, and I couldn’t seem to understand the blueish tint it had had.

I quickly stood up and ran to the ladder to see if my parents had seen it too. As I climbed down the ladder I saw my parents sound asleep, laying face down on the thick cotton mattress, my father lightly snoring. I contemplated getting them up and decided they wouldn’t let me go investigate if I did, so I silently grabbed my sandals and a cloth to put over my head and left very quickly. I walked through the intertwining streets and alleys of the city, taking the quickest way to the east side of the river where I had seen the light crash. Even though I was only 9 years old, I was the smartest of the children I knew and took classes with the children of the Pharaoh about history, writing, and star charting, but I was the very best at numbers.

I often talked with the Pharaoh, and even taught him the greek numeral systems that my father had showed me. I had them carved into a tab of clay that I kept by my window, along with 127

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Egyptian and some Italian numerals. I got to the east edge of the city, not too far from my home, and I crossed the river on the rickety wooden bridge that had been there since I can remember. I paused in the middle, looked at the swirling dark waters below me, and shivered. I had never liked the river. I crossed the bridge swiftly and crawled up the large dune I had seen the light crash into, once at the top, I slid down carefully, and walked around the diameter of the dune, and saw something I have never forgotten to this day.

It was a ship, though I didn’t know what it was then, it was a sleek, metal disk-like object which at the time, reminded me of the moon. I had never seen anything quite like it. Of course, I’d never seen metal, and my first instinct, not the best one, was to touch it. I did, and still have a scar on the palm of my hand to this day from the burn. I almost yelled, but I covered my mouth with my good hand and held my burnt hand to my chest. The pain was magnetically throbbing, and I felt it all over my body as I curled up in a ball and fell on the sand next to the disk. That’s when I heard it. A soft, short-breathed purring. I stood up quickly, and, still holding my hand to my chest, I backed away from the metal disk, a little too fast, and I fell back down to the sand after losing my step. From a hole on the disk rose an odd figure, which reminded me of the Pharaoh’s cats. It was small, about half my size, and it was skinny and had a large head, which is rubbed with its slithery fingers, and large, black eyes, that shone with the infrastructure of a million stars. I watched it, wide-eyed. Looking back, I realize that I wasn’t scared of it, only in complete awe.

Its skin was blueish, it looked like Hura clay, but it was shimmery like it had been polished. I swallowed, hard, as it came towards me slowly. It was limping and holding its side as if it’d been hurt. I kept still, and to this day I don’t understand why I didn’t run. Awe? Shock? I wasn’t paralyzed, just oddly 128

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calm. I didn’t see it as a threat. It purred, and then said, in a raspy, low voice, “Is sālam” It was the Southern word for ‘Hello’. I looked at it, only a meter or so away from my feet, and said slowly “Is sālam?”It narrowed its eyes“You are a human, yes?”

Once again in Southern Arabic Egyptian, the tongue of the Pharaohess which I was luckily fluent in. “Yes. What is it that you are?”

It laughed and saw its white, sharp, tiny teeth inside its smallmouth. “I am a being from outside” It sighed, “I come from a nearby Solar System called Artemos, I am a traveler, and I come to study this planet” I did not understand. “You come from the sky?” And pointed up, having forgotten that my hand was burnt. I winced and pulled it to my chest. He saw me do this and held out his hand. “Give me your hand, child” I held it out gingerly and looked him in the eyes. He grabbed it gently and I felt immense pain shoot up through my arm. I squirmed but did not remove my hand. He lowered his head and opened his mouth. At this moment I feared he would eat it. I almost pulled my hand away but he simply licked it, with his long, thin, jet black tongue. It felt slimy, but as soon as it lifted from my palm the pain was gone. I looked at my hand, and the burn had scarred, and I remembered thinking that it resembled a lighting streak across my palm. I looked up to the creature, and whispered: “Thank you” He smiled and fell to the ground weakly. I got up and kneeled by him “What happened to you?”

He lifted his bony fingers from his torso, and I saw that he had a large hole, spewing thick, bright green matter. He had been hurt in the crash. “I have little time left, a small one. In my ship are manuscripts about the history of humans. They speak of science, art, and love.”

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I did not understand then, but I held his head up and said: “What is your name?”

He coughed and closed his eyes. “My name is Jaar. It is nice to meet you. What is your name?”

“My name is Tutu. I am sorry that you are hurt Jaar” He sighed “It is alright Tutu. You are kind. You are not afraid as they said the humans would be. Please, read the manuscripts. They talk about my culture and people as well.

They are my life work, Tutu” I nodded “Yes, I will. You are very strange, friend” in Southern Arabic Egyptian. He looked up, eyes wide. “Friend? what does this mean” I held up my hand. “Amico” I said in Greek, hoping he’d understand. He smiled. “Niùs.

This is how you say friend in my language, the language of the stars.”

He coughed one last time and fell limp on my knees.

“Farewell, friend”.

MY DARK SECRET

Written By Sebastián García Reyes 131

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I

remembered my old school was situated in North Dakota, USA. I graduated 20 years ago and all my feelings and memories from the school are hateful. It all started when I was in 8 grade and the P.E teacher proposed that the class was going to be in the swimming pool, when he said this I got nervous because in this school the boys used to bully me a lot, so, I thought “If my classmates look my fat belly they are going to bully me as they do with others boys”, for this reason, I decided that I was not going to take off my t-Shirt but George, The P.E teacher said to me; “Marco you can’t swim with a t-shirt you have to take it off”, At this moment I started to shake because I was scared of my classmates but with courage, l took off my t-shirt but at this exact moment all my classmates started to laugh and they shouted things like; “Piggy” “Peppa Pig” “ Fat” etc. l felt very bad and l ran away crying, I ran like 7 minutes with 48 second and l felt that my legs were going to fall and l sat down and cried for 3 hours until my homeroom teacher found me hiding in the bathroom after we talked l went to my home.

The next day I woke up calm wit energy to go at school, on my way to the school everything was perfect, there was a good sun and I believed that day was going to be wonderful, all was good until I arrived at the school because I remembered when I was in the lockers everyone looked at me weird and they laughed, I didn’t understand what was happening until I opened my lockers and there was a little piece of paper that said; “ You are the fattest boy in the school” when I saw this letter my world was ruined because now I was the most bullied boy in all the school and this made me fall into depression. I remember that this was the worst day of my life because in every class subject my classmates bullied me shouting to me that I was very fat. Until I arrived at my home 132

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I talked with my mother and I said to her that I hated school and that I didn’t want to go there ever again but my mother Sandra always said this to me “ you have to be strong and you have to face your problems”.

The weeks passed and nothing changed everybody bullied me and my life was a disaster, this continued like that until a Wednesday that I decided to make some changes In my life, so I decided to start doing exercise, I did not have any idea how to do it, for this reason, I spoke with George asking him some tips to reduce my belly and became stronger also I started watching videos on Youtube about healthy tips and all this stuff of body construction. Firstly I started to jog around the soccer field every day for 20 minutes because my physical state was very bad and I had to improve it, however, I didn’t give up and with the time my performances were much better. secondly, my diet plan started to change to, now instead of eating chocolate bars, hot dogs, burgers, pizza, ice cream I began to eat salad, proteins shake, fruit and peanut because this type of ailments were the ones who were going to change my body even if the flavor was not the better one as the flavor of candies or donuts.

A few months passed, I started to notice changes In my body and this made me feel well. One day I was jogging and the bullying boys, Julian, Drake, and Mateo saw me and they began to make bad comments; “Marco you will never be skinny” Mateo shouted. “you look much better fat because this makes us laugh” and Julian added. “you are an ugly fat pig” Drake yelled laughingly.

Nevertheless, I covered my ears and continued running around the soccer field. When this day finished and I was lying in my bed ready to sleep I considered that signing in a gym will make me reach my results quickly, so the next day 133

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I signed in a gym that was at the corner of the house, In my opinion, this was a very good decision because the gym was near and I could go whenever I wanted. After a very hard year I was a very different person, now, my body was “perfect” I had the biggest biceps in school, my abs looked like the abs of Cristiano Ronaldo, my legs were like Usain bolt legs. My lifestyle changed and now I hated the fattening food so I always eat healthy food. The first day of 9 grade I remember that when I arrived at school everybody was in shock because the kids saw me very different as if I was a new person, all the girls wanted to go out with me and they shouted things like; “ I love you” “ you are very sexy” “ you are hot”. This was the best day of my life and for the first time, I felt like the most popular boy in the entire school. In lunchtime, I arrived at the cafeteria and I noticed that the bullying kids were looking at me when I was making the line to buy some fruits, after 5 minutes Mateo, Julian and Drake walked to me and they said; “Hey, Marco how are you?”

And I said “What you want” And they said “We want to be your friend, let’s go to our table and talk” And I said “I don’t want to see you again, if you don’t go away in the next 5 second I will kick you very hard until you start to bleed” And they said; “No Marco please, don’t do it, at least you can tell us how you reached that beautiful body?”

And I said “GO AWAY! OR I WILL KILL YOU ALL” I shouted angrily.

They ran away crying when they left the cafeteria all the students clapped because they were also tired of these bullies, and the people began to thank me for the lesson that I gave them.

Time passed and my new life was amazing! Now my 134

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girlfriend was the prettiest girl of all school (Charlie) and I was the leader of sports in my school, I went to the best parties and everybody in the school respected me and nobody bullied me ever again.

I remembered that I used to hang out with Charlie every Fridays after school, we liked to go to watch a movie, eat something in the mall and drive to a lonely place to see the sunset while we kissed.

Friday the 13, the international day of the bad luck, I remembered that I went to school normally and everything was good, at 3 pm Charlie and me went to see a scary movie in my house and we stayed there a lot of hours, At 9 Pm my mother called me and she asked if I could help her in the kitchen, Charli stayed alone in my room and after 30 minutes I went back to my room to check on her but she was not there and everything was disorganized so I got nervous and I called her and she answered; “Hi” And I asked if she was okay because she had without saying Goodbye. And Charlie replied,“ Sorry, but my dad called me and he said that it was very late” And I said, “ Why is everything disorganized?

And Charlie said,“ Sorry, I could not find my wallet and I was desperate, sorry for the mess” And I said “ Don’t worry baby, I’m going to sleep, let’s talk tomorrow” And Charlie said “ Ok” I noticed that she was a little off on the phone and that, there was something possibly wrong with charlie’s voice but I decided to go to sleep and hope that nothing had happened.

A month went by, and everything was normal but then I met another girl, a very beautiful girl, her name is Jessica.

I was dating her but Charlie did not know this, we had been

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together for 3 weeks and I enjoyed more being with her than with Charlie.

I remembered that 2 weeks later I didn’t go to school because I was with Jessica at my house, At 5 Pm Charlie arrived at the house and she caught us off-guard having sex.

And she said “MARCO” *Jessica and I covered ourselves with the blankets* And I said “What are you doing here Charlie” And she said “What is wrong with you, I brought you this cake because you hadn’t been to school” *Charlie threw the cake in my face* And I said “Sorry baby, this is not what it seems And she said “I hate you, Marco” *Charlie Ran away crying* At this moment I felt like the worst person in the entire world, Jessica left when this happened and I began to call her but she rejected every call that I did, After 3 hours she wrote to me at WhatsApp; “I’m going to avenge” and then she blocked me off all her social networks.

3 days later, On a Monday 8 of February, I arrived at the school, when I entered everybody begun to look at me very weird and they talked between them, this was very uncomfortable and I didn’t understand what was happening until I saw my locker and there was a steroid syringe with a message that said; “With love from Charlie baby”, When I read this letter I felt a deep cold in my soul because now everybody knew my secret of the perfect body and everyone began to bully me with commentaries like; “You are not natural” “Liar” “Fake” Since this moment my life took a different turn, now nobody wants me and every girl rejects me. Charlie made 136

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my life impossible because she was the most popular girl in the entire school, so everybody including the bullying boys (Drake, Mateo, and Julian) begun to make my life a living hell.

Charlie was very angry at me for cheating with Jessica and for this reason, she was telling everybody that I consumed steroids to be in a good shape.

Nowadays I am 38 years old and this steroid affected my life in a very hard way, my health is very weak and the doctor told me that I was diagnosed with cancer in the liver because this substance destroyed my organs badly. So to conclude this story I want that the person that is reading this story to never think of using this type of anti-natural substances to have a good body because in the future this will have a lot of consequences also everybody has to accept themselves as they are, I was weak because In the past I cared a lot in the opinion of others and this affected my health deeply. so please be more intelligent than me and love yourselves very much.

15 OF MARCH TH

A Day To Remember

Written By Ana SofĂ­a Gaviria Caicedo 138

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y grandfather was a proud man, well respected in his community, Full of love, disciplined, and high principal. He was the kind man who would do anything in the world for his family. He was a hero, a keeper, the one who gives his cuddles just to keep you safe. From my memories of him, I can recollect his leathery skin; it had seen more happiness than distress as if he had been celebrating life, all his life.

On the 15th of March of 2018, my life completely changed. It was going great, all the same, my house, my family, my friends, my routine, everything was pretty well. Little did I know that my happiness will later turn into a 360 degrees storm...

February 28th, 2018, the weekend arrived and I went to my grandparent’s house, and there he was, a true sight for sore eyes, he was sitting on the sofa, waiting for me with his arms open for a big and lovely hug. We were both there, the air was silent and the apartment was full of love. Suddenly, he broke the silence and said; “Hey Teresa, do you want to dance some tango with your grandpa?” He asked cheerfully.

“Sure... But you have to remember that I am not as good as you, so you need to teach me” “Hahaha” He laughed amusedly.

We enjoyed each step of the song, each movement, each laugh, and at every moment that I would step on him, we laughed at the same time and I realized how much I loved him and how special I was for having this incredible person as part of my family. The time passed and we did so much together, we watched some black and white movies, ate some popcorns, drunk coffee and of course talked about different things, as the story of how he met my grandma, that was my favorite one.

After a while, I left their house and head back home, I arrived shortly after and organized some stuff of some wonderful kids, I work within my social labor group, I reorganized 139

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some games for them until when I was so tired that I put my head in the pillow and suddenly I fell asleep. The next day, my mom woke me up. I had never seen her so worried about anything, she said; “Teresa, Teresa, wake up, your grandpa is sick, he is on the way to the hospital, he is feeling really bad” I did not know why she was so worried, but I told her “Mom it must be flu, there is nothing to worry about,” I said tried to calm her down and then I added; “He will get better, my grandfather is the strongest guy I ever met, and please I don’t want you to be like this, do not stress yourself.”

Five nights had passed, and my grandpa was still in the hospital, now I was worried. I did not want to go to school, I woke up every morning, take a shower, ate some pancakes and run as fast as I could to the hospital to help my family and see if they needed anything. I had my lunch but if my grandma was hungry I gave it to her, I wanted them to be safe as a cozy blanket.

The following day, the doctors came in and out, I didn’t know what was happening until my mom told me that my grandfather had pneumonia, he was so sick he couldn’t stand up alone, he needed us in every step he wanted to take. I remembered that I was thinking of ideas, of what he might like to make him feel better, and then I started singing and dancing his favorite song that he used to sing to me; “See the line where the sky meets the sea? It calls me And no one knows, how far it goes If the wind in my sail on the sea stays behind me One day I’ll know if I go there’s just no telling how far I’ll go...” ...And there was his beautiful in his face, he smiled so openly that I could see through his soul. His lips came from one corner to another full of love and tenderness, so much love that it brightened up the room.

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The time passed and I was home alone with my cousin who was staying with me because my mother was at the hospital.

We were watching twilight, when the phone interrupted us, “ring, ring.” It was my mom, again with her anguished voice.

She said; “Teresa, Teresa, you need to come right now to the hospital, the doctor has just told me that your grandpa will not make it through the night, you need to say goodbye” “COME RIGHT NOW” She added.

At that moment, my mind was so blurry that I had no words to respond that, they were telling me that my grandfather was going to die and that I would never see him again. My cousin drove me to the hospital, I entered the room number 16, run into his arms and told him how much I loved him, I just repeated and repeated, I love you, more often, I lost the counts, the only thing I know was that I didn’t want him to go, I wanted him to stay. Tears raced down my cheeks. We did not have more time, the doctor gave us that night and that’s it. My grandma could not talk she was so sad, she looked hopelessly lost.

The next day arrived, and I had no faith I was drenched in tears. I walked into that room, number 16. The room just made me sick and lost in a dark hole. Then I turned my face and I saw him… my grandpa was sleeping and dreaming, he was still alive. The oxygen was flowing through his veins, his heart was beating. He made it through the night. The doctors could not explain to us what had happened, they didn’t have a scientific explanation. It was an unexpected gift from god.

I hugged him so strongly, that I believe he could feel it. In my mind, I just thanked God, I was in shock, so happy that I couldn’t say a word. All my family was praying, he had gotten better God only knows how. Belatedly after, we were there close to him, waiting for him to open his eyes… At 5:00 pm, he finally opened his eyes as fast as a snail, we were all there 141

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looking at him without distraction. My grandma took his arm and told him, “Oh honey, I thought I was staying alone, please don’t go.”

He did not answer, he was sleepy because of the medicines. At that time the room was different, our hearts were blue now, we had faith, we believed he was going to get better.

My grandpa’s bed perfectly organized, the blankets were perfectly made, they were very clean and white, the multiparameter motor was functioning, we could see how fast his heart was beating. We all felt relieved.

At 8:00 pm, I left the hospital with my mom, we were going to rest. I needed to sleep because the next morning I had to go to the hospital and then go to a Cancer kid’s foundation where I had already committed to meet up with a colleague that I was going to visit her. I did not have a mind for anything else, but I could not cancel that lovely little girl. So then, I made my backpack with everything that I needed for the next day, I hugged my mom and then slept tightly all night.

It was 7:00 am, I woke up happy and optimistic as I always do. I was ready to go, so I took a taxi and arrived at the hospital, once again. I entered the room, said Hallo to my grandma and checked on my grandfather, he was sleeping but my grandma told me that he had passed a good night, that he was feeling better. While my grandpa woke up, I was talking with my grandma, about how she was feeling, of how tired she was and how strong she had to be in this difficult situation. My mother also arrived and brought us some breakfast, so we ate together and relax a little bit.

One hour, two hours, three hours had passed and my grandpa did not wake up, it was strange…. At 3 pm we heard a sound “pee...pee” the machine has stopped, my grandma started screaming with all her strength looking for a doctor, I entered into a panic attack and my mom was with my 142

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grandma trying to calm her, I did not know what to do, I did not understand what was happening, Why that sound if he was getting better? I put my ear in his chest I didn’t hear anything, I started crying intensely, the doctor came into the room saw the machine and told us he had passed away.

Those words entered through my heart, my chest was bleeding, they had broken my heart into pieces, I looked around and everything was grey, full of pain. The only thing I made at that moment was hugging my family, but now my nightmare was real, someone that I hold dear to my heart had gone forever, now I didn’t have hope my heart was full of sadness, I needed my family more than in any other moment...

I finally learned that life is worth to be lived when you enjoy each moment of your life-giving love and caring about others.

THE PHOENIX MUST BURN TO EMERGE Written By Daniella Giraldo Obando 144

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“

Can’t you see it? You’re no one, and you’ll always be no one, stop trying so hard! You’re worthless, and that’s never going to change!” Those were the words that my mother said to me, and they have been haunting me ever since.

One should always pay close attention and think twice about what they’re going to say about another person because you never really know how the person is going to take it or how much it’s going to affect him/her. That is something my parents never did, and the negative impact it had in my life is indescribable. My name is Adira Abelson, a 28-year-old selfmade businesswoman.

My younger years weren’t the best; I was sad, depressed, lost, and alone until it got to the point where I lost all hope and wanted to end it all. These feelings didn’t come out of the blue; they were the product of numerous years of constant emotional and physical neglect from my parents.

My family was not your typical movie-perfect/Good Luck Charlie family, where everyone was happy, loved each other, and seemed to have no problems at all. My family was different; we fought on the daily, not only by yelling at each other but also hitting one another, to the point where one of us was physically hurt. It was not healthy, we needed help, but the only support my father and mother relied on, was alcohol.

Coming home from school was a nightmare because once I stepped foot in my house, all I used to hear were screams. But one day, it all got worse.

“Hi mom, hi dad” - I greeted my parents enthusiastically.

“Why are you even here? Can’t you see how you’ve ruined our lives? You’re a disgrace! everything would have been better if you weren’t born” - replied my dad “Why do you always have to be like this? I have done nothing wrong! I don’t get it!” - I replied back “Oh, shut up! You’re the worst mistake we have ever 145

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made! All you are is a skinny, short, brown-skinned girl that is never going to amount to anything in her life, and I hate you!”

- said, my mom Hearing these words from someone you care about is one of the worst feelings in the world; I remember being miserable but mainly, confused, not knowing why they were saying those words that I now have tattooed on my brain.

Ever since that day, my life took a 180º turn, I felt like my whole world came crashing down, I wasn’t living high on the hog anymore. During my younger years, I used to think that it was reasonable to be depressed, sad, and discouraged for any other person of my age, but I was wrong. As I grew up, I realized that my thoughts had entirely and utterly destroyed my heart. After that, the same thing kept happening for days, which turned later into weeks, months and eventually, years, and every moment that passed by, I kept losing hope, until it got to the point where I didn’t find the meaning of life and wanted to end it, along with all of my sorrows. I had hit rock bottom, and I felt like I couldn’t take it any longer.

I didn’t know what to do; I was lost, I felt like I was a burden, for everyone, even me, I felt useless, and had no hope.

I thought about how good everyone’s life would be if I weren’t in the picture because all I ever did was ruin things; I was no good for anything. The only thing I knew for sure was that my existence was a mistake, which is why the only thing that came to my mind was ending my life, it was the right thing to do because it would benefit not only me but those around me. And one day, I decided to get it over with; So, I got home, ignored my parent’s screams in their state of drunkenness, and went straight to the bathroom. My heart was beating extremely fast, I was scared, but I knew I had to do it. Adrenaline flooded my system, and my heart pumped and beat like it was trying to escape, I felt like it was about to explode. My 146

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eyes were open wide with fear, and with trembling hands, I grabbed a bottle of nortriptyline pills. When I was about to take them, my whole life flashed before my eyes, and there I was, the cheerful little girl that loved herself no matter what anyone told her; and who had nothing to worry about in life.

The little girl who wanted to rule the world because she believed in herself and her capacities, the little girl whom I had left behind, who turned into another person, an unhappy, hurting, depressed person, someone she could’ve never imagined. At that moment, I put my life into perspective, I couldn’t believe what my life had turned to, and I knew I had to change it, I had to fight for that little girl I once was and fulfill her dreams, I couldn’t let her down. So, I put the bottle down, went to my room, packed my bags, and ran away, because I knew that if I wanted to move forward, I had to leave my past and every single problem that came with it, behind me.

It was October 12th of the year 2005, when I had just turned 18. That was the day I decided to change my life. I had no idea where this new journey was leading me, and after taking many bus rides from Albany (my home town), I finally got to Atlanta, Georgia, the city where I restarted my life. I remember grabbing the little money I had and renting myself a small, old, dusty motel room, where I would be spending my nights while I worked on the new me. I applied for small jobs and got one as a waitress at a little diner called Popa’s Diner.

I worked there for a year, earning enough money to eat and pay for my motel room. It wasn’t much, but I was happy. I was finally getting my life back together.

One day, I saw an ad in the newspaper, saying Olivia Williams, one of the most recognized businesswomen in the city, was looking for a personal assistant. I wanted to apply, but I started doubting myself once again, what if I didn’t get it? What if I wasn’t good enough? Those were the questions 147

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that passed through my head while deciding whether or not to send in my application. At that moment, I thought about the little girl once again, and after giving it much thought, I sent in my form, why not give it a try?

After a week of constant anxiety waiting for an answer, I got an email, saying; “Mrs. Abelson, we are pleased to inform you that Mrs. Williams liked your application; and is looking forward to meeting you as soon as possible to talk more indepth about you and the job, and determine your future employment.” I thought I’d never get an answer, I was shocked and nervous, but I decided to keep it together. So, the next day, I woke up, put on my most decent pair of clothes, and went to the Marshall building, the place where Mrs. Williams worked.

That day, was one of the most nerve-wracking days of my life, I could feel my heart beating out of my chest, but I handled it well, answered all her questions with confidence, and was informed, I had gotten the job. I couldn’t believe it, my life was changing for the better, I was over the moon.

I started working as Olivia’s personal-assistant and kept doing so for about three years. I was responsible for her paperwork, her meetings, and every single thing you’d imagine an assistant would do. It was tiring, but I loved my job and was able to get loads of experience from it. I always dreamt of being a businesswoman myself; I found it fascinating, therefore, working with one of the best in the industry gave me all the experience I needed.

They say, “all good things must come to an end.” Three years passed by, and thanks to this job and the experiences I inherited from it, I had saved enough money to go to college.

This decision was tough. I was going to leave behind a place where I felt appreciated, loved, and, most importantly, a place where people believed in me. But I knew I had to go to university, so I resigned and started my career in business.

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It took me four years to get my bachelor’s degree; the joy that I felt was beyond explanations; I had finally fulfilled my dream; I was a certified businesswoman. After graduating from university, I started from scratch. I was on my own once again, but now, it was different, I had changed, I felt confident, and I believed that I was going to be able to achieve anything I wanted. Thus, I decided to start my own business.

Even though it was tremendously challenging, I worked day and night, until I founded Adibel Foundation, a foundation made for abused people. I created it based on my personal experience. I knew what coming from an abusive family felt like, which in my opinion, is something no one should ever have to go through. Hence our primary goal should be helping those in need and create a new life for themselves, an experience where they feel happy, accomplished, but especially, a life where any form of abuse was out of the picture.

Although my younger years weren’t the best, and I felt like there was no hope, I found light in the darkness and managed to rise from the ashes. And here I am now, a 28-yearold woman living her dream, helping people just like herself.

Living a fresh new beginning, proving that no matter what the situation is or how tough it is, if you put your mind to it, you can overcome any challenge life throws at you, showing that the sun always shines behind the clouds and that there is always hope.

FROM COLOMBIA TO FRANCE WITH LOVE Written By Natalia Gรณmez Lotero 150

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T

he college’s corridor reek. The smell of the stale urine curled from under the lavatory doors, depressingly mixed with deodorant and body odor in equal measure. Josh kept his head down and pushed his way through the desert of sad faces. All he could think about was his life in Colombia that he had left behind. France was not so bad, although the winter season was starting and everything was grey and cold, there were things about it that felt good like a fresh start and new people to meet. Josh was lanky, with a dark complexion, caramel-colored, with hooded eyes that were dark yet bright.

He had wavy black hair and long eyelashes, paired with dense, dark brows that framed his eyes.

Time wasn’t friendly for Josh, and most precisely, Halfpast six o’clock of any part of the day was the most depressing time for Josh, it is when he gets home to a small dormitory with a mini cuisine attached to the wall and a bathroom with a shower that could be turned into a bathtub sadly he couldn’t fit in, but although his place was cozy the bed was okay the little kitchen had everything he needed and the home location was the best of all, it was next to the metro station and in front of the school.

Josh would get home and fix himself some food that he barely knew how to cook, except from Pasta to which he would simply boil water and add the pasta then wait five minutes and take the water off later put a premade sauce, eat it in the loneliness of his room and stare at the wall in between texts and facetime calls with Cover his not so tall girlfriend with a gentle expression, She was one year younger than him and lived on the other side of the continent in Colombia. with every facetime, Cover would make him smile but as soon as the call ended he would be back to his reality as a big wave drowning him back to the ocean. Cover was the only safeguard he needed to save him from drowning.

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Regardless of their long-distance relationship, At such a young age, Josh and Cover had both settled their life goals.

Cover would always ask Josh to remind her about their beautiful memories because she loved hearing it from Josh and Josh would tell the story like this; “I have known her since she was a little girl and as she grew up I felt something as butterflies running through my stomach, she was getting prettier every day and catching my attention more and more.” then he would continue with certainty in his voice “we are both meant to be together”. and Cover would go speechless for a minute before responding and later respond to him a simple; “I love you” three words that meant the world for Josh.

He has been in this exchange program for about five months now, and he still doesn’t know how to feel about it, some days he goes out and go to bars with some friends that are also Colombians and kind of enjoy the time, but other days he will just stay in his house all day and do nothing else but pasta for lunch and stare at the wall for the rest of the day.

In his journey, Josh had met different people who made his experience less difficult, Additionally, he had some friends from his country living in the same city, One of them is Gabriella, a tall young girl with light brown hair, plump lips that make her smile trustworthy and eyes small oval shape which stand out because her eyelashes were covered in a lot of mascara.

Gabriela and Cover also knew each other from Colombia, and Although, Gabriella is a nice girl, she was too different from Josh, she just couldn’t stay at home, she loved to go out to party, loved drinking and meeting with new people every time she could. and Gabriella’s friends from France were just like her, they also knew Josh through Gabriela. Amongst her friends, there was one girl who liked Josh, her name was Charlie, a tall, kind of blondie, a thin, pink-cheeked, fair 152

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complexion that glows with pink undertones, Charlie was an outgoing person, As the days went by, she became close to Josh. They would skip school and go shopping or dining together while they both get to know each other better, Josh and Charlie both knew each other before from Colombia but never got to sit down and talk.

Days went by; Gabriela, Charlie, and Josh started to spend more time together, they would go out to bars with their Colombian friends that were in the same exchange program as Josh, especially on Monday’s to take advantage of the beer promotion of one euro per a beer, despite the taste of the music of one J Balvin’s song being played the whole night.

Josh was a gentleman, so every night after they have been out he will always walk Charlie and Gabriella home and then go by himself to his, On the other side of this story, Although Cover was thrilled for him because Josh was finally out and he had new friends, She couldn’t bear the fact that Josh was spending more time with other girls in a different city, Jealousy took over Cover and overshadowed the trust she had for Josh and replaced it with anger.

Every Half-past six o’clock of any part of the day became increasingly depressing and tormenting for Cover because of missing Josh. loads of thoughts would run into her mind; “What if he is cheating?” “What should I say about it if he is happy?” “What if she makes him laugh more than I do?”

Thoughts and thoughts will take over her mind. Every day, she wanted to talk to him about it, but words wouldn’t just come out, it was like they were stuck in her chest underneath the brick. Suddenly facetime calls changed into messages because she couldn’t look him in the face without words repeating in her mind - he is cheating on you - and as much as she needed to tell him what was wrong she felt like her tongue was moored. it didn’t matter how many times Josh would ask 153

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if everything was alright, Cover would simply respond that everything’s fine, but Josh wouldn’t understand that the word fine in the feminine dictionary means not fine.

After two months, Josh moved to France, Cover was planing and discussing with her mother the way she was feeling about the situation and how jealousy was consuming her, her nights turned into unsleepable nights, imagining what Josh could be doing with Charlie. One day, as they were having a family lunch, she broke down into tears while explaining to her mom the situation, and then she begged her mom to buy her an airplane ticket for her to save her relationship and her mother agreed to it. She bought her a ticket for the holidays, the 15th of December, her flight’s itinerary had to make a stop in Bogota and then Frankfurt, Germany and finally the 17th of December she would take the last flight from Germany to Lyon, France.

Five days before the trip to France, Cover decided to tell Josh that she was going to visit him and spend the holidays with him when he heard the news, he felt like the happiest person in the entire world. he responded; “Oh, my God! I can’t believe you are coming! we are going to have the best time of our lives” Then He added. “I am going to start planning trips for us to travel across Europe for you to experience a little part of Europe” Josh texted her.

Cover had never been in Europe before neither travel alone thus she responded: “I’m very excited and nervous, I feel like they are going to stop me in Germany and send me back to Colombia”.

Cover only had five days to plan this entire trip and unexpectedly little did she know that for an underaged person you are required by law to provide lots of legal document signed and approved by the notary of the state, Additionally, there is an assist card which is medical assistance that is obligatory to buy and it was quite expensive.

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Regardless of the situation, Cover did everything she could to have everything she needed in five days. The day before the voyage arrived, and she started to feel insecure about traveling alone but the reward of meeting Josh again made her stronger. the night was long and she couldn’t get too much sleep but it was not a problem because she was going to be on an airplane for fifteen hours.

The next day, Cover traveled to Bogota with her mother and said Goodbye, as she was going to continue alone. When they arrived in Bogota, her mother accompanied to the flight agency, for her to check-in and the security system, once her mother made sure that everything was perfect, she kissed her Goodbye, Cover started to cry, because she was afraid of being left alone, but her mother’s sweet hug, she was able to say goodbye to her mother and then she passed the emigration and got into her second airplane, this one last for eleven hours, She thought she was going to sleep it over but that didn’t happen, she only slept an hour and the rest of the flight she spent it to the bathroom.

When she arrived in frankfurt, she went through the gate of her last flight to Lyon-France there she tried to remain calm while reading a book. after a long way, she finally boarded her last plane, but there she started to get nervous, because once the plane touched down, she knew, she was going to be asked some questions like; “What is the reason for your visit to Lyon?”

“For how long are you staying in France?” and “Where are you staying?”

Cover was nervous and scared but everything turned out well and she became conscious of the fact that everything that scared her of flying by herself was already through and she was in Lyon France waiting to get her luggage and go outside, where Josh was waiting for her.

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The moment when they both laid eyes on each other, both of their faces light up and Josh couldn’t help but running and lift her and gave a very tight hug. it was a momentous time to remember for Josh and Cover, It seemed as if they had forgotten what it was like to be around each other so it was a little bit weird at first but as soon as they started walking to the metro station and talking about the journey, everything went back to normal. they arrived at that tiny room with a big bed and Cover was exhausted so she took a bath because she was able to fit in and then they cooked pasta and went to bed, they both laid down and started talking and looking into each other eyes as if they haven’t seen each other in years, they were so happy that words can’t describe, Josh finally felt like home.

The next day, Josh woke up first and woke her up to a sweet “wake up baby we need to pack because we are going” whispering into her ears.

“Babe, Going where?” Cover responded while yawning.

They were heading to Italy and he was so excited to tell her the news as if she had forgotten about the trip. So she packed her bags, and everything else she needed for her trip, Josh had already packed his bags and they both walked to the train station, where they were going to be spending the next 6 hours sleeping talking and listening to music, it didn’t matter where they were or what was happening around them when they were together nothing else mattered.

When they arrived in Milan, Cover was very excited about being there because it was her first time in Europe, they both walked, enjoying the city while taking pictures, having a lot of fun as a couple. They ate the best pizza in town and laughed and spent the best time of their lives together, then they went to sleep around 1 o’clock. They were very happy to be together, Cover felt like they had never had such a connection as a couple before. it was so deep that she opened her heart and 156

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talked to Josh about how jealous she was about Charlie. They were both drunk in love that they both cried. It was so amazing to open my heart, Cover finally felt relieved and at peace.

THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS Written by Gabriela Gรณmez Pulido 158

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“

How in the world didn’t we get murdered, or hurt, or even stolen? How come nothing bad happened to us? How come no one knows about any of this?” I really don’t get it.

We were so immature and stupid, but you know what? it’s better to see the glass half full than half empty, It was an important learning experience, trust me, and that is what life is all about. Let me start from the beginning.

Can you imagine 6 underaged girls leaving home the last week of junior year and flying to New York City, the city that never sleeps? A place where tall almost never-ending buildings are touching the clouds, where people don’t slow down, not even to take a breath and come here searching for the great opportunities of their life. Where the lights seem brighter every time and the night sky feels like an enormous space of dreams, hope, and energy just floating in the sky waiting for them to be materialized. If you ask me, that place is where freedom is alive so as you may be thinking right now, Yes! we took that opportunity and turned it into chaos.

On the 31st of May at 8:47 pm, that’s when my parents brought us to the airport, I was with my friend April and my best friend, Olivia, we were supposed to meet our other friends in NY right when we landed because we hadn’t bought the airplane tickets together so we had to take different flights.

I remember my parents being so calm and nice about it, they knew that we wanted to be independent and were rational about going out of the city alone. As soon as we got out of the car at the front gate of the national flights, my father said; “Remember you have an important responsibility here, you are going to be alone, with no adults to guide you nor protect you around. If something happens to you, there will be no one that can help you, So, be careful. I love you and have fun! but not too much.”

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“Yes, dad, everything will be fine! I will call you when I get there!” I said with a silly smile.

In my mind, I was thinking; “what could possibly go wrong on this trip? I am going to NY with my friends, we are about to see the band of our dreams and on top of that, we can do whatever we want! it is going to be unforgettable” I was equally bemused by this trip but little did I know that I was right about one thing... That it would be unforgettable.

Olivia and I said goodbye to our parents and head of to the check-in section and dropped off our luggage. We were so excited. When we got into the airplane at 9:49, we listened to music and played games. It was dark almost as if there was no light on earth or even the universe, no stars could be seen but as we got closer to our final destination I felt an enormous, strong wave of energy. I felt joy and excitement. It was an awesome feeling, I thought that everything was possible there. At 11:35, approximately two hours later we landed.

As I have told you before, we were meeting our other two friends at the airport, so while we were waiting for them, we went to the only restaurant that was opened at the airport.

Emma called me and informed me that the airplane had landed, she was with Megan. I told them to meet us at the “in-n-out” restaurant where we were already, so we could eat all together.

We were tremendously tired so we ordered an Uber and it drove us to the upper east side in Manhattan where the hotel was. Then we went to sleep immediately.

The next day was so much fun, we woke up early and went to eat breakfast and for the rest of the day we just hang around the malls, times square and Central Park. At night we went to the concert that we’ve all been so excited about and we had the best time of our lives.

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turn. It was almost noon when we woke up. We all got ready and decided to go to the market where they sell lots of different things, such as clothes, food, accessories, toys, etc. then we ate lunch. Everything seemed just fine until 5:38 pm when my friend Emma got a call from a friend of her named Thomas, that we all knew but we weren’t so close to him.

He told her that he was also in NY for the same concert and that he was with some friends too. Emma looked at us pretty confused. Then the boy said on the phone; “So my friends and I, are going to hang out at my parent’s apartment here in the upper east side at night, like 9:00 pm.

My parents didn’t come with us so we have an apartment for ourselves. Would you and your friends like to come? we have drinks and it will be fun.”

Emma looked back at us trying to tell us what he said and she responded with her little shaky voice; “Okay sure, that will be great. Thanks.”

They hang up the phone and Emma explained everything to us, then we agreed to go because we had no reason, not to! the day continued and we continued shopping and exploring more about the city. When it was late in the afternoon, we all were a little tired so we went to the hotel to relax a little bit, eat something and then get ready to go out.

We took an Uber to the location they were at. When we arrived and got out of the car, there was this huge, enormous tall building. The outside of the building was only windows and every light of the city could reflect on it as it was absorbing all the light and lighting itself up. It was beautiful. We were so amazed and surprised about how fancy and extraordinary this skyscraper was. When we got into the apartment we saw about six or seven people that we had already seen before but never talked to, they were nice. As the night went on, we started drinking alcohol, trust me, not a very good decision.

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For hours we played games and started getting a little bit dizzy and light-headed. I think you guess where this is going…

At 12:30 am we were all drunk, some people were throwing up, others were doing crazy stuff and others were just drinking more as if they didn’t feel anything. Olivia and I had the great idea to go into a neighborhood were 13 years ago there was an unsolved case of death of a man. This news got very popular when it happened and for all those years it still was. So everyone else in the room, as drunk, irresponsible, and stupid teenagers they were, they all thought it was a good idea to go and explore.

This neighborhood was close to where the apartment was located, so we just walked. When we got there it was dark and no soul was found in the streets, the atmosphere was scary but in our state of mind, as drunk as we were, we thought we were the new Sherlock Holmes. It was an alleyway between two short buildings with about four or five floors. One of them had in the side a staircase that was where the murder happened, it was where the victim supposedly jumped or was pushed off.

We were joking around about the crime and out of the blue, Thomas started to climb that staircase. As he was getting higher, he felt very dizzy and fell off. He hit his head with the pavement floor. We all got sacred, there was blood in his head and his shirt, but he tried to sit down as if it was just a minor injury. Right then a man out of the darkness started to scream; “Who is there! Get out of here now or I will come for you! Stay away!”

I heard the loud footsteps stepping the cracks of the floor, he was running towards us. With my head all confused and disturbed I screamed; “Let’s go, let’s go right now!”

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to, shortly after, we finally lost the man. With what was left of our conscious minds and reasoning we decided to get an uber again because we weren’t in conditions of walking to the apartment again.

It was 3:00 am at this point, we didn’t know what else to do, finally, we got an Uber and it took us to the apartment. I felt some kind of stress relief and safety. Right as we entered the lobby I realized that I didn’t have my phone or my wallet, Megan had lost her purse and we were all full of dirt, blood, and alcohol. It was a disaster. Keep in mind that it was about 4:00 or 5:00 am and the next day we had an early flight back home.

We managed to get into our hotel room and pass out.

The next morning at 7:00 am the alarm woke us up and we all hangover started to talk about what had happened last night. I was really mad about losing my phone and wallet but it was a price to pay with all the stupid stuff we did. After a few minutes we went down to the lobby to call the residence where Thomas lived to see if they could tell us anything about him, the call was transferred to his apartment, and one of the guys, told us, that he spent the night at the hospital, and they explained that right after we left, one of the other guys called a taxi, and drove Thomas to the nearest hospital to see if he was going to be okay. He only received some stitches and morphine and now he was okay, just resting at his hospital bed.

We were very happy to know that he was going to get better, we hung up the phone and ran to brush our teeth, went back down to the cafeteria but we couldn’t eat anything, the smell of food made me want to vomit. We headed to the airport and fell asleep on the plane. When we landed home we looked like trash, our parents came to pick us up from the airport. They couldn’t stop asking what had happened but we lied.

We didn’t tell them the truth, knowing that it was a childish and irresponsible thing to do. Once we arrived back home, 163

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we called back Thomas and his friends to see how he was, and gratefully he was doing much better now. Believe me, it was a close call That only God knows, I will never forget, I learned a lot from what happened on that trip. It made me more mature and teach me to take things more seriously. We all promised not to do that ever again.

THE ROLLERSHIP

Written By Pablo Gómez Rodríguez 165

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I

t was July the 15th of 1987. It was a sunny day; families were outside their houses, teenagers were in the park with their dogs and their girlfriends. It was almost 4 pm on the clock, and four little boys were sitting in a park that was just a few minutes away from their homes.

“What up, boys,” Fred said.

“Hey Fred,” Sammy responded with a sweet tone.

“I’m so sorry I’m late, my mother was just arguing and arguing all the moment, you know what I’m saying?”, Fred said in a hard and powerful way.

“No man, what a mess in your house,” Eddy said.

“Well, yeah… I know, bro, I know”. Fred repeated.

“We’re here for you, Freddy,” Anderson said in a convincing voice.

All four friends started to talk about Fred’s situation. They all knew that his friend was not in the best mood, so they wanted to have a good moment, but their decision was not the best one. Fred broke the silence and said; “Bros, and what if we were to go on a cool adventure, huh?” Said Fred.

“What a nice idea, man!!!” said Anderson in an emotional way.

The boys decided to arrive the next day at the same park, almost at seven-thirty in the morning before school.

It was almost seven a.m when Fred, Anderson, and Sammy were already in the park, and they were all waiting for Eddy.

He wasn’t the type to be late so they were wondering what could have happened to him, thirty-five minutes later and still hasn’t arrived yet, and they started to get worried and anxious, some of them even saying that maybe they should all go home. A few minutes after eight in the morning, Eddy showed up finally. His face was red, and he had a purple eye; his arms had some scratches, and he had a little line of blood 166

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running out his mouth. He looked as if he had been mugged on his way to the park.

“Let’s get out of here now,” said Eddy with a quavering voice that alerted his friends to follow him immediately.

“Ok man, don’t worry, everything will be alright,” Sammy tried to calm him a little bit before they began their trip.

The four boys walked for almost one hour before they saw a big and beautiful poster that said, Welcome to Mambe Jungle. The sign was green like a frog and had yellow letters that shined like stars; it was all covered by exotic vines and long branches. The boys looked at each other’s face when they saw that big poster, and one of them said, “Are we ready for this,” and Eddy answered, “More than ready, let’s go, boys.”

So all the crew began officially their adventure that will apart them from their homes.

A few minutes had passed, and the four boys began exploring the new place, they all knew that this jungle was full of life: birds, insects, reptiles, monkeys, gorillas, and other animals. Although, they also knew that it could be a dangerous place, even for the animals that live there. Plus, the Mambe Jungle had no tolerance for dishonorable. The boys were very much aware of that, but they were so blinded by the desire to leave their own homes that they forgot about the wildness of the place.

It was almost two in the afternoon wandering around the jungle when the boys started to get hungry, but for the surprise of everyone, Anderson, that was the little brain of the gang, thought that he had to bring some food in case they could not get anything else to eat. So, Sammy, Fred, and Anderson began to eat some cookies and drink some water that Anderson carried with him; but Eddy refused to eat or

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talk because he was still angry about what had happened to him in the morning.

“Hey Eddy, come on, man, time for cookies, eat with us,” said Sammy.

“I’m not hungry, eat without me, eat without me,” Eddy repeated, “You know since we are in a jungle, we would have to eat jungle food, right?” Eddy added.

“What do you mean bro,” Fred said.

“Do you want us to hunt, are you crazy? that’s why we have food in Anderson’s backpack,” Sammy said dauntingly.

“Whatever boys. And yes, I’ll hunt, with you guys or alone, but I’ll do it”, said Eddy confidently, imitating a savage voice as if he was the king of the jungle.

They all laughed at him, then Eddy stood up and left the group walking by himself in the middle of the forest, and they all thought that it was a joke, after eating their snacks, they rested for a good while.

Eddy came back after a few hours. He seemed mad, his face was covered with mud, and he had a sharp stick in his right hand. The boys glanced at him, and they thought that his friend needed some help.

“Come here, man, sit down with us, it’s time to rest,” Sammy said with his soft voice that will make anyone comfortable.

“I’m not feeling good fellas, and I think that whatever the thing that I ate was not the best one,” Eddy responded.

Eddy seemed tired and pale, so Anderson took out his medical kit, where he had some medicines that could maybe help his friend.

“It’s getting dark bros, what if we start setting up the camping tents?”, Fred said.

“I believe that is a wonderful idea, Fred,” Anderson said meanwhile he takes out Eddy’s medicines.

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The four boys had two camping tents, one was Anderson’s and Sammy’s, and the other one was Eddy’s and Fred’s. As Eddy knew some jungle rules, he had read how to make fire with rocks, so he made a little fire next to their camp. After a while, Anderson and Fred decided to go to sleep, while Eddy and Sammy spent some time talking.

“It’s hard to be away from home; I think I miss my mother, Eddy,” said Sammy with a tone that seemed like he would like to go back.

“No way, man, this was the best decision of your life,” Eddy responded with a loud voice.

“Hmm, ok, well… ok, I hope so. I need to take a leak; I think I’ll go now to the back of the tents and pee Eddy, don’t wait for me, go and sleep bro, it’s time for bed, have a good night.”

“Alright man, good night and have a nice pee.”, Eddy said.

So Eddy went to his tent, and Sammy went a little bit into the woods to have a pee. Sammy was the most fearful boy of the team, so fear began consuming his body, starting with his hands going all over to his head. “Just pee, don’t overthink, it’s just a forest,” Sammy repeated four times in his head.

“BLOOOM,” “NOOOOO,” That’s the noise that Anderson heard in the middle of the night. He turned to see if Sammy was by his side, but he wasn’t, he stepped out of the tent, and Sammy wasn’t there either, so he ran to the other tent and looking for help; “Guys!!! Where’s Sammy? Where is he, have you seen him?”.

“He went to take a leak in the woods, what happened?”, Eddy said with a sleeping voice.

“I heard a scream in the woods, and I know it sounded like Sammy’s voice. I know he is in trouble.” Anderson said.

“What!! Is that true? Let’s go now!!” Said Fred with a firm and powerful tone.

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friend, Anderson took a little lamp that he won in the science fair at school, Fred and Eddy carried a knife in case something attacked them. The boys began screaming Sammy’s name, but they received no answer. They started to become even more worried and trying to imagine the worst things that could have happened to Sammy.

“And what if he is dead boys, what could we do?”. Fred said.

“You shut up little dummy, he is alright,” Eddy said.

An hour almost passed, and they couldn’t find any clue of Sammy until an intense scream came out of nowhere; “STOOOPPPP!!.”

The boys began running in the direction where the sound came from, and they found something that they would have never imagined happening. Sammy was laying down on the detritus, full of scratches and blood, Sammy’s arm seemed broken, and he was crying like a baby. When Eddy and Fred turned their faces to their left, they saw a Grizzly bear with some dark brown in his body hair. Eddy and Fred looked at each other, and only with the way they looked, they knew what the next step was, so they took off their knives and started running towards that big bear. Eddy jumped at the big bear and landed the knife in the center of the stomach, then Fred used his knife to stab the bear in the center of his head. Meanwhile, Anderson went directly to watch his friend Sammy.

“Come on, boys!!! Let’s take Sammy and run from here”, Anderson said in a frustrated way.

“Let’s run now!!! Eddy screamed.

So the three friends lifted Sammy and started running through the woods until they saw the fire camp.

“Bring my first-aid kit Fred, now!!!”, Anderson said.

Sammy moved a little his face and said; “Thank you guys, you’re my best friends,” 170

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“We’re here for you all the time fella, but at this moment, just try to get some rest,” Eddy said.

Sammy seemed hurt, he was bleeding a lot, he was crying and saying with a sad voice; “I knew this was not a good idea, and I told you, Eddy, I told you.”

“Bro, that doesn’t seem important now; we need to help you at this moment,” Fred said, trying to calm a little bit his friend Sammy.

“I want to go home; this is not for us boys; I could almost die. And now what, my arm is almost broken and look at my face, is this fair? Boys we are not ready to live in these conditions, we need to return home, this is not the moment to live by ourselves, and even worse in a jungle.” Sammy said to the group.

“That’s true bro; this is not the moment, do you guys agree?”, Anderson said.

“Agree,” Eddy and Fred repeated at the same time.

The four friends slept in their camping tents the rest of the night, and earlier the next day, they headed back home, they were all messed up and carrying a lousy smell in them.

The next morning, the four boys were sitting in the park.

As usual, Eddy was late, and Sammy, Anderson, and Fred saw Eddy walking towards them.

“What did your father say about our trip Eddy, was he mad?” Anderson asked him.

“Not that much, I just invented some things,” Eddy answered.

“In my house, it was a complete mess,” Sammy said, “My mother had to take me to the doctor, and they put a plaster on me, look,” He added.

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“Well... well... now we know that it was not the best option”, Fred said.

“I told you, bros… but you know, I learned an important lesson from this crazy trip”, Sammy said.

“Go ahead, tell us,” Fred answered.

“I realized that we are a very united team, and we proved that we have a strong and nice fraternity, our relationship is like a rollercoaster, don’t you think hah? The forest was a mess, but I will remember that moment for the rest of my life, thank you guys”. Sammy said, with a big smile on his face.

“I share your thoughts men, we are the best team, and nothing can come between us,” Anderson said.

“Agree,” Eddy and Fred answered.

NOTIFICATION

ALERT

Written By Sebastiรกn Gรณmez Valencia 173

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I

t was another Sunday, as usual, a calm and sunny day around nine o’clock in the morning. When Eros was preparing for his weekly volleyball workout at the installations of the Volleyball National League, and a notification sounds popped on his phone, it was a message from a girl named April. Unbeknownst to him, he didn’t even know who that girl was nor how she obtained his username to message him, he opened the text the message and read, “Hey, how are you?? I think you have a pretty smile, and I would like to talk with you.”

A beautiful picture of her accompanied this message.

Her eyes were as beautiful as two beautiful stars; they were honey-colored; she had beautiful golden hair, so bright that it could blind any man; she also had an indescribable unique smile. She had a look that inspired confidence and security, although at the same time causing mystery and intrigue, she was undeniably the most beautiful woman that Eros had ever laid his eyes on. He was fascinated and impressed by the beauty of this stranger.

Eros did not immediately answer as he was still aroused and, at the same time, confused by the unexpected message he had received. Several questions intruded his mind instantly; “Is she real? How does she know me? Is this a joke?”

At that very moment, Eros did not know what to do or say; besides, one of the most important tournaments of his life was a few minutes away, where recognized coaches would observe him for a chance to be chosen in major nationwide leagues.

Throughout the tournaments Eros couldn’t help but think of April, the most beautiful stranger he had ever seen, his thoughts distracted him from giving out his best performance but luckily to him, the international drafting committee noticed him. He was later offered several sports scholarships

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in different countries of the world, like France, Italy, Colombia, Chile, and Mexico.

Despite the good news and the different offers, he couldn’t understand what was happening around him, and he thought that maybe this beautiful stranger brought luck in his life, so he went back into the conversation and answered.

“Thank you very much, and you are gorgeous, you have a unique and indescribable smile.” A few seconds later, April replied.

“Thank you very much; you are also handsome and cute.”

The messages kept going from quite some time, and they went from being two strangers to becoming two love birds, who spoke all day, regardless of any time of the day, they both became each other’s priorities. Then after building the trusts between each other, Eros asked her how she got his username and why she messaged him in the first place because Eros couldn’t understand how a beautiful girl like her would be interested in someone like him.

April responded that she had seen Eros at a party amid so many people, and she thought that he seemed very kind and gentle, and ever since she couldn’t get him out of her mind, so she decided to investigate more about him, and that’s when she messaged him.

Eros was pleased because he had never experienced a beautiful love story like that in his life, especially by someone as beautiful and affectionate as April. Even though they only knew each other through messages and voice notes, their love was genuine, and they trusted each other.

One day like any other day, Eros evoked confidence and decided to invite April out for the first time, he was nervous and scared, as he did not know what to expect if she was who she said she was, or if her feelings were real. Still, he understood that for him to find answers to all his questions, he had to meet her.

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Eros wrote her a message saying; “Hey babe, we have been talking for a while, and you are just an amazing person, you’ve become very important to me, and the truth is that; I can’t get you out of my mind. I think it’s about the time that we both meet in person, and get to know each other well, So I would like to ask you out, to see you face to face, hear your voice, and fall in love with you more.”

A couple of minutes passed without an answer that felt like hours for Eros, hours felt like weeks; it was the longest and most intense wait of Eros’ entire life. Nevertheless, he later received a new notification message from April, with the simplest thumbsup emoticon showing approval. Eros was so happy, and they started to plan their first date.

The days went by, and every time their scheduled date got closer and closer, Eros was beyond excited. However, he couldn’t wrap his mind about the possibility that all this adventure could have been a big lie or a joke, that someone could have been playing with his feelings and emotions. His fear almost led him to cancel the date before they actually date.

The date arrived, Eros arrived before April. He waited patiently, after a few minutes, April arrived at the agreed spot, the first time Eros laid his eyes on her in real life, he thought he was dreaming, his body went numb for a hot minute. April screamed aloud with joy, and she ran towards him and jumped right in his arms and hugged him tightly. The natural beauty of April made Eros speechless; his happiness was beyond explanations; that day remained one of the most remarkable best days of his entire life. Then they entered the restaurant holding hands together. A couple of days went by, and they were so deeply in love, but little did they know that good thing never last forever.

One day Eros started to feel out of love, and he thought it was too good to be true, so he decided not to trust her anymore, 176

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days passed, April messaged Eros as they used to, but this time Eros didn’t respond, and it went on for days.

Until one cold night, when Eros was lonely at home, trying to forget April, listening to music looking at the stars, but every star he glanced at reminded him of April, and every song he played sounded like April’s voice was echoing from the background.

All of a sudden, Questions deserted his mind, blaming himself for not talking to her simply because he had a fear of being rejected. Then he decided to call her and ask for her forgiveness, tell her everything that had happened, April decided to give him another chance and start from scratch as if they were two strangers again. But this time Eros initiated the conversation, he hanged up the phone and started to message April.

April 14, 2017 “Hi There; As the month of April arrives with promises of spring, sun, beauty, and growth, you came to my life when I was lost, and you created another life in me. For that, I will forever love and cherish you.”

Thank you, April.

(April responded in one second).

April 14, 2017 “Oh my god, you are so sweet! I love you so much.”

Finally, Eros understood that he should not have been afraid of love, and he was able to understand that love is just a feeling. It comes when you least expect it, who knew that a simple, unexpected notification could turn into finding true love. Now Eros and April are happily married, and they love “All of each other” like the John Legend song; you would say that the song was inspired and written for both Eros and April.

UNFORGETTABLE

Written By Mariana Gonzรกlez Gil 178

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I

used to live in the Uk with my family; at that time, I was happily studying at a boarding school called The RavenBrick Mouth School. My school was rigorous in the educational and academic departments, and it was extremely religious. We had mass every morning at 7:15 am, and after it, we would start the first period that went on until 10:30 am. We were able to see our family every weekend, and I was always the last to leave the school because my home was around 3 hours away, but I didn’t mind it. Like my school, my parents are very religious, and they expected me to be a follower of God because I was in an environment where God was everything, but even though I believed in his existence, going to church and listening to mass, praying every day to a something you don’t know is looking, or even cares were not my things.

It was January 15th, a Sunday morning, the day was grey and was snowing too, I remembered that my mom and Dad entered my room, my Dad looked at me with his almond-shaped green eyes, the same as my own, and my mother had a facial expression I had never seen before. The first thing that my Dad said was, “Hope you can be happy for me with the decision I made.” I was so confused and didn’t understand what he was trying to say. Then, my mother explained that my Dad had been transferred to the state of Florida in the United States of America. The entire family had to move there to keep the family together. Thusly, the transfer was vital to us as a family to cover our financial expenses.

I couldn’t believe what was happening; it was like a movie. In every film I ever watched about a young teenage girl moving to another school or another country, she was always poorly treated or even bullied. I didn’t want that, so I decided before going to the USA, I would try to learn as much as I could about the culture I was going to be living in. I read a lot, researched on google, and also even try to change my accent so 179

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that I wouldn’t be immediately cataloged as the British girl, but little did I know that this event would not only affect me significantly but also change my way of thought.

Months passed, and it was already summer, I remembered it was precisely July 18th when we arrived in Florida, USA. The first thing I noticed was the extreme heat; it was a pretty sunny day; the sky was blue without a cloud that could cover the sun; the blinding light of July’s days was unimaginable. I knew that the weather was one of the things I would not get used to quickly, days like that are similar to every day in Florida. The UK has beautiful weather, and it also has seasons, a thing that Florida doesn’t, which means that I will never see the snow again, or I will never feel cold again. Another massive change was my home; I was used to living in a pretty small dorm with a roomie. I shared bathroom, kitchen, and sometimes even my shoes, now I was living in a house, with my bedroom, my bathroom and almost entirely alone, because I am an only child and my parents don’t count as much company since they are always too busy praying.

When the day finally arrived, I woke up at 5:30 am, even though my classes started at 8:30 am. My nervousness didn’t let me sleep well; I dreamed all night long that on my first day, I would have to eat my lunch in the bathroom. It was a cloudy day, it took twelve minutes from my house to school, the ground was wet, the atmosphere was humid, and since the moment I started walking down the main hall passing all the yellow lockers, watching my step to not fall on the slippery floor, I felt that all the school was looking at me, so I felt immense pressure to make a good impression.

I walked to the headmaster’s office to grab my new schedule, and a girl called Lauren was waiting for me. She kind of looked like me, and the first thing I noticed was her hair, a similar color to mine; It was like rusty copper going towards 180

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warm brunette with red highlights. Her eyes were a little darker than mine but still with a tad of green, and the only difference is that she was a lot taller compared to me.

When she saw me, she said, “Hello, Lily, my name is Lauren Anderson, and I’m going to show you around the school.”

It was quite impressive how, with those few words I already felt right about her, I felt very comfortable and secure.

Then she also said, “The first semester of the junior year, you will have all your classes with me. I know we will become good friends, well, I hope so. If you need anything, just let me know”.

I responded with a shy voice tone and with my British accent, “Thank you.”

Lauren then said, “I like your accent.”

When she said that, I felt like my stomach dropped because all the practice I’d put into making it unnoticeable had gone in vain.

It was already past 11:30 in the morning, and little rays of sunshine were hitting the ground and evaporating the mist off the grass. I felt a drop of sweat going down my neck. It was going to be a hot day. Lauren had already taken me around the school campus, showing me the classrooms, the cafeteria, and the football fields. My first impression about the school was “it is quite small compared to the boarding school I used to go to,” but apparently, most schools in America are small, and it was yet another aspect that changed based on the culture. When we started the second period, I was determined to make some new friends, and based on the movies I had watched, the best option was to slip into the popular group of the school because that will mean an automatic acceptance in this new social circle that I was a part of now. Lauren saw me looking at them like a lion desiring his prey. Before entering the room, she said, 181

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“Don’t even think about it, even though they are the most popular kids at school, people rumored they are very weird, no one has arguments or evidence about them, but no one messes around with them, is only a bit of advice.”

Lauren’s words flooded my mind, and now I had a new problem at hand. What in the world could they have done for people to think about all that? It was weird, but my goal was to make friends and fit in, and I wasn’t about to let rumors ruin my plan.

A week already passed and I was feeling more confident, I was no longer the new British girl, well maybe I was, but at least people wouldn’t stare at me the whole day. As always Lauren would wait for me at the main entrance to walk down the hallway with me, I always felt very secure with her since everybody loved her, and I figured she was one of the popular ones. The first thing I thought was that she could help me get closer to the popular group, she could change my image and maybe teach me about American culture.

When we finished our chemistry class, we went straight to the grandstand of the football field to eat something, and it was just the two of us alone, so I knew it was the perfect moment.

I started the conversation saying, “Hey Lauren, the last day you told me something about you know, the “popular group” of the school, and it got me curious, I kinda want to know more.”

Lauren said, “Sure, they are good people, I’m friends with them, once I was part of that group, but I decided to step away because one year ago Alison —the leader— went to a spiritual retreat, but when she came back she started acting very weird, and later on, a week past and the whole group was acting very similar, but I was expecting that because they do whatever Alison told them to do, for them not to be kicked out the group and not to lose the respect of the others.”

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I said, “But they’re just rumors, right?”.

She said, “Sure, I guess, although my decision to step away from the group was not because of that, I was tired of following Alison’s orders, and I didn’t want to follow a girl that enjoys bullying other people.”

Then I responded, “I want to fit in this new school. I want people to invite me to parties and to be my friends, would you help me? You seem to be very popular here at school.”

She responded, “Sure I will help you, next Friday there’s a party at Marc Hasting’s home, come to my house, and we’ll get ready together, and you’ll come with me, it will be fun.”

I was so happy that I was finally invited to a party. I immediately accepted the invitation.

It was already Friday, and I couldn’t wait to get to Lauren’s place. Finally, at 6:30 pm my father drove 15 minutes until Lauren’s house to drop me off, she was waiting for me in her room, which I noticed was pretty big, she had a gigantic closet with lots of clothes. She helped me dress according to the occasion, and I remembered that she lent me a tiny crop top and a pair of super shorts, which was another cultural change, the way they dress to a party was very different from the way they did back at home. I felt pretty uncomfortable showing some of my body parts, but then I realized that all the girls were all dressed the same, which felt good because nobody would criticize me. When we arrived at the party, my main target was to get closer to the popular group, so I immediately went to the table where Alison, a blonde, blue-eyed girl, and her group was. I was thinking about what to say to them, not sound stupid, but they made the first step and talked to me.

The girl I knew as Alison said, “Hey, nice to meet you; my name is Alison Parks.”

I responded with a smile on my face, “Hi, I’m Lily; it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

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She said, “Sure is, these are my friends, Ashley Haddon, Ave Terrey, Katie Clamentain, and last but not least, he is Alex Rotterdam.”

I couldn’t believe that she was talking to me and presenting me her crew, I honestly thought it would be harder to get close to them, but I was pleasantly surprised, and the next thing that happened was that I got an invitation to Alison’s private birthday party. I remember she said something about an initiation, but in my excitement, I barely paid close attention to every single word she said.

When the day finally arrived, I told my Dad to drive me off to an address that Alison gave me, which I thought was Alison’s house, but it was not. We drove 1 hour and a half going straight to the south of Florida, and when we finally arrived the first thing I saw was a tunnel covered in graffiti, I was scared because of the appearance of the place, but my excitement trumped my nerves, so I walked in. The floor was wet of stagnant water, and it smelled like someone had died in there. As I walked deeper and deeper into the tunnel, I felt more tension, and the mood was very intense, I walked 5 minutes straight down the tunnel, and I felt my excitement lowering and suddenly replaced by pure fear. At one point, I thought it was all a lie or a trap that they had made up, but for some reason, I felt it could still be the popular group just trying to make me part of them. When I got to the end of the tunnel, I saw dim candlelight emitting from 6 candles and people around them, and I instantly got reminded of a satanic sect. It was odd because, at the time, I saw all that I started praying to God, something I never do on my own, but I asked him for protection, and I apologized for not believing in him.

And then, I heard a familiar voice.

“Lily come over here; we are waiting for you.”

It was Alison’s voice, and I was shocked.

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Alison said, “don’t be scared. We don’t bite.”

I walked toward the candles and towards them. when I was in the circle, I asked them nervously, “What’s all this, guys?”

Kendall responded, “We are celebrating Alison’s birthday and what a better celebration to thank our divine lord.”

Alison added, “Remember that I talked about an initiation?

To be part of our group, you need to let the lord Lucifer guide your soul after it you will have eternal popularity and respect”.

I said, “What do I need to do.”

Alex added, “It’s only a small cut. When you offer your blood to the lord is like an unbreakable oath, accepting the agreement becomes a promise, and that promise must be fulfilled. It will test your honor, and if you don’t keep it, you will die”.

My body had gone frigid, I had chills, and my face was white as a sheet. My head was spinning, and I started to sweat cold, and for a moment, I passed out.

When I passed out, I could remember being laid gently down in a white place, I stood up and started crawling looking for an exit, but I couldn’t find it, after that I sat down and internalized my thoughts. “Does popularity mean giving my soul to Satan? Will my parents understand or even accept it?

Would they feel betrayed? Would accepting Alison’s offer be the correct decision?”

There were a lot of things going through my head. I mean, a 15-year-old girl is not mature enough to find the answer to all of that. As I was reflecting, I felt a presence, and the first thing that came to my mind was the presence of God. I started talking to him, primarily apologizing for all the times I denied his existence, I asked for his guidance and direction, to find out what to do. Immediately I felt a fresh air passing through my hair it smelled clean and calm, I closed my eyes, and I thought 185

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that he was trying to tell me that I should take the right path, and the right way was following my parents’ beliefs and not betraying them.

I woke up back in the tunnel, and everyone was looking at me, waiting for an answer. At the moment I told Alison I was not going to be part of an evil sect she got so mad that I could see how her eyes turned big and deep, and then she threatened me, she said to me that if someone found out about their sect, she would pray to Lucifer and would make me regret what I had said. Nevertheless, I knew that my bond with God would protect me from her prayers.

When I arrived home, I couldn’t sleep thinking about what had happened to me, and It was the last thing I would have ever expected from my arrival in the USA. My only intention was to make some friends, and my so-called new friends resulted in being from a satanic sect, so understandably, my heart had been broken in pieces.

The following week on Monday, when I arrived at school, I could not look at anyone in their faces because I was scared of the threat Alison gave me; the day was hot as usual. However, I didn’t feel it; my head and mind were in another place, still thinking about what had happened over the weekend. When the first period ended, Lauren came to sit near me and said, “What is up with you today, you look torn down, is everything okay ?”.

I said, “I guess so.”

I decided to tell her about what occurred over the weekend after she kept insisting, and she knew about the sect and everything; she told me something similar happened to her years ago, and that was the real reason why she stepped out of their way. I felt so embarrassed because she had warned me about them, and I was so stupid and blind that I didn’t take the advice from a person that didn’t want the same bad things 186

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to happen to me. I wholeheartedly apologized to her and told her that I would follow all her advice from thereafter.

I knew Lauren was sorry for me because she had already felt what I was feeling at that mom. Still, instead of complaining, she introduced me to another group of spectacular people; they were not the most famous people, but they were very friendly and treated me well. From what had happened, I understood that changing yourself for other people isn’t right, and finding people who will like you for who you are is inevitable. My new friends helped me get more involved with God and create a bond with him, and now, after all this, I live happily here in the USA, Lauren is one of my best friends, and I go to church every Sunday with my parents to thank God for helping me see the right path and take the right decision.

It was a lesson I will never forget, it changed my perspective of the world and myself, and I am now more confident about myself and my relationships with everyone around, and it’s all thanks to the almighty God.

THE PURPOSE

Written By Isaac Grun Valencia 188

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T

he early morning sun was rising. The air felt refrigerated, and its sound brought peace to her mind. Though it was late enough for bright light, it was early enough for Alexa to wake up, she prepared for a training day, she called her friends to remind them to be ready for training.

She got ready while having breakfast and then she left her house immediately. That day, she decided to take the fast way to the hills, so she took the cemetery path which is a very hard trail full of rocks. Finally, she got to the top of the hill, a giant mountain where you could observe the whole valley, there she had to wait for her friends Katrina and Kate.

It was 7 am, Alexa was in the hill thinking on how she could accomplish her dreams, reaching WESS (World Enduro Super Series), that is her main goal in life, she wanted to conquer it.

Not because of fame or because of the money, but because she felt free while practicing enduro, it was as if that sport was made for her, she desired to at least be able to participate in one of those big races, but not for necessarily winning it. She was waiting for her group of friends so they could go and train and improve their techniques, they all wanted to get better.

Ten minutes went by, and Alexa finally heard Katrina’s and Kate’s engine roar, they were coming extremely fast, and they arrived at the top of the hill.

“Hi, girls.” Said, Alexa.

“Heyy, Alexa, ready to go training,” Katrina asked.

“Yup, what about you two,” Alexa answered.

“Of course.” Replied Kate. “ Yeah, but first will have to wait for three friends we just crossed, who said they were getting their tank fueled up, and then they’ll come here, for us to go to the pines at Pavas.”

Said Katrina “Wow that’s pretty awesome, can I know who those people are?” Asked Alexa with a lot of anxiousness.

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“No,” said Kate briefly.

“Let it be a surprise.” Added Katrina.

The three girls began their training at the hill while waiting for the other three guys who were supposed to go riding with them. The first training was to do an eight around two trees.

The second training was doing a pivot turn, which consisted of lifting the bikes front tire, balancing the body to keep the tire looking at the sky, and then turning around, this is a fundamental exercise as it helps with braking, accelerating, clutch control and body position. As soon as they finished this exercise, three other engines began to roar, Alexa didn’t expect to see what she was about to see, the first one to show up was Dakota Ordoñez; one of the fastest riders ever, then Rebecca Walker; the youngest-ever winner of the Vikings track prize, and finally, the most tenacious rider ever, who won every race; there is to win, the almighty, Graham Robert Stewart.

“Oh god, I can’t believe it’s him.” Said Alexa with a lot of emotion.

“Well you better believe it, Because were riding with them right now,” replied Katrina “Okay girls, are you ready to ride!” shouted Graham.

At that moment, Alexa felt her life was done; they all began riding, descending the hill extremely fast, but not as quickly as the three pros were doing it. They started their journey to the pines, and it was a long way that took more than 15 kilometers, it was exhausting as you got to take into consideration the parts of the trail that the hills were very steep. Arriving at the pines, they climbed a vast antenna to eat, which had a 360-degree view of the whole pines and all of the mountain around. After eating, Graham proposed to do some demanding exercise that would improve the technique; at the very beginning, it was no big deal. However, the workouts started to feel harder and harder, and so on, until the precise moment where 190

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Alexa could do them anymore as they were doing insane exercises, Alexa noticed that the pro riders level was way much higher than hers and her friends, she was very frustrated she wanted to leave and cry. She felt she had nothing to do there anymore. Two hours went by, and the pro riders left the place, Alexa, Katrina, and Kate began discussing their riding level.

“How come were they able to do that kind of stuff,” said Alexa, frustrated.

“I have no idea; it’s like if they had some special powers.”

Replied Kate.

“I know we gotta train very hard. Let’s meet tomorrow at 8 o’clock at the death cannon.” Add Katrina “there we can test our abilities and capacities.” “fine let’s go.” Alexa and kate said.

After the conversations, all the friends went back to their houses. Alexa couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened that day, and she was desperately waiting for the following day. She went to sleep with a big smile on her face, convinced that she could improve.

The next morning, Alexa woke up fast, she got breakfast quickly, she prepared all her things for riding fast; such as filling her gas tank, checking her oil and refrigerant levels, checking her breaks and her tire pressure. As soon as she was ready, she took her way to the entrance of the death canyon, where she was going to meet with her friends.

“Hopefully they’re already there, I don’t wanna wait,” said Alexa.

For her luck, they were waiting for her already. The three of them were very anxious, but to enter the death canyon they first needed to cross a 20-meter long bridge that was 18 feet above the ground, that was a challenge, because it was very tight, Alexa was the first to pass through the bridge without a problem, then when her friends were crossing it, she had a bad 191

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feeling that one of the ropes of the bridge was breaking, but she thought it was only her imagination. Fortunately, they all crossed the bridge safe and sound.

The training began with the same pivot turn, they did the day before, they were supposed to climb a hill with a 4 feet long jump in the middle, Kate said it was a great idea to do the same exercises the pros thought them, and so they did all of them without exceptions and frustrations. It was one of the most robust and best training days; all of them were satisfied with how everything had turned out that day.

At 2 pm during that same day, Alexa had an appointment, so she decided to leave, but she needed to cross a bridge again all over the canyon; which was 18 feet high; and the canyon was full of rocks at the bottom, where falling from the bridge would be deadly. Katrina and Kate crossed; first, they were waiting for her at the other side of the bridge, Alexa noticed another rope that was damaged, and she began to cross the bridge she felt nervous and thought that she was going down, her friends were encouraging her but halfway through, the bridge broke, and Alexa fell into the rocks. She perforates her left lung, it was a real disaster Katrina and Kate hurried to take Alexa to the clinic. But there was no other way out of the canyon, Katrina was hopeless, but Kate saw one way out, but an expert was needed to do what she imagined; So, Kate said she would take the risk to save her friend, so she put Alexa on the back of the motorcycle and began riding towards an enormous jump that led to a lake that was beside the local clinic, just before hitting the jump, Kate was already in fifth gear and ready to be launched, ยกbum! Silence covered the whole atmosphere Kate jump, while jumping she did a double backflip with Alexa holding her, on the back of the motorcycle, Katrina was breathless.

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paramedics helped them to get out, they checked on Alexa, and they managed to cover the wound and stop her from bleeding, she was very injured, she had to be taken to a special clinic. A week later Alexa woke up, she was alone in the clinic room, little did she know about what had happened to her, as she had lost her memory at the same moment she fell down.

She saw her chest that was full of bandages, she called a nurse, and the nurse explained everything that was going on, which made Alexa feel very sad, she was devastated, she thought that she was never as good as she was before and that she was gonna be unable to accomplish her dreams.

Two months went by, Alexa was barely riding, she only rode alone, she didn’t want anyone to know how bad she was riding. The day had come, WESS had begun, all of Alexa friends were waiting for her at the beginning of the race, at the starting line, no one believed she could make it, but they only hoped for Alexa to be there and watch them. However, there were no sights of Alexa, and the race began, everyone thought all hopes were over for Alexa; except for her; she was racing very fast. Eight hours passed by and the race was almost over the four last curves, Katrina had led all of the race, but undercover, Alexa was following her steps, getting closer with each turn, on the previous straight Alexa and Katrina were head to head on an epic battle for the win, they both crossed the checkered flag guess who the winner was, it was a historic tie for Alexa Splinter and Speedy Katrina. Everyone wondered who was the secret person that tied with Katrina, only one person knew who she was. “you are riding fast, Alexa.” Said Katrina.

“Not as fast as you, my friend.” Answered Alexa with tears of joy on both of her eyes.

SOMNUM

Written by Margarita Rosa Gutiérrez Mejía 194

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Prologue

I

sometimes wish life were like video games. Now, I know what you are thinking and the answer is yes, that is a geeklike comment but I am not. If you think about it, video games always have a story to tell, a quest, something that leads you to have incredible adventures, a price, and hopefully, an incredible ending. In this perspective, life is similar to them. There is nothing more exciting than to live a breathtaking experience with someone you care about, even if it is not as epic as fighting against a final boss. These moments can still manage to make us take a deep breath and feel more alive than ever.

However, the difference is the fact that unlike real life in video games you can undo your actions. You can just press pause and restart your match. I just wish we had opportunities to undo things because by the time we realize our mistakes it might be too late. If you die, you are gone forever, and you will never recover that time you’ve lost.

Let me get something clear though. I am (thankfully) not dead, but I was about to be. You may be wondering what happened and lucky for you I am about to tell you, but not just yet.

It will be boring if I gave you all the interesting stuff at once don’t you think? Let me introduce my past first, so you can understand my present. My rage.

Childhood I was about 10 when my brother Liam and I became close.

He is just 2 years younger than I am, but the fact that we were able to bond after years of barely talking to each other was impressive. I guess we just started to understand each other a little more. He has always been the same arrogant, annoying, funny, and shady dude, but I know that somewhere inside him he is very sensitive and caring. Anyways, by that time we 195

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started to sneak out of the house in the middle of the night to hang out at our local park. The “spot” we liked the most was the little space between the lake and the big tree next to it.

It was isolated and it was our little ideal world, it felt as if we were the only ones in the entire universe when we were there. Our parents had never been there for us. We were forced to be independent since we were younger and I was naturally the one who was in charge, being the oldest. Sneaking out most of the time was not a problem; we just had to make sure that our neighbors did not see us getting out of the house just in case they told our parents. We usually did what we were not allowed to do inside the house at our spot. Things like playing with our soccer ball. We used to hide our candy in there as well, our parents although they were not there most of the time they still managed to be very strict and we were not allowed to eat any sort of candy to avoid cavities. Everything seemed normal until now, but things are about to get a little twisted.

It was a chilly Sunday night and one of those rare occasions where our parents were actually home. That did not stop us anyway because they went to sleep around 9 pm, meaning that by 10 pm we were able to get out. We faked to be asleep for about an hour and a half before we started to get ready. I was wearing purple pajamas that had little white circular patterns in it and a big drawing of a sleeping cat on my chest. I put some white sneakers on and got my long black wavy hair up in a ponytail. I opened the window just to check how the climate was outside, and as soon as I opened it, a cold wind came towards me like an avalanche. I felt shivers on my whole body and thought that maybe it was a good idea to get something cozy to cover myself with before going out. I grabbed my favorite jacket, which was a plain padded white one, and got out of my room. My house had two floors, Liam’s room and my room were on the first one right next to each other. I 196

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knocked on Liam’s door to see if he was ready, and as soon as I knocked, he opened it. He was wearing his favorite pajamas; they were completely grey with a red car pattern all over it. He had a grey and blue striped beanie and a jacket just like mine, only his, was black. He mumbled, “let’s go” and I followed him to the entrance.

We carefully opened the door and went outside. The street was empty and the neighborhood was silent. The air was very dense; neither of us could breathe properly as if someone was strangling us very lightly. The overall vibe was similar to the one you get from a thriller movie, very tense as if something wrong was happening but we could not see it.

“What is it?” Liam asked fearfully.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Do you feel it as well?” he answered with a hand on his chest.

“Yeah, could be the fog” I responded reassuringly.

He looked at me with a confused face, but he just nodded and gazed at the floor.

It took us twice as long to get there, but when we finally did, it felt safe. Nothing bad could happen to us there. We were craving something to eat so I went ahead and looked for our chocolate bag while Liam climbed the tree to find a good branch to sit on. All of a sudden he started yelling my name with the most desperate tone I had ever heard coming from him.

“Nila! Come right now!”, “Please come here now!”, “Nila Nila Nila”.

I tried to calm him down because he has always been a scary cat but he would not stop. I started to feel annoyed and told him to be quiet yet he was still screaming. I snatched the bag from the hiding place and climbed there; I thought a squirrel or something scared him.

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“Could you shut up? You are going to wake someone and get us into trouble” “Nila, look!” Liam answered.

He grabbed my arm and started to shake it while pointing at the distance. I looked in that direction and what I saw had me completely stunned. The clouds were pink. Yes, pink. They were shining and they were bright pink. It was 10 pm. I am not going to lie, it’s the most beautiful landscape I have ever seen.

I still have a vivid memory of it. There was a full yellow moon surrounded by pink clouds. The clouds were illuminating the dark sky creating an overall light blue to navy blue gradient effect in it. The stars shined as diamonds despite the light that was emerging from the moon. We could see the entire lake from there; and the reflection of the sky was completely neat on it, like a mirror.

“Oh my God,” I said after a while.

I looked at Liam. He was staring at the scene amazed. I could see the reflection of the sky on his jet black onyx eyes. I remembered I still had the bag in my hand and decided to pull out two chocolates from it.

“Here,” I said handing one to him.

We unwrapped the chocolate and noticed something weird on it. It was pink, so we thought it was some sort of optical illusion because of the sky. I regret being so naïve. We ate it, just to discover that the weird thing on it was some sort of mold. We swallowed it anyways for some reason I don’t remember.

Ten minutes passed in complete silence. We were both in our own thoughts, admiring the beautiful scene we did not question or felt frightened about. I was listening to the relaxing sound the breeze makes when it passes through tree branches, and I wondered if that was how paradise looked and felt like.

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“It’s amazing,” Liam said looking at me.

I turned towards him so I could answer, but as soon as I saw him in the eyes they went completely white and my vision went dark. An unbearable headache invaded me like a parasite.

The only thing I could see was some random flickering lights, like the ones celebrities see when paparazzi attack them with their cameras. I could just hear my head pumping like my heart was, I started to feel dizzy and all I felt was the pain of my body hitting the ground.

I woke up in my room feeling very tired. My body was heavy and I could barely move. As I recovered my consciousness I realized that I was no longer sitting on the tree branch, I was in my room all covered in sweat. I hardly got myself out of the bed to have breakfast, I would have stayed there all day but I had to get ready for school. As Liam and I were on our way to class, I asked him about what had happened last night at the park.

“What do you mean what happened there? Nothing I guess?” he said with a nonchalant voice “Weren’t we there, last night?!” I answered shockingly. and then I added. “No? I… think we did?. Well it might have been a dream but everything seemed so real though” I said this while I caressed my arms to cover my shivers “Aww, little tiny Nila had a nightmare and she’s scared,” Liam said with a high pitched whiny voice.

“Hey, that’s not what I said!”

“So it had been all a dream thankfully”, I thought to myself.

The rest of the day passed as usual. My parents were going to stay for the rest of the week so we could spend time together. They sent me and my brother to bed at 8 pm but I wasn’t sleepy so I decided to read a book in my room.

Time went by when I realized two hours had passed and it was time for me to get ready. I was wearing purple pajamas that had little white circular patterns in it and a big drawing 199

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of a sleeping cat on my chest. I put some white sneakers on and got my long black wavy hair up in a ponytail. I opened the window just to check how the climate was outside, and as soon as I opened it, a cold wind came towards me like an avalanche. I felt shivers on my whole body and thought that maybe it was a good idea to get something cozy to cover myself with before going out. I grabbed my favorite jacket, which was a plain padded white one, and got out of my room and I wondered why all of these actions seemed so familiar.

I knocked on Liam’s door to see if he was ready, and as soon as I knocked, he opened it. He was wearing a completely grey with a red car pattern all over pajamas with a grey and blue striped beanie and a jacket just like mine, only his, was black.

He mumbled, “let’s go” and I followed him to the entrance.

While we walked and went more through our street I had a vague feeling that I was having a deja-vu and I started to feel strange.

The street was empty and the neighborhood was silent.

The air was very dense; neither of us could breathe properly as if someone was strangling us a little too much. The overall vibe was similar to the one you get in a thriller movie, very tense as if something wrong was happening but we could not see it.

“What is it?” Liam asked fearfully.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Do you feel it as well?” he answered with a hand on his chest.

And this is when it dawned on me that I was having the same dream again, and as soon as I noticed I abruptly woke up covered in sweat again. I looked at the watch on my nightstand and the hour marked 3 am, meaning that I had fallen asleep.

The Loop I thought this was all a funny coincidence the first three 200

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times that happened. I had this dream for what it felt like years. The same exact dream. Every time I went to bed I saw the same scenarios and spoke the same conversations. The more I dreamed about it, the more sinister details started to show up. There was something I couldn’t identify following us during our walk, the moon and the clouds formed a triangular form, I started to hear voices randomly but when I asked Liam he would completely ignore me and continue with his default actions and as much as I begged him to pay attention to me he wouldn’t and I would feel random punches or scratches all over my body and feel very scared. Each time I woke up even more tired, with a little less sense of what was real and what was fiction. The only things I started to live were waking up, a complete blur, having dinner, and having that same scene all over again. I became a zombie during the day that would have lucid dreams overnight.

The only thing that turned me back to reality was that little fuzzy pink chocolate and I became addicted to it. All of the dream stages showed different changes, but the only part that stayed intact was when Liam and I ate the chocolate and all the side effects that came after. It represented my ticket to freedom, the end of my endless nightmare. It was like a drug, I thought it was my only path, I even felt like having it when I wasn’t even on my dream. Little did I know it was actually that, what had me kidnapped from my reality. My body began to deteriorate. I turned skinnier, paler, and weaker, it seemed as if I was going to vanish anytime. I felt lifeless. I started to go crazy.

Solutio I was desperate for it to finish. Whether I was asleep or awake didn’t matter anymore. I needed a solution, and fast before I got lost in my head. I decided to take control of my 201

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dream, I decided it was time to break the loop. Before I started to get ready I thought of the ways I could change my actions so I could break my chains. I concluded that the only way was to not eat the chocolate since it was the only thing that had not changed at all during the nights. So I went through the whole thing again. I looked at Liam. He was staring at the scene amazed. The tree had now spines in it and the lake had a crack in the middle. The sky was no longer pink but ruby red with some purple clouds surrounding the moon. I could see the reflection of the sky on his jet black onyx eyes. I remembered I still had the bag in my hand and decided to pull out two chocolates from it.

“Here,” I said handing one to him.

We unwrapped the chocolate and noticed the pink fuzz all over it, but I decided not to eat it this time. Liam put it in his mouth and made a grin, but he swallowed it.

“It’s amazing,” Liam said looking at me.

But he noticed I didn’t eat my chocolate. As soon as he saw that he grabbed my hand really strongly and said “Nila, what have you done?” and his body started melting in front of me along with the entire scene. An unbearable headache invaded me, just like the ones I got before I woke up, only it felt like an eternity this time and I felt as if I was falling into a bottomless pit. It was really long, but I finally woke up, and I found myself a little less tired than the other nights.

Finis I went on and on with this and I eventually unchained myself from whatever had me trapped. I slowly started gaining a little more sense of reality and a little more control over my actions. It’s been ten years since I had a lucid dream, but I can still feel a presence whenever I go to sleep. As if something was stalking me, hungry for my life and my body, 202

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something like a parasite, asleep parasite. I am sure I am not the only one, everyone believes I’m crazy but I know it’s real. I feel it’s real. I still don’t know what it is, but I will find out and take revenge for all the years it took away from me. If you are actually reading it, whatever and wherever you are, I just want to let you know that I hate you and that I am coming for you.

Stop caressing my back and try to fool somebody else, I am not afraid anymore. When I figure it out, trust me that it’ll be every man for himself.

UNTIL I DECIDED TO BE ME

Written by Valeria Guzmรกn Giraldo 204

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A

nd sometimes I simply don’t get it, you know? I mean we are in the middle of modernity, we are in century XXI and people just don’t act like it. I’m tired of walking on the streets scared of what a man may do or say to me, I’m annoyed of girls that just want to bring other girls down, I’m exhausted of intolerance, homophobia, male chauvinism, and hate. But you know what hits me the most? myself, I don’t feel like I belong anywhere, I don’t feel good in my own body, I don’t feel good at home, in the streets, at school, neither with my friends. I don’t know why! I don’t know if society has messed me up or maybe I’m just not enough and there is nothing I can do about it. My only hope is for all of this to be over.

I had to stop writing, it was time to face reality again at 7 am, time for me to get ready for school. As always mom makes breakfast, dad reads the news and they both pretend to love each other. Then the bus arrives, this is always the worst part, I try to sleep but hypocrisy doesn’t let me.

I just like to pretend I didn’t hear anything, I guess it’s the best for all of them and of course for me, anyway two years more and I’m out of this place. That’s what I like to think, that when school is over everything is going to change, but the truth is that outside these walls things are probably even worse. Now I can see those black fences, it was the time of putting on an act. I’m not even in class yet and I can see girls being mean to other girls, boys screaming rude pick-up lines to girls, and everybody simply acting like jerks. And of course, there they came.

“Hi, Emma, how is everything going girl!, didn’t see you on the 4th of July party this Saturday.”

“Hi Charlotte, Hi girls, everything is great, yeah I had dinner with my parents and some friends of them, I wasn’t able to go, how was it?” I replied smilingly.

“It was actually great, everyone was there, I can’t believe you decided not to go,” she said 205

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“Well, life is hard, I already had plans with my parents as I told you, maybe the next time. It’s almost 8 am, we should be heading to class now, shouldn’t we?” I replied. “ Yes let’s go” They all answered “No girls, let’s wait 5 minutes here, we are not doing anything in physics class anyway.” Charlotte gave her opinion one more time even though no one really wanted it.

“Yes, you know what, Charlotte is right,” Mia said And of course, they all responded, “ Totally!”

Certainly, I wasn’t going to stay, so I started walking to physics class, but then I turned myself around to be polite and wave at them, and there they were, bothering Natalie again.

I don’t understand their need of making life for others more complicated than what is already is for all of us. I am actually ashamed of being “friends” with them —if you can call that a friendship,— lucky for me nowadays the meaner you are, the more popular you get, due to that, even though I was ashamed and felt disappointed about myself because of being friends with them, nobody even noticed that except me, I can even say people at school respects me more because of my “friends”. I decided to continue my path.

The day was finally over now, or that is what I thought.

I’m walking toward the bus stop and then I saw three of them, Charlotte, Olivia, and Mia. And not surprisingly they were humiliating a girl, I could hear, It was because of her clothes and because she loves acting and they believe she looks ridiculous.

The girl is crying right in front of them! but they don’t even seem to care, they are too busy thinking they are untouchable and unreplaceable. I decided I was going to wait for them to walk away, but it seems like they weren’t leaving anytime soon. Due to that I had to go and tried to stop it.

“Hello friends, what are you up to?”. I said “Nothing much Em, just talking to a “friend” of ours, 206

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she is called Bianca, and she loves acting”. “Hahahaha”, they all laughed.

“Hello Bianca, I’m so pleased to meet you, Charlotte thank you for the introduction, but I believe Thomas is looking for you in the fields, you should probably go,” I suggested To what she responded. “Thank you Em, I’m heading there right now, come on girls, peace out Ema.” “Okay, have a good one girls,” I said I had to say something to that sweet girl Bianca, she had such a sorrowful face.

“Bianca, I don’t know what they were telling you but try not to listen to them, you are beautiful, talented and they just don’t know what else to do with their life, that’s why they decide to be mean to you” “Emma right?” she asked. I nodded.

“Well thank you for your kind words, I try not to pay attention but I get tired of having to endure their cruelty.” She said And I said. “I know it’s hard but believe me, it will get better. I really have to head out now but I loved meeting you.

See you around okay?”

“Thank you, Emma, you are such a nice person I’m sorry to say this but I don’t know why you are friends with them, anyway, it’s none of my business. See you around!”.

Bianca added.

“Bye Bianca, see you, btw love your skirt. Enjoy your day!”

I get what Bianca meant. I know my friends, I know the way they express themselves and I know it’s hard being the “better person” sometimes, being the one that doesn’t respond with hate or not necessarily with hate, but being the one that simply acts as everything is perfectly fine.

I get on the school bus and finally, after 20 minutes of a dangerous bus ride, I arrive at the bus stop. I just had to walk a few blocks for arriving home. I put my headphones on, 207

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play my favorite rock playlist at maximum volume, and start walking towards home. As I said before I put my music at max volume and still, I can’t feel safe! , I can’t avoid listening to men screaming stupid compliments or rude “macho” compliments at me and looking at me with those creepy faces. I mean for real, don’t they know that’s called harassment?. I decided to run because I was feeling very uncomfortable as every single day I walk on my own in the streets. Finally, I arrive home.

As usual, I lay on my bed and check on my Instagram for a few minutes before taking my nap. It appears I had a follow request from an account called “Feminist” I started checking their profile. Inspiring, that’s the most accurate word I can use for describing it. Of course, I accepted the request and I hit the follow button. I became a-d-d-i-c-t-e-d to that page, just by telling you that I skipped my nap because I was way to entertained. After some weeks I had read all of their posts, I started investigating about feminism, empowering women, and everything that had to do with embracing women and yearning for equality. I was motivated. I understood everything.

Things are not going to change just by a miracle. Sometimes desire is not enough. I could dream of a peaceful, equal, loving word, but as long as I don’t do something about it, no one is going to come and do it for me. Why being ashamed or scared to rise? There’s nothing better than being myself. If I don’t like cruelty I must do something about it, because staying quiet is as awful as being the one damaging others. Seeing all the stories that the Instagram page published, made me realize I’m not the only one feeling the way I feel, but if other women and persons around the world changed things, I could do the same. I could be happy being my original self, making others feel good and enforcing women.

After that moment I understood everything. I understood that life was too short for me to stay living in the way I was, the world is super messed up and I simply can’t pretend everything is alright. If 208

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I’m tired of men degrading women I must stop it, I must work for it. If I’m tired of the way girls treat other girls I must stop that too.

I have to speak up, embrace my thoughts, who I am, I am ready to stop playing a game I simply don’t want to play. Certainly, I’m not giving the right to society of stopping me from being me, I’m ready to speak up, to stop injustice, male chauvinism, bullying, and anything that may tear other people down.

The day for putting all of what I said before, in the test has come. It’s Monday, the day for a perfect start. I was motivated, all the important changes, I believe are made on a Monday.

And here a came, dressed as I wanted, with my jean skirt, which I could wear because I wanted to and not because I was looking for men, my sneakers, I felt so comfortable wearing them instead of wreaking high-glittery shoes as Charlotte told me to. I was completely myself, and there’s nothing better than that I can assure you. Just imagine that scene in movies when the mean girls come in and there’s wind all over them and perfect light in their faces, everything just seems to be in slow motion, and of course, everyone looks at them. That’s how I was feeling —except I’m not a mean girl—, I don’t know if I’m looking that flawless or if people are even staring at me, neither do I care, but damn I was feeling good, I was simply feeling renovated and motivated.

Walking to the main hall in school I could see from far away, the boys that are always saying their rude pick-up lines.

I didn’t let them start talking I simply say “I don’t know if you screaming nasty things to girls is a joke for you, or if maybe you can’t say something actually sweet to a girl, looking her at her eyes, but I’m asking you to please stop. That makes us feel attacked and disrespected. Have a good day and thank you for listening.” I walked away. I can explain how good it felt, expressing what I felt without being rude to them, except that if they don’t stop, I’m not sure I would be this nice next time.

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Now I just had to look for the mean girls and tell them that I’m distancing myself from them.

I saw them at the cafeteria on the table beside the lemon tree and it was now or never the time. My voice was shaking.

“Hello girls, how are you doing today?”. I asked “Hello, Ema!”. They all responded.

“We are just chilling, we are not in the mood for a class this early”. Mia said.

“Oh haha, neither do I...Uhm there’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about and I have to tell you as soon as possible, can we talk please?.” I added.

“Yes Ema that’s fine, there’s nothing much to do anyway, so go ahead talk”. Charlotte answered.

“Well maybe you haven’t noticed it, but it’s been a good time now since I’ve felt good in this group. I simply don’t share the way you treat others, I simply have a truly different way of thinking. That’s why I believe is better for all of us if I just distance myself from you for a while.” I said with a frightening tone.

“Well, well Emma. You are not distancing yourself from us. We are distancing ourselves from you and everyone else.

There’s nothing else to add. Come on girl.” Charlotte responded How am I supposed to feel? I am nervous but I feel liberated, free, myself, and peaceful. The day passed in a blink of an eye. I was back on this bus and I was excited about having to confront any bastard that screams something at me. This time I didn’t wear headphones and I didn’t look down hiding from them. I stood right, look at them straight at their eyes, and started screaming not-so-kind things at them. I felt different, I felt I wasn’t afraid anymore.

The next day Charlotte, Olivia, and Mia started to be mean with me. The boys at school weren’t that happy with me either. And maybe they were right and I had made a huge 210

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mistake. But then Bianca arrived with 13 more boys and girls.

They started thanking me. Saying that I was an inspiration for them. Charlotte told everyone what I told her and some people reacted badly with me because they were afraid of her, but others were completely surprised and inspired by me.

Everything changed. I had an unhappy and fake life until I decided to be me. At school over time, more and more people stopped being jerks. On the streets, I wasn’t scared anymore because I wasn’t afraid of telling men to stop. When I decided to be myself everything around me changed. I’m not saying I am now known worldwide, but I changed my life for good, and even if I inspired and transformed just one life, being myself, being feminist, and being kind was the worthiest thing ever.

THE ENDLESS BATTLE

Written by María Del Mar Henao Llanos 212

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I

t was late February when I started my third phase training to become a policewoman in a specialized gym designed to help people train to become public officials. I was feeling elated since I was preparing myself to be what I wanted to be, a police officer.

Every day I was going to train with my coach at night, who prepared me for a tough test that would define my career as a police officer. I had every bit of talent to thank my coach for.

My coach Cristina was a very different woman from others.

She was a woman with lots of qualities and capacities that make her unique. Cristina was known for being very strong, brave, and because of her knowledge and experience in life.

She was a tall, muscular woman with short hair, dark eyes, and dark skin, she had a complex personality, she was a fighting woman, a charismatic woman, and above all, she had always treated me kindly. We have always clicked, and she was a beacon of hope and empowerment for women like myself.

One day, on a Saturday at 8:30 pm as the practice continued for my test. I found myself head-on with two large, blundering men, with buzzed hair and thick, showing veins.

One of the men had tattoos all over his chest and arms, most were melodramatic drawings, but one was a phrase that said; “women belong in the kitchen.”

The reason why someone would tattoo that on their body was beyond my understanding, and when we saw it in the middle of my training, my coach and I were speechless.

Many things came to mind, and undoubtedly these two men thought that women were inferior to them and that we had no other purpose in life other than to serve in the kitchen. Being in an unsafe environment, surrounded by people who thought like that, made me feel queasy.

They began to practice kickboxing in the same area, and they kept a steady eye on me. When I tried to land a spinning 213

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frontal kick and landed on my behind, they laughed at me mockingly for attempting to accomplish my goals. It made me feel unappreciated; after all, I was only practicing like they were, and I was just trying to make my place in the world as a qualified policewoman.

I felt discriminated against by my gender, even though they weren’t directly attacking me, they started talking about me, just loud enough so I could hear, One man of the men said.

“What is a girl doing here? She doesn’t want to become a policewoman, does she?”

The other one laughed and responded, “God, I hope not, we’d all have to babysit her” They both erupted into laughter.

My coach looked up at me and shook her head “Don’t you dare listen to them” I nodded and wiped at my eyes that had become teary. I kept practicing the spinner frontal kick, and as I did, I thought about how I wouldn’t let those men bring me down. I took them in, evaluated them, and decided that they were saying all these terrible things because they were intimidated. I was strong and capable, and I could do anything I put my mind to, and these men weren’t in the right mindset to tell me what I could or couldn’t do.

Belatedly after, I decided to stay focused on the test. It was the test I had to take to become a policewoman and finally achieve my final goal, though I had been training for the last five months, I still had work to do. I had two months to prepare, and I felt like this was the perfect chance to show everyone who I was, to reestablish the fact that I was worthy and good at what I do. I loved this, and I loved the rush of fighting, the pressure of punching and hitting, and making myself known. I trained five hours a day. I would go home, changed my clothes, and put on my protective gloves: cardio, basic training, punching, and kicking because I had yet much to learn.

I was still skinnier and scrawnier than all the men. I kept 214

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training, building towards my goals, eating more, making more body mass so I could get more strength, and Cristina was there with me every step of the way to help me get stronger. Finally, the day was getting closer, and I would spend long nights with Cristina, she would punch my stomach so that when I took the test, it wouldn’t hurt as much. I was so grateful for her for all the times she had stood up for me. I always saw her as my second mother. The day before the test, she gave me her blessings and took me into what they called the “Pain Room,” where they tested and trained the policemen and policewomen of my city.

I went in scared, nervous, and wondering if I had done enough over the last months. But I knew I had, deep in my heart. The test was hard, they hadn’t lied, and I felt that I was being pushed to my limits, but I completed every stage as well as I could, and after 50 excruciating physical tests, burning questions and extended sequences of foolproof tests, I was done. I left the room, completely soaked in sweat, and I fainted down as I stepped outside of the room, Cristina came to my side, biting her nails from the excitement.

“How did it go? How did it go?” She helped me get up.

“I completed every stage, but I’ll get the results in a minute,” I responded between deep, fast breaths. I was gulping for air in a chair next to Cristina for the next five minutes until one of the evaluators came out. I stood up immediately.

“Well done, you passed the test, officer” I burst into tears and hugged Cristina. I had done it, and I was now an official police officer.

After I got my uniform, my badge, and moved into the office, the next few months passed in a blur. I was completely engaged in my job, doing mostly backup jobs and simple patrol jobs, because I was a beginner. The men in my section, the other police officers, rarely talked to me. I ate my lunch 215

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alone and did paperwork by myself, and I knew it was because of my gender. I was the only woman in the section, and there was only one other woman in the entire department. I wished it could be different, but I always reminded myself that I, myself, was going to make that difference and that me being there was already a step into a brighter future.

One hot, lazy day, I got assigned to do some standard patrol for a central bank. I was doing my duties, as I always had, and everything in the bank was quite alright, but I felt as if something was off. I didn’t know what, and I decided to ignore the feeling, but as the clock inched closer to the afternoon, I felt my stomach drop more and more. Suddenly, I heard it. A gunshot. And the immediate public response, shouts, yells, and gasps. I quickly looked up and grabbed my gun from my holster. I took my radio and pressed the intercom button.

“Unit 54 requesting immediate backup”, I said into the police radio. I held my gun up as the gunmen entered the building swiftly. There were around ten or twelve men. I yelled, “Stop right where you are and lower your weapon immediately!” I grabbed my radio and once again requested for backup, to no avail.

Little did I know that the policemen in the section had heard every word, but were busy laughing about the fact that they thought I was requesting backup for something silly and refused to send reinforcement. A gunman saw me holding up my gun and clenching my radio, and he yelled something over his shoulder, what happened after that was a blur. I remember hearing the next few gunshots, and then looking down at my chest, bleeding and torn. I fell to the ground and saw everything go horizontal in slow motion. I felt everything go dark almost instantly, and I could hear screams, more gunshots that slowly faded into the pool of dark. Later that day, I woke up in a hospital bed. I was in shock, couldn’t bear to talk 216

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with an excruciating pain I was feeling at the moment. When I turned around, I noticed my mother laying down on the bed beside mine, and I couldn’t understand what was going on.

The nurse in charge approached me and told me; “You, my dear, have had been lucky! You..” before she could continue, I interrupted the conversation and immediately asked what had happened to my mother, and she told me that my mother had had a panic attack that she was in severe health conditions since she saw me in a very tough situation, all bloodied and she couldn’t control herself, so she entered in an anxiety crisis, passed out and fell to the ground.

My eyes filled with tears, and I wanted to see her so bad, but they couldn’t let me because of my condition.

Days passed by, but my mother didn’t get better, the doctors said, she had an aneurysm and a heart attack. I couldn’t stop myself from thinking and blaming myself, saying that, “Maybe if I wouldn’t have joined the academy, my mother would still be okay by now” Just when I thought that I had reached the pot of happiness, that’s when everything turned upside down. I convinced myself to fight to get better and healthier to be able to help her.

Unfortunately, the day of my birthday arrived, and it brought the worst news that anyone could ever wish for; the doctors had announced that my mother had passed away.

I felt an enormous emptiness in my heart, and crying was no longer a sense of comfort as I wished I would have been the one to die instead of her. Nevertheless, As time went by, I knew that this situation would make me grow as a person, and I would try harder to be the best at my job and honor the death of my mom.

HIM Inspired by The Netflix Drama Series, “YOU”

Written By María Del Mar Hernández Fernández 218

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T

he psychiatric ward is more often than not called an asylum, yet it is no place to seek asylum, not the actual meaning of the word. It should be a place of refuge from the storms that hurt the mind and a past that haunt the soul, It is indeed a place of love and sanctuary, a place to be welcomed into arms that will hold you until the entire self is soothed. I can’t remember the last time I woke up out of this place.

It was a Wednesday morning that everything started, I remember I was drinking a cold latte at Piccolo’s, thinking about my life and similizing it with the big screens at Time Square, and I was thinking about my own loneliness, letting myself go down a dark abyss of thought, getting lost in my feelings. I had never had a boyfriend, at school, boys had never really liked me because I had always been too quiet, too shy for them. But this was a new scene in my life, I thought. I had recently turned 21, and I wanted to be reborn. I wanted to be someone new, and I could. Here in New York City, so far from my hometown, taking classes with completely new people, I could be whoever I wanted to.

In that very moment, in my mind, lost in this wandering train of thought, It is when I saw him. My brain, still tendered from the intense thoughts I’d been processing, registering this man and I suddenly knew exactly what I was going to do. I was going to make this man fall in love with me, and do so in a way that he was known to me, but I would never be known to him. This way I could feel loved, but not known, something I have always feared. My head was spinning, and I felt a sort of ecstasy, of pure mania towards the idea of making someone fall in love with me, having them, owning them, that I immediately put my plan into action. He was working on his laptop, and I studied him carefully, the way his eyes flicked from one side of the screen to another, the way his hands went to grab his cup and take a sip of his caramel macchiato or 219

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scratch at the scruff of hair on his neck. I looked at his clothes, his leg unconsciously tapping on the floor and his teeth biting his lip slightly as he read on his laptop patently.

He stood up to go get a carrot cake he had ordered, soI put my plan into action, and stood up to leave quickly, but timed my steps so that I would intentionally trip and have my latte spilled all over his white dress shirt. “Oh my god, I am so sorry!” I exclaimed, pretending to be devastated, “It’s alright”, he chuckled, “This shirt has always been a bit small, I’ve been looking for an excuse to throw it out”. I smiled sheepishly and brought him a napkin. He mopped up the latte from his shirt and looked up to tell me his name.

“I am Nate Crawford”. He said cheerfully.

As soon as those words left his lips I knew this man, with his pale complexion, deep green eyes and wavy, choppy, carefree hair that framed his face, was the man I would spend the rest of my life with, there was no doubt about it.

He asked me to sit with him, and I happily complied. and he asked; “So, what’s your name, stranger?” I laughed nervously and said, “My name is Mystearica”. He looked at me thoughtfully. For the next hour or so, we talked about everything there was to talk about. I found out that he had moved here from Minnesota, and was pursuing a career in computing systems.

He told me about his family life, and how he had a tough relationship with the men in his family because they were all military men, and he had always hated violence. And what I told him about myself, is the part that no one seems to understand about this story. I carefully crafted a life story for myself that would make me seem like the perfect subject, make him feel like he had bumped into the perfect girl for him, in a chance of luck, when it was meticulously planned so that he would think that way. I told him I had moved here from Wisconsin, 220

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and I was taking classes for communication systems and international affairs, which was all true, but I told him that I used to be a town flower, the girl who everyone loved, and loved everyone.

I made myself into a character for this man, and I could tell it was working. He was slowly catching on, diving into the pools of crystals that were my eyes. I could feel it. We left the cafe spot, walking in long strides next to each other, getting to know each other more. “Would you want to go out to eat with me?” He asked suddenly. I blushed “Oh, of course, I would, we could go to Eataly, it’s got the best Italian food in New York, I swear,” I said this in a bubbly voice, again, a craft of my act.

We left to go eat, and at the end of our meal, he looked at me gingerly and sighed. “I feel like you’re the perfect girl for me” I widened my eyes “Oh, gosh, well you’re too sweet Nate” he looked off to the side, “I really don’t want to rush things, but would you like to go out again, sometime soon? I enjoyed this, and I think we can really click” I silently cheered myself. I had done flawlessly. I nodded and wrote my number on a napkin.

I got up, kissed him on the cheek, and left swiftly. When I got to my apartment, as soon as I opened the door, I exploded in pure ecstasy. Pretending to be someone I wasn’t, not the shy, strange girl from Wisconsin but the sweet, outgoing, spontaneous girl from New York suited me well. I was so caught up in my act, in this new persona, I ignored the fact that I was exercising near psychopathic behavior.

Over the next few months, I kept seeing Nate, building onto my character, and we soon passed all the milestones that people have in their relationship. I slept over at his place, he slept over at mine, we went to the carnival together, we went to the movies, museums, every Italian restaurant in New York.

He helped me study for exams and I curled up with him while

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he developed computing programs at night. We were perfect. I was perfect. I complained and fought the perfect amount.

I made him feel loved like I had nothing else to do but, loving him, I made him food, rubbed his back, liked to go to clubs with him. I was the perfect girlfriend. This girl I had crafted, who liked everything from Art Nights to going to Central Park to sip cheap wine at 3 am. I was his everything. I made sure I was. And I had become completely obsessed. Not with him, but my new self. I had bought myself an entire new wardrobe with new, colorful clothing, plunging necklines, velvet, lace, and everything in between.

After 5 months rushed by and I felt that I had become closer with this man than anyone else, at least, he had become closer to me than anyone else, we decided to move in together.

This was a huge step because until now I’ve always had time to mentally prepare my character and to put myself into the mindset of being my new self. Now I had to be her. He moved all his things in, and I was getting used to him, his little things, and sleeping with him, watching him. I didn’t know I was descending into madness. I couldn’t have known. Everything was perfect and I finally felt complete as my new persona, I felt I had it all, everything I had been denied when I was younger because I was a little shy. Life had been unfair, and now, after a change, I could feel myself flowering. Little did I know, I couldn’t go on like this, everything would change and my life with Nate would shatter.

Nate’s best friend arrived in town, and he was the typical guy who wanted to be partying every second of his life. Everything started going from up to down, Nate said to me that Collin was his best friend and that he needed to be with him more than he was with me. This infuriated me beyond belief. I was his perfect, cool girl, a girl who I had made for him was vanishing before him. I began to feel that 222

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he was enjoying hanging out with Collin more than spending time with me, and this worried me because it meant I had to change course in my plan. Collin was a threat to our future, our life, our relationship. He was trying to make us drift apart, I could feel it, and there was nothing that hurt me more, made me feel angrier.

I remember the night that it happened so clearly like it happened yesterday. Collin had invited Nate to a birthday party in the Empire Hotel, some girl named Carla was having her birthday, and they said it was a common childhood friend so they didn’t invite me. I felt like Nate was kind of anxious before he left home as if he was hiding something. I knew very well something I had denied for the longest time; Nate was losing interest in me.

I decided to follow them and stayed outside of the entrance of the hotel with the guards. I walked up and down the street, and my psychologist told me that this is manic behavior but I know for a fact that it is out of pure love. Love for Nate, and love for the relationship but mostly love for my perfect self. I couldn’t let all of the work that I had put into this, go down the drain so easily. I wasn’t gonna let some high-class brain dead girl take over the boy that I had perfectly cultivated to my liking. I loved Nate, and losing him wasn’t an option in the slightest. So no, this wasn’t maniac behavior, I was looking out for my boyfriend. And I did so carefully, so he wouldn’t see me once they left.

I waited for several hours, but the only thing I could think of was the fact that our relationship was going to end, and that this dream I was living, was becoming a nightmare. 5 am and they finally left the hotel, both of them were extremely drunk and they were holding hands with two girls. Nate was trying to kiss a girl, and I almost completely lost it to my head at that point. I held a hand to my mouth, biting it so hard I 223

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could not scream. I had lost myself in anger. I couldn’t think of anything else but Collin; Collin had ripped me from Nate’s life, everything was fine before he arrived, so Collin was the problem, he caused everything and he was the reason why our future was coming to an end.

I decided to follow them, Nate and Collin left those two girls by Central Park, Nate arrived at our apartment, while Collin began to walk pointlessly. I started having feelings to hurt Collin. He had taken everything from me. and it was the first time I had ever felt something like that, a red frenzy that covered me completely and honestly made me want to kill him. I felt as if 1000 stones were weighing on my head and as of the only answer to levitate these would be to end this immense pressure that Colin was putting on me.

At this point, I didn’t really think about Colin himself I just thought about the way that he had affected me and Nate’s relationship, and the way that he had technically ruined everything that I had created and entailed. I thought about Nate and how much I loved him, or an idea of him and I decided this on my own. The red mist could really come in, and this was a life-defining moment, or rather a life-ending moment I had my eye on him subtly, I watched as he walks through Central Park completely wasted and made an attempt to sit down on a bench falling on the ground next to it. I followed him very closely and hid behind a tree that was in front of the bench. I came out from behind the tree, in front of him, and in my hand, I held a rock. It was a rock that I had picked up, and when I did I felt like the decision had taken itself. I was no longer this perfect person that I had imagined myself being for the last year, I was no longer that girl I was a dog, rabid, blind with hatred, teeth bared. He saw me, “Hey, girl, what’re you doing out here?” I held the rock behind my back and got closer to him, too frenzied to even talk. He shrugged and laid 224

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his head back on the grass. I inched closer, and the back of my mind begged me to stop, to put down the rock and go home to Nate. But I couldn’t. This man threatened the existence of the perfect me, he threatened the relationship I cultivated with Nate and did not have the energy to cultivate with anyone else.

I did what I had to do. I lifted my arm, and before he could say anything, I smashed it against his head, with the most force I’ve ever used.

It’s been a few months, the rest of the events that night happened in a blur. He screamed, I fell to the ground in manic ecstasy, soon, the cops arrived, carried me off, put me in handcuffs and took me to the station. They sedated me several times because I was being uncooperative, but I could do nothing but smile. They said it was the smile of a deranged, underfed crazy woman. I agreed to disagree. This was love, pure, unfiltered love, for Nate. I never did see him again. I never did get to talk to him. I don’t even know where he is now, or if he knows I’m in a hospital. I knew that Collin survived but had massive injuries to the head that paralyzed him completely. Knowing that gave me peace. It gave me peace because I knew exactly why I had done it. I had done it for him.

THE DISMAL GARDEN OF DELIGHTS

Written By Santiago Hurtado Betancourt 226

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R

ivers of blood and tears have already covered the body found miserably lying in the Woodstock, hopeless while I perpetually admire it; It’s the corpse of a young man that suggests he has been brutally massacred. Among his cold sweaty hands, a rotten stained letter relied on alienated from the scenery itself that said: “Peccantem me quotidie, et non poenitentem, timor mortis conturbat me. Quia in inferno nulla est redemptio, miserere mei, Deus, et salva me.”

That dreadful note. Something deep inside seemed to whisper continuously, how I already acknowledge those cursed words until an image enlightened my mind.

It was the year 1417. Back during my youth. My country was merged into a bloody war that had already lasted for more than half a century against France. This war had already claimed lots of lives; among them my father. Who was killed when his ship sunk in an encounter with the enemy and got drowned.

Back then I was well known in the kingdom of England as Count Jacob Beresford from Albion, yet an orphan bastard.

Luck had never seemed to hold my back. Somehow, I had managed to circumvent war fearful fist knocking at my door.

Erstwhile, I spent my time alienated even from my palace servants, devoted to a pointless sense of illustrating myself inside my father’s chamber of the wise dead. The place from which I had read those Latin phrases, carved into that stained note, from that putrid body. It was in that father’s inherited place where I confounded myself. It was in that exact place where I got instructed into all current age philosophy, arts, medicine, Latin, and in some way even theology. Whereas I felt equally foolish towards life as I naturally was. Besides, as time passed and I seemingly started to transform into a grown-up man, things always seemed to lose more sense. It was like God itself had condemned me and therefore flounce away.

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Time passed the same until the day I reached the second decade of my life, meanwhile, King Henry VI of England reached his throne. I remember that tragic day so well that I could even say I can perfectly revive that moment as it was now. It was during that cloud-capped day when a battalion commanded by General Aedus Bradbury in the name of his Majesty the King arrived at my palace. Vassals and servants brutally ran into my sanctuary to announce our new guest’s arrival. At that moment I knew my faith had finally arranged to snag me; yet, in my heart, I truly knew the moment to serve my kingdom had arrived. So then without any resistance but my conscience, I joined them and firmly marched towards the wolf’s mouth, crossing the English channel over to French territory.

Two years of war had passed. By that time in which miraculously I managed to survive, I had already fought more battles than any human could conceive as possible in that period. My mind had already begun to suppress that feeling in me. My hands, before, clear of any brutality and human sublimation, were by then soaked into the most human sentiments of fear, hatred, and war. My sight, before, set to reading and leisure, felt fatigued from all the suffering in battles and misery in towns. In general, my feelings before set to imbibe thoughts and wisdom from the dead, now, seem to get used to the continuous manslaughter on the fields. Mars itself seemed to have taken my life strings by then.

Life appears to encounter a certain point of breakage from which the rest of your mortal existence would drastically pend on. The beginning of my third decade, after being three years in constant combat would forever mark a turning point in my life. I still hear the sound coming from milliards of people howls inside my mind. It all came from the people of Bordeaux. My army had managed to advance throughout 228

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the Duchy of Aquitaine to its capital. General Aedus hellish cry rumbled the entire creation; “Bordeaux Delenda Est!’ or ‘Bordeaux shall be destroyed!” he screamed.

Men converted into bloody beasts, ran into the city, blinded by their State, and moved by their anger; obeying General’s order. The place itself seemed to have been where God had turned his sight off. We proceeded the siege. General ordered again; “leave no remains, leave no trace, we shall tear these people’s existence from its foundations and condemn them to eternal oblivion.”

Elders were thrown into burning cauldrons, women were burnt by the stick, men were being impaled and cut into half by saws. Enemy’s new generations were all captured down and butchered in the city stables. Nobles were being rigorously selected and haunted to be callously skimmed later on. Soldiers aimlessly toured the city, flooded in the enemy’s blood that reached their ankles. In the second night following the siege, neither the firmament at least deigned to take a crooked glance over that perfidious town. Yet it could not have had any chance, the smoke and damp from massacred bodies covered the stars. People even rumored Satan was unleashed that day on earth, but even I doubted “The great imitator” could have pondered such scenery.

As soon the siege ended, its remembrance was perpetually engraved into my soul. Such human baseness could never be possibly repeated on this Earth. After that dismal night, I woke up and watched how a reddish sun rose through the horizon. I refined my sight and I could see what appeared to be the remnant ruins of a castle that had been recently looted and set on fire. By that moment I observed my surroundings and there they were, all the army men were still asleep. I found 229

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myself mentally ravaged. Regardless of my endless efforts to abate that reason being I left down in Albion, my conscience could not stand anymore. So I decided to desert my army. I was deeply conscious about what this action implied, treason to the king, and therefore death penalty. However, at that point, my soul was already wrecked. I began promenading the forest towards that acropolis before the sun was entirely set. Hours have passed until I realized I was walking in circles. Until I substantiated I was then lost. For every hour that passed, the forest got thicker and so my despair. My legs, arms, and skin were horribly being torn by bushes and spikes. My mind did not want to continue, yet I was been guided by a hunch. It all lasted until I made it into a stony road. By then the sunset was starting. Therefore I decided to follow that artery anywhere it could take me. At some point, I reached high ground from which I could descry a huge dark spot among the fields were Bordeaux lied.

Running from Nyx I encountered the destroyed citadel walls. I thought I could resort inside that donjon at least for a while as it looked abandoned. The main doors were slightly closed when I crossed them. I entered into the chamber and I remembered being gazed at such luxurious saloon. Thus it was partially burnt down, golden chandeliers and walls seemed to fill the castle. I crossed out a snail-shaped stairway and proceeded to the upper level. Down the long foyer, a locked door remained mysterious for me. Fear came out of me at the moment I sighted that the door had been mysteriously opened from the inside. My glance fell short to what it was witnessing. From that chamber, a luminous feminine figure, diamond head-shaped, delicate as herself, with thin snow-white skin and a blissful golden hair emerged. We both stood there steady, looking at each other, while an almost heavenly silence surrounded the atmosphere and I seemingly 230

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felt into such innocent eyed sight. No doubt, the dry blood on my clothing must have startled the young mistress; she noticed this. I noticed she had been wounded by her leg; she was leaning against a wall, and in trying to escape, I motioned a gesture for her to calm down.

“I’m a physician,” I said.

Slowly approaching her like a wounded bird, I began practicing cautiously my knowledge during her leg. I could feel her breathing increase in intensity.

“Who are you?” I asked as if trying to calm her down. But she did not pay me any heed.

“Who are you?”I asked for the second time.

Right then a soft tone voice surprised me, as it seemed to come out from between her pink gentle lips,“My name is Ophelia Burnsville Duchess of Aquitaine, or what is already left of it” while she stared at me with a very intriguing sight.

“Who are you?” she fired back.

My heart excessively plumping responded; “I am Count Jacob from Albion”.

She finally realized her soul was not at risk with my presence. With each turn of bandages around her leg, she began to slow her breathing. Consequently, she reminisced her story, relieved to find a good soul amongst the brutes that roamed the world. She told me how her parents were brutally slaughtered two years ago by mercenaries that assaulted their carriage as they traveled. She recounted me how, since then she had daily wondered the woods, spiritually lost, looking after her destiny to be at least finally reunite with her parents. Once our both inquisitive minds were pleased, we stood there, seemingly existing. At that moment, the heavenly silence was disturbed by the mutual conception among two encountered enemies confused by a feeling of genuine first sight love. I did not have much time left since my life was at risk. and the day 231

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was ending. I entered her room and in a divine act, we surrendered with each other in such a way that even heaven’s glory felt jealous contemplating such an intrinsic act.

The next morning I woke up in an empty bedroom. For instance, I thought it was all a dream after such an arduous day.

Nevertheless, my heart continued muttering the name of its newly founded owner, my beloved Ophelia. Consequently, I decided to undertake her search. I got dressed, put back my armor, and went back into the woods. It appeared as a golden thread guided me. After a long walk, I found her. There she was, Ophelia, wandering by the bushes picking up wild berries, merged into a sobbing chant while my eyes astonishingly watched her. At the moment we reunited again our souls felt complete but within an extreme craven sentiment.

We both knew it was not safe to return to the castle, taking into account an entire army was moseying around the place.

Amid impulsiveness, we decided to run together, at the very last of outside the French territory. Outside the dratted war.

That day we strolled without rest through the turf, but eventually, our feet could not stand. And so we laid by some bare trees. Huddled among us, feeling the absurd security that in the middle of that dismal forest, only an alien soul could have provided.

Right in the middle of the night suddenly the dark forest lit up. It appeared as countless small torches, similar to thousands of fireflies lit up the night. I heard a scream; “General, we have found them both, the coward Jacob and that French duchess harlot”.

Our eyes were wide opened while death facetious way saluted us. Next thing I knew, General Aedus morbid face was right up to my sight.

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before I begin a good Hellish replica among this earth”, the General said.

At that moment all cry attempts looking for mercy were in vain. Generals suppurating mouth opened again and stated, “Behold soldiers, as we’ve caught this treacherous pour soul. Tie that merciless young fool and let him gaze at her broad while it is being carved, pierced, and stained with all the evils that afflict this world by every single one of my men.

As well, for him, tie him to a bole and chasten out his traitor spirit with the proper rage worth for someone that betrays our grand King and leaves them to die”.

Blood ran all over my body. What those men were biting was no more than a wrecked man that with its last sights, witnessed how savage beasts desecrated what once was conceived as pure as the first breath of a newborn child. That night time stopped for a non-infinite eternity while shadows rumbled and fete upon the hollow forest, upon that little piece of light that little by little went moldy. All this Abyss lasted until I fell unconscious, yearning for eternal rest.

It dawned in that place and I gradually began regaining consciousness. The first thing I saw was my beloved Ophelia, laying there, helpless with what was left to the sight of his candid figure, savagely ravaged by those incubus beings. A storm begun shattered the sky and I realized somehow my blood and rain had managed to loosen the rope enough for me to slip my hands. I crawled towards her defiled body, from which her soul resembled to escape. I clung myself into her with such power that her vivacity merged back into life. I handled to drag myself with Ophelia for a while, among the woods until we got near a village. Ophelia’s diamond face, straight up glancing the village in search of help, while I desperately scram. At the moment people in town heard my British accent around her French duchess, whereas showing 233

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any sense of pity, umbrage, and disgust wander down its paths. People began spitting onto us and loudly scream, “Traitors, traitors, those shall be left to die,” and so they did.

Ergo we departed to a nearby side with bushed oaks, where we could at least be left alone. Suddenly I felt Ophelia’s hand dragging my dagger down near her face. Then I approached and she whispered “It’s right here, within this dirk where our true love lays from”, I looked at her confused.

“Jacob, at this point it is nobler to the soul to look after; whereas in this eternal dream of death or another life we can reunite ourselves again, rather than continuing this carnal pain that so it afflicts us,” she said.

As she handed me the blade. From all those men, none did take her soul and acquit me from such an inconceivable task. That was truly my punishment, it was worse than the freedom of death. My now melted eyes looked deep into her innocent sight. Erstwhile I slowly glimpsed her blissful soul slowly escaped out from the wound in her chest, ran all over her body, down her golden hair to her snow-white delicate skin into my worthless hands. After I did this, I remembered a phrase once I have read that properly honored such an insane moment and carved down into a note. Subsequently, I proceeded. I hugged that dagger into my chest with such passion as I terminally mocked my fate.

Could it be? An ailment feeling in my chest interrupts my memoirs. Suddenly I bust in to fondle my heart. A huge bloodstain down my armor seems to smear my hands. My polish hands. My mind seems to soar at the idea that I recognize that man. It is me. But if this shall be the imperative truth. Where is Ophelia? I take a look into the cloud-capped sky and among it, what appears to be a golden bristle traveled along the sky, gently gracing my sight as if saying goodbye.

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Now I know where I am at. Thrown apart from God, being a ghost in the face of myself and eternally condemned to perish in solitude, roaming among the remembrance of my life in this dismal garden of delights. In the end, I can conclude that if this is where we all piacular end, and this shall be a story, it shall be one amidst God, heaven, and you; my eternally beloved Ophelia.

FAR-OUT CHOICES OF LOVE

Written by Fiona Jiang Liu 236

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F

ar away from the suburbs, in a little moderate town, there was an enormous house The walls were as white as snow and as tall as a palace. Every room had a big window and every window had a golden color painted frame. The house had a giant wooden door, with gold-colored frames with royal-medieval designs. The house was surrounded by a huge garden, the garden was full of flowers of different types, tulips, daisies, corpse flower, fire Lily, Jade Vine, and every single flower you can think of. It was not a common house, it was odd. My dad is the Mayor of the neighboring town, I’m Godith, and I live with my parents, brother, and my two twin sisters. Even though we have a lot of money, we are kind-hearted, and during weekends we go to foundations and help less fortunate people.

Little did I know, life was going to take a left turn.

I was turning twenty-one, my family and I decided to go on a cruise in the Caribbean to celebrate my new age. On the first day on the cruise, I went to the lobby to gather some information about the cities the cruise was stopping at, and just then and there, I met him. He was tall, blonde and pale, his eyes were as blue as the ocean. His large muscles could be seen through his navy-blue shirt and his smile was a treasure chest filled with bright, shiny pearls, his lips slightly parted in a childish grin. He was just too perfect to be real. I was too distracted looking at him that I didn’t realize he was looking back at me, we made eye contact. Time froze. I came back to my senses when the receptionist handed me the brochures I needed. Two days after that, I saw him again by the pool, I composed myself and I went to talk to him. God, I was nervous. “Hey, I saw you the other day at the lobby, didn’t I?” I said fearfully.

“Oh hey, yes, I remember you,” he replied.

“So, what brought you to this cruise?” I asked.

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my vacation month from my workplace and I’ve been traveling since the first day of vacation. I was in a travel agency just a couple of days ago and they told me about the cruise, that’s how I ended up here. Now, what about you? and what is your name?” he asked and before I was able to say anything else, he added; “I’m Aaron Ricci by the way.” and he smiled.

“HaHaHa! Hi, Aaron, I’m Godith, I’m here with my family celebrating my birthday,” I replied cheerfully.

We talked for what it felt like days and the whole conversation went as if we’d known each other forever.

He was kind, funny, and caring. I deeply felt a connection between both of us, but I knew it wouldn’t last long since it was a short trip and he lived too far away from me. When I went back I told my parents about him and they were very happy for me, the next day, the cruise had made a stop at a small beautiful city. We toured, we had lunch, we went to the museum and touristic sites, we just had fun. The same happened the following weeks before the trip ended. I don’t really know what my parents did because I spent most of my time with Aaron. When we arrived at the dock he grabbed my hand, my parents had already left the cruise and they were waiting for me. In the darkening light of the setting sun, the sky painted with reds, oranges, and distant purples over the still, unbothered, blackening sea. He asked me to show him around my town, and I happily obliged, glad that he wanted to spend more time with me.

We spent the following days together, I took him to every important site in town and made sure he had a good time with me. Sadly, his last day arrived. We went for lunch just before he had to go to the airport, we had a picnic. Then, out of the blue, he said “Godith, this is very hard to say but, well, I really like you… and I don’t mean just like you, I mean you make me feel like I belong somewhere and someone loves me. I feel like 238

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I’m at home when I’m with you. I can’t imagine being away from you. I think we were made for each other, and feel like the luckiest man on earth to have met you. I want you to be mine.

Will you be mine, Godith Mary Greenson?”

I hesitated, after several minutes, then, I accepted. After that, I took him to the airport, gave him our first kiss on the boarding gate number F2205, and waved him good-bye.

A year passed since I last saw him, I was still dating him, but the past couple of months were tough, sometimes, our schedules didn’t match, and the time-zone made it worse.

There was almost no communication and my big house felt empty since everything reminded me of him, the flowers, the beautiful vines, etc..

Suddenly, a Sunday afternoon, I got a call from Aaron’s mother, Mrs. Ricci. Her voice was weak and she sounded worried, she asked me if I could travel to their town urgently, but she didn’t specify the reason, other than Aaron needed my help; It made me feel uneasy because I imagined all the worst thing that could have happened to him and it made feel even so devastated.

“Godith, please come, I’ll tell you where to meet us, but please hurry, Aaron told me he needed to see you one last time,” said Aaron’s mom; her voice breaking.

“What’s wrong with Aaron? is he okay?” I asked.

“Just come,” said Aaron’s mom, She hung up. I rushed back to my parents’ room crying, my father was at work but my mom was reading a book, I told her what had happened and I begged her to let me use her credit card, and she agreed, because she thought, that I needed to send some money and she agreed immediately because she had a big heart and she was very kind but she didn’t know what I had in mind. I told her million “thank you” that I loved her immensely.

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Then I rushed back into my room, grabbed my computer, and bought a one-way ticket for the next flight departing in the next three hours. I didn’t have much time, I packed quickly, called a taxi and left my house without anyone noticing. I called my mother in the taxi cab and told her I was going to go see Aaron, my mother was nearly hysterical, telling me that I was taking too many risks for a man I had met on a cruise once. I tried to calm her down, telling her that I was so sorry but that I couldn’t help to know that he needed my help and she passed the phone to my dad and I talked to my father on the phone while my mother cried in the background. “What happened to him sweetie, please, come back! Let’s talk about this because you are not thinking clearly” he asked.

“Dad, I don’t know, Aarons mom didn’t tell me much, but I need you to understand that I need to go,” I said. he sighed and gave me his blessing. My mother gave me her blessing with her tears, and my siblings gave me a small prayer each. I hung up, and my tears started streaming down.

It was an international flight, which meant I had to be at the airport three hours before the take-off. Somehow, I made it just in time. When I finally had some time, I tried to call Mrs. Ricci but she didn’t pick up. I was scared. I tried to contact her multiple times, but she never got my call. The time came, I got on board, it was a direct, nineteen-hour flight so I needed to relax and get some sleep, but I couldn’t. I stayed wide awake.

The trip was going well, the air was smooth off the craft and there was barely any turbulence, which calmed my nerves. The food was just fine, and it was starting to dusk out, we were in midst twilight. I spent most of those hours reading magazines from the entertainment section of the plane, but I couldn’t focus properly, I kept thinking about Aaron and trying to figure out what happened.

I don’t know why, but I had an uneasy feeling in my gut.

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I could feel my palms sweat up and my brow was precipitating, but everything was so calm I thought nothing about it. I took half a sleeping pill to calm my nerves and fell asleep to the slow, steady rumbling of the engine below me.

I woke up to the pilot on the intercom, telling everyone to sit down and buckle up, I looked around me, nothing was no longer calm and serene, everyone was frantic, panicking and I quickly realized that the plane was not only shaking tremendously but also in descent. I could feel it because I felt as if my stomach was in my throat and my feet were floating off the ground. People were screaming, falling as they tried to get back to their seats.

I felt like fainting, the pilots had gone silent. I said a prayer and cried because I thought this was it. I was slowly becoming unconscious, fighting the urge to succumb, but finally falling into darkness, my lungs tightening and tears streaming down my eyes from fear.

I woke up and looked around, lifted myself slightly from my seat, but fell back down into it because of piercing pain in my elbow. I was surrounded by smoke and debris from the crash. Using my good arm, I lifted myself and crawled away from the crash. I could see the plane has split. There were not many survivors, from the one hundred fifty-two people on board (including the captain, the first officer, and the crew members) only twelve persons made it, and I was one of those.

Hours passed and it was already dusk. The survivors and I saw a big fishing boat around, they were approaching us. The fishermen arrived at the accident and told us to hop onto the boat, they were taking us to the town. I lost track of time, I didn’t know where I was nor what time it was I was just happy to be alive. I still don’t know how much time it took for the ambulance to transport us from the shore to the hospital, I

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still couldn’t get my mind off Aaron, he was the only thing I could think of.

The ambulance arrived at the hospital and we were rushed to emergency, I was just fine, I just had a couple of bruises, a broken elbow and an agonizing neck pain, the doctors were in disbelieve. The doctors proceeded to fix my broken bone, I just remembered being in the waiting room and waking up in the operating room with a cast on my arm. I still needed to stay a couple of months due to psychiatric sessions. After this experience, I needed to let it all out. I know the captain and first officer did all they could to save us from this terrible accident but sometimes, God has different plans for each one of us.

Shortly after, investigators arrived at the hospital and started inquiring about the crash and asked for all the details we could provide. I was asked multiple questions, it was overwhelming. and moments later; I was finally able to see the clock and sunlight, so long has passed since the accident, but it didn’t feel like a single hour has passed; while I was still appreciating the sun, a lady approached me and asked “Godith, am I right?” she said.

“Yes, ma’am, what can I help you with,” I replied.

“I’m Aaron’s mother, I didn’t expect you to come that soon, nor the plane crash, I can’t believe, you are sitting in the wheelchair, I am so sorry that you had to go through that terrible accident,” she said.

I immediately responded; “I am fine, don’t worry! Where’s Aaron? is he okay? why do you look so concerned?”

“Sweetie, seven years ago, my son, Aaron was diagnosed with kidney cancer, the doctors were able to remove his carcinogenic kidney but over time, the other kidney got affected and started malfunctioning. He needs a donor. According to the doctors, he still has a little more than two months to find a donor, otherwise, he will die.” Mrs. Ricci replied.

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“But why didn’t he tell me that?” I immediately replied.

She didn’t reply, instead, she asked me to follow her and when I accepted, she started to push my wheelchair We took the elevator; he was on the thirteenth floor. I wanted to see him so badly because I had missed him so much.

Even though things weren’t perfect throughout our relationship, he still was one of the most beautiful blessings I ever had on my twenty-two years alive.

He was in room 1306, I saw him and my heart dropped. I felt a pain on my chest as if my soul was ripped off of me and dragged to Hades. He was sleeping and without making any sound, I tried to get up from the wheelchair and I left the room to look for a doctor in charge of him when the doctor I kindly asked him to take the necessary tests to see if my kidney was compatible to him. I spent over an hour sitting in a separate room. Doctors took a lot of blood tests for the different compatibility tests. Once I was done with the tests, I went back to Aaron’s room, he was awake. I saw his beautiful eyes and that same day, I decided to take care of Aaron, no matter what.

Two months passed quickly, I kept my promise to stay with him as much as I could. June 13th, 2019, the result came in and I was told that I was compatible with him. I didn’t think twice, I called home and talked to mom.

“Mommy, I’m compatible with Aaron, I’m donating him a kidney to save his life!”

My mom immediately replied “Honey, be careful, take your time. What if in some future your kidney fails, and you are the one needing a donor? Please think about it.”

“Mommy, don’t worry, I already made my decision and I’m saving him. I know he would do the same in my position.

What if my two kidneys failed and I needed a donor? Wouldn’t you want somebody to donate me a kidney too?”I replied.

We hung up. As soon as my mother knew about what was 243

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next, I approached the doctor and said: “Please don’t tell him who was the donor, not until he’s completely okay and out of danger.”

He nodded. I left the hospital and the very next day the doctors gave Aaron and his mom the news. Neither Aaron nor his mom knew I was the donor. Mrs. Ricci tried contacting me multiple times throughout the day, but I declined. The surgery was scheduled for two weeks after the news. I spent those following two weeks alone in a hotel room, I needed some time for myself.

It was finally surgery day. Early in the morning, I went back to the hospital, the doctors greeted me and took me to an isolated room. “Godith, are you sure?” he asked.

“Yes sir, I’m sure” I replied.

He handed me the surgery gown and asked me to change, the doctors told me Aaron was already in the room and he was ready for the surgery. Two minutes later, some nurses arrived and took me on a stretcher to the surgery room. They put a mask on my face, I lost consciousness.

I woke up. I was so confused. Doctors, nurses, and family were surrounding my hospital bed, they were surrounding me. I was feeling really dizzy.

“Mom? dad?” I screamed. “Where is Aaron? Where am I? What happened?” I asked.

But everybody is silent. “Godith, how are you feeling?” A doctor asked but I didn’t reply.

I’ve never felt so weak in my life. The pain was unbearable, I started to lose consciousness and I suddenly blacked out. I woke up, again. Nothing has changed. I was still lying in the same hospital bed and the same people were surrounding me.

“Mom, where am I? Where is Aaron? why do I feel so much pain and dizziness?” I asked.

Mom was still crying “Honey, you’re in town, Aaron is the 244

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next room, he’s fine. You remember that seven years ago you were diagnosed with kidney cancer, right?” she said.

“I don’t really remember mom,” I replied.

“Do you remember how you met Aaron?” she asked.

“Yes mom, I met him when we were vacationing across the Caribbean, but as soon as the trip was over, he went back to his town. I’ve not seen him ever since.” I replied.

“You remember that six months ago, you were feeling pain around the upper abdominal area, against the back muscles on both sides of your body and we had to take you to the hospital to run some tests? Do you remember when they told us your only kidney left had some failures and was very weak?

That you might need a donor?” Asked mom.

“No mom, I don’t remember anything you just mentioned.”

In my mind everything was utterly confusing, I thought Aaron was the one who got diagnosed with kidney cancer seven years ago, and he was the one needing a donor and I was the donor. I had just saved him but now my mom was telling me a different story which was very confusing to me.

My mom looked shocked, she ran out of the room and I could hear her scream in the corridor, she was calling the doctor. Aaron came into the room, he was in a wheelchair, he smiled at me as if nothing had happened, I was even more confused.

A nurse approached me and said “Miss Godith, since you just got the transplant, you’re going to stay for a couple of months here, so we can see how your body reacts to the new organ and just keep track of it. My name is Elijah and I’m in charge of your care. You fell in a coma four months ago. Aaron gave you his kidney.”

When I heard that I had been in a coma for about four months ago, I couldn’t believe it, I asked myself If everything I thought was happening were just my imagination or if it was 245

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just a dream but amid my confusion and doubts, I was distracted by the nurse, Elijah, he had a golden skin, his eyes had an intense honey color and his smile was as pure and shiny as a diamond. He managed to brighten up the entire room, as dull as it was. There was something about him that made me feel like I could trust him, he was just a really nice nurse.

These three months passed like a shot; nothing special happened, Aaron often came to visit me. I woke up every day to blood tests and disgusting food, I spent most of the time in bed, and I wasn’t able to do anything at all. I kept having a terrible dream every night where Aaron’s mom called me, told me to travel to where they were at, I traveled across the country to save Aaron because he was dying but then the plane collapsed and I was stranded in a small island and then somehow I was alive and miraculously I ended up in the same hospital as Aaron. Then I saved him by giving him my kidney which apparently; all turned out to be nothing but a nightmare.

Ever since I got my consciousness back, Elijah has been there for me every second of the day, I’ve been going to psychiatric therapy to deal with that nightmare that still haunts me, I often wake up crying and shaking because of that nightmare. Some things are still confusing but I hope that someday I will be able to understand what really happened, for now, I’m still recovering. I’ve just been discharged from the hospital. Since Aaron isn’t at the hospital, I’m going to write him a letter explaining everything. He deserves to know the truth.

Dear Aaron; Thank you, thank you for saving me and being my go-to person whenever I had any trouble.

Aaron, I loved you, I want you to be happy and you need to know this. You see, the last 3 months, I spent at the hospital, Elijah 246

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the nurse and I got really close, and I never wanted any of this to happen, but we grew to like each other and now I think I am in love and we’ve been dating for the past month, I feel very happy with him and I feel like, you and I, didn’t work anyway. You had your job very far away, and we both know that we were having a lot of trouble due to a lack of communication. I wasn’t happy with you, not at all. And I want you to be with someone who loves you as much as I did when I once met you. You’re a good guy and very valuable. I’m so sorry, I want you to be happy, as happy as I am when I’m with Elijah. I will forever be grateful to you, you will always be with me and you will forever have space in my heart. I hope you find happiness.

- Love, Godith.

HERITAGE STORY Inspired By “The Breaking Bad” Drama Series

Written By Gabriel Jacoboh Kremer De La Espriella 248

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I

had never sat to think about all that had happened. Only five years ago, we were a simple and humble family, and although we didn’t have money, we were happy. Now that I think about it, I never noticed how suddenly things changed and how everything fell apart in the blink of an eye. That morning I turned on the TV as usual, and it was then when I saw the news, which had a large header reading “Walter White found dead inside a meth lab.” As I experienced a sense of relief, the reporter said: “The drug Kingpin once known throughout the South-West as Heisenberg may yet claim a final victim...” I immediately turned the TV off, not believing that he was able to cause pain even after his death.

Three years had been gone since that day, the day when our new lives finally began. By that time I was studying Mechanical Engineering at the University of New Mexico, and also worked casually as an Uber driver to make some extra money. My mother had become more stable and still owned the car wash station, which was our most significant income source. As for Aunt Marie, she was still grieving Uncle Hank and felt resentment towards my mother for being an accomplice to Walter. She had become very distant to my mother, making sure she was not at home when coming to visit Holly and me.

Unfortunately, things as good as they were didn’t last very long. That day I was at the University, 8:00 in the morning, chemistry class, specifically the class I hated the most, but not because I was terrible at it, but because it reminded me of Walter. Then in the middle of the course, I received a message from my mother saying that Holly was feeling sick, and they had gone to the hospital. I wasn’t anxious about it, so I said I would go after class. As soon as the last hour finished, I went to the hospital, but mom and Holly had already left. When I

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arrived home, Holly was sleeping, and mom was sitting in the living room.

“W-what’s wrong with her mom?” I asked as fluently as I could.

Speaking fluently with cerebral palsy is difficult, but I did my best.

“She is fine, Flynn,” mom answered. “Doctors said she might have a tiny intoxication.”

After that, we didn’t really give it too much attention, but Holly wasn’t getting any better and showed illness symptoms even one week later. When Aunt Marie came to visit us, Holly was still sick and we decided to take her to the hospital again. I called mom to inform her, and she rushed to the hospital. The encounter between her and Aunt Marie was very awkward, as they hadn’t seen each other in about six months. When we spoke to the doctor, he said that they weren’t able to find anything, and still don’t know what is wrong with Holly.

For the next few days, my mother was so distraught, even more than I thought she should. I couldn’t understand what it was that tormented her, as what Holly had seemed to be just flu. At one point, I wasn’t able to hold the intrigue and decided to ask what was worrying her so much. It was then when she told me what was going on. Apparently, Walter’s mother suffered from hereditary cancer, and she feared that there might be a possibility that Holly was born with a damaged gene mutation that she inherited from her father.

At first, the idea sounded ridiculous to me, mainly because I know cancer is a genetic mutation inside the organism, and therefore it’s not something that can be carried genetically.

So the idea that it could be inherited seemed illogical to me.

Nevertheless, explaining this to my mother didn’t comfort her that much.

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I felt very convinced with my theory, or at least I wanted to, but knowing I’m not a geneticist, I decided to do some research about it. I turned my laptop on, opened Google, and typed: “is cancer hereditary?”. I looked at several different results and sources, which most agreed with the same idea. it said; “Cancer itself is not hereditary, but there is a specific damaged gene that could be inherited from parents, which can increase the possibilities of cancer. This particular case is called hereditary cancer. I suddenly felt overwhelmed, but there was nothing I could do about it, but to expect to be wrong.

The next day when I was going to University, I received a call from my mother saying that the doctors had made a discovery and she wanted me to be there. I called to inform her I would be absent and turned towards the hospital, in the waiting room where my mother and the doctor were sitting, waiting for me. As soon as I sat down, the doctor began speaking.

“We have been running tests on your daughter for the last few days. Yesterday night we found a damaged gene in her DNA, which is most likely hereditary.”

Upon hearing this, I felt as if my heart stopped, and the sole idea of losing my sister just the same way I lost my father was unbearable. Before he was able to finish, I interrupted him.

“H-holly has cancer mom. Sh-she has hereditary cancer.” I said.

The look in mom’s face was indescribable. I could see her eyes getting wet.

“What do you mean?” She answered while crying. “My baby can’t have cancer.”

Tears kept running through her face, and as she fell to the floor, it looked as if she was dying.

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“I’m sorry, Mrs. White,” the doctor said in a warm voice. “We’ll do the best we can to help her.”

The doctor continued to explain that her cancer was in a manageable stage and hadn’t developed into a critical situation. Nevertheless, the cost of the treatment was beyond our income, and there was no way we could afford it.

I was willing to quit University without hesitation and work as much as I could, but my mother opposed it, saying I needed to finish my career. She proposed to sell as many things as we could, from the furniture to both cars, but after doing the math we learned that it wouldn’t be enough to cover the cost for the whole treatment.

Things didn’t get better after that. Mom had a mental breakdown and remained in shock, neither speaking nor eating. However, I still had to go to University and work as much as possible, and I couldn’t look after mom all day which forced me to send her to aunt Marie’s house. At first, she was reluctant, but when she got to see mom in her weak condition she agreed. One less worry for me.

I spent a lot of time thinking about ways of getting money, but none of them were remotely enough to cover Holly’s treatment. It was then when I remembered something, something related to Walter. He had left me an inheritance, a considerable inheritance; 9.72 million dollars to be exact. I didn’t want it to come down to this, as I felt dirty even to consider claiming that money, but if I wanted to save my sister it was the only choice.

I tried contacting Elliot and Gretchen directly, but neither of them answered. I also tried to contact them through their company, but every time I said my name the other person at the line would hang up. In the end, I decided to personally go to their house in Santa Fe, as the situation was very critical and we couldn’t wait for them to answer.

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Locating their home was easier than I thought, not only because everyone knew where they lived but because it stood out from the rest of the houses. I rang the doorbell, and after a few seconds, Gretchen Schwartz opened the door. She let out a giant scream as soon as she saw me and immediately ran in the opposite direction calling for her husband. Elliot came down the stairs, and his face morphed as soon as he saw me.

“We haven’t done anything,” said Gretchen while crying.

“Don’t kill us, Walter…” said Elliot as he held Gretchen in his arms. “...please”.

I didn’t understand what was going on, or why would they be afraid of me. I was also kind of irritated to be called Walter, my father’s name, but for this time, I bore it.

After calming them down for a while, I explained the whole situation to the Schwartzs, who were both very shocked about it and kept giving each other odd looks. Elliott went upstairs to look for a key that opened the door to a secret vault. They asked me to wait, as that vault had other personal things from them which they preferred to keep private, so I just sat down and waited. About 15 minutes later they came back upstairs with several bags, all of them full of money. Gretchen asked if I wanted to check if it was all there, but I blindly trusted them and didn’t count it. Terrible mistake.

Having claimed the money and feeling as if Holly had already fought cancer, I was ready to leave. Elliott and Gretchen helped me carry the bags to the car and put them in the luggage. I got inside the car and said goodbye to them, but then Elliott pointed out that I had a low tire pressure and offered to help me fix it. I left the car, and Gretchen went inside the house. Nevertheless, the tire was in perfect condition, and it was a plan to have a word with me alone. Elliott took out a small paper envelope and said it was a letter. He handed me the letter, and the cover said: “From Walter White.” My heart 253

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pumped faster when I read that name. Elliott said Walter had given it to him in secret and asked him to hand it to me whenever I came to claim the money. I shook hands with Elliott and got back into the car again.

I hesitated to open the envelope. In the end, Walter did us more harm than good, having been a remarkably absent father and husband throughout his last few years with us.

Regardless of that, I decided to open it and read it.

“Hello Junior, If you are reading this letter it’s because you have decided to see Elliott and Gretchen to claim what is yours. Now, son, I am sure that you hate me for all I have done, but bear in mind that my intentions were not always bad. I wanted to help the family, to leave you with something before I died. As a man once told me, “a man must provide for his family.” Aside from my selfish actions, I want to make it clear that I love you, your mother, and Holly with all my heart, and for whatever irreversible damage I may have caused you, I’m sorry.

Remember that this money is meant for your University, and whatever is left can be used to sustain the family. However, I’m obliged to give you a warning. Use this money wisely and never become ambitious enough to try and do what I did. The drug business world is a dangerous one, so stay away from it.

Love you, W.W” I didn’t know how to feel about it. For the last three years, I endured a profound feeling of hatred towards Walter, but the letter had somehow managed to soften me. The image of a selfish monster I had of him began slowly fading. Anyways, it wasn’t the time to be sentimental, so I turned on the car and left.

The ride was an hour-long from Santa Fe to Albuquerque, but it was enough time to make my mind spin around. As I traveled down the road, I began having memories, and no matter how hard I tried to stop them, I couldn’t. I remembered 254

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Walter’s 50th birthday, a very joyful day in which all the family and friends were together. Another memory that came to my mind was when he bought me my first car, a red 2009 Dodge Challenger SRT-8, along with his Chrysler 300 SRT-8.

The final moment I remembered was when I opened up my website: “http://www.savewalterwhite.com/,” and the strong desire I had to help him with his disease.

I was about 10 minutes away from Albuquerque, and my head was spinning all around which was making me go mad, so I decided to stop on a payphone. I know it was a very odd thing to do, but I just felt like I had to. I grabbed the payphone, put some coins on it, and typed the last phone number Walter had called me from before he passed away. I didn’t expect anything to happen, but to my surprise, someone picked up on the other side.

“Yo,” the person, on the other hand, said, “who’s this?”

“F-Flynn,” I said. “Flynn White.”

“White? Are you Mr. Whites’ son?” He said.

“Y-yes. Who’s this?” I asked.

“Jesse Pinkman.” He answered.

I remembered that name from somewhere, but I couldn’t figure it out. I asked him how he knew Walter, which he affirmed, claiming to be his former associate. His response rang some bells in my head, and I recalled the day he was found dead, and that the news spoke about how Heisenberg’s associate had escaped. They had most likely already stopped looking for him, and in fact, he had already settled in Alaska.

He sounded like he needed someone to talk to, So I carried on asking more about Walter as much as I could, from how it all began to where it ended. In less than a few minutes, I got to know most of the story, or at least his side of the story.

Then I asked Pinkman his opinion on Walter, which was very different from what I would expect. Jesse said that although 255

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Walter had become a selfish monster and had turned his back on him several times, he respected him. He said that very deep inside, Walter was a kind person who had good intentions but carried them on with questionable actions.

Jesse also added that he, despite everything, was grateful to Walter, as had come in his aid to his rescue. After that, he changed the topic and asked about my family’s situations, and I went on to explain to him the situation with Holly as briefly as possible. His only response to it was the same I had received earlier in the letter from Walter; “do not be as foolish as he was and become ambitious with the money. So stay away from the meth businessman.” Then the signal was suddenly cut, so I got into the car and kept driving back home.

I arrived at my house hoping to find Mom to tell her what was going on, but I only found aunt Marie there. She said mom had gone to the hospital again to see Holly and that we should go to visit them. She seemed very worried about my mother, so I tried to calm her down. Unfortunately, all my attempts to calm her went down when she saw the giant bags I had carried inside the house. Aunt Marie freaked out and began sobbing.

“Please tell me that is not what I think it is.” She said in a very altered state.

“Please tell me that is not your father’s inheritance, Flynn.”

“Y-yes, Aunt Marie,” I said. “It is.”

Aunt Marie began shouting at me, saying she couldn’t believe I had claimed it. Mom had told her about the inheritance at some point and assured her I would never claim it.

I tried very hard to justify it, saying that our income wasn’t enough, and it was our only hope to save Holly, but Aunt Marie wasn’t reasoning and kept yelling at me to give it back.

After denying her request several times, she ran outside of the house and yelled at me:

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“There has to be another way, Flynn. There is always a better way.”

Although I didn’t process well what just happened, I packed the bags again and got into the car. When I arrived at the hospital, I gave mom a call so she could go down to the parkway and get in the car. When she got in, I took a deep breath and told her everything. I told her that I had gone to Santa Fe for Walter’s inheritance and that I was going to use it to help Holly, whether she agreed or not. To my surprise, she didn’t disagree and said she was also willing to do whatever was necessary. Then mom went on to tell me that Holly had been getting worse during the last days, and after the doctors ran several tests on her, they noticed that her health was decaying and that the sickness may be worse than expected.

The news was hard to swallow, but I felt secure due to the money we had.

I then proceeded to show mom the money, which was in the luggage. We began opening up the bags and saw how bills came out of them, $100 bills. Unfortunately, things weren’t crystal clear for us now, as mom noticed that the bags didn’t have as many bills as we thought and that they were filled with rocks instead. I then understood why Elliott and Gretchen were acting so odd, and it was because they had spent most of the money thinking I was never going to claim it. Now I understood Walter’s hatred towards them and saw how selfish they indeed were. I felt like the world stopped for a minute, and my hopes of saving my sister shattered. It brought tears into my mother’s eyes.

Sometimes we do things that we don’t want to, things that are very dangerous and risky, and even occasionally illegal.

But when someone does this, usually it is because there is a reason behind it. Walter did it or at least started it because he wanted to leave something to his family after his death, 257

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and now I found myself in a similar situation to save Holly. I finally was able to understand what a man is capable of doing to provide for his own family, all while I stand here in front of my car’s trunk with less money and even more problems than I had yesterday. With a suitcase full of lab equipment, I am ready to do what I have to.

THE WAREHOUSE Inspired By The Book “Goosebumps” Written By R. L. Stine

Written By Juan José Kuri Abadía 259

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F

ive years ago, there was an incident in the warehouse near Tweedle Hill Road, where there was a family consisted of a father, mother, and three children, two of whom were twins but with different genders. That family used to run an illegal business in the neighborhood and one day, they got into big trouble with their business associate but little did they know that those people were from Haiti and they practiced Voodoo.

A few days later the family received a warning of a head of a goat full of blood in front of their house to which they preferred to ignore, days later, every member of the family was found dead in the warehouse and to this day the police have not been able to determine how those people died.

The weirdest part of the whole story, despite all the dreadful deaths, was the case of the second Dalenson twin, Daisy.

She was missing. She disappeared off the face of the earth and was never found nor heard of again. Belatedly after, the case went cold in 2019. The killer, his reasons, and what he used to kill them was never found. Nevertheless, there were rumors that those people were killed by the satanic ghost from Haiti.

The only lead the authorities had was a single, red handkerchief that was found in the mother’s hand, and didn’t belong to any of the Dalenson’s, the tissue had tiny, stitched letters on it that said, very simply; “Pa radote avè m! warehouse” On this grounds; this is where the warehouse got its name, and this was only the beginning of the chilling warehouse’s history, and I had heard it around five hundred times, with all sorts of versions and exaggerations added. The rest of the warehouse’s history was possibly worse than the beginning of it, which is hard to believe when you first heard the story. For the longest time after the family was murdered, no one dared step foot in the warehouse, not until a real estate company bought it and fixed it for selling. Nevertheless, not a single one of the people who bought the warehouse came 260

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out alright. People would kill themselves, kill their families, mysteriously disappear, or have to be dragged to a psychiatric hospital after living in the warehouse. No one used that warehouse in 5 years, because a new law in the state required for real estate agencies to tell their buyers the history of the houses, so no one wanted to buy it, because the past was so bloody and horrible.

One day like any other day, it was dreary outside and cloudy, Bernard and his two friends Michael and Felix were playing soccer outside, Bernard is the oldest of the group, he is thirteen years old and he is kind of the leader and a showman himself. Felix is a sports guy from a young age, he liked soccer and spending time with his friends. Michael, unlike his other two friends, was the type of person that loved to study and he read a lot, or just like people call it nowadays, a nerd. Even though he liked studying and dedicated a lot of time in doing so, he also liked occasionally going out with his friends, Felix and Bernard became friends very easily because they shared the same school and they lived in the same neighborhood.

One day like any other day, the three friends were playing soccer at night just passing the ball at each other but they did not take into account that they were playing close to the historical warehouse. Bernard wanted to throw it harder to show what he was capable of doing, hence, he did not care what Felix had told him before, “not to kick the ball so hard” Bernard refusing to listen to his friend, he kicked the ball with all his strength, and unfortunately, the ball went right into the warehouse nearby.

Michael asked; “Oh no, what are we going to do now” “We have to get that ball,” Felix said fearfully, and he added; “my mom is going to kill me if we don’t” “No way, that warehouse is so scary” Bernard responded nervously.

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“You have to do it, it was your fault, I told you not to kick it that hard” Felix shouted at his friend Bernard.

“He is right Bernard, it is your fault,” Michael agreed with Felix.

“I said no, I won’t,” bernard said firmly.

Felix started to cry and said; “Please, I don’t want to be grounded forever” “Okay fine, but only if you guys come with me” Bernard demanded.

“Ugh okay,” Felix responded.

“Fine, there is no other option so let’s go,” Michael said firmly.

After all of the boys agreed to enter together into the creepy warehouse, each one of them grabbed elements to use as weapons, in case they were attacked by something inside.

Michael and Bernard took a large stick of wood they found near a tree, and Felix grabbed some stones from the street. As soon as they approached the warehouse, they started to feel a lot of fear.

“Let’s go back, guys,” said Michael, who was grabbing his stick extremely hard.

“No way, we’re already here!” said Felix, who wanted to have his ball back.

They went in through one of the windows that had been boarded up but had a big hole in it. It was pitch black, the inside felt like being in the stomach of a hungry dog, Bernard found a flashlight, so he turned it on, surprisedly it was still working, It looked as if someone had been there recently, so they proceeded to look around the place searching for Felix soccer ball, trembling with fear. The warehouse looked old and very worn out. The wallpaper was peeling, and the furniture was all broken and moved around. There was graffiti on the walls saying things like “warehouse Never Dies,” and 262

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random names and “I Can Hear Them.” the kids were very scared. The warehouse itself didn’t look scary, but it felt like it was alive and there was something evil living there. Bernard said that he could see blood dripping from the walls, but he took a deep breath and bravely said. “Let’s do this quick, guys.

I have a bad feeling about this.”

One hour passed and they still couldn’t find the ball, instead, the three of them started to feel something weird, suddenly every part of the warehouse was cold, they started to hear all the doors and cupboards of the warehouse banging, so the kids started to scream and trying to get out. Michael looked behind him, and the walls were oozing with blood.

Then a dog appeared out of nowhere, but they realized that it wasn’t a regular dog, this one had red eyes, and it has saliva all over his mouth, it was starring at them with a very scary face, but then it disappears out of the thin air. The three of them were horrified and crying. After everyone was watching that creepy dog they realized Felix was gone. They started to hear some voices out of nowhere. They heard children screaming, a man laughing, and they started to scream for help.

“Somebody; Please help us!” the boys shouted repeatedly.

There were a lot of sounds coming from the inside of the warehouse, and miraculously a thirty-year-old man who was going back from work to his home heard all these sounds and screams from the kids pleading for help. He ran immediately to the warehouse to find out what was happening in there.

When he entered the warehouse what he saw was just two kids screaming but for no reason, this man noticed the fear on their faces so he helped them out but once Bernard and Michael were outside, and they asked the man to help them find their missing friend, Felix.

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“Go find Felix, please.” The boys begged the man to help them.

The man went back inside the warehouse to look for their missing friend; even though he did not fully understand what was happening or what the little boys were saying. When he entered back inside he searched everywhere but he couldn’t find anyone else in the warehouse until he opened one of the cupboards and found a human head covered with blood, it was of a kid approximately twelve years old. He went out immediately, breathing hard, he was still in shock but he preferred not to tell the kids what he had seen inside the warehouse.

The man called the police to investigate again that creepy warehouse but until today there are no answers to anything.

The case is still open but the police do not know what to do because they are no solid evidence, nor explanations as to why people disappear or die inside that warehouse.

Bernard and Michael’s parents decided to move out of that neighborhood, as they were convinced that whatever killed Felix could someday go back and kill Bernard and Michael.

And as for Felix’s parents, they are still grieving to this day, hoping that the police could honor his death by explaining what happened that day.

UPRIGHTNESS

TILL THE GRAVE

Written by Evelyn Leรณn Hurtado 265

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“

I don’t get it. How did I end up here?” I thought to myself.

“Let’s call her parents,” an echoed voice flooded my ears dramatically. Wait, wait wait, give me a second to process all of this, why are they calling my parents? First of all, who are these people? I think I need to wake up because I’m not getting the whole picture of this scenario.

“Go with that defibrillator to the pediatric wing, we have a blue code.”

The echoed voice stormed my ears once again but I find it less confusing now. Wait, wait, wait, what is a defibrillator?

Did they use it on me? There’s more than an echoed voice in this room. I can hear it. I can hear the steps of the echoed voice getting out of the room. His sneakers are producing a disturbing sound like when an animal screams in pain. I can hear the breathing of two female individuals just beside this bed.

The door has been shut down carefully, I almost did not hear the creaking of the door; with everything I had heard, I am sure that I am at Hlatikhulu Government Hospital. The two women here must be nurses, I don’t understand why I have not woken up, I do not know how long I have been asleep, I am not really asleep, I am just not able to open my eyes or control my body. Maybe is the anesthesia, maybe they gave me very strong painkillers and that’s why I am not able to move. Eventually, it doesn’t hurt. I do not feel anything at all. I have not listened to anything new for a while now. Everything is silent now. I can’t picture anything else because the absence of noise is a black deep silent square in my mind.

“Are you sure you want to come inside?” The echoed voice from a while ago interrupted my unexisting thoughts.

“We need to see her, of course, we are coming into this room!” That was Mother. Why is my mother outside this room? It is definitely my mother’s talking, I can recognize her voice. And if dad is with her it won’t be easy to tell because he 266

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is not a man of many words. The creaking of the door disturbed me once again. They are inside the room. And now what? I’m getting a little bit stressed here. I can listen, to everything they are saying. Pain is gone, nothing hurts now, but I cannot open my eyes and see what it is happening? This is a nightmare.

“We did everything we could, we are very sorry for your loss.” I think a doctor said that.

“I guess, I am even more confused now, Who died? For sure it was not me because I can hear you.” I thought to myself again.

I can hear even my father’s heartbeat just on top of my elbow as if he was crying over his daughter with pity, as he usually does. “What exactly happened? I need to know every single detail of this situation because it is unacceptable.” I heard the voice of my mother, shouting in the background, as usual.

“The patient identified as Atropos arrived at the hospital in critical conditions, meaning that the patient vital signs were not stable, and since the vital signs were unstable and not within normal limits. The patient was unconscious.

Indicators were unfavorable. We were not able to operate her without the family’s consent, but she also had a very low purse, and unfortunately, we lost her after 4 minutes, during the CPR movement. Nevertheless; after several Post Mortem exams, the emergency department concluded that the patient had some pre-existing chronic conditions...”

The doctor suddenly stopped. But wait, this is just too much information for me. Did he say Atropos or I am just crazy? Are they talking about me? I am not dead, that cannot be possible because I can hear you. I can hear the neurosis of my mother; her hands are starting to move psychotically all over the bottom of her blouse. I know it, I hear it. I can hear the chewing gum of the doctor every time a word comes out of 267

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his mouth. I can listen to the napkin my dad is throwing into the dustbin of this room at this exact moment. How could I be dead if I am aware of everything in my surroundings?

“What condition?! Go ahead, continue…” Mother encouraged the doctor, the cynicism is just inevitable, it has always been.

“I am sorry, but she died from an overdose; on behalf of the Hlatikhulu hospital, we would like you to know, that we are deeply sorry for your loss.” The doctor responded firmly.

“Ohh, not the drugs, the devil finally took my daughter, God why would you let Satan win?” I could hear my mother crying and there she started her speech, everything is about ‘god’ for her. I understand the point where humans need to believe in something ‘greater’ to find a purpose for their life.

It is normal. I’ve lived with this kind of speech for 18 years, some hours more of hearing her will not make any difference.

Mother is talking about the abomination Satan created when drugs arrived in the world. However, I think I should focus on what really matters here, the ‘why’ I am supposedly dead.

“The doctor said Atropos died.” As far as I remember I’ve been Atropos since birth. My parents are here. Although my dad has not spoken, his heavy breathing and strong elephant footsteps are unmistakable. But wait; I also heard the doctor saying “on behalf of the Hlatikhulu hospital,” so for sure, I am at Hlatikhulu. If I connect the dots everything would be extremely clear. If I am really dead, How come? I can listen to everything they are saying. How is that even possible?

I believe Mr. Conroy at school was right. He was not trying to scare us. Some years ago, he told us that hearing is thought to be the last sense to go into the dying process. Which meant, even if they appear to be unconscious or restless, never assume the person is unable to hear you. It makes sense at this moment now. My hearing ability is functioning while my 268

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body is completely dead. For how long is this going to be like this? I just want to hear the funeral scene.

I can’t tell for how long I have been here now, but I could hear a storm of silence, usually, this kind of silence would normally relax me, especially on an inky night lacking even moonlight or stars, just like now that everything is dark now, and I am supposedly dead. I can feel it. I think we are at my funeral.

At this moment I am just wondering what will happen next.

Am I going to be able to listen forever? If I do, what exactly will I be listening to when soil becomes my only sense of comfort? Will I be focusing on the worms that will be vanishing my body? I do not know, nobody ever knows. For now, I could hear people entering the room. By the echoed voice in the background, I think it’s an open space, maybe a church, I can hear Aunt Marie’s high heels and baby Neo footsteps all over. I remember that he is a playful kid and how he confuses every family event, I wonder if he understands that I am dead. The empty silence makes me focus on the black space of my mind. Memories stopped being a creation since this whole chaos began. Now, everything is only happening in my head.

Existence is not a fact for me anymore.

This silence is suspicious. Many breathing sounds but a humongous emptiness of words. What is about to happen? I can listen to mother’s footsteps, her 5cm heels are knocking the wooden floor of this place as if she wanted to pass through the boundaries of the physical world. “Mother stopped.” I only hope she does not know. I only hope this loss creates a better mom. She swallows some dense saliva, she is about to speak.

“We are all gathered here to mourn the loss of my beautiful child Atropos and to say goodbye. I’m not going to start this with a typical ‘I love you’ or ‘I miss you’ because those pairs of 3 words are not good enough to express how I feel about her right now; 269

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It still doesn’t make any sense that she is already gone and cannot listen to me right now. The only one I can talk right now is God, the one who decided to take her. If God decided that my daughter was not meant to be here right now, I accept it. God probably needed her more than we did. Because we lost her years ago when the devil got her to use drugs for the first time. Thank you all for being here,” An infinite dense silence is invading the room. I can feel the tension. I can almost picture my father with his inexpressive face. He does not know what to do. He does not want to hug her because she is not in pain. She is a strong woman. She never found out the truth. I will remain as the drug addict daughter who died from an overdose. Nothing worth keeping in mind.

I love you, mother. I know you can’t hear me right now but you are wrong; dead people can hear. We can listen to you. I was able to feel your words. I was able to find your love between your god. I will never forget you. Maybe you were not always there, but I thought you were. Maybe you didn’t listen to me, but I thought one day you would. I am sorry, that I was not the daughter you wanted, but you were the mother I needed.

I needed to learn by myself and life has been the best teacher I ever had. I needed to understand that pain is not meant to be shared. I am really glad you never found out the truth. I am happy that you are fine with my absence because I could have never forgiven myself for sharing my pain. The meaning of life is that it stops. I was never able to comprehend the meaning of life until it was gone. Your words, those I wanted to hear at my funeral where just the ones you expressed. They were a melody that flooded my death system with vitality. I am just happy there are no tears left for me. I am just pleased that my absence is a relief for you.

Some chattering is disturbing my thoughts. Everyone is in funeral mode again. Although I couldn’t see my father, I 270

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can feel his presence around me. He does not need to speak. I know he is right beside me. His harsh breathing will always be an atypical melancholy for my ears. Neo is now crying behind the coffin. I can tell he fell, those tears scream pain out loud.

Yet, everything continues to be so normal. This could be a normal family reunion. Some weeks from now this will be just one more episode for the series of life. Fortunately, only to this inert body pain, will be kept as an unpleasant memory.

“Uprightness till the grave.” I used to say to myself when I was in pain. Mother will die thinking I was a drug addict, not an AIDS patient who never discovered the cause of her disease. Mother will never feel ashamed of having an HIV positive daughter around her so devoted church service friends.

I remember those three men walking down the street on a normal school day. Those three men who showed me a napkin with an address written with red ink. Those men who were only asking for directions, but at the same time, they were also creating my inevitable destiny. Those men who I do not remember how stole everything I was afraid of losing in life.

Being an AIDS patient was not easy. It was not easy to struggle with hiding the truth and experiencing it with every cell of my body. It was easier not to tell, it was easier not to extend my suffering to my beloved family. Going into treatment by myself could have not been the best choice. Yet, I created my path, I created my present. I am the only responsible for the treatment not to work. I never screamed for help, because nobody was worth suffering for my pain. My parents never wanted to, and that is the reason they decided to ignore it. They ignored my bruises, they ignored my drastic weight loss, they ignored my gaunt aspect, they ignored my constant flues, they ignored my dramatic hair loss, they ignored my lost spark. They ignored me and once the doctor said drugs, they thought they always knew. They stick to a coherent diagnose 271

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that will make them feel less guilt. They did what every logical human does; avoid guilt by believing in something that is not true.

Now I know that life hurts a lot more than death. Now I know that death is not the greatest loss in life, the greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live. Death shouldn’t be feared, because death is not the end. Pain is gone and death introduced the graduation of my soul. They say that life is too short to wait, but death is doing the beginning of eternity, a painless one; the one I have always wanted to have ever since I was diagnosed with this murderous virus.

Our mind thinks of death, our heart thinks of life, but I think on immortality, I use my soul, end of the story. Or maybe I don’t, and this is just a dream. Maybe I do not think about you Mother, maybe this whole time you were right, and I was just meant not to exist anymore. Maybe I just created this whole scene in my head, and I am just meant to wake up for another monotonous school day.

BROKEN OR BONDED

Written By Gabriela López Ramírez 273

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T

he bright sun shines through the big trees, the air is fresh and calm. It is a beautiful day in Los Angeles. Playing around the enormous backyard we see, Casey, the youngest of the Beer family, with her little emerald necklace she got as a newborn. Around Casey, we see the joy and love that surrounds her. Not long after her mother, father, and brother went to the backyard with their hands occupied with the lunch. A beautiful bond is perceived by the whole family. That is when the mother called Casey “Baby, come here so we can all eat”, the six-year-old, brunette girl, run towards her mother and sat on the picnic table where her family had disposed the plates of pasta. The smell surrounded the whole backyard with a scent of deliciousness.

The whole family sat down as they ate, laughed, and talked.

That is when the father interrupted and said; “Cass, I got you something, hopefully, you are going to play with it” this made Casey very excited. Father is taking out of a bag a soccer ball and he handed it to Cassey. Very happily Casey received it and started playing with it, this is when Willow, the mother, gave a weird look to the father.

“What happened?” said father.

“Why did you give her a soccer ball?” the mother said “I think it would be fun if she plays soccer” the father added “That is a sport for boys, you know? like you get a lot of injuries” the mother replied “She is a kid, she won’t get injured.” the father said calmly “Okay, I am going to let it past because she looks so cute right now” mother agrees.

Little did Willow know that her daughter was going to make soccer her passion and she was going to become one of the best at it.

12 years later…

Casey is on the field, giving it all her heart at the soccer 274

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practice of her school. She is the best. Her movements are just wonderful, her technique is perfect. At the end of the practice, everyone gathers at the locker room to congratulate Casey for getting a scholarship to Harvard for her excellent achievement as a soccer player. She is very happy, excited and feels very blessed that her soccer team is proud of her, but it is there where she realizes that she has no idea how she is going to tell her mother about the big news. As everyone leaves, Casey is finishing getting ready to leave, but her best friend, Madison, stops her and says “I’m so happy that you get to do this” “Thanks, it is my biggest dream and you know it” Casey responds.

“Have you told your mom?” Madison says.

“No… I don’t even know how I’m going to tell her” Casey says.

“Just tell her, she’ll be happy, it is such a big opportunity” Madison added.

“Haha, you don’t know her, I am not sure how to tell her” Casey responded.

“You’ve got to tell her fast before someone else does,” Madison says. “ I will, I just need to think how to tell her, it is very important to me,” Casey says.

Casey and Madison leave the locker room.

As Casey arrives home, the sun is already setting and the wind is crazier. She gets into her house and leaves her bags near the doorway, and goes into the kitchen. In there she opens the fridge and gets some food, as she is doing that, the mother enters the kitchen and they greet each other. Casey is very happy and she is about to tell her mom about the scholarship, but before she could get a word out of her mouth, her mom says “Casey I think you should take a little break from soccer” and soon Casey responded “what?”

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“Well, you are soon leaving school and entering college.

I think you should be ready for everything that awaits” the mother said “Mom, I am not taking a break from soccer” Casey added.

Both of them continued arguing.

“You should just think about it, it is just a hobby” “Mom stop” “Darling I think you should get ready for all the things that college brings to you, like a boyfriend. You know your father and I got married in college right.”

“Are you trying to make me wife material. Haha, mom, that is ridiculous” “Don’t tell me I’m ridiculous and you need to learn a lot of things to be independent. You need to learn to cook and clean the house. A lot of things” Casey goes to her room very mad, and as she lays on the bed and starts crying. She was not able to tell her mother about the scholarship and this broke her heart.

During the next few weeks Willow, Casey’s mother, starts teaching her how to be more autonomous, she wanted to teach her how to take care of a house and a family. For this Willow started to ask her to fix dinner and wash the clothes and go for groceries. This to make her rebel child a properly educated woman. Casey did all of these things because she didn’t want to get in a fight with her mother, especially because she had not told Willow about the scholarship to play soccer. This scared Casey because she wanted to go to study at Harvard and she was terrified of the possibility that her mother wouldn’t let her go because of the soccer.

During this period, Casey has found out that following these things made her relationship with mother a lot more fun and calm. But that didn’t last for long, because one evening, as Casey got home from soccer practice, her mother told her 276

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that she had arranged a date for Casey with the son of a family friend and that she needed to get ready for the date. Casey was not happy with the news and started yelling at her mother, therefore her mother started yelling at her as well. This opened a discussion between the two of them.

“Mom, you can not do this. Stop trying to control my life!”

“Darling, he is a nice guy you’ll like him” “I don’t want to go out with him” “Casey, you are going out with him no matter what. We have already arranged the date, you can’t decline it” “Are you crazy, why would a mother ever do that? You should let me do my thing, however, I want them to be” “I want you to start thinking about this. You know, I married your father when I was 22, and I dated him for 6 years.”

“Mom I am not you, okay? I don’t want my life to be like yours.” Casey said angrily and she broke the emerald necklace she had always had on. This made Willow extremely mad and broke Casey’s favorite ball. She ran to her bedroom, crying because of all the anger she had inside.

Casey was getting ready because she felt she had no other option, but as she was overthinking the situation she escaped her house and went for a walk. As she’s walking she spotted a home remedies store and decided to go in. While looking through the things she realized she could buy a remedy to make her mom calmer. She genuinely believed this was a good idea, and therefore asked the man at the cashier for something that calmed people. The man suggested that she could use a little of cannabis oil. Casey decided to buy it but put it on a simple muffin she bought on her way to her house so that the mother will not suspect anything wrong. She knew her mother didn’t like very sweet thing so that was the reason why she bought the muffin even though she had never tried it.

She didn’t even ask what was on it.

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Finally, she reached back home and the boy was not there yet, neither was her father nor her brother. That is when she called her mom to give her the cake. Casey told Willow that she was very sorry for the fight and that she had bought her a muffin as a symbol of peace and forgiveness. Mother very thankful for accepting that she was rude, decided to eat the muffin right away. Willow noticed a weird smell and taste to the muffin due to the oil. Before being able to tell Casey about what she noticed she started to feel her lips and tongue swelling. That is when Willow asked “Honey, does the muffin have any tree nut” and Casey responded very calmly “I don’t know” then the mother said “Casey, I’m deadly allergic to the tree nuts! How come you don’t know.” Casey started to get very worried as her mother started to have trouble breathing. Willow tried to scream but she was not able to. Casey repeatedly told her that she is sorry and told her all the truth, that she decided to give her this muffin to tranquilize her. The mother makes her a weird face but soon forgets it because she could not breathe properly. Casey helped her get to the car as fast as she could and went running to the hospital.

They got there very fast and both of them entered the hospital. Casey screamed for help and luckily a nurse got her to intensive care. Casey was very worried about the fact that her mother might die. As the doctors were trying to stop the allergy Casey talked to mom and this situation mended the bonds that they had broken. Even though their relationship was better, Willow was not getting better and still was having trouble breathing. That is when Casey decided to go back home and found the emerald necklace that she had broken before so she could pray. She got home and took the necklace as fast as she could and prayed on her way back to the hospital. Even though the hospital was about five minutes from the

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house, she had time to call her dad and brother to tell them that the mother was in the house.

The father and brother got to the hospital and they all hugged Willow, waiting to hear the news of her health. Soon the doctor came near them and said “Hello, I’m Dr. Holland.

Your mother is all okay and healthy. we managed to relieve her from the allergy. She is perfect now.” They all cried of happiness and soon entered the room her mom was in.

Father said “Honey I was so worried when I heard you were here” and brother added “Thank God you are okay” “Mom I’m sorry about everything,” Casey said “Its okay baby” mother responded “There is something I haven’t told you and it means a lot to me,” Casey told her family. “I got a scholarship at Harvard University for playing soccer. Mom, I know you don’t like it but it means the world to me” “Honey, that is amazing. I am really proud of you. I know I wasn’t supportive of you playing soccer but now I understand how much it means to you. I want you to do things you love. I really want you to live your life however you’ll like it. I just want you to be safe. I love you with all my heart.” Willow told Casey.

Casey responded “Thank you, mom. I love you too” Father and Brother congratulated Casey for such a big achievement and after some hours they all went to the house. when Casey got home she understood and realized that she loved her mother more than anything and that she would always need her in all aspects of her life.

Months past and Casey is at the soccer practice of her elite soccer team of Harvard University. Willow watched her practice from the sideline, very proud of her daughter’s achievement. Mother showed Casey that she was proud of her by going all the way to Boston to see her play in such an amazing 279

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team. Willow saw her and deduced that she should not tell her daughter what to do with her life and that was beautiful seeing her daughter making her own decisions and be happy with her own decisions and different passions even though they were not the same as hers.

YOUNG SURVIVAL

Written By Santiago Losada Delgado 281

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I

t is very tough to think that in such a short time, I’m almost alone. Everyone I have loved in life has gotten sick and died and no one knows what’s going to happen. Now I have nothing left to do besides sitting here on this rooftop in the middle of this concrete jungle, writing about what I have had to see during the last few weeks. But before I start telling you about this mess, there are a few things you need to know about the life I used to have before this horrible pandemic spread around.

My name is Darrell Jones and I used to live a normal life for a young man, next to my parents and my little sister. At some point, I felt that my life got complicated when I started dealing with constant bullying from my classmates who didn’t leave me alone. But then there was a moment when I felt that I had enough, so I decided to make myself respected no matter what, I promised myself that I was going to kick some butts until I finally made myself respected and I finally got it. I thought things were much better again until my father’s tragedy came. He used to be a very well-known scientist and suddenly he never came back home. He disappeared and there was never a clue or an answer. The authorities have said that they have done the best they could but it all seemed so confusing. And to make things worse the news got crazy when they started reporting that people were getting a very strange virus called HV-69 that killed them in a few hours. Initially, I imagined that those were international news and I saw it very far from me, but then the first case happened in my country and then in my city and the rest is history.

Now the streets I always walked, Now look like the ones of a ghost town in a movie of zombies and people don’t know what to do or when they are going to get infected and die. This is exactly what happened to my mother. In the beginning, I thought she was sick because of the depression she felt after 282

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my father disappeared but then I saw that she had symptoms that made her look very bad. Before she left home and went to a hospital because she knew she was going to die and she didn’t want to infect us, she wrote a letter where she made me promise two things: first, I had to try to find out what happened to my father. Second, I had to take care of my little sister. And during the last days, that’s all I have been trying to do. But right now I feel tired and sad and lonely and I don’t know how long I am going to be able to continue.

2 weeks ago Everything I used to know changed and I feel like I went from living a normal life to struggling to survive. This HV-69 virus took the best of people and dried them out, one by one.

There’s no one I know who hasn’t had a victim in their family or close circle. The news was going crazy and people didn’t watch anything entertaining anymore. It’s all about the new number of infected patients and their deaths. Stores and supermarkets have run out of supplies and every city in the world looked lonely. In the beginning, I thought this disease would be something temporary and soon people would be talking about the next election for president or the new reality show, but I was so wrong. You can’t imagine how much I would have liked to have my father next to me, guiding me and telling me what would be the best thing to do, though I had to be strong and face the fact that he was gone and dead like everyone else.

But what I never expected was that I would also lose some of the most important people I had left. Almost the same week, a few days after I lost my mother, my girlfriend also got infected and there was nothing I could do to help her. I lost both of them and the only thing I asked God was to help me keep my word with my mom; “find out what happened to my dad and keep my little sister next to me, no matter what.” Before my girlfriend was infected we had plans to get married and 283

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we rented an apartment in secret. A few moments after she passed, I remembered this apartment, It was a small place but I felt that was the perfect place to hide because nobody knew about it, so I took my little sister there.

1 Week ago Things got harder because it was scary to go out. When people started running out of supplies they started robbing all the stores and supermarkets and they got very violent. Many times I had to leave my little sister alone and go to look for something to eat but when people saw another person they thought that they were going to get infected or they wanted to take away other people’s bags with supplies so they attacked everyone else. I was never violent but now I had to do anything to survive.

Going out during the day was dangerous but less scary than at night because at night it was hard to see who was following you. Although; I didn’t think anything could happen to me so I went out one night after my little sister fell asleep but I regretted it utterly because after I came back I realized that someone had followed me and they were trying to open my door. So I woke up my sis and we had to escape through the balcony, entering the next apartment that was empty and then went running down the stairs and hid in the dark and empty streets. I was scared but my little sister was tired and crying. So I took all my forces and carried her all the way.

I remembered my parents had a small country house that was twenty minutes away from town, so I decided to try to go there. I took an abandoned car and drove fast over there.

After I arrived and checked that we were safe we fell asleep.

But I knew I had to be alert so I stood up and started walking around the house. There was a beautiful picture of my family together and it made me very sad to see it. I decided I wanted to keep it as a souvenir and took it out of the picture frame, 284

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but when I was going to keep it I saw that it had a note on the back. It had my father’s handwriting and it was directed to me because sometimes he used to call me D. This is what it said: “D, not long ago I was researching about the cure for a virus and I tried an injection on you. Some people didn’t want me to continue my investigation so they threatened me to stop. I am very scared.

Please check my files at the lab.” | Love, Dad A few days ago After I read that note I knew I had to go to the lab where my dad worked. That was not just the place where he worked. He helped build it with a group of scientists that were his friends so that place became like the most important project in his life.

There he carried most of the investigations that made him one of the most popular scientists in the country and the world too. I remember that my father told me all the time since I was a little boy that I had to be a very good student because he wanted me to be a scientist and take over his place in the lab.

I didn’t know what it was like to be a scientist but I remember that I loved it when my father took me there. I loved to observe things on the microscopes and I had a lot of fun playing there.

I even had access to many of the rooms because I knew my father’s passwords. I never imagined that many years later they were going to be useful. I just hoped that they hadn’t changed them or locked the doors.

I knew it was dangerous to go there with my sister but I couldn’t take the risk of leaving her alone either, so I decided to take her and leave her waiting for me in the car behind the lab’s building, but I didn’t explain her anything about the reasons why we were going there. I thought that the lab was going to be empty but what I found was very different. Many cars were entering and coming out and didn’t know exactly what was going on there but I thought that was very strange.

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I had to climb a wall and enter through the back. I looked for a vest and wore glasses and a mask so they didn’t see my face.

Fortunately, the passwords that I knew worked and I had access to all the doors but it was hard to open my dad’s office. I had to try many different combinations until it finally opened with the date of my parent’s marriage: 12272002.

I couldn’t believe what I saw when the door finally opened.

As soon as I entered everything was dark and couldn’t find the light switch. When I finally turned them on I saw everything was a mess. There were many papers and folders on the floor and all the drawers were open. Even the safe was open. All this seemed very strange to me. It was like someone else apart from my father had been there. Then I heard a beep so I pressed a button on the answering machine. The message was there since last weekend. At first, I couldn’t understand it because it was very low, but after I put my head closer I realized it was my father’s voice. He sounded like he was sick or hurt and especially scared. The message said the same two times. It was a name I haven’t been able to take out of my mind since I heard it; “Matt Kling. Dr. Matt Kling.” It was a name I was very familiar with because I knew this person very well. Dr. Kling was one of my father’s best friends and he was also one of the scientists who helped him start the lab.

So, this probably meant that my father was alive because the message was recent and he had disappeared almost a month ago. My heart was beating very fast and I got very scared. I felt that I had to get out of there immediately and I just couldn’t think of anything else. All I wanted to do was run out of that place. Then I remembered that my little sister was alone outside and I was desperate. I came out and started running and taking off the lab clothes I had on but when I turned the corner I saw three men getting on the car and my

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little sister screaming. One of them was forcing my father to get in the car and the other man was…Dr. Kling.

Now I am sitting here on this rooftop, thinking about what happened and I don’t know what to do. A part of me is relieved because my father is not dead but now I lost him and my little sister and I have no idea where they took him. But there is one thing I am almost sure of. Dr. Kling wants my father out of his way because he has always been very ambitious and he wants to get the credit of my father’s investigations and save the world. I think my father discovered the antibiotic to kill the virus and that is why I have not been infected. I think I must be immune but I have to take advantage of this and do something to get my dad and my sister back. But I know that they are in danger and now that I know such a terrible secret I must be in danger too. Now, if you ever read this is because you found this journal. But It might be too late. There is only one thing I want you to tell the world. Dr. Kling is responsible for whatever happened to my dad, my sister, me, and the rest of the world who died by the virus that he didn’t want to prevent. Please make sure he is going to pay for what he did to us. And maybe what he did to you and your family, as well.

THE WAR BETWEEN THE MIND Written By Mariana Losada Maglioni 288

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xcitement ran through my veins at 100mph. I have dreamed about this moment for my whole life. The day I finally graduate had arrived. The night before I couldn’t get any sleep, I was so nervous I can’t describe it. When I opened my eyes, the sun was as bright as a ball of fire; and out of a clear blue sky, the day looked as if it was going to be the best day of my life. I can say that my mother was more excited than I was. She was incredibly proud of having a daughter graduating from medical school, and she knew how hard I studied, the nights I stayed up, the sacrifices I made, she was there with me through the six long years which felt more like a century.

It was as if we were both graduating. Arriving at the university had me sweating, seeing all my colleagues, the ones I had to share my accomplishments and struggled with throughout all these years had me so emotional. I did not want to ruin my makeup by crying, so I tried to hold my tears, and also because I was honored to make the graduation speech, I needed to keep myself together to avoid all the nervousness, so I did.

I was surprised to have been selected by the medical staff committee to share my university experience with the rest of the graduates. Being chosen above all the men who were always competing with me and believed they were better just because I was a woman. I made sure to mention it in my speech how gender equality was so important in every aspect of life, and I clarified how men and women need to come together and work as a team, because, in our field, we have to help others, not to compete. I was so proud to represent my classmates and letting them know that I respected every one of them and hoped all of their dreams could come true. The pictures and the diploma were solid proof that I can do everything I truly work for, that I can achieve my goals with effort and dedication.

People usually study because they want to become 289

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professionals that can work at a decent place, to have a regular job, earn an average salary so that they can live a normal life.

I have never been a person that conforms with the average, and I always wanted more. I am ambitious, and that explains why I put so much effort into everything I do, I want to be the best, always. I must confess that I hate losing, I still want to be right, and I genuinely detest when people correct me. So when I decided to study medicine, the thing that was most on my mind was about how much money I would have, the recognition and respect I would get, the knowledge I would acquire.

So when that moment arrived, I thought I would be relieved and happy, but little did I know that I would devote myself to work and take everything to an extreme.

My mother has always been the most significant role model in my life, and I would always go to her if I needed a piece of advice, she always says “Ella Hill, you were born to change the world, don’t get distracted by the rocks in your path trying to make it harder to climb the mountain.” Although we had a healthy relationship, My mother and I are incredibly different; we shared different opinions towards anything, so you can imagine how living with her in my adult life was. Our disagreements were mainly about how I just couldn’t agree with her way of thinking, even though I’d always follow her advice and listen to her.

My father, on the other hand, is a remarkably calm person, that just agrees and supports my thoughts and decisions.

I believe I turned out to be the exact middle point between them. Nevertheless, what I didn’t get from either of them was social skills. I am not a very social person, and I find it hard to relate to people. Starting at the bottom of the chain in the medical field was a challenge. From an early age, when I was only seven years old, I had a vivid image of myself growing up and helping people. Becoming a doctor, and through high 290

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school, being able to attend internships at hospitals, entering surgeries, and having the best grades at my career in the university. I thought that I knew what I needed to achieve a healthy social life while helping others.

Belatedly after, I received the job letter informing me that I had been chosen above 1,000 applicants, to be a general surgeon on the Shaio Clinic. This unexpected news made my heart stop for a second.

When I’m nervous, I tend to talk to myself because I don’t like to be seen as weak or soft, and that’s just a mentality I grew up with. My father used to say that because I was a pretty girl, brunette, tall and slim, with hazel eyes that conquer everyone, I would get everything I wanted. But as I got older, I wanted him to see that I could get everything I wanted through effort and dedication, and not just because I was just a pretty girl. It has always been a goal of mine to fight sexism.

On the first day of work, I had this idea of how amazing my day was going to be. I was convinced to be a remarkable doctor and that they were delighted to have me on board, but it turned out that I was just another inexperienced graduate.

Soon after my arrival, I met the general surgeon that was going to be in charge of me; in other words, my boss, a male boss. I knew he would see me as inferior and weak for being a woman, and also because I was like a child learning how to walk. Notwithstanding; I was eager to learn, I wanted to spend more time in the operating room, assisting my boss, asking questions, waiting for the right opportunity to jump in and perform a surgery myself.

Days went by; I got used to the routine; it was my first real job. I was earning money, but at the same time, It just didn’t fit my expectations of being a doctor. There were days I thought about how I had studied all those years, with all the

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dedication and effort just to only work as an assistant, holding instruments and observing operations. I needed more.

It went on like this for a couple of months, where I was only allowed to watch and help, until one day, my boss called me to his office. His name was Derek Fallon, also known as Dr. Fallon.

“Dr.Hill, do you feel ready to be left alone in an O.R?” Dr. Fallon asked.

I stood there, practically in shock, thinking if this could be a joke or something, and he added.

“Do I take that as a No?” He asked decisively.

I rapidly reacted, my brain was screaming to me to say yes, and accept the opportunity I was waiting for since I had arrived at the clinic, but my mouth couldn’t spell the words.

Dr. Fallon proceeded and say; “Ella, I have been watching you, you have a real talent, you love your career, and you want to help people, my question is, why haven’t you screamed an enthusiastic yes!”

I calmed down and answered him; “Dr.Fallon, it would be an honor, thank you for your faith in me. Can I please have the medical history of the patient I would be performing surgery on.”

Dr. Fallon smirked, and I didn’t know what to say, I was confused, and I couldn’t read his sudden facial expression.

Then he carried on and continued saying “I am always as busy as a bee, but you need to be twice as busy as me, and I’m not saying this to make you feel bad in any way, but women need to work a lot harder than men, and that’s a fact.”

From that moment on, I decided that work was going to be my only focus. I burned the candle both ways, and I barely slept most nights, I preferred to study and take shifts at the clinic instead of spending time with my family and friends.

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to distract me from work, they knew how it would affect me later, but at that time I thought they were just annoying and did not listen to them at all. Work became my only friend. I was a caffeine dependant. In my lunch breaks, I slept a bit, because sometimes I couldn’t keep my eyes open during the consultation. I was one hundred percent devoted to my profession, and this was going to cost me later.

Months went by, committed to my responsibilities at the clinic. Besides, Dr. Fallon wasn’t around me a lot. He placed all the operating decisions in my hands. He would say; “you have spread your wings already; don’t be afraid to fly.

After a while, I became more appreciative of him, for his confidence and trust he had shown from the beginning.

Thanks to him, I became the first female cardiac surgeons to perform open-heart surgery in a 5-year-old kid, with an artificial valve I developed.

Even though today I see success differently, This is still one of the most significant accomplishments I endured in my professional career.

As a sequel to that specific moment, all the efforts and sacrifices started to pay off. The admiration I felt from my peers, the respect, and supports other doctors showed me was everything I ever dreamed of, or at least that’s what I thought I wanted at the time. Everything changed from that moment, My family was incredibly proud and so happy for me, but they were also concerned about my mental and physical health.

Because when you are a doctor, you are so busy healing others, and all of a sudden, you forget about yourself.

My family explained to me how I couldn’t keep up with this rhythm. My mother said that “I was young to be that deteriorated, tired, and married to my job.” They were so worried about how my eyes that once irradiated light were now tired

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eyes, with dark circles formed under my eyes caused by extreme fatigue.

My mother was sorrowful because I am her only daughter, and she needed my attention, but it was like I was trying to distance myself from her. My mother kept telling me how my hair was falling out, how she could see my bones because of how skinny I was, she was so worried about me as if I was a 15-year-old girl.

She also mentioned that I needed to get myself a boyfriend, someone who would distract me from my reality and be there for me. At first, I wasn’t paying that much attention to it because that is what my mother usually says. But Something that I fetched out from the whole intervention was, that; “I was lonely.”

I hadn’t had a boyfriend since high school because I saw men as a distraction that would keep me away from achieving my goals. As an adult now, I realized that I needed somebody to share my life experiences with. Then all of a sudden, I decided to slow down my intensity at work and to spend more time with my family and friends.

I took cases that didn’t require a lot of time, I stopped placing my career, and the thirst for success as a primordial thing and I decided to devote all my free time to my friends and family. My life changed utterly. I felt relieved, happy, and stress-free.

Never had I imagined that a man like Liam was the missing piece in my puzzle. I met him one evening at the clinic. He was a social worker that has traveled around the entire world—a kind human devoted to helping others. Even though we came from two different worlds, we both shared so many things in common.

Here’s when I say that everything happens for a reason.

Liam appeared in my life at the exact moment I needed him 294

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the most, and it was love at first sight. And just like that, we fell in love. But Sadly, Liam was only at the clinic for a short period working on a case, and he had to go back to Africa.

Still, he seemed very happy doing what he loved and helping as many lives as he could. He described this to me as something magical, something that filled my heart with love and compassion. And that is what; “I wanted that, I needed that.”

I told myself.

Days went by, and Our love was too good to last longer.

Suddenly the day arrived for Liam to depart to Africa, I was so happy for the time we spent together, but at the same time, I knew how miserable I was going to be without him. He made me a better person, and I wanted to be a better person. Nothing was holding me back here, I wanted to do something new, so I decided to go with him to Africa. I didn’t know if this was the right choice or if my career was ending, I didn’t have a plan b.

This was so unlike me, but I wanted to follow my heart liked.

I only knew that having Liam by my side was the only peace and security I needed. So I jumped on the plane to Africa.

A few days later, thereafter, Africa turned out to be the best decision I could have ever made. The amazingness of that continent, the magnificence of the people were outstanding.

I loved everything that had to do with the culture, the landscape, the animals. And what I loved, even more, was that as a health professional, I was able to work with Liam and do what we both loved while helping others. But it was too much work because; the health conditions over there were critical.

Children died every day because of the lack of public health.

I was so happy to have studied medicine and able to contribute my knowledge to the medical facilities with nothing in return. I later figured out that I never wanted the fame and the money, but I have always wanted to know that my hands could heal others.

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Balance is necessary for every aspect of life. You cannot take everything for granted, and that’s something I had to learn the hard way. It’s gratifying saying how my life story went until now. It took a lot of spins, but in the end, I was able to understand how I didn’t need much to be happy. Nowadays, I feel proud of every decision I made, the goods and the bads, but primarily I am proud of the person I have become and know for sure that I was born to help others.

LOVE IS THE MOST DANGEROUS WEAPON

Written by Valeria Luna Cantillo 297

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F

rightened, I just waited for the cops. I didn’t regret it at that moment, consequences chased me after, and finally, I suffered. My heart almost stopped, I couldn’t breathe and I felt like drowning, everything froze and my worst nightmare turned into reality. Cops didn’t scare me, I was my self-demon, my self-boundaries vanished and I barely recognized myself. I knew what was waiting for me. I knew that love is always an excuse for hurting people. My destiny is unwritten but is quite predictable, my life has become a nightmare, the orange suit has become a part of my life and the metal bars are the only view I have every day. Living in jail is tough but I am the only responsible for my actions. Just one word, one act, one moment, one thought changed the path of my life and brought me to this hideous monster.

Time seems to stay still, minutes are like hours and seconds became eternity, and the only thing my head seems to be able to play over and over is our first encounter, the day I learned about love. Time flies like in the blink of an eye, one minute we were introducing ourselves, the next I was getting a pregnancy test, and now he no longer amounts from the living. The second I saw him, standing there, so still but at the same time so relaxed, when he blinked at me, that little smile he gave me while sun rays lighted his face, in that second something inside me changed, my heart started to beat differently, and life changed of color. I’m unable to explain the true meaning of love, but I can assure you that I loved him till the point it made me sick, or crazy, or both.

The clock tickled, It was 6 pm, the sky was bloody red, with a glint of orange and stains of pink. Belatedly after; the clock tickled again at 7 pm, the stars were starting to rise along with the moonlight, and silence fulfilled the room, and finally the clock tickled at 8 pm and it was fully dark. He was supposed to arrive at this restaurant before the sunset, but he 298

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was late, he was always late. On the night of our anniversary, he didn’t show up on time, as usual. He was always like that, he entrapped me with his smile to forgive him but this night was different. I was not going to wait for him anymore, I’m not anyone’s puppet to play around with, I was not going to forgive him again, the clown make up he drew on my face finally fade, his charm didn’t work on me anymore, maybe I was wiser, maybe I was just mad and the anger will pass, but surely I was done. Our relationship was useless due to the lack of time and interest, he had for us.

Many thoughts flooded through my head at that moment.

A breakup, fight, tears, anger, knives, and, murder. I couldn’t control myself, my senses were useless and untrustworthy. Even though there was a deafening silence, many voices reached out to me, or maybe it was the echo of my thoughts planning regretful ideas. I was unable to understand what was happening, my mind was playing games, but I wasn’t a player. Things didn’t make sense, one minute my late father arrived with my childhood’s favorite chocolate as he used to, and the next thing I know I was standing in front of the mirror, and instead of my reflection, I saw my sister who lived thousands of miles away, until finally, my husband arrived. Everything was a fairytale, I ran as fast as I could to hold him, kiss him, hug him and tell him I loved him, but when I was missing just a few steps he vanished, he wasn’t there and my anger was imminent.

It was the first time in my life I felt that way, the first time I didn’t want to see him, and the very first time murder was an option. I didn’t pay attention to the voice in my head who was warning me. I just let the anger control my body and prepare myself for letting it all out before his arrival. Being late was not a reason for killing the love of my life, my husband. There was not a valid excuse for doing such a crime. Thus, I wasn’t able to think about it at that moment.

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One hundred and twenty minutes later I decided to get out of the restaurant and head back home. The cold, dark, and lonely street looked like a perfect crime scene and that indeed scared me, but at the same time amazed me. Before I entered the house I saw his car parked in the backyard. “He had been at home all this time” I murmured with anger, the walk back home took so long, I had had plenty of time to plan everything, I thought about; “What if I strangle him? , or maybe stab him in his heart, the minute I saw him? or maybe; I should wait when he fell asleep and move his body into the woods where nobody will ever find him? or should I just do it in the kitchen?”

Every scenario seemed like a good option for me. and finally; I concluded that stabbing a knife across his chest would be easy and then I would bury the body in the woods, then let my son know that his father had abandoned him because he found a new family, it was a perfect plan to turn my son against him and for him not to ever ask why. then after this, we would both move to Berlin. The plan sounded plausible. I entered the house and went to the attic, he was there.

Frightened, I just waited for the cops. I could barely see myself in the mirror full of blood and fear, my hands were shaking and I couldn’t breathe. My plans changed at the moment when I saw the dead body of my husband. However, I blamed myself for everything and that’s why I am here today.

I am guilty and nobody can change that. When I entered the house my heart stopped beating and I paralyzed, I was in shock and didn’t have time to think about what to do with his body, seeing him there, laying down so peacefully but covered in blood gave me goosebumps, my face turned red of anger, then purple because I couldn’t even breathe, the green of disgust and finally with the undeniable shock I was in, and I stood there, appreciating the beauty of the scene, it 300

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was well-premeditated no one could tell who did it, so I just stared, at him, at the blood, and my reflection. When I heard the siren I knew time was limited and I wasn’t going to clean my name so easy if I stayed there, there was nothing I could do. At that moment I decided to accept guiltiness, what else could I say, It was too late.

I didn’t kill the love of my life. When I entered the home he was already dead, he was laid down as if he was asleep, the difference was all the blood spread throughout the room, the smell that advised dead, and the coldness in his hands. The saddest part, Is that his car had been there from 4 pm and I arrived home at 5 pm. Destiny has a funny way to play with people, I waited for him in the restaurant while he waited for me at home, he died thinking I stood him up, while I was planning his murder because I felt stood up. But even worst, meanwhile, I was planning the murder of my husband someone else was one step ahead of me.

I don’t know who killed him, I just know now that he left my heart is an empty shell, I finally realized that I built a tsunami in a glass of water and what is left is a huge sea, that’s why nobody ever believed my innocence because the police found me with a knife used to kill my husband, I had taken off his chest, trying to stop the bleeding. His death was my fault, I wasn’t there for him and he needed me, maybe if I knew better I could have remembered that we were meant to meet at home at 04:00 pm and not at the restaurant.

I blamed myself for his death and took the guilty plea, I thought; maybe; “It was destined to happen like that, maybe it was a horrible faith written through the stars that nobody could have changed, written with indelible blood even before we were born, even before we met and fell in love?”

Whichever reason if it is that way there was nothing I could do. Nevertheless, I never got over the fact that; the real guilty 301

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murder of my late husband was still out there, enjoying his life while I am serving life in this maximum-security prison.

Time has passed, months or years maybe, I lost the counts of how long I have been living in this tiny cell where you can’t tell if it is a day or night. it is hard not to face your reality when all you have is your past time and thoughts. Even though time has passed it feels like it was yesterday, I have vivid dreams where I can’t tell if it’s real or not, every night I wake up at midnight screaming, crying, and terrified because every night I relive once again my worst nightmare.

Mondays are usually visiting days, but no one had ever visited, I thought I was dead for the rest of the world, but this particular Monday, the guard told me that I had a visitor, I exited the cell as I head towards the visiting room for the first time, the guard removed the handcuffs and instructed me the rules and guiles of visiting, some of them were; No physical contact.

No food.

Do not receive nor exchange any items, etc...

I was excited and yet nervous about who could have visited a wife that killed her husband in a cold blood after I was allowed to sit down, I looked across the door and noticed my son walking towards me, he had gotten bigger and to my surprise, his face reminded me so much of his late father, their resemblance had me in shock and I wanted to hug him so tight but I wasn’t allowed to engage in physical contact, Then I noticed that there was something different with him, the light he used to have in his eyes was lost, there isn’t even a little bit left behind, the smile he used to wear in his face was faded, and his presence was ambiguous, he used to fill the room with light and now the room was filled with darkness, I knew something was different, a mother can always tell.

There was an ominous silence in the room, no one talked, 302

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we just stared at each other, mainly because there were so many things I wanted to tell him that I didn’t even know where I should have started, I tried to ignore that painful foreboding I had, I knew he wasn’t here because he wanted to see me, he hated me, I killed his father, how he could not. I was about to start talking when he broke into tears, he was suffocating and unable to talk, the only thing he was able to pronounce was sorry, he begged for forgiveness when I should have been the one asking for mercy, so I said; “Please; don’t be sorry, there’s nothing I have to forgive you for.”

Some minutes later, when he was a little bit calmer my son replied.

“Yes I do, this is all my fault mom, I ruined your life, our life.”

“It’s not your fault, I’m here because of me, I’m paying the wrong I’ve done for taking your father away from you, and I must face the consequence.”

“Stop lying, you didn’t kill him and you know that very well” he shouted at me.

“I’m not lying sweetie, it’s time for you to embrace the truth.”

“Stop it. I killed him, and I surely don’t regret killing my father, the only thing I regret is ruining your life.”

My world froze for a minute, those words entered like a knife directly to my chest, and I couldn’t breathe, my heart ached and everything went black, my mind disconnected from reality and I refused to accept what my son said.

“I killed him, there’s no doubt I killed him, I just did it, and everyone knows it.” He added. and the asked; “Mom?” “Uh?” I responded while in shock and trying to process this information.

“Are you okay?” He asked again.

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“Don’t you ever dare repeat those words, I did it, I killed him, you did not” This time I was shouting too.

The guards told us to keep the voice down or the meeting would be over. and he lowered his voice and say; “Mom I need you to listen, please, I’m sorry, but I can’t keep it as a secret anymore, please read this to understand what happened the evening of February the 14th.”

While I was still in shock, He handed me a folded paper under the table surreptitiously, that he had inside his pocket, it was crumbled and dirty, as if he had written it a long time ago but didn’t have the guts to deliver. When he passed it to me he grabbed my hand so tight and kiss it, then he exited the visiting room immediately. The guards accompanied me back to my cell where I opened the letter and noticed that it was old, nevertheless, it had two different inks, the first one was faded and kind of erased, and the second one that was at the end of the letter was still fresh, and still wet as if it had been written just a couple of minutes ago.

I started to read the letter; Sunday 26 of May 2019 Dear mom, I don’t know exactly how or where to start, I’m not even sure I’ll ever deliver this, but what you told me once was true, secrets do kill you, they murder you slowly and love to watch you suffer. I’ve been in pain, everything aches and I’m unable to forgive myself for putting you through this.

There isn’t an accurate reason, nor an acceptable excuse for what I did, I was just done, I was tired, I couldn’t watch him and pretend I loved him anymore. I was tired of the screams, I wanted to shut him off, I couldn’t resist more hits, my whole body was covered with bruises, I became a universe full of colors that shouldn’t be there, but most of all I was tired of the constant reminder that none of you ever wanted me, that I ruined your lives, that I’m just a horrible mistake.

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His words “I don’t love you, I wish you were never born, undoubtedly you are my worst mistake” became a constant melody That I wished I’d never heard, even now, a year and a half later he still haunts me, his words are still like a nailed dagger in an open wound that still bleeds.

For me it was a normal day, I didn’t even know it was your anniversary, I arrived home after school and he was waiting, his welcome home was a hot metal in my arm, from which I still have a scar, and I exploded, next thing I know I was over him, stabbing him multiples times, I couldn’t stop, it was like someone was taking control and even though I tried I couldn’t regain it. If I’m being sincere it wasn’t fully me, yes it was my hands that grabbed the knife and killed him, but I didn’t decide, I wasn’t in my five senses, anger issues are everyone’s worst enemy, are everyone’s devil, and the devil ruined our family. After that I just ran and hid, I was in shock and lost my ability to speak, next thing I know you were in jail after accepting the guilt, and I didn’t have the guts to see you in the eyes and accept what I did nor lie in your face, so I decided to back off.

I’m sorry but I can’t stand it anymore, By the time you finish this letter, I will be gone forever, murder has to be paid with murder, and it’s time for me to die, I love you and always will, I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.

With love, your son.

A few minutes later while processing this information, the guard knocked in my cell to inform that the warden wanted to speak with me, as I was accompanied to his office, the fear took over me, and the warden informed that I had an urgent call when I picked up the phone, the only thing they said “Jason Hunter committed suicide, time of death: 14:21, we mourn the loss of your son Miss, Scarlett Shreya, we would like you to come and identify the corpse of the deceit to provide the death certificate, the transportation has been arranged for you outside” another part of me died at that moment.

THE SAVOIR

Written By Sofía Margarita Manotas Vélez 306

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y name is Love, and this is my story. I live in Texas in a small town call Amarillo with a population of 199,000 people, pretty small compared to other cities. I don’t have a family because when I was 14 years old my parents died from an accident since that moment it has just been all me, later on, I met my current boyfriend, Mark with whom we’ve been together for the past four years and living together for two. In the beginning, it was all magic. I felt complete and completely in Love, he was extraordinary and sweet, but too good to last.

The past year has been a nightmare, he didn’t care about me, nor supported any of my dreams, and fighting and arguing became our routine chores, and it was just too much for me, that I grew out of Love.

From an early age, I knew that I wanted to be an artist, I’ve always dreamed myself singing and dancing in high scenarios, but since my parents died when I was little and I was left alone, this dream became more like a childhood fantasy.

As I got older, I started working at a bar as a waitress. Later on, my work was much valued, and I received a promotion to be the manager of the bar, and that is where I’m today, Notwithstanding, I have been trying to figure out what I should do next. The other day I was at the bar doing a shift I covered from one of my employees, and there was this guy who seemed to be necessary, he was tall, pretty brown eyes and skin like the color of chocolate along with a black suit. He was in the bar since 5 pm. By that time, it was already 10 pm; he had been drinking for a while, then he invited me to the conversation. I later found out that he was a famous producer from Los Angeles who was looking for new talents, since that moment I just knew that was my opportunity to show him what I could do and finally leave Amarillo; and the spiteful memories.

Belatedly after, I found myself auditioning for him, 307

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singing, dancing like there was no tomorrow. By the end of my shift I had gained the complete attention of that man, he told me to leave Amarillo and to go back with him to Los Angeles, he added that he could make me famous that it was going to be easy, he told me a fairytale, and I believed it completely.

The next day I couldn’t eat, work or do anything. I was just blind by the idea that maybe it was time for me to go and live my dreams and risk it all; a lot of thoughts flooded my mind.

Even though my relationship was terrible, I had spent four years of my life with Mark. I thought at least if I was going to leave Amarillo, I needed to give him an explanation. Still, things didn’t go as planned, that night we got into an extreme fight, and we said very hurtful things to each other, so in my frustration that night when he fell asleep, I took everything I could and left to the airport.

A few hours later, I was enjoying the beautiful sunset of Los Angeles, California, and I couldn’t be happier and scared at the same time. I was shocked by this city; It is very overwhelming and also very huge. My first thought was to contact the producer I met at the bar, he had given me his business card, I tried to reach him on the phone, but he never answered so I decided to go to the address that appeared on the business card. When I got there, I saw a massive building with lots of lights and signs all around it, it looked terrific, but then I felt nervous about entering the building.

A few minutes later, I decided to walk in the building asking for the producer; lucky for me; I was received by his assistant who asked for my name, the purpose of my visit, and If I had an appointment. I was silent for a while then before I was going to respond to the question, the assistant added.

“Excuse me, miss; If you don’t have an appointment. Then I would like to ask you to leave please.”

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there. I was all by myself, also with a minimal amount of money and nowhere else to go.

“It was all a fantasy, I shouldn’t have left my town, and my job,” I told myself sadly.

I was alone in a city I didn’t know, so I just wandered around walking, and the next thing I know there was this lady that approached me, told me her name was Georgina and began to talk to me: “well, you seem sad and confused,” Georgina asked. “yes, ma’am, I am,” I responded. Belatedly after, I told her my story because she seemed like a nice person.

“What a terrible story, my dear! I’m sorry to hear about your situation, and maybe I can help you out. I’m the owner of a famous Burlesque called “The shine,” and perhaps you can show me what you can do and will see if you can work for me.

For starters you can live in a small room I have for rent in my apartment if you want.” Georgina responded with tearful eyes.

I was stunned by the offer, but fearful because I didn’t know this woman, but after some minutes of thoughts, it came to my mind that that’s the best I can do for now and that I needed to trust her because at least she was going to give me a place to live and perhaps a place to work. the I responded; “Thank you, Georgina, you are a lifesaver I swear I’m not trouble and I’m going to make it up to you.”

From that day on, everything began to escalate very fast; I did my audition to the Burlesque. It went perfectly fine, Georgina hired me, and I was happy that I was going to be working on something I like.

A couple of days went by; I was dancing and singing every night with beautiful dresses and outfits, but most importantly, I was surrounded by people who supported me, and who later became my family. Time went by, and there was this handsome guy called Mike who was the bartender of the Burlesque, 309

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he was there every night, and every night he waited for me to end my shows and walk me back home. We started to get close, even though he was cute and supportive, I was afraid of being hurt again. Nevertheless, Mike was very patient and caring. As the days went by, I decided to give it a shot.

A while later, I began to get a lot of attention from the spectators of the show, everybody that entered the Burlesque told the guy in the entrance that they were looking for me, hoping to see me in the show. I was living my best life, I was happy, in love and doing what I always wanted to do and getting a lot of attention for it, which meant I was doing something right.

That night there was a guy called Samuel in the audience.

Georgina came to me and told me he was one of the most notorious talent managers in the country and that I needed to impress him right away, that night I sang and danced until my feet and throat ache, I gave it all.

The next morning I received a call from his assistant who told me that he wanted to see me that day at 4 pm in his office, I couldn’t believe it, I was amazed by what was happening. I arrived at the building at 3:30 pm. I waited to be 4 pm to get to the floor where the meeting was; when I entered in the office, I was amazed by how nice and organized everything was, then Samuel arrived in, and we started talking, and he kindly explained everything that he had planned for me; If I was going to accept to work with him, but then He later told me something that left me very sad and hesitant, he said; “If you need to work with me, then you have to leave the Burlesque,” Samuel said.

At that moment, lot’s of thoughts flooded my mind because the people in the Burlesque had grown to be more than a family to me. They gave me a chance when I needed it the most; they made me who I am, Georgina is like a mother to me. I was bewildered and angry because I didn’t 310

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understand why I couldn’t do both things. then Samuel broke the silence and added; “Take some time and think about it. I will call you in the next few days for you to tell me your decision.”

When I arrived home, I decided to talk to Georgina and explain to her the situation, and see what advice she can give me.

“G, I’m worried, and I don’t know what to do because Samuel told me that if I wanted to work with him, I needed to stop working here, and with all honesty, I don’t want to do that. But also, I think having him as my manager could help grow my career nationwide, but I don’t want to upset you or to let you down.”

“Oh baby, that is not fair to you; I don’t understand why he would put you in such an awkward situation. But for me, you don’t have to worry, if you think that he can help you grow and become better, you Will have my blessings, the whole team at the Burlesque and I will always be by your side, do what you think is best.” Georgina responded.

After talking to her, I felt like something was not right, she wasn’t happy nor was she sad or angry, I didn’t understand why she would be okay with me leaving the Burlesque, I needed to know more, So I asked her again; “G, what’s wrong I know something is bothering you, I can tell, please tell me you know we are a family and you can tell me anything, what’s going on?” I asked furiously.

“My sweet girl, I can’t lie to you; there is something in the back of my mind. The other day I received a card from the bank telling me that there was a problem with my savings account and that it has been frozen for not paying back the loan on time, so as hard it is to say I’m bankrupt. I can’t sustain the Burlesque by myself, so I might as well sell it to someone who

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wants to continue with the business before the bank uses it as a collateral payment.”

“Oh my God; why didn’t you say anything earlier? I am so sorry to hear that! Oh, God! We can’t lose the Burlesque. It is your life and all your dreams. I’m not going to let this happen.

I don’t want to sound narcissistic, but I know that a lot of people come to see me at the shows and if I had to double up my shifts at the Burlesque, I’m going to do it, and that way, together we will try to raise more money to pay the debts that you owe the bank. You helped me when I most needed it the most, and now it’s my turn to help you.”

A few days later, Samuel called me and asked me if I already made up my mind, and I responded; “I had some time to think about it, and I want you to know that I appreciate your time and consideration you had in me, but I would have to decline the offer politely,” I said nervously.

It was a callous decision to make, but I chose to be loyal to the Burlesque family. When I told him that he sounded pretty upset and rude to me over the phone, he turned into a different person than the kind and respectful person I had met previously in his office. And he hung up the phone on me.

I was very cautious and confident by my decision, the Bursque meant everything to me, and I was determined to do everything in my power to save it from bankruptcy.

The next morning, I didn’t like the way things ended between Samuel and me over the phone, So I thought I owed him the truth as to why I declined his offer. I told him everything with more important details. Although he agreed that he was very disappointed and angry, he also added that he understood but that his doors of opportunity were closed from that on.

I was sad at first when I heard that, but It was the least of my worries at the moment; I just needed to sort out the 312

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situation at the Burlesque and make Georgina happy again.

That same day I went to the Burlesque and called the working staff in a meeting, and I explained the situation with full transparency, and we all agreed that everything had to be changed to overcome this financial crisis. The staff decided to help out to keep the business, and as a family, we were all committed to saving the Burlesque.

Months passed and everything went well, and we worked as hard as we could, we made lots of sacrifices. In the end, we raised enough money to pay back all the debts. Everyone was happy that the business was out of risk. Georgina was over the moon, dropping tears of joy and proud of every one of us. She had even started singing again and had initiated her segment in the Burlesque, which was about her singing and dancing, which made me very happy because she had lost the desire to perform a long time ago. But amid everything that happened, she was able to get it back.

As for me, everything went well; I’m currently performing in the big theater of the Burlesque. I became the star I have always dreamt of, I have a big family and friends that support and adore me, and I have the most incredible and caring boyfriend of all time, and that’s everything I ever wanted. And most importantly, I learned a life lesson; “If you are willing to accept and learn from your mistakes, you can always become a better person every day and be just like the phoenix who always comes back from the ashes to be better than ever.”

THE LEGACY OF A LEGEND Inspired By The Greatest Kobe Bryant, Rest In Peace

Written by Emanuel Martínez Bocanegra 314

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I

was there in the LA arena, James was shining on the court.

Tiamara, my thirteen-year-old daughter was sitting beside me, she was really happy being there because she loved and appreciated this wonderful sport. During this match, I was amazed by how James beat my scoring points record which reminded me of my last Lakers game. I remembered how good I played during that match and also the effort that I made on the court. I remembered, that in that game I scored sixty points, which is one of the biggest personal annotations in NBA history. I made twenty-two shots of two points and twelve shots of three points. When the match was over I remember that everybody at the arena was shouting my name in the back, others were even crying because I, like an eagle, was leaving the nest. Which game me an indescribable feeling in my body, I was so grateful for the love and support, and although It was very hard to leave something that had become a huge part of my life, I knew, I needed to be strong for my fans and family, I had learned and become everything I needed, and it was time to go. I was leaving the Lakers.

When James’ match was over; I went to talk to him, and I told him that I was proud of him and that I wanted him to keep my legacy. While we were talking, we both said that we were going to collaborate with Nike, because we wanted to do a special collection, which needed to have our name or a logo to inspire young kids. I remember when Nike contacted me to ask. If I wanted to have a contract with them to make my own clothing brand. Well, I told them that I wanted to, this day was one of my happiest ones because I started to remember many things, for example, when I was younger, I used to watch every match of Michael Jordan and during every match, I saw his shoes all the time, and my mom bought them for me and every time I wore them I would always say; “I feel like Jordan today!” I told myself confidently.

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JordanS were magic, it would give me all the confidence I NEEDED, I would feel like I got the world in my hands, Anything I would say; everybody would listen when I had them on. Also, I remembered that during my whole life I said that one day I would create my cloth brand as Jordan did. He was everything, an inspiration, a lighthouse in my journey, on a tiny boat in the choppy waters that were this life. He was my role model and always will be.

After the game, we made our way out of the arena heading back home and Tiamara told me “I am really hungry dad”, so I took her to Carpaneto, which is my favorite Italian restaurant in Los Angeles because it always reminded me about my childhood in Italy. When we were in the restaurant, I was telling my daughter that I was gonna love her forever and that I would always want the best for her. I said; “No matter the circumstances I am always going to protect you and take care of you and I will always fight to make sure that forever you’re gonna have everything.” She smiled, and said, “I know Dad”.

When we finished eating dinner, we made it back home, and there I saw my wife, Karina, who is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Ever since I laid my eyes on her, with her short, slim figure and caramel-colored skin, her beautiful rosy complexion on her heart-shaped face, her almond-shaped eyes, deep and black that looked like they held an entire universe in them. Her hair was black and silky and fell over her shoulder. It was love at first sight, and every time I saw her, I felt exactly the same way, as I felt when I saw her for the first time.

“Hey honey, how was your day,” I asked her smilingly, “Oh you know, love, it was long, but it’s better now that you’re home” She responded cheerfully.

We talked for a while and then I kissed her on the forehead 316

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and hugged her tight and told her that I was going to get our children in bed. After I said good night to my two beautiful children and put them to bed, I watched them fall asleep and it brought tears to my eyes. I wished that this moment would last forever.

After they fell asleep completely I left and went back to talk about my day with my wife, and I said; “I want to push my limits and make my daughter go further than she already was” I thought that I could achieve more than I was expecting with her on my side. My wife agreed with me, and that we had advanced so much and had so much going for us, that we could move forward and make a better future not only for our family but for everyone else who is passionate about basketball. Everything was so perfect, our relationship with each other, The way that we could work together to make something better out of each one of us, as well as the people that we loved and surrounded us, everything was amazing. That night I went to sleep thinking about how much I loved my family and the people around me.

My biggest plan for the next day was to support my daughter even further into achieving her dreams and making her future brighter one like my own had been when I was her age.

I slept peacefully, deeply, better than I had ever slept before, and it gave me the strength to wake up prepared and ready to make a new change that very day.

I woke that day, and despite having had gone to sleep so peacefully, I felt like something was off. I couldn’t quite place my finger on it. I woke up my daughter but not before kissing my wife on the forehead “Good morning, honey” she smiled and tapped my nose and said, “Good morning my love”, my daughter and I went to eat and we had a nutritious protein-filled breakfast of eggs, 317

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broccoli, and mango shake to get the game mode on for the day. We left quickly to get to the launch pad early enough. My daughter was dressed in her favorite workout clothes, ready for her game of the day, and we met with her friend accompanied by her parents, one of which was the coach of my daughter’s team. We were all ready to get onto the helicopter.

It was a new helicopter, it had my logo on it all over. It was strong, sleek. It reminded me of myself. I, in a way, was that helicopter. swift, powerful, full of life and ready to go for anything. I had bought it recently and met the pilot several times before buying it.

It usually 4 minutes from our house to the launchpad, and we would wait for the rest of the people to get there to start training. We all entered in the helicopter and made our way to the launchpad, the pilot told us to buckle our seatbelts and prepare for takeoff. The helicopter blades started rolling and soon the entire plane started buzzing, as it had so many times before. As soon as we got up into the air space, I had an uneasy feeling in my stomach, I don’t know why but I brushed it off quickly and turned a smile on my daughter lovingly. “Are you ready for today?” I asked tenderly.

“Sure am, daddy” I knew the answer, I knew this girl was constantly on her grind, and sometimes I looked up to her more than I looked up to anyone else. as we were in the air suddenly something felt wrong, we were descending very very slowly I noticed at first, And then the helicopter started whirling I Leaned towards the front and asked the pilot what was happening, he said that the helicopter had gone out of control and he was going to try to land on a nearby mountain. I instantly started to pray. I asked God to let us come out of this unharmed and hugged my daughter tightly, not letting her know what was happening.

It was only seconds later that the engine of the helicopter 318

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exploded causing the aircraft to Shudder massively. Soon we were engulfed in flames. I couldn’t think about anything except for my daughter for the next five minutes surrounded by flames and the screams of the people around us including my daughter I did everything I could to shield her from the flames and held her close to my body and I pray to God for the last time, after that incident everything went dark.

We had hit the mountain. I opened my eyes to see Myself and the spirit of my daughter next to me, we were looking down at the helicopter that had crashed into the mountain it was engulfed in flames. There are people around screaming filming shouting our names. It felt calm almost too calm to be watching our own deaths, I looked down at my daughter to see if she was OK. Then suddenly; I felt us getting lifted into the clouds and heard my daughter say tenderly, “Let’s go play somewhere else, dad”. I held her hand, and that we did.

THE ART OF LIVING Written By Sebastiรกn Medina Calle 320

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T

he fact that a man can live alone, eat alone, and work in a hostile environment is already pretty rough. However, some people are as cruel as a tyrant. With that in mind, meet Steven Crane, an antisocial accountant who works for the household company named Sony. Despite working at a prestigious company with a high salary and free time to do whatever he wants. He is not socially compatible.

Steve Crane is a twenty-five years old recent graduate from college, known as an aloof individual. He has long black hair and freckled skin. Although; he does not have facial hair around his cheeks. His eyes are as black as the winter nights, and his whole face had a very neutral expression, which makes him look sad and depressed. Steven is also a tall man, around six feet and two inches, and weighs approximately 68 kg, which makes him look skinny for a guy of his size. Crane graduated from Stanford University not so long ago. However, he has such an excellent position at his job because, since his first semester in college, he was a straight A’s student. He has always had a great ability to manipulate money and numbers in a way that a few people could. Because of that, his college professors recommended him to a well-known company at such a young age. Something interesting about him is that he always wears a neat suit, which is kind of ironic if compared to the big mess his life is. The daily routine is his only friend. His father abandoned him when he was halfway done with his studies and then went to live with his new wife, a woman who Crane happened to dislike, so they took separate ways ever since. They only see each other a couple of times a year, and his father is not a significant part of his life nowadays. Besides the fact that he has no family left because he never got to meet his mother, Crane has no friends either. He hates everyone in his office and always concentrates on the negative aspects of people before noticing 321

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the good things they might have. Crane is always complaining about everyone and does not like to talk to anyone or even be with anyone. Criticizing everyone and everything around him is how he made a name for himself, and that is why other people at work got to know him as a cold, insensitive, antisocial, and angry person. Despite all of the nicknames his peers have come up with, Crane never really cared for them, and their opinions have never been important to him. Everything he always committed himself to was doing his job as well as possible. Although; Crane was excellent at his career, he was the best at work. But he never really helped others to develop those abilities he had, and others lacked; he just never helped anyone but himself.

For all the reasons mentioned, Steven did not like the place where he worked. Nonetheless, he was working there because, in the middle of his complicated, messy, and hateful life, he had a goal, a dream, and motivation. As crazy as it may sound, Crane wanted to become the CEO of sony. That was his objective in life, and he was 100% determined to get it. Since a very young age, he had a clear path of what he wanted to do in life, and this was the ultimate achievement he wanted to get. His desire to be such a talented person came from his uncle. He used to tell him that having such a vital position represented being powerful, with a prestigious economic status as well as being able to make a social impact. These words from his uncle touched him very profoundly, not only because Crane found them as a way to be somebody, but also because he somebody to look up to for the first time in his life. And of course, to finally be a part of a great mechanism, which in this case, is an enterprise. Because of this, he settled his dreams at a very young age.

Crane has been working at his current job and position ever since he graduated and has never been removed or 322

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transferred because he is an outstanding employee. However, that would not be the case forever. One day he woke up, took a bath, put on some clothes, did his chores, and went to work.

When he arrived, something strange was happening, since his life had always been so dull and nothing out of the ordinary had ever happened to him, he was shocked when he arrived at the office. A colleague at his job told him that there was a business with a religious company that was going downhill in another part of the world, and they needed to transfer Crane, so he could go and help them deal with that situation and make the necessary arrangements to save the business.

Immediately after hearing this, Crane stormed into the boss’s quarters and asked him if it was true.

“Is it true what they say?” Crane said “What do they say, Crane?” Answered the boss “That you have transferred me?” Crane said in a demanding tone “I’m afraid it is true, this morning I received the call from one of our production centers in Germany, they said they had a problem quantifying the money of a deal we are still trying to finalize” The boss answered calmly “And what does all of this have to do with me?” Crane said being confused and upset at the same time “It is no secret you are one of the best accountants we have in this company; I’m sure you will be able to solve this mess in no time. Isn’t that what your teachers used to say?” The boss spoke up in an irritating voice That was the end of the conversation, Steven did not say a word after that and immediately rushed out of the office very angry and confused Steven was shocked by the news because he has been working in the same place with the same people for the last three years. Not only that, but this city was the only place on 323

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earth he ever knew. Now Crane will have to adapt to another environment, a new workplace, a different town, and basically, a new life outside of the place Crane saw as something familiar.

Crane exited the office and returned to his apartment; he had to move in the upcoming week, so he started to plan his trip, starting with airplane tickets, and continuing with packing clothes, and personal belongings.

Steven tried to talk things over with his boss and with the company the next day, but nothing seemed to work, so he gave up. Crane started to arrange everything for his euro trip, his upcoming new life that he will be forced to face because of his job demanding him to do so.

He spent his week packing things, buying clothes, and looking for places to stay during his time in Germany. He will have to move across the world, with no family to receive him there, and no one is waiting for his return.

The day finally arrived, and even though Crane was not ready for that experience, he was about to face. However, he had no other choice. Crane flew to Germany for nearly fourteen hours.

The first thing he did when he arrived was finding transport and went to his new apartment. He rented one since he did not know for how long he will have to stay there because this conflict could be over in a matter of days, but there was also the possibility that it will remain unsolved for a couple of months or even a year.

Steven arrived at his new temporal home and settled down. He organized everything and went to sleep right away.

He is just one of those people that no matter how hard he tries, Crane is unable to rest on a plane; plus, he also had to work the next day. For Crane, adapting to his new lifestyle, in another country with new people, a different culture and a different language was tough for him. Since he never had 324

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excellent social skills, in Germany, it was worst; everything became harder for Crane, and his first two weeks were the closest thing to a living hell he could have experienced, he thought many times about quitting. However, his dream, his only motivation was the thing that kept him moving forward.

He was determined to solve this mess by all means necessary and prove he had what it took to receive higher responsibilities in the company’s hierarchy.

Finally, the time came for the big meeting. The religious company and Sony were having a meeting to rearrange the terms and conditions of the agreement, and Crane was in charge of presenting the numbers and make sure everything went out as planned, in hopes of solving everything so he could finally go back to his hometown.

The meeting started, and Crane began very well, speaking with a lot of confidence and security. One hour passed, and things were going pretty good until something happened, something that changed the course of that reunion. One of the members of the religious enterprise they were negotiating with said.

“As you all know, religion is the pillar by which the world holds itself, so I propose….”

Steven Crane felt an immediate impulse of rage and very abruptly interrupted the man by saying.

“Religion is an absolute waste of time, it is worthless and purposeless” He responded angrily The second he said that everyone was shocked. And there was a very long and awkward silence in the room. The person who was in charge of Sony felt so embarrassed that he called Steven and told him.

“You need to leave this place immediately.” The boss said angrily.

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“But sir, am I saying something wrong?” said Crane confused about the situation “I don’t think I need to explain to you or anybody that what you did is beyond inexplicable. You probably don’t realize it now, but there is a chance that because of your stupidity, this deal will never be sealed,” said the boss in an outraged tone.

Very confused by the whole situation, Crane went outside, and only then he truly understood what he had done and what that could mean for his life and, most importantly, his career. Even though he messed up everything and the whole situation, the company could not fire him because he was the one in charge of the money involved in the business. However, Crane might not be able to get a second chance, so he needed to plan a solution, and he needed to do it quickly. His dream depended on the actions he was about to take to solve the deal and fix his professional status.

Something clicked in his mind; deep inside his soul, something snapped. It was the first time he was frankly and directly rejected for something wrong he did at work, so he was determined to correct his mistake that nearly cost him his job.

Crane returned home with an expression of sadness, anger, confusion. Nevertheless, despite all of this, he started investigating religions, about the company and everything related to spirituality, since it was a religious company he was assigned to understand. After hours and hours of researching, reading articles, essays, and even books, he came across a phrase that impacted him very deeply. It went like this: Those who believe and do pious works; those will be the owners of Paradise: they will be immortal in him.

Am excerpt from the Koran. Immediately after reading this phrase, he thought about his dream and realize that this was probably the only thing that he was still missing to fulfill that goal of his. So he started investigating more.

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Crane spent long hours in front of his computer reading about religion, submerging himself into the complicated world that is spirituality. He got so into it that he decided to go to some churches, cults, meetings, mosques, temples, etc. He started to get so involved with their practices, and ideologies that began applying those concepts to his own life. Suddenly, Steven started to see his life differently. Seeing so many religions, ideas, and ways of living gave Crane the sense that faith did not need to be exclusive to one of them. He instead started to take the things he liked the most from each religion and came to the conclusion that the best religion. It is not only to serve divinity but also to be a kind and warm-hearted person.

This realization opened his eyes and changed his life for good.

After a few months, he was a changed man, someone who cared about people, about society, about life. He understood that life was a gift, an adventure, a roller coaster of emotions that lead him to happiness, for the first time in his short and miserable life.

Fortunately, Steven Crane had the opportunity to attend the next meeting to settle the deal and solve the situation once and for all. His boss was suspicious at first because he did not know what to expect, but he had no choice but to trust Crane this time. For the surprise of everyone, Crane did exceptionally well in that meeting so well that even the chief executive officer of the company Sony was impressed. His words, intentions, and ideas were so bright and reasonable, and it sometimes seemed as if it was not even the same person.

When it was all set and done, bot parts involved signed the agreements deal, the money was distributed correctly, and both enterprises were happy by the outcome. This agreement meant that Crane’s work was completed. After the meeting, Crane was packing his things when he heard the voice from his boss, calling him, so Steven responded politely to his boss.

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His boss told him that he was very impressed with his commitment and the work he had done for the company, and he wanted Crane to be a member of the board directors for the company. Steven smiled a little bit; he was not used to smiling, but inside of him, there was a barrage of emotions, and he felt pleased. For the first time in his career, Crane got the opportunity he was looking for, which would bring him one step closer to his goal in life. With a smile on his face and joy in his expression, he said.

“Thank you, sir; I’ll take it,” and they shook hands.

BLUE

Written by Alejandra Medina DĂ­az 329

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I

t was a sunny day, the sky was blue with a few white clouds, Joseph Robinson, an 8-year-old kid, was in the ninth floor of a hospital receiving his chemotherapy treatment, while he was staring at the sky throughout the window. As usual, in the last days, he could only think about the color Blue, where the beautiful sea and the sky come together. Sometimes when you think about the afterlife, you dream of a place, you haven’t seen in real life but you love it, and you are sure about your love for it.

He imagined himself swimming in a turquoise and crystal water, hearing the sounds of soft waves, diving into the deepest sea, and watching lots of animal species and colorful corals.

He dreamt about being at the beach running into white-yellow sand and build sandcastles while his mother brings him a fresh orange juice as he listens to a Bob Marley song, that gets disrupted by a strong breeze of the large coconut palms, and then, he looked up and noticed the most beautiful sky, a light blue sky without clouds, with a stunning sun and a scented sea breeze.

“Mom, Dad!, have you seen the sky? It is light blue and looks lovely, I’m really happy. Do you imagine a plane flying through this beautiful sky heading to the beach? It would be wonderful, I envy those people.” He stopped for a while and sighed and he continued if I could only take a plane and choose to go to any place in the world, I would choose to go to the beach” His mother almost cried listening to his little boy but she held her tears and said; “I’m happy for you, sweetie. You’ve been such a strong baby boy, and maybe one day, you will get to fly your airplane to the beach. And you’re right, it is a lovely morning today” Said his mom, while she turned around to her husband to hide her tears and his father said; 330

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“I know kiddo, I know, but sooner than you expect, I will take you to the beach. I promise” Said his father, which put a smile on his face and then his mom interrupted his father and said; “Can we please talk outside for a second?” said Joseph’s mom.

“Sure dear”- said Oliver Robinson.

As his father walked outside, he made some funny face to his son to tell him that he was in trouble and his son was laughing at his father’s facetious faces.

They both walked outside the room and when they arrived in the hallway, his mother said; “How could you lie to Joseph that you will take him soon to the beach when you don’t even have the money to pay the chemotherapy? How are we going to afford this?”

“I understand your frustrations, I know what we have, I know I need to pay the bills, Just let me figure this out… you know, I will find a way to pay all the necessary things, I’ll figure it out. We shouldn’t fight more, come here, and hug me, baby” Said Oliver.

“I love you”- Said Joseph’s mom while crying.

“I love you too, I’ll be a little busy in the next few days, OK?” Oliver said firmly.

“Why?” Joseph’s mother asked.

“Well, I need to work very hard to pay the bills, you understand, right?

“Yes, of course, I understand”. Joseph’s mother responded and she added; “Please, be careful!” … Two days after…

BREAKING NEWS: The central bank has just be stolen by an anonymous man, who has not been able to be identified by the security cameras, and the police do not know his identity, although various witnesses claimed that it a man, probably in 331

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his early forties. He has stolen $50.000.00 approximately. The police have stated that they will do a detailed investigation to find the suspect. Nevertheless; the police department reported that there were no victims, nobody was wounded nor killed during this act of crime.

Joseph’s mother was watching the news from the TV attached to the wall at the hospital, while his son was sleeping, and she sighted and say; this city is getting more dangerous every day. A few moments later, Oliver arrived at the hospital and he asked; “Hello, how’s my baby boy?” Said Oliver, as soon as he saw Joseph in the hospital.

“He is resting now, but he is doing great,” Said Joseph’s mom “Hi, Dad! I am okay” Joseph responded.

“See, now you woke him up,” Joseph’s mother said to Oliver.

“Well, my dear and beloved family, I have a surprise for you. I have already spoken with the doctors and they permitted me to take Joseph at the beach, and we are going to Lanikai Beach, Oahu, Hawaii in three days.”

“Hawaii??? OHHH MY GOD, are you kidding me? Joseph shouted with lots of happiness.

“No Joseph, Of course, I’m not kidding you, we are going to the beach and you will take an aircraft for the first time.”

“Ohh my God, I can’t believe it, thank you, Dad, thank you… I want to go right know” Joseph thanked his father while he was laughing and crying at the same time.

“Honey, how are we going to afford it? we need to pay the chemotherapy first…” Said Juliet, Joseph’s mom “It is already paid for, we don’t owe nothing, It’s time to relax and have a little vacation, we didn’t have one in a long time”, Said Oliver “How did you pay for everything,” Julieth asked.

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one, enjoy the moment, look at Joseph’s face, tell me that you are not pleased to see him like that”. Said, Oliver.

The family continued to talk and plan for their upcoming trip, Joseph was so happy that he couldn’t believe, it was happening. ...Three days after…

The family was on a plane heading to the beach, Joseph was very excited, it was his first time to sit on an airplane, he was sitting at the window, watching the clouds moving, he had a radiant smile in his face, there are no words in the dictionary that could be used to describe how he felt living his dream.

“Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking, I would like to welcome you all to the flight A120, the flight time will be approximately two hours and a half. On behalf of the A120 company and my crew, we would like to wish you all a wonderful journey to Hawaii, Please be prepared to take off and enjoy the flight”.

The flight was outstanding, it did not present any inconvenience. They arrived in Hawaii safe and sound and they headed to Lanikai Beach resort hotel close to the beach where they were received with a welcome drink and some beautiful flowers. They had lunch at the hospital, went into the room, and changed clothes. At 3:29 pm, finally, they went to the beach “Welcome to paradise, Joseph Robinson”. Said Oliver.

Joseph was out of words, mesmerized by the beauty of the sea and everything that surrounded him, He laughed, and later cried of Joy, he had many mixed feelings, He realized that he was one of the luckiest people on the planet who could see the sea and enjoy its incredible beauty and power.

He ran immediately in that turquoise, crystal, and salty water of the sea while his mom was shouting in the back; “Joseph, be careful and don’t go too far, swim where I can see you” 333

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and he shouted back; “Yes mom” Later on, his mother and father joined him, and they swam, snorkel, and later ate plenty of fried fishes that were being sold at the beach, drunk lots of coconut water, and walked along the coast to watch the sunset. Their favorite part of the day was watching the sunset. The orange-gold of the sunset, stretches far and wide, the color of fire hearts and tangerines made Joseph’s family spirit fly at the sight that they were transported into a timeless existence that proved them that anything could happen in just one day, that sadly is another day that is left behind.

After a week spent with beautiful memories, they returned to Texas, San Antonio in high spirits from their trip. little did they know, that they were leaving happiness in Hawaii. The next morning, their house was raided by the police officers and siren, and Oliver was arrested and taken into prison for robbery. The police had identified him as the thief behind the central bank robbery that occurred about 2 weeks ago.

Belatedly after; Robinson’s family went through a very painful and tough situation, as the bank froze their accounts.

Oliver accepts the charges and he said that he did what he needed to do to put a smile in his son’s face and help him beat cancer and that he does not regret anything, his case became very popular all over the united states and the media started to attack the family for news coverage and commentaries, which was hard for the family, Notwithstanding, amid this terrible situation, Robinson’s family received a piece of wonderful and admirable news saying that Joseph has beaten cancer. The doctors were pleased by his strength, It seemed as if he had been saved by the sea.

When Joseph was discharged from the hospital, he went back home and he tried to recover his normal life before having cancer, and one day he received a call from a social 334

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activist who told Joseph that his story touched his heart and that he wanted to invite him in conference tour around the world lecturing the case of Joseph, and how he beat cancer and he wants Joseph’s accompaniment. As well, he promised Joseph that he was going to help him raise funds which will be destined for Joseph’s education and his father’s defense.

One month later, the conference began, they started their tour in Germany, they continued in Belgium, Italy, Spain, France, Poland, Ireland, the United States, Brazil, and a few more countries. Conferences are a success, still, the media and the public have divided conclusions and opinions, most of them wondered if in this case, as Maquiavelo says, The end justified the means.

THE ROYALS

Written by Carolina Medina Díaz 336

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I

t was 22:00 and the room was full of crowd chatting and taking pictures of the paintings. The exposition reunited lots of different people and the only thing that connected them was art; among the guests was a charming and polite gentleman, his beauty stood out all over the room. When people shook his right hand, they felt intimidated by his blue eyes, and at the same time, they felt curiosity due to his light brown curly hair. The famous observer was His Royal Highness Prince Jacques of Avalon, accompanied by his friends. The prince liked to be casual and he didn’t like to be addressed nor referred to as a prince.

Jacques said, “The colors and the silhouettes are exceptional, the technique is refined and subtle.”

Upon hearing this, Carletto, one of his friends, asked him if he wanted to meet the artist behind that masterpiece, to which Jacques replied gently: “Yes, Please!”

A couple of minutes later, Carletto touched Anastacia’s elbow and gave her a huge hug, to which she answered with a huge smile.

“I want you to meet a friend of mine.” He brought her to the prince and introduced her as the artist behind the masterpiece that the prince had appreciated and Prince Jacques said; “My name is Jacques, I want to congratulate you for your magnificent exposition.”

“Thank you very much, Sir! I am Anastasia Miller but my friends call me Ana, and it is such a great honor to hear that you were pleased by my work, and thank you very much for coming” Ana Responded respectfully.

“Please, just call me Jacques, and the pleasure is all mine,” Jacque said cheerfully. and he added.

“In half an hour we are going for dinner, you should come with us,” said Jacques.

“I’ll be happy to,” replied Ana. 337

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The evening was very pleasant and went smoothly. Before leaving the restaurant, Jacques invited Ana to a Polo game the next day.

She said, “Pick me at 10:00 am.”

And they both said Goodbyes.

The next day, Jacques went to pick up Anastacia at her house.

When Jacques saw Ana he said, “You are just splendid” “Really?” and she laughed.

“Really,” Jacques said.

The game was interesting and entertaining. After that, they spent the rest of the day together. Since that day, Ana and Jacques grew to like each other and they knew they were meant for each other, and they fell easily and quickly in love.

A couple of months later, the twosome got married in an intimate but emotional ceremony. The pair had a lot of work and events to attend to, and they created charity projects for children. Holidays arrived and they went to visits Jacques’ family in a palace near Ireland. Things were working well until Ana noticed that Jacques’ family was trying to hide something from her, she was never left alone and drawers, cabinets, and trunks were locked, she didn’t feel welcomed at the palace.

One day Anastacia was tired of being treated as a fool.

That afternoon she went into the main library on the rightwing of the palace, and since she entered she set her eyes on an impotent and width red book. She didn’t take long to read it’s content. Ana immediately realized that what was written in the book threatens the future and security of the monarchy and their country. Without thinking twice, Anastacia called Jacques and asked him to meet fast; when in the meeting she revealed to her husband that she was aware of the secrets they were hiding, Jacques’s annoyances became evident and he did not like Anastacia getting into other people’s business, 338

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Jacques was a very sincere and honest person, and that’s why he said to his wife; “I love you, but this is not okay. This should not be known by you or anyone else and I don’t care if I have to reach the ultimate consequences to protect myself, my parents, and my nation.”

Anastacia replied; “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“My dear, our country is right in the middle of a critical situation. These are the times when you have to take care of things, especially dangerous things that can make things harder. The moment you discovered the book you put your life in danger, You know, some secrets can only be kept if one of the two parties involved is dead.”

“You are scaring me, I am afraid right now,” Anastacia said with fears.

“I must go.” He replied “Wait, I am afraid because… because I am pregnant. We are going to be parents.”

Jacques with his watery eyes overjoyed of being called a father, he tried to convince his wife to keep the secret for herself and not to ever say a word to anyone about what she had read from the book, to keep their family safe, and they both agreed. and he also told her that he was going to be the best father on the planet and he said; “I must go, we will celebrate when I return.”

A couple of weeks later, the pair welcomed their first child, a baby girl, and they named her Amelie. Anastacia felt so much love and happiness to have Amelie that she made her husband believe that she had already forgotten about the revealed secrets she read in the book. Her husband was very supportive and he spent most of the time at his home taking care of his two women. Until one day, A day like any other day Jacques was working abroad when he received an unidentified 339

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private call from an anonymous individual who told him that his wife had been visiting all the government and administrative entities under a fake identity to seek answers.

“What is happening your majesty? You need to give us an answer.” Said the anonymous.

Jacques was confused about the call and who could have been able to hack his private encrypted phone number, he hung up the phone and took a plane directly to Ireland while baby Amelie stayed with her grandmother.

Once he arrived, he went directly to the main library where the royal kept the book that Anastacia read, he wanted to read and understand what was written in the book. His Royal Highness started reading the book and after he finished, he knew he needed to decide because he couldn’t imagine what this information could do to the world if it gets out. Everything was at stake and amid his thoughts, sadness, and anguish he finally made a decision, a very objective decision.

The next day Jacques was waiting for Anastacia to have breakfast together both of them were silent until Jacques said to Ana, “Regardless of what is happening, I think that we should take control of our nation. We must accept the throne now that Her Majesty, my mother, and His Majesty, my father are retiring. I will be the King and you will be named Queen.”

Jacque said firmly.

“This job requires many duties, but I agree with you,” Ana responded.

Jacques knew that by allowing her to become the queen, she would be devoted to protecting the secret of the nation at all cost or she would have been condemned for treason. One month later, the coronation ceremony took place in Jacques’s favorite palace in Ireland. At 19:00 on that sunny and quiet

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Sunday, Jacques became King Jacques II of Avalon, and his wife became Queen Anastacia.

A few months later, Anastacia was accused by the dynasty for exchanging important information of the nation and she later disappeared from the royal palace. Amelie was left without a mother and the King without his queen. Her disappearance became a mystery to the rest of the world and people rumored that King Jacques II indirectly collaborates in the disappearance of his wife but there was no evidence to support this theory.

THE TWISTS AND TURNS OF LIFE Written By Nicole Monรก Herrera 342

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T

oday July 5, 2014, I am standing in the fourth walls of the prison of Quibdó, these walls cannot hold a prayer, nor a spirit. And so I call to the universe, I promise all the good things I will do when I am released, although I have fears that I’ll never get out of here, my soul was lost in the labyrinths of this prison, these hallways are very dark I am so scared of this place, people are looking at me, they seem to be angry, but I can tell that they are suffering. What I fear the most is that if more time passes I’ll become one of them, and thinking of the idea of staying in this hell for an eternity freaks me out. I hear voices shouting at me, like if they wanted to tell me something. I think I’ll never get out of here. I’m already 3 months and 20 days living in this doom and I have had enough time to realize that my profession led me to make terrible mistakes, but I know that God continues to allow me to be alive and to be able to undo everything in my life.

I reminisce that day like it happened yesterday; It all started on Wednesday, April 15, 2014, the man in blue overalls, dark boots and dirty hands that identified himself as an automobile mechanic and that had a card which said Truman Harper felt the greatest emptiness of his whole life. That day changed completely his life. I was sitting down in the waiting room when I heard my name, I got up and walked slowly towards the small room that was going to define my destiny, then I saw him sitting there in front of that big screen, he wore glasses and his eyes were as blue as the Caribbean ocean, his hair was white like the snow, his face was wrinkled and he had an expression of innocence, he looked trustworthy but at the same time he looked at me with pity and sadness, he was holding an envelope that would define everything.

Upon receiving that important envelope and reading it, tears filled my eyes, I couldn’t understand that; what was

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written on it was happening in my body, knowing that I have never had any pain.

Then the doctor whispered; “what you have is cancer.”

I was shocked and I sat to think about how I was going to respond to my obligations for the rest of my life, also knowing that I had a daughter that needed to go to college.

Then I said in a fragile voice; “what type of cancer is this doctor” and he replied; “Truman it’s lung cancer, I’m afraid to tell you that you don’t have much time left, your cancer is stage III, we must start the treatment right now”.

Eight days later: I met an old friend while walking to my house, his name was Jack, we both always had a very strong connection, we were very good friends, I used to work with him at the mechanic’s shop, he was an automobile mechanic too, we went through a lot together, I had known him for many years ago, we were always helping each and we had each other’s backs, he used to know everything about me, but since his mother got sick 3 months ago, Jack went to take care of her and I never saw him again until today. When we arrived at my house we sat down; “how’s your life going my friend” Jack asked and I replied slowly; “well… not that good, man” Jack looked at me with a strange expression wanting to know what was wrong with me and in a hurry he answered; “Truman, you know that you can trust me, right?” and I said; “for sure, I’m aware of that, thank you man” in a matter of seconds he replied; “so tell me what is wrong my friend, I can tell you’re not good” I stayed a few minutes in silence and then I started talking ruefully; “my dear friend, I have diagnosticated with cancer a week ago and I’ve been so sad and depressed, also I’m very worried because I don’t have money to pay my daughter’s schooling nor for the treatment of my illness, I’m a mess”. Jack was in silence, I could tell by 344

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his expression he was disappointed but at the same time I could notice he was impressed, then after some minutes he said; “Truman I’m sorry, I can’t imagine how are you feeling right now. Do you remember my mom was sick, right? Well, doctors told me 2 days ago that she needed surgery and I have a big problem because I don’t have money to pay for that, that is why I thought in a way of having money and I believe you will be interested to know how right?” I immediately said; “obviously Jack, tell me what do we have to do” and Jack told me his plan.

The task was to steal an expensive car in the south of Medellin and exchange it for money, a very good amount of money which would change my life completely since my worries would disappear. At that exact moment my happiness decreased, I knew that what I was going to do was wrong, but I had just learned that I was suffering from a terminal illness, I had a family to take care of, plenty of responsibilities, besides, my illness treatment cost too much and without it, I would die in less than 1 year. I was very afraid of dying and leaving my daughter without a father and the fact of knowing that I didn’t have the income to support my family worried me increasingly. I agreed to steal the car even though I knew it was illegal. I never thought in the consequences that this could bring me, I just thought about how to get money doing things in what I was good at, I didn’t mean to steal, but to manipulate cars because by my profession I knew how they worked and I had in mind everything that I had to do to achieve the mission and in this way, I would save my life and answer for my obligations.

The day of the robbery arrived, it was Friday, April 29, 2014, at night, Jack and I were preparing everything for the mission. The plan we created was excellent, we would arrive at the place where that luxurious casino called “fortune” was 345

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located at, we would dress up like valet of the casino and then we would wait for the perfect car to arrive and we will make sure that the car owner enters the casino, then we would proceed to steal the car, pretending as if we were about to park it, but instead we would drive away and escape. I remember that day as if it was yesterday, everything seemed to go as planned, I took my bag quickly, it was the perfect day, my daughter would finally go to school, my wife would not have to worry about me anymore, and that paper that filled my mind with questions, disappointment, and worry would no longer be a problem. Then I realized that I almost forgot my bible, I read it every day and I always carried it with me. “How do you feel?” I asked, and Jack responded with nervousness voice; “Kind of nervous”, then he asked me back the same question, I tried to remain confident and stronger and I replied; “well bro, I’m very anxious and nervous too, I need to pay the school fee, I have a delay in credit cards, catch up with certain obligations and solve that health problem I told you about.”

When we arrived at the place where the casino was, we followed our plan, we were waiting for almost 1 hour for the perfect car to arrive, then I saw two red cars one a BMW and the other was a Mercedes-Benz entering to the parking lot.

Jack and I looked at each other and immediately we knew it was the perfect opportunity to complete the mission. We waited for them to enter the casino, at that moment I got to see the Mercedes-Benz owner, he looked like a very rich man, I could tell because of his expensive suit and his diamond watch. A few minutes passed and we slowly approached the two cars, I knew that the expensive one was the BMW so both of us agreed to steal that one. I told Jack to keep an eye out for us, while I opened the car and started it so we could get out of there fast without being seen. A few seconds passed and I heard Jack saying that someone was standing outside 346

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of the casino, I stretched my neck to see and indeed a man was standing outside, I immediately recognize the man face because he was the rich man that I mentioned before.

The man was holding a cigarette in his hand, at that moment I felt my heart had stopped beating and my hands were shaking, I had a very bad feeling, I felt like everything was ruined, the first thing that came to my mind was that he was going to discover us, the man was so close to where we were standing, I felt sadness, I was about to cry and I was very nervous at the same time, the only thing I wanted to be was for this rich man to go back into the casino, for us to finish the mission and run away. Few minutes passed and the man was heading back to the casino, and I felt a huge relief in my heart, but in that exact moment his cell phone rang so he returned where he was standing before and answered the call, the fear came back into my mind again, Jack and I were trembling while the man continued with the call, I said in a desperate voice; “Jack I don’t want to be caught, I really need this money” and Jack replied; “Bro me neither, we need to calm down, I know we can do it, don’t be so paranoid”, finally after 10 minutes the man hung up the phone, and I was feeling calmer, but while he was walking to the casino door, Jack accidentally dropped the car keys on the floor, and he immediately turned his head back to us, as he heard the noise coming from where we were at, the man noticed us just in front of the BMW, he made a weird expression and entered fast the casino, Jack and I tried to act naturally for us not to be discovered, but we failed, it turned out that the man was a friend of the car owner that we were going to steal. In a matter of seconds the rich man along with the owner of the car came out and a minute later the police arrived, I thought about running away but it was impossible, we were stuck without escape. Jack and I were transferred to prison and incarcerated.

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I spent 3 months locked in this terrible place, regretting the decisions I made, every day before going to sleep I remembered I apologize to God for my actions and for not being the dad my beautiful daughter deserved, I was so sad so depressed and disappointed, I thought I was going to make it, I thought everything was going to change, I thought that I could fulfill my dream by being able to answer for all my responsibilities, but I didn’t make it, I failed, I failed my family, I failed God, I failed me. My life changed the day I received that envelope, I was dying and there was nothing I would do, that disease was killing me and I felt for the first time that I didn’t have any hope to live. The jail where I was, was so hot that I felt I was in hell burning, I felt so vulnerable that when I arrived there I couldn’t stop crying, everyone was so mean and cruel to me, they treated me as if I was nothing, an animal or as if I was worthless.

Just when I was losing hope my lawyer brought me the news that brought happiness back into my life. He told me that because of my health condition, I would be allowed to leave and return home. I felt so happy that the first thing I did that afternoon was to get down on my knees and thank God for not abandoning me and for forgiving me because until that day I couldn’t understand that my illness had saved me from being locked up to die in this prison. I got to recognize that God makes everything perfect and that absolutely everything has a reason to be. I had to admit that what happened to me changed my life completely, I stopped wondering why it was happening to me. And now I’m wondering, what’s the point? Now, I know that God simply wanted things to happen this way and to have a true sense because thanks to the good behaviors, I have shown in the past few years in jail, they allowed me to leave that terrible place to meet my family and finish my sentence at home under house arrest, and they also gave me an ankle 348

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monitor which is part of the instructions, I was given by the judge, But I am very grateful for this opportunity because being with my family; fills me with happiness because I am surrounded with nothing but love.

SECRETS RUINED BY ACCEPTANCE

Written by Sara Mosquera Lรณpez 350

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I

t was the last day of school, before the vacation, when Olivia, her boyfriend, and her friends arrived at school.

Olivia was a tall, skinny girl with light brown hair, brown eyes, and a beautiful face and her boyfriend Ethan was a year older than her; she studied in a very privileged school named Sabot at Stony Point, the classes started at 8:30 am, Olivia and his friends arrived at school on time and she had to say Goodbye to Ethan because Ethan’s classes were located in the senior section hall and she and her friends went to the classroom.

Once the school day was over, Ethan had invited some Friends at Olivia’s home to plan for the vacation trip they had been talking about for years, the plan was to go on a trip together for around 22 days to the beach of Novagio, which is one of the most beautiful beaches in Greece. Navagio is a fantastic beach surrounded by mountains and crystal blue water.

Despite the beauty of this island, Olivia didn’t want to go to this island but she was peer pressured by her boyfriend and her friends, and she didn’t know what else to say, so she agreed, just to make Ethan happy. So; they began looking for everything; the tickets, the hotel, and activities to do in Novagio, they wanted to have everything well organized since they were planning to travel across the continent alone without their parents. Fortunately, their parents were very supportive and had approved their trip since they were very close and all the parents knew each other for a very long time.

Their parents had bought the flight tickets earlier and their flight had to leave super early in the morning, they didn’t sleep that night because of the excitement, and also because it was going to be a long traveling, they wanted to sleep on the plane.

They were scheduled to arrive in Greece, the next day earlier in the morning, and start organizing their arrival by searching for the right hotel, but Since there were no hotels in 351

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the Navagio beach they had to arrive and stay in Psarou Beach.

The flight was long, but it felt short for Olivia; as she was still afraid about this trip to the beach but the rest of her friends were immensely excited about the journey, they had been planning for years.

Finally, they arrived at the airport of Greece, The Athens Airport (IATA: ATH), they went through the security system and the migration, after finishing all the procedures, they took an Uber to the bus station and once they arrived at the bus station, they got the bus; heading to the hotel.

They were very amazed when they saw the place. It was a dream come true. The landscape was insanely beautiful, they felt like they were in a fairy story. Arriving at the hotel Porta Del Mar Beach resort, they took 4 different rooms, Olivia stayed in the same room with her boyfriend, and the friends shared the remained rooms. The hotel was the nearest one to Navagio Beach, it was 10.3 miles away so they had to rent a car to get there. The hotel they chose had a great review score so they were very sure that it was a great place to stay. Belatedly after, they all went to sleep since it had been a long day and they wanted to enjoy every second of the following day.

The next day, Ethan was the first to get up, he went to rent a car from the lobby of the hotel, and then he went back to the hotel room to wake up Olivia and the rest of his friends.

After a short while, they all headed to the island; as everyone seemed to be amazed and intrigued by this beautiful island, Olivia started to feel uneasy, she tried to tell Ethan that she wasn’t feeling well but Ethan insisted that she was going to feel alright once she arrives at the beach. Ethan didn’t know that Olivia had been keeping a big secret from everyone.

A few moments later, they were almost arriving at the beach, Olivia decided to act normal because she didn’t want anyone to suspect anything.

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Suddenly after, they arrived at the beach and started to put the towels on the sand, organizing the drinks and snacks they were going to eat all day. Olivia, unlike her friends, decided to stay on the towels tanning herself while everyone else went to the beach.

Olivia started to be afraid, because her friends were calling her, asking her to get in the water, but she was calmed and acted as if she was sleeping, but the calm didn’t last long because Ethan started to wonder why Olivia didn’t want to get in the water, as she kept telling him; “I will join you in one moment...”

“In one moment...in one moment” Ethan finally decided to stop asking, and Olivia felt as if Ethan was angry at her, then she thought to herself; “My secret will soon be revealed, soon or later, I might as well take my chances now, that I am surrounded by my close friends, rather than a group of strangers” Olivia got stood up from her towel and approached the water when she stepped in the water, she started to feel strange, and as she got closer and closer in the water, her body started to transform second by second. Her friends couldn’t understand what they were witnessing with their own eyes. Shortly after the transformation was completed, and she had turned into a blowfish.

Her friends were in shocks and Ethan didn’t know what to say or to do about the situation, then Olivia got out of the water and turned into a human being again, and they all shouted and she started to cry begging them to listen to her, and while crying she confessed to them that she was born like that, and she has always been afraid to tell them the truth because she was afraid of losing them, Olivia started to cry, and cry until Ethan approached her and gave her a hug and her friends did the same thing too.

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Olivia was happy to see Ethan’s reaction, as she was crying, saying; “I am so sorry, I should have told you” “Don’t worry, we will work this out together” Ethan responded.

Finally, when she was able to calm down, they all asked for more details, how it all started and how it happened, then I said; “My mother was a professional surfer and she was all the time working in the water, she was really like a fish. One day she was surfing like her routine of every day and out of nowhere, she was stung by a blowfish, at that moment, she endured a lot of pain, the doctors tried to control the infection but the actual problem started in the future when I was about to be born, my mom took a picture of the ultrasound, the doctor noticed that the baby’s movement was unusual but they didn’t pay too much attention because It looked healthy...

9 months later, when I was born, my parents later noticed that my body turns into a blowfish when in contact with the water, they tried to keep it as a secret from the public. When I was growing up, we avoided all the public pools and I wasn’t allowed to leave home when it rained and so years after years, it became a part of my life until now.” Olivia concluded with her watery eyes.

Ethan gave her a close hug and told her that it wasn’t her fault and she had nothing to be ashamed for, her friends started to cry as well, it was a terrifying day that later became a beautifully emotional day for everyone.

The friends enjoyed the rest of their vacation together and with no secrets, they felt closer and stronger. Although it was still a little hard for some to understand her, and as the last few days went by, Olivia finally learned the essence of telling the truth because the truth always comes out.

The last day of the trip arrived and they all headed back 354

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to the airport, and they were all happy about the memories they had created and they couldn’t wait to see their lovely and supportive parents back in Richmond, and Olivia couldn’t wait to tell her parents about everything that happened, and how good she felt when she finally said the truth to her friends and Ethan.

A DANGEROUS ADDICTION

Written By Manuel Ochoa Borrero 356

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I

t was a normal Thursday in Los Angeles. Damien woke up at 9:00 am and got ready for his class of budget analysis. He studies business at UCLA, but Damien is not smart at all. He is the typical white rich boy from Beverly Hills, that the only thing that he does is waste his parent’s money. He is about 6-foot-tall, blue round eyes, circular face, black hair and he is in very good shape since he is a gym addict. A lot of people say that he looks like a young Bradley Cooper.

Damien Specter is from a very rich family, his father is the owner of the most famous nightclub in the whole West Coast, The Night Beats VIP Club. His mother is one of the most important lawyers of the biggest lawyer’s firm in L.A. His parents are divorced and Damien lives with his father, he doesn’t talk to his mother anymore because she has another family and he hates them.

Damien was organizing his 21st birthday party, which was scheduled the next day and it would take place in his father’s nightclub, but his father had no idea of this event. Earlier that day his father traveled to Las Vegas to go to a meeting and he would be there for two days, so it would be the perfect time to do his party.

The other day, Damien sent a lot of invitations to his birthday party at The Night Beats. The rumor of this big party spread out very fast. Damien’s father found out about this and he got very mad, but he didn’t say anything to Damien, he planned to go back to L.A to give Damien a lesson. Later that night, Damien’s father went back to L.A after canceling his meeting. The first thing he did was to go to his nightclub before the party started. As soon as he arrived, he talked to all his team of the nightclub.

“Alright people, I know that today is Friday, but we are going to close the club for the night”, he said.

“But why boss?”, complained his main bodyguard.

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“Listen, my son organized his birthday party for today in this club without asking me”, he explained. “So, I am going to close the club for today to give him a lesson, go home, you all have the night off”.

About two hours later, Damien arrived at the club with some of his friends. They noticed that the club lights were off and no one was outside, they went to the back door because Damien had the key to go in, but as soon as they opened the door, Damien’s father was inside and he shouted, “Everybody gets out, except you Damien”.

After all the young adults went out, Damien and his father sat down in the main office.

“What the hell was all that?”, Damien said.

“I don’t know. Why don’t you explain to me what were you doing with your friends at my club?”, his father said.

“That is not of your business dad”, Damien mumbled.

“What did you say to me, Young boy? Remember that I’m the one in charge of you”, his father shouted.

“You didn’t have to talk like that to my friends”, Damien said.

“Do you think that this is a joke? Why did you organize your birthday party at my club without asking me?”, his father asked. “You know that if you told me this about a week ago, we could have gotten a good deal”.

“I didn’t want to have a deal with you. You always want to make everything a deal, you never do me a favor”, Damien replied.

“Okay, that’s it. You are drunk and I’m tired of your insolence young boy! I’m going to take you home and we will finish this conversation later, but for now, you are grounded until the next spring break”, his father said firmly.

A week later, Damien’s father was outside the city again and Damien escaped out of his house. His friend, Harry, 358

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picked him up in his car and they decided to do something different that night. They always wanted to go to a casino and since they were already twenty-one years old, Harry told Damien that they should go to the Hollywood Park Casino located in Inglewood, and Damien agreed. It was a long night and Damien won about $75.000 by playing poker.

Harry wasn’t lucky like Damien, he lost $10.000. The next day Damien convinced Harry to go back to the casino since he won a lot of money last night, but Harry didn’t want to gamble. Damien started to go frequently to the casino and he became good at playing poker. After some weeks, Damien began to go to gambling instead of going to his university classes and the gym, but Harry wasn’t going with him to the casino anymore.

After some months, Damien earned a lot of money in the casino, he escaped every night from his house to go gambling in some different casinos in L.A like the Hollywood Park Casino, the Dealer Dolls and the Lucky Lady Casino and went back home the next morning. One day his father received a phone call from Harry.

Harry told him everything that Damien was doing every day and that he was very worried about his friend. As soon as he hung up the phone, he went to Damien’s room to confront him, but when he arrived Damien wasn’t there, he tried to call him but Damien didn’t answer his phone. When Damien got back home his father talked to him and they had a big discussion and it ended up with Damien leaving the house. The next day, Damien used the money that he earned in the past months in the casinos to buy himself an apartment near Venice Beach.

He spent almost all his money buying the apartment.

After some time living by himself, Damien decided to go to a clandestine poker club, that is close to his new apartment.

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He found out about this poker club by a man that he met some weeks ago in the Lucky Lady Casino called Vladimir.

He got $100.000 and in this club, the minimum bet is fifty thousand dollars. After a couple of minutes, Damien lost his money and he went to talk to Vladimir that was in, sitting with some other people in one corner of the club, he was surprised when he saw all the money that those people had on top of the table. Vladimir saw Damien and he stood up and went to talk to him.

“Damien! I’m very glad to see you here”, Vladimir said.

“Hey Vladimir, this is a nice place, but I don’t think that is better than a casino”, Damien said.

“What are you saying? This is where real men gamble, Vladimir said.

“Well, I’m sure this is not like the casinos, this is a higher league. I’ve already lost everything and I have been here only twenty minutes”, Damien replied.

“Everything? Already? Don’t worry, I can borrow you some money and you can pay me later”, Vladimir exclaimed.

“Really? Thank you, Vladimir. I promise that I’m going to pay you as soon as I get my money back”, Damien said.

A few hours later, Damien lost all the money, he borrowed from Vladimir and he didn’t know what to do. He asked Vladimir if he could borrow him some more money and Vladimir accepted but he told Damien that he needed the money before the night ends. Damien lost again and decided to tell Vladimir that he needed some time to get the money back, which Vladimir agreed but he told Damien that he had two days to pay him back and if Damien does not pay him, he would send some people to kill him. Damien went out of the club very afraid and confused.

The next morning, Damien found out that the clandestine 360

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poker club belonged to the Russian Mafia that ruled a big part of the city and that he was in big trouble. He thought that he could go ask his father to borrow the money to pay what he owes, while he sold his apartment, but it was a lot of money, he lost two million dollars that night.

Damien went to the Night Beats VIP club hoping to find his father there. He was very nervous, the last time that he saw his father was the day that he left the house, he didn’t know what to say to his father, but he was desperate. When he arrived at the club the guard didn’t let him go in and he told Damien that it was a strict order but Damien complained that he needed to talk to his father urgently. The guard called his boss and he told him to let Damien in but only for five minutes.

Damien went in feeling very afraid of what his father would say. He knocked on the door of his father’s office and after he heard; “come in”, he opened the door. His hands were sweating and he felt very frightened, his father was the only one who could help him get out of this situation.

“So, look who’s back, I have got to be honest with you, you took long enough, I thought you would come back the next day that you left. What do you want?”, his father said.

“Hey, Dad, I’m sorry that I left that day but now it is not the time to talk about that, I need your help”, Damien replied.

“You need my help? Why? I thought you were independent and that you were gaining money by gambling”, his father said.

“Dad, I spent almost all my money in an apartment that I bought, but later I went to a clandestine poker club I borrowed a lot of money from some dangerous people and lost it all.

Now, I have one day to pay everything that I owe, or instead, they will kill me, I promise to pay everything as soon I sell my apartment”, Damien said while he had a lot of voice cracks.

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“Oh god, what I’m going to do with you? How much do you owe?”, his father asked.

“Two million dollars”, Damien Replied “Alright, I’m going to help you son, but after this, you are going to come back home”, his father said.

“Thank you so much dad”, Damien said.

That night, Damien went to the clandestine poker club to pay Vladimir, but when he arrived some men told him that Vladimir wasn’t there and that he had to go to a certain address that they gave him. He had to go to Compton. When he arrived at the address it was an abandoned factory that looked very scary, the guards, who were outside, took him to Vladimir, and he found himself in a big room with a lot of black trash bags.

“Do you have my money?”, Vladimir said.

“Here it is. You can count it if you want”, Damien replied and he threw the bag with the money near Vladimir. “Can I go now?”, Damien asked.

“No”, Vladimir shouted.

“I lent you that money because I thought that you would win a lot and give me a commission, but you lost it all and I needed to use that money to pay for my boss. I got into a lot of trouble and I’m going to take you to see my boss and then I will kill you”, Vladimir said, while he took his gun out.

Vladimir took Damien to a room inside the factory that had a chair and some torture equipment. He told Damien to sit down that he was going to call his boss. Damien was very scared, he thought that by giving the money the trouble was going to be over. His life was passing through his mind, he started crying remembering all the good moments that he spent with his father while the time passed.

After one hour Damien heard some voices approaching the room. He thought he was getting crazy because one of the 362

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voices sounded exactly like his father’s. The door opened and a lot of Russian men entered the room but the last one to enter was wearing a very expensive suit, he was smoking a cigar and had big glasses. He looked very familiar to Damien, that guy that looked very important in the Russian mafia was Damien’s father.

“Dad?”, Damien mumbled.

“Damien?”, his father said. “Vladimir, this is the one that you lent the money?”.

“Yes boss, but he already paid it back, we can kill him now and no leave any traces”, Vladimir said.

“Vladimir, this is my son”, Damien’s father said.

“What? I’m sorry boss, I didn’t know that you had a son”, Vladimir said.

“Everybody, get out, I need to talk to my son”, Damien’s father said.

After this, all the bodyguards went out of the room.

“Son, I got a lot of things to explain, but you are very lucky to be alive. I didn’t know that the one that lent you money was Vladimir”, Damien’s father said.

“Dad, I’m very happy to see you. I thought my life was over, can you tell me why are you the leader of the Russian mafia?”, Damien said.

“It’s a long story son, that I would tell you later, but for now I can tell you that this is the reason why your mother left me and it’s also the reasons of the amount of money that I have, the night club is a way to keep the money legal”, his father said.

“Ok dad, let’s get out of here”, Damien said.

The next day, Damien and his father went to have dinner in a restaurant in Hollywood Boulevard. Damien’s father planned this dinner to apologize to his son for living that secret life and for being very strict with him. Also, he apologized for 363

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doing everything he told Damien not to do. He told Damien that he retired from the Russian mafia and Vladimir is the new leader, he sold the night club and he wanted to help Damien to live a normal life. Damien forgave his father and decided to stop gambling and went back to study at UCLA. They both wanted to have a new life and be very united.

RISE WITH SELF LOVE Written By Manuela Ochoa Lรณpez 365

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I

know you don’t know me, but let me tell you the story of when I overcome one of the biggest problems a teenager could face in their life. It all started on the first day of sixth grade, I was just starting my life as a high school student, I was feeling really eager even from the night before, because I spent all the night just moving around and thinking about it, in other words, I didn’t have any sleep at all, I didn’t know what to expect as a high school student. I couldn’t believe, I had made it to sixth grade, now, I could see myself as a grownup woman, even though I was just twelve years old girl. Little did I know that my life was heading into a milestone with no return, that day my life would change and take a 360° turn.

The day began as a usual day for a student, I woke up about five-thirty in the morning because at that time the bus used to pick me up at six- forty and I wasn’t very good at being on time, most of the time the bus had to wait for about five minutes because I didn’t wake up on time or I wasn’t ready, but this time was different; I woke up as soon as my alarm went off, I even organized my bed, which is something I never did. I rushed into the bathroom so that I could take a long bath to pamper myself and calm my nerves, as the water fills the tub with hot water, the only thing that went through my mind was the thought of how people would look at me, I wanted to give a good impression to the older students because I wanted to be popular, I wanted to be their friends because you were considered popular or cool if older students spoke to you.

Thirty minutes had passed since I got to the bathroom, I know that because my brother was knocking on the door, meaning he just woke up and wanted to use the bathroom, most of the times he wakes up about six a.m to go to school, he doesn’t need much time to get ready. As I went out of the bathroom towards my room, my brother stopped me and told me;

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“Why did you take so long in the bathroom?” And I told him with a big smile on my face; “I want to look and feel my best so that I can impress the older students, so they will like to be my friends.”

My brother looked at me with a face of disappointment and told me; “Why would you like to be their friends...if you have to change for them to like you? If you want to look and feel good, just do it for you, not for anyone else.”

I didn’t tell him anything, I just walked past him and went straight to my room so that I could get ready for school. As I was getting ready, I looked for my newest uniform because it had been fixed up so that my body would look a little thinner and that my imperfections wouldn’t show up; my skirt wasn’t too long or too short, it was just perfect so that it could hide my thick thigh and my pale legs, my shirt was big enough so that my fat rolls didn’t show or that they marked, my shoes were some white converse because they were trending at the time.

When the bus arrived I decided not to sit down with my brother, which we had been doing since we both were in school, I wanted to sit in the back of the bus with my best friend Samantha because I didn’t want to sit alone for the first time and at the back of the bus it was where the older students sit. Samantha has been my best friend since we were born because our parents have been best friends since college, so we have done everything together, from birthday parties to just having lunch at each other’s houses, however, you could say that she is the complete opposite of me; she has long dark hair, big brown eyes, a very thin face, a beautiful tanned skin color, some long legs, and a gorgeous body. When we arrived at school, we needed to pass by the main stairs, which would lead us to the main hall because all the classrooms were connected by the main hall, as we passed by I was able to see that 367

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the older students were looking and talking about me, they couldn’t take their eyes off me, at the beginning I thought they were looking at me because I looked good, but little did I know I was lying to myself, I lowered my head and the smile I had was erased, Samantha noticed it and she told me: “What happened? “ And I said; “Nothing, I was just thinking about how tall everyone looks, even the girls are super tall.”

Even though I just told Samantha that it was nothing, I knew that the older students were making fun of me because they were laughing and pointing at me. My mind began to fill up with insecurities.

In the end, she told me; “Ok, let’s go, we are going to be late for class.”

I nodded, keeping a low view and following her to class.

Since that day, I felt more insecure about myself each day.

Time began to pass and my insecurities kept growing, but the day that broke me down and left me in tears was Samantha’s birthday when I heard my crush and a group of people saying to my best friend; “Who would like to be with someone like Olivia, she is fat, ugly and has no friends. I want to be with someone like you, beautiful, with a nice body, and as popular as I am.” My crush said mockingly.

“We don’t even know why she is your friend, she is nothing compared to you, you should be with people that are just like you, people like us.”

Samantha didn’t say anything, she kept herself quiet and just walked away. She didn’t notice that I was listening, so I backed away and took my phone to call my father so that he would pick me up and take me home, I didn’t want to be there, I wanted to be alone. When I arrived home I went directly to my room, I started to cry, I felt that the only way to kill this 368

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pain was to kill myself, so I took five pills, fortunately, I didn’t take enough to kill myself. A week passed since Samantha’s birthday, I haven’t attended school since that day, I wasn’t ready to face anyone, I felt unstable and weak.

One morning my mother told me that I had a visit, it was Samantha. She came with a basket full of my favorite candy, even my favorite coffee, she did know me so well. She sat on my bed and told me; “I’ve missed you all these days that you haven’t gone to school. I’ve been worried about you, you haven’t answered my text, what’s going on?.”

I didn’t say anything, I couldn’t even look at her, my eyes were full of tears. Because of that awkward silence, I told her; “I overheard what those boys said about me at your party” Her face changed, and I could see a lot of sadness behind her eyes, I could tell that she wanted to apologize and with tears running down my cheeks, I told her; “You don’t know what it feels like to be ugly and fat...so ugly that you have to use makeup every day to cover your acne scars, that you have to wear your cloth two sizes bigger so that you don’t look fat and so that your imperfections don’t show up. You have always been thin and beautiful, with perfect skin, people like you are loved by everyone and everyone would want to be your friends, you get invited into parties, lunches or just hang out, guys go crazy over you, they look at you as if you were a goddess and they look at me as if I was trash.”

Samantha took a deep breath and she asked me to look at her in the eyes, and with a sweet tone, she said; “I’m sorry, I should have told you about that, but honestly; I am not as perfect as you think I am, people only want to be my friends because of the way I look, not because of who I am, I would rather prefer to have you, as my real friend than a bunch of fake friends. You don’t need to have friends like those

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guys, you just need to learn how to cherish yourself and I’m here to help you learn how to love yourself.

We hugged and since that day Samantha has helped me overcome all my insecurities, she has left behind all the fake friends that only caused her pain and made her doubt if she was worth having as a friend for who she really is.

Six years have passed since my first day as a high school student, today was my last day of high school, this day started as a usual day with some slight changes, I woke up as soon as my alarm went off, I took my thirty minutes bath, but this time when I was getting ready I was able to look at myself in the mirror, took a deep breath and just smiled at myself.

THE COW MASSACRE Written by Daniel Osorio Cรกrdenas 371

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D

ubhan was sitting still in the central park of Distracción, a small and insignificant town in the low Guajira. It was hot midday in the spring of 2000, and Dubhan was thinking about the plans for his future. He was not prepared for this moment of his life, as he had only planned his activities until December 31st of the previous year. Dubhan had predicted the end of the world to come on that same date, as he interpreted in one of his recurrent dreams.

Dubhan is the grandson of an extinct indigenous tribe leader. His soft mated black hair contrasts with his monolid eye, which is always hidden in the big cheeks of his rounded face. His straight, voluminous eyebrows expose his real mood.

He tends to look high but he’s just shy and tired the whole day, like everyone living in the infernal coastal heat.

His grandfather had taught him years ago the millennial secret for predicting future events by interpreting dreams. He was an old crummy man, with a wrinkled face like a mountain chain. Dubhan couldn’t think of how his grandpa was able to recognize him in the distance, because his eyes had shrinkled at the rhythm of the passing years. He started obligating Dubhan to have a book by his bed so that when he woke up he could instantly write what he had dreamed.

Dubhan was only 13 years old, he was too young to understand the power of the oneirology. When he woke up each morning at 10 am, the last thing he would think about would be to write something in his dream-diary. And when he occasionally remembered to write them down, he was too shy to write about how he dated the prettiest girl in his school, not because this would’ve made his grandpa notice his self-esteem problems in the recess hours, but because those dates with his platonic love were almost wet-dreams.

One day his grandpa asked: “Dubhan, did you really dream about killing all the cattle 372

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to sue the State for being a victim of the armed conflict and try to get compensation?”

His grandpa talked with this hoarse voice you have when you press your abdomen breathing out all the air you have in your lungs and try to talk. This made things difficult for Dubhan as he couldn’t notice if he was talking seriously, or if he was angry, or if he was mocking, or even if he was really dying at that same moment.

“I just write things in the morning unconsciously.”

Dubhan fears many things; and one of them, ironically, is fear itself. He hates that feeling of uncertainty, so he just answers as fast as he can to relieve the pressure. If he had just told the truth about being unable to write down his dreams he would have saved all the work of writing in his dream-diary all the news he heard in the local radio to satisfy his grandpa’s expectations. He did this daily, he sat next to the radio and just transcripted what he heard, he sometimes changed some characters with people he knew in real life to make it more believable.

“This is the best idea I’ve heard in decades.”

This time Dubhan couldn’t even distinguish what his grandpa said, so he just ignored him and re-filled his yagé cup and left.

The next day, Dubhan woke up in his house at Distracción. It was 10 a.m., he went to the backyard for some fresh milk and found all the cattle massacred, pilled up in the middle of the courtyard. In the middle of his waking-up-unconsciousness, he found that one middle-aged cow was still standing. He approached the cow fastly and stretched the cows’ udders right in the middle. He filled the old bucket just to the middle and left.

While leaving, Dubhan thought on who could’ve been so stupid to leave the cattle with one cow standing alive.

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Dubhan was really clever. He instantly noticed that he was doing exactly the same, so he returned abruptly and killed the last cow standing. This event would be called later “The Cow Massacre”, illogic and unique like everything that happens in Distracción.

Dubhan knew the next step to follow, he had to sue the State. His grandpa gave him some money and he took the last bus before lunch straight to the central park of Distracción. He passed by the bench where he would think in the future about his plans for the future and entered the police station. A little police officer received him: “Problems involving tribes or any other nonsense can be dismissed at the other side of the park.”

“I need to report a massacre that happened just today,” said Dubhan.

The policeman didn’t even flinch.

“How many casualties?” asked the little officer while heating a cigar. Ignoring that this could cost millions to the government (or at least that’s what Dubhan and his grandpa expected).

“Seventeen cows, five pigs, twenty chickens, and one cow.”

“Unbelievable!” said the dwarf cowboy, with the sarcastic tone disguising that he didn’t care at all.

They proceeded to fill all the papers concerning the massacre. Dubhan was first asked to tell the storyline of the events; he started writing that he woke up at 10 am as normal but was unable to write more as he was still feeling sleepy. So he just wrote that the massacre was executed by the insurgent groups of the borderline with Venezuela and left the details blank.

Unfortunately, his request couldn’t be submitted, not because he left it blank but because they couldn’t find Dubhan Gómez in their database. There were only three Dubhans 374

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registered in the nation; one of them was a photographer, the other was a bus driver, and the last one disappeared 8 years ago in unknown circumstances. They proceeded to take each of Dubhan’s fingers and daubing them with black ink to do the famous fingerprint recognition.

Suddenly the whole police station began to laugh indiscriminately, everyone laughed except for Dubhan. It was as if there was a gas of laughter to which Dubhan was completely immune. In the middle of the tremendous noise of almost forty police officers laughing, Dubhan was able to detect the source of laughter. It was an old screen in a room with a hard smell of sweat and hot as hell. The screen had a picture of Dubhan’s face, but this was not the reason for the chaos that was occurring around him. Everyone was laughing because the name that appeared in Dubhan’s birth registry was AlkaSeltzer Jajariju.

Humiliated, Dubhan continued to look on the database, found out that his father (which he never met) was registered as Tarzan Jajariju, and his grandpa appeared as Jhon F. Kennedy Jajariju. They were all born on the 31st of December, and their birth registries had a footnote saying “Expresses not having any signature”.

Dubhan returned to his house in the woods. He felt betrayed. He looked for his grandpa, but couldn’t find him. The next day his grandpa was still lost. Dubhan got up of bed at 10 am, went to the backyard and found the pile of ashes in the middle and a long dark cloud in the landscape. He went back to his bedroom and sat next to the radio. That day he copied breaking news from the local radio which was about a scandal in the national birth registry, and copied another one about an old man being interned in the mental asylum of Distracción because he proclaimed himself the author of the fictional story “Cow Massacre.”

THE HAIRRAISING INCIDENT OF THREE FRIENDS IN EUROPE Written by Sofía Pacheco Peña 376

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T

he girls had never been so happy in their entire lives.

Simone had been the one to propose the idea of going on a trip with her best friends to her parents, and their parents decided to let them take this trip together under the condition that one of the moms would have to take care of them in Europe.

The girls had met in preschool when Simone moved to California from New York City and did not have any friends, but she luckily moved into a house that was next to Alyssa’s house who lived across from Dorothy. The parents of the girls made a little gathering for them to meet and be friends.

Since that day, they became neighbors, they also became best friends. They did everything together, even though they were very different. Simone had always been really calm because her parents were hippies and loved to hike, practice yoga and painting, so her life had always been very chill and peaceful.

She kept the relationship between Alyssa and Dorothy calmed because Alyssa was very restless and got mad very easily, she was short-tempered and would always get into trouble with the teachers or other students for being rude and impolite.

Dorothy, on the other hand, was very shy and worried a lot for every single thing (she had anxiety). She often had trouble participating in public situations, but she felt comfortable around her two best friends.

The idea of the trip started in French class when the girls were talking about how amazing would it be if they all travel together, so Alyssa took the lead and decided to ask her parents if they could all travel together. Simone’s mother decided to be the one who took care of them during the trip, and they spent the next three months preparing for their new adventure. They were going to travel during the summer, for one month, and visit France, Spain, Germany, and Italy. They

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were extremely excited for Italy and the night before their big trip they were discussing what they expected from it; “Oh my god guys I can’t believe we’re actually going to go see the Eiffel Tower,” said Alyssa, who was completely obsessed with photography and dreamed of all the pictures they would take and post in social media.

“Yea, just think about all the new experiences we’ll be able to see. I can’t wait for Italy” Dorothy said as she packed her headphones for the flight.

The next morning after a 15-hour flight, they arrived at their first destination, Spain. The next few weeks were like a blur, they were spent walking, catching tours, eating and visiting museums and parks.

After their first stop, they arrived in Italy and decided to take a road trip to Florence. Simone’s mother asked a person she found in the lobby of the hotel if he could find someone to drive them around the countryside of different Italian cities to get to Florence, the man responded; “Sì, signora.”

A few moments later; the man returned and confirmed to her, that the driver was waiting outside in the van. Once they were picked up from the hotel, the girls fell asleep in the car because they were exhausted. They didn’t feel when the car stopped at a gas station and they didn’t hear when the mother got out to buy waters and snacks, and they definitely didn’t feel when the car engine started up again while the mother was still inside the little store.

Once the driver got back into the highway, he started going very fast and started dialing his flip phone. He said: “Hey boss, I’ve got three fresh ones” there was a pause in his voice “Yes, boss, they’re young and pretty, they’ll be great on the market” He listened for a while longer and then said goodbye.

At this moment, Alyssa opened an eye and saw that the car 378

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was going very fast. She started to look around, trying to make sense of the situation but she realized that something was off and that Simone’s mother was missing. She immediately panicked. In the car, there was a protective glass “window” that separated the driver from the passengers so the driver could not hear the girls at all. Alyssa slowly got up and woke up Simone, being careful that she wouldn’t make any sudden movements that the driver might see in the mirror.

Simone got up and saw the same problem that Alyssa had detected. They both quietly woke up Dorothy and they all got up, they were all looking at the empty passenger seat, with a demented and strain looked in their faces. Out of the window, the road was almost utterly empty, there were no other cars or people to see them. They quickly started to panic, except for Simone who wasn’t very worried about it.

Alyssa and Dorothy knocked on the glass window and said, shaking but loudly for the drive to listen; “Um sir, where is Simone’s mom?”

The driver jumped with surprise and said: “Jesus Christ!

You scared me to death… you’ll never see your mom again!”

The girls were confused and said with tears in their eyes; “What do you mean?”

The driver wiped his sweaty forehead and said; “You belong to me now, and the company” “What company?” Dorothy asked softly and confused.

The man answered; “What do you think? shut up and let me drive” The girls gasped and started to cry. After a while of crying softly and sitting in shock, Simone calmly asked the driver: “Where are we going?”

The driver turned once again and said “We are going to Florence. Now be quiet!”

Simone turned to the two girls, and Alyssa quietly 379

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whispered; “Girls we have to get out of this car, like right now…” They were silent for a little while.

After the girls started to assimilate the situation, they decided to break the glass with one of their metal thermoses, and then choke the driver until he stopped the car. They put their plan into action, Alyssa grabbed her thermos and smashed the glass with all her forces, using her elbow to break any glass left.

Instantly, the driver turned and yelled: “HEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOI...”

He stepped out of the car and turned around to go open the van, and the girls took the opportunity, Dorothy passed through the window sea, from the passenger seat to the driver seat, and she automatically locked all the doors of the cars, and while was shouting from outside, asking the girls to open the door or he was going to kill them, Dorothy started the car and reversed it very fast and when they were far away from the drive, she turned it around and drive back in the city, Alyssa was crying and holding her bleeding elbow, so Simone helped her wrap it in a shirt so it wouldn’t bleed any longer.

Simone called her mom immediately, and she told her that she was worried sick, Simone told her that they were kidnapped but they managed to escape, and Simone’s mom asked her not to trust anyone, but to dump the car in the nearest gas station and find a place to hide, as they could have possibly been followed by the same guys who wanted to kidnap them.

They were all shaking and were silent until they reached a gas station. Dorothy pulled into the driveway and almost hit a stop sign, but managed to stay in lane. They all jumped out of the car.

Dorothy had cuts on her legs and arms from going through the broken glass separator. Alyssa had cut into her elbow 380

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deeply, and her legs were also cut from the glass. They found a big truck parked on the side of the store, and they all decided to go hide behind the while the wait for Simone’s mother to pick them up. While this was happening, the three girls started remembering their trip all over Europe, all the things they have seen, all the people they have met, and how much fun they had had and they were very sad and shocked that it had to end in such a cruel way.

Meanwhile, in the phone, Simone’s mom was still extremely worried and crying, she asked where they were and said that she had called the police and planned to meet up with the girls in the gas station; luckily, the police arrived with Simone’s mother before anyone else noticed where they were hiding. Between tears and relief, the girls told the mother what had happened, the mother almost fainted. Simone’s mom was accompanied by the authorities which later went to inspect the van and they followed the tracks to find the man, behind this kidnapping attack, and he was later found in the same spot where they left him.

The kidnapper turned out to be a human sex trafficker for the last four years, he occasionally kidnaped and raped younger victims. After hearing this, all three girls and the mother turned into tears. The girls decided that they would not let this ruin their trip, and they considered themself survivors of human trafficking. They would spread the word and let the world get to know their story. Since that day, the girls discovered their strengths and capacities and realize that when the three of them are together, nothing could stop them.

DEATH IS DARK AS A SHADOW

Written By Santiago Ramos Berrio 382

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K

airos always said, “they say once you have conquered being alone, you are ready for the company of others, but those are just words, in real-life; everyone else life’s journey is separated from my own”.

A phrase that sooner or later would become his irreparable destiny, a thought that changed a lonely Friday midnight of November the third in the year 2035 at Fortune Valley. His life shifted forever, but his written destiny was chained to his empty shadow.

It all started three days, three hours and three minutes ago in Fortune Valley, specifically in Kairos time-travel laboratories, called Kaboratories, he would have never thought that this place, his most beloved one, will bring him his biggest disgrace. In Kaboratories the unthinkable was created, it was a huge glass building that could almost touch the sky, it was so modern that doors, lights, and computers turned on with the click of fingers, everything was made out of crystal, people couldn’t differentiate if there were inside or out of the building because of the optic illusion that the transparent crystal made to the eye, people were afraid of entering because of the sensation that they were going to fall through, due to the amazing transparency floor surfaces replaced with glass. Hence, most of the workers were programmed robots except for Akira, the only human being he trusted because she had signed a full Confidential Disclosure Agreement.

Fortune Valley, was a place were technological advances emerged, in this new era, robots replaced jobs considered unnecessary and devalued by society, the following were some ads that robot stores had at the time “40% of discount for the last housekeeper out in the market, she can cook, clean your floors, make your bed and even take care of your children. Don’t miss this opportunity! If you do, you will regret it” or “the Fixer, essential for whenever you need help to fix a lamp, your refrigerator, or your 383

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washing machine! If you don’t have one. What are you doing in 2035?” Robots became so common, that you could see more robot stores than grocery markets in the neighborhood.

Everything became so artificial that trees consisted of green led light, children went to lakes not to refresh themselves as they once used to, but to make sandcastles with their aluminum nannies. Funny but true, these robotic nannies were so developed, made with such precision and adapted so well to real humans, that children loved them more than their real parents which appear to be more robotic than the nannies they bought. An era where human beings were a product of a dysfunctional world which wasn’t about the invention of robots, but about the robotization of humans, to the point that TV’s ads and propaganda said: “caring for others will lead to your ruin, being selfish and self-centered will add many more zeros to your bank accounts”.

Kairos was a 32 years old man, his hair was short and spiky and seemed like it was made out of a very dark carbon, very different from his blue crystal eyes, which were so clear that you could almost see his nonexistent soul if you look through them. A strange but desirable beauty exuded from his pores, which doctors, technology, and blood test will later epilogue a chain of mystery. As perfect as he seemed from the outside, as rotten as he was on the inside, Kairos, was a person to be far away from, his cruelty and supercilious mind were on another level, human people who worked with him except Akira, fear him.

Akira was Kairos’ right hand and his most trusted person.

It could sound ironic because Kairos didn’t trust anyone. Akira was one of the most brilliant and valuable minds in the entire universe. She had a master’s in quantum physics and Astromechanical engineering, specialization in time alteration and

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space fluctuation, and finally, a Ph.D. in time-travel engineering and physics applied to time-travel.

One day, November the third, in an alley called Ending Street in front of Kaboratories, Kairo’s eyes were wide open and a hurricane of emotions was running through his veins, he would have never had imagined that something like this would have happened in his life, nothing else mattered at this moment, even though fear became a monster who was eating every piece of his glacier soul. He felt as if time had been paused. A decision had to be made but it took him a while to make the final call. Before he would notice, he was stabbed by a knife, the body fell to the ground and an irreparable destiny was just unleashed.

Seventy-five hours and three minutes before, things hadn’t been going well for Kairo’s as it normally does at work in the mercurial Fortune Valley at Kaboratories because he was going to test his precious baby, and his most valuable and secret project, the tenth prototype of his time-travel machine, only himself and Akira knew about his experiment that was happening in the fifteen floors underground, in the basement where the machine was kept. Akira and Kairos had worked for this machine for the past nine years and every one of these years, they’ve created a new prototype but none of them had led to any success, but this tenth year, they were very confident, that with the outbreak of technological developments the time-travel machine would work for the first time. He was convinced that his hard work and passion will be shown to the world.

“Good morning Robotina, hope everything is going as well as always” Kairos broke the astonishing silence in the workroom, like every morning.

“Everything is good, master. Marching as planned”, said Robotina, with her artificial and peculiar robotic voice.

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“Is everything ready for today’s test?” Asked Kairos with his deep voice.

“Not really, master” answered Robotina.

“Why do you say this Robotina?” He asked.

“Well master, is that Remy, the human that was going to be used as a guinea pig, died three hours and five minutes ago.

So there is nobody else to do a trial with” said Robotina with her exact memorization of time.

“Are you for real? Why did he have to die precisely on the day of the trial?” Shouted Kairos at Robotina.

“The news only said that he died, the cause of death is unknown and as you know facts are facts and he is dead,” said the robot.

“This can’t be happening, you useless piece of garbage junk. Do I have to do everything so that things can work!” said Kairos so angry that he could eat someone alive.

“Well if you say so master, it shall be done,” said Robotina.

“Well I was going to say that it was a sarcastic comment, but thinking it well. Who will be better than me to be the first person in history to experience time travel? I’ll be the one sitting in that freaking machine, and you sad and incapable plebs will watch how I become the most important man in history” said Kairos with confidence and he added; “Let’s do it Akira.”

Akira shouted, from across the room; “Alright Kairos, I’ll go to prepare the machine so that everything can go as planned” “Make it fast Akira, we’ve already lost a lot of time talking about silliness,” said Kairos with a calm shift in his voice.

“I’m doing it as fast as I can” answered Akira.

It took about five hours for the accurate preparation of the machine to be intact, all the fluids needed to be in their correct position, for the machine to be able to disintegrate matter, and conserved in nano cellular size, so it could travel 386

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through time waves across history to the period desired. The machine was huge, the room where it was placed was about twenty-seven meters, by twenty-seven meters, which in total summed up to seven hundred, twenty-nine square meters, it was made out of copper, with a plastic cover over them so that energy was isolated and concentrated just in the nucleus of the machine because the proportions of the energy needed were previously established by Kairos and Akira in the central system of the machine.

“Everything is set right now Kairos,” said Akira in the middle of a hesitated breath because of the tedious work that takes preparing the machine.

“Alright Akira I’ll be there in a moment,” said Kairos, who immediately put his suit made especially for time travel and decedent fifteen floors to get to the lobby and another, fifteen floors to get to the basement. Where Akira was ready to start the trial.

“Kairos, are you a hundred percent sure that you are ready to do this?” asked Akira very nervous.

“I am a hundred and three percent sure Akira. Let’s shut up and begin the trial” said Kairos almost angry.

“Fine! but you don’t have to talk to me like that. I am just worried about the outcome of all this” said Akira.

“I know Akira, but this must be done, it’s our most important project and our entire reputation is on the line” exclaimed Kairos.

Therefore Kairos sat in the middle of the machine, and Akira made the usual count for the operation trial start and she said “operation starting in five, four, three, two, one” immediately Akira stopped the countdown Kairos fainted and passed out for three minutes and three seconds and while asleep, a voice in his head talked to him. When he woke up, he asked Akira; 387

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“Did you talk to me?” said Kairos waking up dizzy from the trial.

“No Kairos, I didn’t. I am sorry to say this, but we failed again” said Akira in her sad tone.

“Another failure? What are we missing Akira?” said Kairos at the edge of madness.

After he said this, he broke the whole machine, leaving it like a pile of junk in a solitary basement. Thus, he left the building, with his black coal head smocking of anger, he arrived at his house around nine pm. He threw away his briefcase and went to sleep wishing that day have never exist.

“Kairos wake up, you’re late for work. Don’t give up on your dreams, or are you a failure?” said a soft mysterious voice that woke Kairos immediately in a cold late morning of November the first.

“Who the hell is this?” asked Kairos.

“Look down to the floor,” said the voice.

When Kairos did this he saw that his shadow was talking to him, for Kairos this wasn’t normal, he firmly believed that he didn’t have any mental disease. The only logical explanation that he could give to this annoying voice was that he was having PTSD from the time-travel machine trial. To avoid what was happening, he took a bottle of sleeping pills and was knocked to the ground. But before doing this the shadow said.

“Even though you try to run away from me, I will come again, be careful Kairos. You’re much smarter than this” After hearing that; (Kairos fell asleep until the next day) “I’m back Kairos,” said the shadow, which felt like a hurricane inside Kairo’s head.

“You again? This can not be freaking real” shouted Kairos.

“Well it is, and I am very real, you are going through the wrong path, you will be responsible. Remember this, you will 388

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be responsible!” shouted the vociferous shadow, tearing up Kairos’ mind.

“You are not real and this is not happening, I’m sure that this might be a nightmare while I am asleep because of the pills I took,” said Kairos to the echoic room.

“Be sure I am. Remember this, you will be responsible” said the terrific voice.

When he woke up the next day, Kairos tried to clear his mind phone which was a virtual screen attached to the palm of his hand, and he saw that Akira had called him about thirty-three times, she was worried because it wasn’t normal for Kairos to be missing to work for that long. Kairos ignored the thirty-three calls, drank a glass of water and went to bed to sleep again, his mind was tired not only because of the sleeping pills but because he had in his mind the voice constantly repeating “remember this, you will be responsible” which drove him crazy.

November the third, less than seventeen hours left, before the incident, Kairo was awoken again by the anonymous voice in his head.

“Wake up Kairos, don’t be lazy, you have to work at least, you piece of trash,” said the annoying shadow waking Karios again.

“I am tired of you. Who are you? What do you look like?

I can’t understand what is happening” screamed Kairos to the empty air.

“Soon you’ll know. But remember this, you will be responsible” said the voice again.

That morning Kairos went to his work, as usual, pretending and trying to ignore the voice.

“Good morning Robotina” Kairos broke the astonishing silence in the workroom, as usual.

“Everything is a good master” replied Robotina.

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“What a piece of garbage over there,” said Kairos’ shadow.

Kairos turned around and shouted, “shut up, leave me alone” “Are you okay?” said Robotina and shouted Akira from across the room.

“Yes. Everything is fine” said Kairos calmly.

The day was alright and although the shadow teased Kairos constantly, he manages to keep with his day, until it was almost eleven pm in the night, which was the usual time Kairos left the office because he liked to close the building himself, the shadow said something that was the tip of the iceberg and it was. “You will never achieve time-travel in your life” When he heard that, It broke Kairos into a billion pieces and yelled.

“Who in the name of physics are you? I’m tired of having to deal with this. I swear that I will stab my knife to your heart for driving me to the edge of craziness. If you don’t stop I will stop it myself.”

“Do you mean what you are saying?” asked the shadow with a peaceful voice.

“Yes I sure do” replied Kairos.

After this, the voice disappeared, so Kairos thought it was gone, he descended the fifteen floors to the lobby then he went out of the building for his car but he felt someone was following him, immediately he thought of the shadow, then he turned around and saw a shape very similar to his body.

Kairos found himself standing still at Ending Street in front of his shadow, Kairos eyes were wide open and a hurricane of emotions was running through his veins, as he promised he was determined to kill the shadow, everything happened so fast that three minutes were enough to take out a small knife from his blazer inner pocket and stabbed the shadow in the 390

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heart, and the shadow last words were: “you will always be responsible, because your destiny is bond...” before he could end, the shadow fell to the ground. Because of intrigue, Kairos tried to reach it but it was already gone.

Immediately after this night Kairos changed radically, he erased those three minutes immediately and the next day, he was kinder to everyone, he cared about others and had respect for everyone, a true change in Kairos was shown.

Three days have passed after the night he killed the shadow and Kairos was closer than ever to finding the key to time travel, but his destiny had already been unleashed and exactly the morning after the third day, Fortune Valley was flooded of news with this headline “Kairos, the billionaire entrepreneur, owner of Kaboratarios, and technological developments pioneer was found dead earlier this morning next to his car in front of his laboratories with a knife stabbed to his heart, forensics experts said it was a case of suicide and footage from the invisible cameras put in the building glass walls show he was shouting very mad to the empty air”. Because death is dark as a shadow.

THOSE OCEAN EYES Written by Sofía Riascos González 392

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A

na was completely lost. The shapes and figures she was witnessing made no resemblance to anything her ocean eyes had ever seen in her 30 years of life. Ana started to walk around that unknown place, everywhere she looked seemed like a fantasy. This place was so magical that it could be described as a medieval castle, with long cream columns and tremendously large gardens filled with tulips and sunflowers.

As Ana walked around she started to feel peace under her skin, she felt a kind of happiness that overloaded her body. Ana continued to walk around the castle and entered as many rooms as she could. Every one of them surprised her even more. One room was like an extravagant hotel lobby, the other was hut by the sea and no time or common world space could be distinguished inside that castle.

After a few moments, Ana decided to go inside a wideopen room but rarely seemed as if it called her with fear and anguish. The moment in which Ana entered that mysterious room her mindset was changed, what she saw standing in front of her made her jaw drop. Ana could not believe her eyes.

Matthias, her husband, was standing right in front of her, looking down at her with love and a melancholic feeling that confused her deeply. Matthias stared at her without blinking, but both eyes didn’t cross paths. Ana blinked again and saw that Matthias was still staring at her, but what he stared at was only her body which was laying down with its eyes closed in a hospital bed with extremely low pulsations and on the verge of going down forever. At that moment Ana realized that her body had been separated from her soul. Her physical self was injured, it seemed like she could be going through a lot of pain, but her soul and where her conscience was located at that moment, felt perfectly right. After a few moments, Ana decided to try and reach out to Matthias, she wanted to let him know that despite everything, she was okay, although her 393

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soul could move around, her voice was not able to reach the plane in which Matthias was settled, it was like an invisible barrier separated his world from hers.

Ana went into desperation, she could not understand anything that was going on. In one of her many attempts to touch, talk, or feel Matthias, she heard a whisper. Ana held onto that whisper as hard as she could and that whisper turned into a real voice, Matthias’ voice. Then that voice turned into two, because when she blinked a very young doctor entered the room. Ana heard Sabrina, the doctor, say to Matthias “ I believe I must inform you that this is not looking good. Sir, your wife has contained an infection we have never seen before, every single drug we have tried has made no advance in her condition. This medicine is only making her worst” and Matthias answered; “Sabrina, please help me here, I am desperate, I can’t lose her, if there is absolutely anything you can try, please do.” and Sabrina answered; “Well there is one thing, but it has not been tested before. You need to know that if we proceed with this special treatment the possibility of its success is rare and if it fails her body will have to be euthanized or else, I’ll be fired.” and Matthias answered; “I don’t care, tell me about it. I am willing to try anything” At the moment in which Sabrina was going to open her mouth to explain to Matthias this procedure, Ana lost that connection she had made with the real world. She tried as hard as her body allowed her but she couldn’t understand what came out of these people’s mouths. With a surowy feeling, Ana walked outside that room into one of the castle’s beautiful gardens. As she walked, trying to calm herself with the warm weather and beautiful sunlight, she saw in the distance a woman wearing an extravagant green hat, which made her look like an elf. She was standing beside a water fountain. Ana could not see that woman’s face, but something dragged her 394

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closer. When she got close enough that mysterious woman turned around and Ana almost passed out, that woman was her mother. Ana’s mom passed away over 10 years ago, so it was the first time they could see each other. Ana bursted into tears and said “Mom how can this be happening, I don’t get it, you are supposed to be dead” and Ana’s mom answered, “I don’t know honey, just trust your instincts.”

Ana and her mother started to walk around the castle while they talked about practically everything her mom had missed during those long years. A few hours went by and these two women found themselves in the only obscure place from that ginormous castle. It was a tunnel. One side guided to another beautiful garden and the other to endless and frightful darkness. Ana and her mom stood right in the middle and faced each other. Ana was very confused and asked where they were, and her mom answered; “Come on honey, walk with me to the light, you will love it there, I promise.”

Ana trusted her mother with her life, so she did not doubt for a second to follow her anywhere. As both of them walked closer to the light, Ana heard whispers that got louder with every step. She could not understand what the whispers said, but with the distance, those whispers turned into voices and when she was going to take the last step and reach the garden the murmurs screamed; “Ana! don’t take any more steps please, turn around, look at me” Ana’s mom told her not to turn around, that those voices were just trying to distract her from finding true happiness. Ana stopped walking and turned around but the darkness of the tunnels made it impossible to see anything, so she took a step closer to the blackness. With each step, the voice became clearer and clearer until she realized it was Matthias screaming at her with all his heart.

Sabrina entered the hospital room that day and checked Ana’s vital signs. She said the patient had never been weaker 395

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and that there was only one more thing they could try. She warned him that it was very rare, but if he believed enough in the power of love, it could succeed. Sabrina moved closer to Matthias and told him to grab Ana’s hand and to talk to her.

She said he had to believe that Ana was listening. Each time Matthias pronounced a phrase Ana’s pulse got softer. Sabrina begged him to try harder and said; “Matthias, this is a life or death moment, believe me. This spiritual calling is our last resort, is the help that traditional medicine needs. If this fails, Ana must be disconnected from everything. These are new drugs, so if they don’t work they must never be seen or heard from anyone, anymore. Please do your best. Focus...Matthias... focus! Try to show her how much you love her and how much you love each other. Love is the only tool that is powerful enough to bring her back. This is it, Matthias, you just have to believe it. Hold her hand tighter.”

Ana’s mom appeared back in the picture and said; “Ana sweetie, I’m your mother, come with me. There is no other bond like family. Let yourself go from your old life and walk with me to the light.” Ana took a step closer to her mother.

Matthias could not give up and started shouting “ Ana, please.

Don’t leave me. I love you more than words could ever explain.

Your life is not supposed to end like that. We have yet so much to discover together.”

“Come on sweetie, you know this is what you have to do” spoke Ana’s mom peacefully.

Ana took a deep breath and reached her mother’s arms.

She held her as tight as she could and when she inhaled her last breath before she was consumed completely by the light, she pushed herself away from her mom. Ana screamed; “who are you? You are not my mother. When I hugged you, you did not smell like her. You are not her. What are you trying to do?’’

At that moment the soul pretending to be her mother 396

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bursted into an explosion of lightning and consumed itself.

Ana was extremely confused about what had just happened and could not help herself. She just cried hopelessly.

A few minutes later, her depressedly consumed head, heard a voice, it was Matthias again. He screamed; “it’s alright Ana. that was not your mom, it was somebody trying to guide you to paradise, but you are not quite ready to conquer that land yet. Come home, your life must not be over yet.” Ana walked softly towards the darkness.

The heart monitor started to slow down. Matthias held his wife’s hand, closed his eyes, and kissed her on the forehead with all the love in the world. When he opened his eyes, he saw two lids come together and instantly fall apart, a tear of happiness came out of those beautiful ocean eyes. She was back.

MAKE A MISTAKE TO LEARN FORGIVE TO BE FORGIVEN Written By Juan José Rodríguez Bedoya 398

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I

t’s Monday at six am and I started the same routine as always. I woke up, to take a shower, eat breakfast, and finally take the bus to school. When I arrived at my school it also was the same as every day. My friends told me “Hi” and talked about the different things we did on the weekend, adventures, go to the casino, to alfredo’s house, experiences with girls and a lot more. But the real reason why I like to go to school is my girlfriend.

She was the main reason for almost everything in my life.

I knew her from when she was just a little girl and since the first day, I knew that she would be my future girlfriend. Her name was Eugenia, she was beautiful, respectful humble, and the kind of person that always sees the good aspects of the people that are around her. We had lovely memories in different ways and that was one of the main aspects why we were in love after four long years and the purpose of loving her each day more was one of my main priorities, and the reason why I smiled, why I am a good person and the thing that makes me conscious of my acts and help me in my life. And the only reason that was alright in my short life and the only factor that made me like Dimsdale, my city. Little did I know that none of these emotions were reciprocal or so I thought.

One regular day she started to become different. Our beautiful relationship was now gray. She didn’t like to spend time with me and our conversations were pretty simple. I was asking myself what the hell did I do wrong? After some months the bond was getting cooler and cooler. Finally, one weekend we hangout and the first thing my girlfriend told me was that she wanted to be alone but not because of me or another guy between us but because of herself. But Deep inside I knew that Eugenia was talking with another person but as a gentleman, I didn’t say a word, I kept my angry feelings deep in my heart. I was hurt, because, the person that I 399

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believe was the best in the world and that was almost perfect was not who I thought she was.

It was a dark time for me. The moment I realized that I was no longer in a relationship with her, I almost killed myself.

Well, I didn’t die but the feelings of sadness and depression were always present. I cried for weeks and I just couldn’t adapt to be without a girlfriend (we were together for four years) so when I went out to party I didn’t enjoy as much as the other people did or as I did before being with Eugenia.

In addition to these, my relationship with my parents was in bad terms. They punished me for every possible reason and they gave me a lot of pressure on different decisions that I needed to make about my future like in what university I was going to study and that I needed to study, study and only study to have a great grade in the state exam.

That’s why since that tragic day my mission was to finish school and then assist in a college in another country or city. I was not enjoying being in the city and I believe that my friends were betraying me and talking about bad things behind my back.

Finally, the last day of school arrived and I enjoyed a little the last moments I was going to have with friends from fourteen years ago until now. I took a lot of beautiful moments but the only one I erased utterly from my memories was Eugenia.

Nevertheless, I started the trip for my next adventure.

Karlovico the city that received me. Spectacular with a lot of culture and different traditions than the ones I had on Dimsdale. I was very excited, to begin with, this next chapter of my life and learned a lot of things. My new classmates were excellent my teacher’s pretty professionals and the most important thing I felt comfortable after a long long time. In university, I had a lot of adventures. One of them was my initiation to apply to a group of friends. I had to do a list of things, 400

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some very difficult and other ones that were a little disgusting or that I didn’t like.

A few days later, I met a girl at the university and we started to talk. Her face was beautiful, her voice was different, her eyes were like the sea. My heart started to feel the same way as I once felt for Eugenia. I started to date with this beautiful girl. Her name was Naomi and by her side, I felt excellent like ever before. She met my parents and they liked her. Thanks to Naomi my relationship with my family was getting better and I started to believe again in my friends and the people around me. The only thing that didn’t let me sleep was a nightmare in which Eugenia retired from her scholarly activities because she had drug problems. But every morning when I woke up I chilled up and realized that it was just a dream.

After five long years, I finally graduated and started to work there in Karlovico. I had a good job and all my things and happiness were in there with me. My relationship with Naomi was better than ever and because of these, I decided that I wanted to have a baby as soon as possible.

Everything was alright until one day I received a call from Dimsdale. It was Roberta a very close friend of mine. She told me that she needed to talk to me about something very important and that it needed to be private. At first, I thought that something might have happened to her so I told her that I was going to take the next flight back to Dimsdale and meet her in person.

When I landed back at Dimsdale I had a lot of feelings. My last memories in the city were not the ones I expected but I still remembered the good thing and experiences that I lived a few years ago. I met Roberta and we went to drink coffee in a good place in the north of the city.

I was very glad to see Roberta after a long time and we spoke about different aspects of our lives. About her family 401

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and mine and how she was doing at the local university. The hard time came when she finally told me why she needed to talk to me urgently. She told me that was that she was very scared because her good friend Eugenia had left the university and her house. After all, she was now a drug-addict.

Roberta thought that I was the only person that could talk to her out of it and make her return to her life and clean her organism was me.

Those words saddened me a lot because they brought back a lot of memories I had with her and a lot of experiences that we had together for a long time. Also, I was shocked by the notice. Because although by surprise, these events were familiar, As I had seen it in my dreams before, and finally that nightmare became a real situation that affected me a lot. I didn’t know what to answer to Roberta because I already had a new life in Karlovico, I had family and I was so in love with a very girl that principally made me happier than ever. I told her that I needed a few weeks to decide what to do.

After thinking a lot of what I should do and also what was better for me and my life I realized that even if I was having a great time with my girlfriend, family and friends in general and there a person that needed my help, it made me feel bad and sad at the same time, So I finally decided to help her and return the happiness to her life. A few weeks later, I searched for Eugenia to talk and make her feel better, I contacted her friends, her family, and everyone else who tell me anything helpful that I may use to find her. Finally, I found her and brought her into rehabilitation to free her from the bondage of drug abuse and alcoholism.

I started to visit her when she was recovering and we remembered the adventures that we had when we were younger in high school and I was glad that she was regaining her smile and skin looked better now.

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When she was finally fully recovered, I told her I was going to return to Karlovico to see my family and girlfriend. She told me that she thought, we were going to be together again. I told her that even if I love her a lot now I was focused on my family and my life but we could be good friends and she finally accepted and she thanked me a lot for everything I had done for her. After 2 years I called her and made her a proposal. I wanted her to be my son’s godmother. Eugenia loved the idea and until today she has been an excellent friend and the most importantly an excellent godmother.

WAR OF ART Written By Esteban Rosal Llano 404

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H

ere I am, in a particular place where finally the heat of the sun is essential for me. It is quite funny how time passes, how people change, and how everything in a nanosecond starts to lose its importance, obviously without counting the music. Because music for me is everything, it’s the only way I can connect with society, and with nature, and also how I can run away from hypocrisy. Two facts that are connected so directly that sometimes I realize my way of thinking is very strange. Society is bathed in hypocrisy and on the other hand society is part of nature. The only fact I can assure is that music is the essence of the world. Without music, every aspect would be different in a negative way. Music is the best way of escaping reality and is the antidote of boredness and despair.

The melody is what had kept me sane all these years in this huge and lonely place. I’ve been here for ten years and due to my blindness condition, I only knew almost a quarter of it.

Since I was born half-blind, people like me are isolated from others, not only for thinking differently but for being different. These years I had experienced many things. I had felt how my neighbors turn crazy, how the phrase “help me” turned into a creepy and at the same time incredible scream. It’s a sound of desperation for sure. I’ve never felt lonely, because in my childhood I never had friends, and making some was difficult work. My classmates bothered me every day, but it never really affected me; because no matter what horrible day I had, the end of the day was always beside my best friend, my piano. It wasn’t a huge piano or beautiful to the eyes of everyone, but the sentimental connection I had with it was impossible to describe.

I remember vividly, the first time I sat on my chair and start playing, and in a matter of seconds my soul was in another dimension, a world where music was everything, and blind people were seen to other as normal people. I can assure 405

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you that no moment in my life was and would be better than those. The way I had to describe my past could sound as if it was sad at all, but despite the horrible moments, it was quite good. My family loved me for sure, and they gave me the best gift someone could ever ask for, my piano. Also, they gave me my lovely name, Geralt of Rose, which I love, and makes me sound like an interesting guy or so I thought.

The kids of my school tried hard to make me sick about them, calling me a female, because my last name was Rose, which is insane. After all, a flower cannot determine your gender, and no one should be judged for his name. This school situation happened really when I was small in all terms.

I didn’t have self- esteem at all, and my physique did not radiate respect. This was a very important fact of my life, and because of these, I found my other passion, the other activity that makes me felt happy, secure, motivated, that no matter my blindness I was able to do everything like the others.

Time passed and I started to develop physically, I grew up a lot, I reached a height of 1,85 cm which is more than the average, my muscles began to look good and I even thought I had become a little bit attractive. The school situation stopped for good. I never really was an angry man, which means to respond in a violent way towards the ones that bothered me.

The way I earned my respect was thanks to the results of the gym and my testosterone. I know I am an impulsive person, and I could turn violent but only if people mess with music.

No one should mess with music. It is like to be disrespectful with nature because obviously music is everything.

People had a perception of me that I was a little bit weird because of my eyes, but I could assure you that everyone accepted that I had an incredible talent, which is playing the piano. I participated in all theater activities in school, or music activities and that was how others knew my skill.

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One day at school, something funny and yet incredible happened, which was that in the last year, when I was already developing and becoming very muscular, the girls started to show interest in me, talking to me and most of them wanted to hang out with me, based on my history at school, I didn’t understand why girls would be interested in a half-blind guy, with no friends, and no social life, because at the time, all I used to do was two things, play the piano, and fit training.

Nevertheless; those girls said that my talent was matchless, and also that my sensibility with music made me an interesting guy, which made me feel good in a society for the first time in my life.

Days went by, I devoted my time to practicing piano since I was inspired to become a memorable pianist, a master of music. The rest of social life wasn’t amongst my core interest in life, my only goal and objective were to become a better musician. That’s why some people thought that I was an unusual teenager because I lived in Rome, which is the best city for párting and hanging out with some friends, now, you might be wondering what happened next, if I was able to achieve my dream? or maybe If I was distracted by the fun life of Rome, Well, bear with me, I will tell you what happened next.

Everything started in Rome, Italy, when after a normal day at school, at the moment I arrived at my house I realized the table dinner was very beautiful and very organized. This only means one thing, that something good happened and is worthy of celebrating it. My parents were never very special, so when this kind of thing happened was for sure something big. The three of us sat on the table and they had a happy face. They went directly to the point. We know that you had worked and practice a lot for your dreams, and rewards start arriving. They told me that I had been invited to perform in

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a very important concert of classical music in the city, and I couldn’t be happier.

The truth is that I always had clear that hard work brings always rewards so I never felt stressed for not being recompense with good opportunities. The concert was directed by an important musician which I don’t remember the name at this moment, but what I remembered is that he was known as an excellent person. He invited me personally the next day. He went to my house and we chatted a little bit, and he accepted to me that he saw my incredible talent with his own eyes.

Those words meant the world to me, he also added that he thought that my talent was unique and that with hard work I was going to be a star. To summarize what happened, the concert was amazing and it opened a lot of doors for me, and I was able to let my name be known in the industry of music, although; I was lucky enough because of the concert and also because the main invitees cataloged for the concert were living legends in the music industry. A few days after the concert, my life started to change and I was invited by one of the iconic figures, who headlined that concert, he invited me to an exposition of the most expensive grand piano in the world.

This event was in the south of Rome, far away from my house, but there was no possibility of missing it. On the day of the event, the sky was very grey, it seemed that a storm was coming, but I never associated that with a tragedy. When I arrived the event was in a big living room, full of paintings, and in the middle, there was the grand piano. It was amazing, I could barely see it because of the lights but I could touch it and feel it, and it was amazing, and the better way to describe how I exactly I felt at that moment, I would rather use one word, “perfect”. The event finished, and when I went out of the place as I predicted it there was a horrible storm happening. I had to

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wait for like 3 hours in the place until it finished for me to be safe on the trip to my house.

Fortunately, I arrived home, safe but super tired so I went to sleep immediately, the next day my parents woke me up at 6 am. I couldn’t believe it because it was Saturday and those days I woke up pretty late. They were frightened, they told me that the police were downstairs waiting for me to answer some questions. I went down and I realized that a catastrophe happened. The most expensive and important piano in the world was stolen last night, and they thought the responsible thief was me. Even my parents were thinking that the police hypothesis was true, only because I loved the pianos.

I answered the questions and they left. I received a call about 8 am, and it was the director that invited me to the event. He sounded very angry and he accused me of being responsible for the robbery. It saddened me a lot because I wasn’t. I swore to him that I wasn’t responsible for the robbery but he didn’t believe me because I was the last man who left the place, and also because I was the least known artist in that event.

I told him on the phone, “there’s nothing I hate more than people messing with music” and that I wasn’t capable of doing that, and that it was impossible to move that huge thing on my own in only one night and with my disability.

At the end of the call, I also said to him “I would do justice with my own hands and I don’t mind being violent”, and he hung up the phone. It was at that moment, I decided to do justice to clear my name by finding the real thief of the piano, the most important piano in the world, which to me, was like robbing the Monalisa painting, I concluded by saying, this is; “war of art” I decided to start my investigation, I knew that I could turn violent with someone that attacks music because whoever attacks this irrefutable art is attacking me directly.

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By following many clues, I was able to find the thief, He was hiding in a horrible place, I could assure you this because the smell was unbearable. I confronted him, and he started to laugh at me because I was half-blind, and he started saying to me that I wasn’t going to do anything to him.

The real fact about this situation is that my biggest weapon was my sense of hearing, I had developed for so many years while playing the piano, so I knew that if he moved to the right I would know exactly where he was. additionally, I also had a gun just in case, he tries to attack me with any deadly weapon; I raised the gun on him and asked him to say the truth and he finally showed me the piano and he ran.

I didn’t try to catch him, as I felt like my mission had been accomplished by finding the piano, I felt like Justice had been served that day, I called the director of the event and explained everything that had happened, when they all came, I showed them all the evidence that It hadn’t been me and they all believed me and they apologized for having doubted me. My heart felt relieved but little did I know that it was the actual beginning of my misery.

The police came by and arrested me for homicide because they had found the body of the thief, just a few blocks away.

Apparently; the thief had been shot by his boss, because he hadn’t been able to protect the robbed piano and that he had been covered, but they all made it seem as If the thief was shot by me.

The police didn’t believe my innocense since all the proof pointed at me, And here I am now, in a jail, condemned to life imprisonment, although, my truth may never come to light and people might never believe me, I will be proud that I was able to get the grand piano back. The Piano gave me life, acknowledgment, respect, even girls but it also gave me Jail.

THE MYSTERIOUS HERO

Written By Lucas Sรกnchez Potes 411

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I

feel lost and confused, my mind solely perplexed. I am like a ball of tangled yarn. It feels inexhaustible and at most times relaxing but there are days it feels like my brain cells have been randomized. I am standing in the middle of the center mall with an ax in my hands, a little bit anxious and scared about what is going to happen, but I know that losing is not an option.

Hello, I’m Jake and I am going to tell you how I got there, please concentrate because if not, you will be lost in the middle of the story, so, prepare the popcorn. My name is Jake, I’m the normal guy, not popular but not antisocial, a little bit shy and with some problems to put my trust in people, but you get used to it. I’m sixteen-years-old, luckily skinny but more than normal, 180 cm tall but not very handsome for that height, unfortunately, there is not a gym for the face and my posture does not collaborate that much.

7 am, I’m preparing for school, Ocala’s Junior High School, the day is without clouds, that means that it would be a hot sunny day, perfect for a cold pool if I had one. getting out of my house to catch the school bus as I do routinely, as I entered the bus, I saw Mr. August Ambles, our bus driver, red hair, fat and tall, He is not a nice person, as always he does not say hello to me, he doesn’t even stop the bullies when they are bothering new students, he doesn’t care about anything else but to get to school on time no matter if someone is shooting the bus.

After saying hello to August, I always sit in the middle of the bus, —not with the popular guys at the back, nor with the nerds at the front of the bus—. I sit with my friend Felix, he is two years younger than me but he is a nice person, red hair with medium height and fat, but he is a nice person, on my last birthday he was one of the two people at the school that said happy birthday to me last year, it was him and my other

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friend Jacob Johnson, but his father got transferred to Canada because of his job so he left with his family.

We arrived at school and as always August didn’t say anything after I said goodbye to him but that is normal. I saw a newspaper flying because it was a windy day, the headline caught my attention, It was titled barely; “that an old man was missing” but I did not pay much attention to it, so I continued walking to my class. I had a history class, but it is not history is sleeping class, nobody pays attention because the teacher does not show any authority. After the school ended for the day, I took the bus home and my mom told me to be careful in the city because people are disappearing, so I said “it’s because they do not like the new mayor” she laughed.

Normally, I never paid attention when people tell me to be careful at certain things, I only answer whatever I think at the moment with a bit of sarcasm, but this was different, I remembered the newspaper that I saw at school in the morning; saying that someone disappeared, I also remembered that it was “an old man”, and when I finished the conversation with my mom, I overheard her talking with my dad and I remembered she told him, “Mrs. Murray disappeared, she didn’t get home yesterday and her family is looking all around town”.

The sounds of those words repeated in my head as a melancholic song that you can’t get out of your head. Next day in the morning I woke up and my mom made me breakfast, eggs, and waffles, she told me that our neighbor Mr. Collins didn’t get home yesterday, I started to get worried, three people disappeared in less than three days. Mayor Thomas Pitt has not announced the news to the public yet, he didn’t say anything about the disappearing problem in my neighborhood, he always tried to avoid the problems easily, that’s why people did not like him.

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The next day, on Tuesday, I was getting desperate, thinking about all those people in the morning going to school, with Mr. August always mad at all the kids. When I was a child, one of my dreams was to be remembered for something good, to leave my mark in this world, so people could remember my name after I passed away, “This was the perfect chance. one week, a missing person per day, all after 4 pm.” I told myself silently.

I thought that the person or thing that was disappearing people had to be very smart so that nobody had solved the problem yet since the police could not. That same day after school I decided to walk home, it took me 2 or 3 hours to get there but I had to think and try to solve the problem. It was already 5:00 pm, I was half an hour away from home and the sun was setting, there was a lot of fog all over the street and you could hardly see anything, I was a little scared and I took a shortcut in the woods, I felt that someone was chasing me and I started to run very fast heading back home, it was not enough, a tall man with red hair was chasing me, his face was covered with a mask but you could see his hair, he tried to grab me by the shirt but I was a little faster and he stopped and I continued running until I got home, with my heart beating a thousand times a second.

I came home and locked myself in my room, I thought about everything, the time of the disappearances, the people I knew, who might have the profile of a killer or a psychopath, who had red hair. I connected all the dots, then I finally realized that the person I was looking for was Mr. August Ambles, our school bus driver, I couldn’t make my discovery public yet, I had to unmask him first to be certainly sure, that he is the person responsible for all the disappearances in the neighborhood, nobody knew yet if he was killing or torturing them or who knows what he was doing with those people. everything 414

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made sense, the one who started chasing me was tall and had red hair and so did Mr. August, additionally, Mr. August didn’t work at 5 pm, all the disappearances were reported after 4 pm, it all made sense to me, But I just needed solid evidence that he was the kidnapper.

All these years I learned that August doesn’t tell lies, no matter what, because once he told a girl that she was fat and very ugly and didn’t care about her at all and she started crying.

The next day in the morning, I wanted to stay at home because I was afraid of getting on the bus with Mr. August but my mom made me go to school, I didn’t think he would recognize me since it was so dark that night, So I entered the bus and said hello to him as I usually do but this time, more terrifyingly and he didn’t say anything as usual, and I asked him; “Where are you going to be this afternoon” “Tonight I’m going to go to the town mall”; He responded laughing sarcastically.

Anyone would have thought that he was just messing around, but he doesn’t tell lies.

When the school ended that day, I went home and prepared myself for this discovery, When the night came, I took my dad’s ax and went straight to the mall, it was about 8 p.m., people were eating, I asked myself which was the loneliest part of the mall, then I figured it would be; the winter stores, since in summer they are not open.

Now; here I was, with my ax scared, I didn’t know what would happen to me or what would happen if August is going to show up with the same black mask as the other night, my hands were sweating and my heart was starting to beat very hard. I started to walk very gently through the stores, and suddenly I saw a shadow on my right passing in front of the bathrooms very quickly. I’ve never been so scared in my life, I counted 1 to 3 and ran out behind the shadow, there he was, 415

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standing with a knife in his hand waiting for someone to come into the bathroom corridor, at that moment I said to myself, “It’s now or never, I’m going to find out what’s going on, even if it may cost my life.”

He saw me running towards August, wielding my ax, pointing it straight at his head, and suddenly I heard a voice behind me saying; “Stop! Don’t kill him,” a man said.

“It was August’s voice, and if August was behind me, then who was the one in the mask? who was responsible for the disappearances?” I told myself confusingly.

I told him that I had a gun and that he should get on his knees, he obeyed and took off his mask, and to my surprise, it was August’s older brother, August, started to cry and telling me not to kill him, to just hand him over to the police, and in my mind, I thought that nobody deserves to die, we all have the right to live regardless of our mistakes, so I forgave him, tied him to a rope and took him to the police. After all, every human being deserves life, even if he did commit the crime, he had the rights to present himself in front of the jury and take responsibility for his own mistakes, the judges will be the one to rule his sentence and not me.

A few months later, the verdict came, and he was found guilty of all the charges and sentenced to serve 20 years in a maximum-security prison, and the kidnapped people were found alive in the basement of his house, he wanted to keep them as prisoners for life just for fear of loneliness, he wanted some people to talk to, there were already 9 people, all alive, safe and sound. the next week the Mayor gave me a medal of honor and commitment to the town, I felt like a hero, in that second, and I understand that every person has the right to live, and every man can have a second chance.

LA CLร DES CHAMPS Go With Nature Melody

Written By Mateo Sรกnchez Potes 417

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C

hicago Illinois, I am going to tell you the story of Eduard.

He was born in Chicago Illinois; Eduard lives in a house near the millennium park. It is a good and pretty house. Eduard lives with his mother that is the owner of a store, with a father that works in a big company of food and with his little brother 3 years younger than him. Eduard is a noble guy and his appearance is normal. He wears black shoes and jeans. He is a very calm man that always has a positive attitude for doing things, also he likes adventure and explores new things. In his school time, he has demonstrated excellent grades in all the subjects, additionally, also he has shown his non-controlled passion for music.

He had always talked about music in his class, teaching teachers about the music that he likes and also playing tracks for them. In his free time, he listens to music and mixes it or he just uses his FL studio application playing with sounds and creating songs just for a hobby. He listens to many genres, for example, high energy, reggaeton trap, rap, hip hop, pop, rock, dance, EDM, and some others. But his favorite genre is techno, house, and techouse.

Eduard finished school when he was 18 years old and he wanted to go to Switzerland, Interlaken to begin a business, or to work because he did not want to study anymore. He wanted to go to that place especially because Interlaken is a little city in Switzerland that was just barely developing so he was searching for a new possible job there and also because living there was very cheap. So after Eduard finished school, he searched for an apartment to rent in Interlaken and he searched for a job as a waitress in the most luxurious restaurant in Interlaken because he knew 2 languages which were English and French.

After all, Eduard’s mother is from France and she taught him French when he was little. And that was an advantage for being accepted in the job.

The day arrived, when Eduard had to say Goodbye to his 418

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parents, for him to start his adventure in Switzerland where he had everything really and prepared for him. Saying Goodbye was harder than he thought and he started to become nervous because he was going to live alone in a different country. Then, finally, he was able to hug his parents and his brother and they accompanied him to the airport and he boarded the airplane. It was daylight and the plane took off. seeing nature from above, the mountains and their peaks, the clouds, and the immense lakes, Eduard was very attracted and amazed by how beautiful it is and how insignificant he felt seeing the world from the air.

So Eduard took out his computer and started on the melody of the song. He wanted the melody to be in line with nature, he related each sound to something he saw from the window of the plane, so the melody had many sounds similar to natural sounds, the melody was incredible, it filled you with peace when you heard it. It was a beautiful piano that was in line with the clouds moving slowly and gently at the front of the orange and yellow sunlight. A sound was of the water of the river running across it with the maracas noising very fast representing the salmon fishes jumping upwards the waterfall for not being caught by the big bears. When the sun was going down the sky was of a combination of red, orange, yellow, and purple color so here changes the melody because now Eduard can’t see the nature and what is below him so he gets inspired by what is in the sky. So he began using a violin aggressively and quickly in a low note representing the collision of the stars and the constellations of different colors that stand out in the night.

Also, he uses a piano with a xylophone sound that represented those different colors of the sunset as the sun goes down. and makes a constant trumpet melody that represents the immensity of the sun going down and obvious all this accompanied by the percussion of techno that makes the song continuous and inspiring. And that’s how Eduard is inspired to do his hobby of 419

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producing music; by nature. Eduard produced that set and then he slept the time that he had left.

The flight to Interlaken was 10 hours long. When he arrived there and got out of the airport he saw the city and he got amazed, he almost got blind because of the beauty. It was night and Eduard had his mouth open because of how amazing the city was. There were many lights and the sky was clear and full of stars. Eduard took a taxi and went straight to his rented apartment, then he arranged his clothes, settled in completely, and slept like a koala. The next morning, he woke up at 8 AM, he took a shower and went out to have some breakfast. As Eduard walked after having breakfast, he saw the city with delight. For him, it was like being in a new world.

The streets were very organized, the people were civilized, there was a lot of nature, the trees were beautiful pines with other trees of reddish color that make nature be a paradise for Eduard. There was also an incredible mountain surrounded by clouds and a clear blue river that led to a lake that was surrounded by houses with the style of Switzerland, houses with an old design combined with the modern.

Eduard started to work the next day, so the rest of the day, he walked around all the city getting to know it well as it was small. He was going to work in Harder Kulm’s restaurant, a lookout point over 1000 meters above sea level in Interlaken.

So that night he slept early and the next night he woke up very motivated to go to his new job.

He had to be there at 10 am so he woke up at 9 and took up the railway to go up to the restaurant. The ascent was impressive because you started to see the whole city from the top, just like the mountains with their snowy peaks. You passed through many orange green trees and the landscape was a wonder.

Eduard arrived at the restaurant and from the viewpoint,

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everything was much more beautiful. Eduard almost cried because of how great he was seeing.

That first day, he learned the restaurant’s menu and how to serve customers in a very polite way. It was not a problem for Eduard, as he was very educated and had an excellent memory.

Even that day he served customers. Then he stood at the tip of the lookout producing music very inspired with all the nature around him. And so Eduard spent every day working until five in the afternoon and then staying until nightfall doing his hobby.

Doing that until December he managed to do many more songs than the one he did on the plane which was the longest and created a record label called Hungry Music and he uploaded them on YouTube waiting for the world to listen to them.

The names of the songs were, Mountain, Nocturne, Eternity, Millenium, Fixi, Note Blanche, Taiga, Plein Ciel, Reykjavik, Promesse, and so many more.

In December, Eduard went back to Chicago to visit his family. He shared time with them and was very happy to see them again. He was in Chicago for 15 days in December and on the sixth day, he received a call through his YouTube channel.

The call was from Joris Voorn, a DJ and music producer from Amsterdam and Eduard’s favorite. Eduard was completely excited and felt that the heart was going to come out of his chest. He couldn’t believe Joris Voorn had called him. Joris told him that he had heard her new record label and that he thought it was a majestic work of art and needed to know where he was so that he could open a concert of Joris with his songs. Eduard very excited said yes and asked him where he had to go and Joris told him that he would be doing a concert in Chicago at the Millennium park for the next three days. Eduard said he was in Chicago and was going to open the concert without thinking.

That it had been the biggest opportunity he had ever had in his entire life and then he gave him a million thanks and hung up.

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Eduard couldn’t believe it. He cried of happiness for the great opportunity that he had just been given.

Eduard told his parents and they couldn’t believe it either.

It was a situation of happiness and celebration throughout the house. It was incredible for everyone. The day of the concert arrived and Eduard was very nervous and excited. When he went on stage, he stood in front of more than ten thousand people and started the song Millenium just as the sun began to set. People sang to the tune and danced like never before.

They loved all the songs that were played. Eduard finished his set with the song Sanctis, a very melodious song. Everyone applauded Eduard as if he were the new generation of music.

Eduard felt like he owned the world, he felt his dreams were coming true. It was the best moment of his life on that stage with the audience applauding and shouting “Eduard, Eduard!”; and the different colored lights illuminating the whole place. It was Eduard’s dream come true.

From that day on, many people began to listen to Eduard’s songs on YouTube and he began to gain a lot of fame. Eduard returned to Interlaken to continue working in the restaurant but he already had to ask for many permits to go and play in concerts. So the restaurant didn’t accept that and they had to fire Eduard. A little sad because he stopped working in a place where he liked a lot, he bought the restaurant with the money he had obtained from the concerts so that he could go to Harder Kulm whenever he wanted and sit at the top of the balcony watching all of Interlaken and its mountains to produce the music he likes the most. With the money from the restaurant and his concerts, he managed to buy a very big and modern house in Interlaken, near Harder Kulm and live his life there, having his restaurant business and going to all the possible concerts.

THE FAULT IN OUR FRIENDSHIP

Written By Sebastián Alberto Santacruz Ramírez 423

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I came to realize that being honest could hurt others in an instant, but when you lie to your friends, it hurts them forever.”—Sebastian Santacruz Hi, my name is Jacob, and I am going to tell you the story that changed all of my friends’ lives. It was the 13th of February of 2016, in Cali, Colombia. We were at school like any other day of the school year. The school was one of the best in the city, and it is named “The Tafa Institute.” My classmates and I were in Social Studies class in the morning, while the teacher was grading some exams, we had free time to talk and do other stuff. What is fun, is that I always like to speak with others, I love to express my thoughts about everything and everyone.

We were talking about exercise, especially; pull-ups and one of my classmates named Kendrick said: “Hey, what if we were to do some pull-ups folks? How many can you do?.”

“I can make about 10,” Philip responded.

“For real? You’re a robot, my friend.” Kendrick said enthusiastically.

Philip added, “Yeah, I’ve been…”

But I interrupted him and said: “What? HAHAHA, you can’t even do one Philip, skip lying, please.”

At that moment, Philip laid his head down and went out of the classroom, ashamed. “I only told the truth, that’s why I didn’t understand why he felt like that,” I told myself. And we all continued talking.

The next day, I woke up late. It was a Saturday, like any other Saturday. I went down to the kitchen to have some food. My mom and my dad were at the kitchen table having breakfast, they both said hello to me and gave me a hug of good morning.

Mom said: “You woke up a little bit late, didn’t you?”

I said: “Yes, mom, but it’s weekend. I was tired of the whole week, and I wanted to rest a bit more.”

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Mom asked me: “And what plans do you have for today?”

I answered: “I am going to the pool with some of my school friends in the afternoon.”

My dad said: “That’s cool son, hope you have fun and remember to not get in any trouble.”

“Yes, dad!” I said.

My mom started to fix some breakfast for me. I love my mom’s food, well, I love all types of food, but my mom is the best. When the breakfast was ready, I sat down at the table with mom and dad. We talked a little bit about our week. My dad asked for a favor, he said: “Jacob, have you decided yet what to study? The school informed us that you have been having visits from some universities. Have you made up your mind now?”

“Well, I would like to study International Business and Finance. I love numbers and accuracy, and you can find both majors in the career mentioned above. Also, the fact that I love honesty, and creating relationships with others would play a huge role in this bachelor’s career in the world of businesses.”

I responded.

Father didn’t say anything, but with his face, I assumed everything, he was amazed about me and my bright ideas of what I wanted for the future. It is very satisfying when your parents think like that about you, and it makes you feel fantastic.

It was 2:00 pm, and I had almost everything ready to go to the pool. I organized a bag with a towel, my swimsuit, which is the most beautiful and has a lot of styles, some sunscreen because well, I am a little bit pale-skinned and a couple of snacks. I had asked my parents for the car, and they had permitted me to take it, Thanks to the responsibility, I had always shown since I earned my driving license card, when I turned 16, almost two years ago. Around 2:15 pm, I left my house, and 425

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after 20 minutes, I arrived at one of my friend’s house, which is not too far away from mine. The house belongs to Mary, who is also in my class. We gathered all together at Mary’s pool to have a good time and enjoy the afternoon. One of my classmates named Mike said; “Hello everyone, what’s up? Are we going into the pool or what?”

“Yeah, let’s take advantage of this beautiful sun,” Mary responded.

Everyone took off their shirts and the girls their shorts, and we jumped into the pool. But, when Mike was about to get in, I said: “Oh Mike, my god, you are a little bit fatty, my dear friend, you could get all the water out of the pool if you jump.” When I finished, we laughed at him. But Mike felt terrible, I saw it in his face, but it was the truth, I was only honest.

Belatedly after that; We stayed at the pool until 6 pm when the sun began to hide. Around seven at night, everyone went to their houses.

On Monday, we had an Art class. We were assigned to watch a movie called; “The Walter Man” and discuss it in groups. One of my classmates, named Chris, added this comment to the conversation: “The movie was amazing, and I loved it when Walter had to steal that car,” Chris said.

“No, he didn’t. It was not his purpose. Did you even watch the movie? You never pay attention, do you? You’re lying, man.” I responded sarcastically.

“Of course, I did, what’s your problem?” Chris responded angrily.

“My problem is that you are lying, I’m only correcting you and saying what happened in the movie,” I responded defensively.

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“Fine, fine, I’m sorry I was wrong,” Chris said sadly.

Changing the subject, my friend Kendrick had invited us to a party next Saturday. A big party at his apartment, his parents, will be away for the weekend, so he decided to invite everyone. We all talked about that party for the rest of the day.

Everyone was super excited and waited anxiously for it.

The day arrived. I got ready for the party and ordered an Uber. The night was awesome, cold as the early morning but also shiny as a big diamond. It provoked a feeling of the party and produced happiness with a little bit of mystery because you know, no one ever knows what might happen at a party.

When I arrived at Kendrick’s house, everything was under control; good music playing, lights like in a disco, enough beverages for everyone to have fun, and enjoy.

I said hello to everyone. We danced a little bit and sat around the dance floor for talking. Mike and Philip joined Mary, Efrain, Carla, and me at a side of the dance floor.

Mike went on flirting with Mary, and Philip wanted Carla.

Mike made a comment which made me laugh; he said something about being the best at debates, just to impress Mary, who loves to debate and is incredible at UN models.

I was eavesdropping their conversation, so I interrupted and said to him: “Wait, you are the best at debates? But you hate discussions and social studies and the UN, don’t you?”

Mike responded furiously. “Well, that’s not true. I’m the best in social studies.”

I responded hurriedly. “So who is the current president of the United States of America? And what type of conflicts that are happening in the middle east?”

Mike remained silent for a short while, and I added mockingly.

“I knew it, my friend, don’t lie to impress a girl,” 427

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Kendrick had been listening to our conversation. He stood up, stopped the music, grabbed a microphone, and said out loud; “You know, we are all tired of your comments and how you act. You are always making people feel bad, and you don’t have a filter with your thoughts. That’s enough, Jacob, we can’t let you do this anymore, I can’t have you in my house.

Please stop my friend, or you will end up being alone forever.”

He said angrily “Go home; you are no longer welcome in this party.” He added.

I didn’t say anything, I just turned around and exited the building. I couldn’t figure out what I did wrong because I was the only one telling the truth, the only one with complete transparency.

The next couple of weeks passed, and I still couldn’t get myself around what happened at Kendrick’s house, It was humiliating, but I came to realize that it happened for a reason.

Maybe it was about the time that I observe myself. Loads of thoughts flooded my mind at that moment.

Few days passed by; my friends wouldn’t talk to me, they were mad, and they would not listen to me. I tried to mend what I had done a couple of times, but they ignored me. One day we were all at the cafeteria; I saw Efrain, one guy from my class, leaving his wallet on the table. I Immediately ran and took it. When we arrived in the classroom, he was hopelessly looking everywhere, worried about his wallet. I approached him and told him that he had left it in the cafeteria, and I gave it back to him, and he said; “Oh, Jacob, thank you so much, you saved me, thank you enormously!” He responded with lots of happiness in his face.

“No problem, man,” I responded.

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stop talking about it. Some of them said that they thought I was going to steal it, and others said that I was going to tell Efrain many bad things because he had his head on another planet. They reconsidered issuing forgiveness for all the wrong I had done at the Kendricks’ party. Although; I didn’t pay close attention to all the comments, I was equally bemused by their reactions because some of my classmates were now realizing my true self. I came to realize that being honest could hurt others in an instant, but when you lie to your friends, it hurts them forever. Lying is the worst feeling for everyone to endure.

Because sooner or later, the truth always comes out.

When we were leaving the school, a few of my friends came to where I was and said: “We are sorry, Jacob; you are completely right with your actions; what you were doing was what we all need to do,” Philip told me. Then Kendrick added, “Yes, Philip is right; we need to remove the masks that we use to hide from others and the reality.”

Efrain also said, “ Truth may hurt, but if you care about someone, you will tell him everything with complete transparency, and you will advise him or her to tell the truth always.”

Finally, Mary spoke, “We wanted to apologize to you, Jacob, sorry from the deepest part of our hearts, and thank you for this valuable lesson!”

It was good to see everyone thinking like that, and I was just impressed by how they changed their thoughts for a good deed. The purpose of all my actions was recognized, and I had reached the 21 Black Jack, and the full prize was complete honesty.

HAZY FORTHCOMING

Written By Sebastiรกn Sluga Delgado 430

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January 12, 2020

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his last class I had was impressive. I just finished chemistry and my teacher Mr. P told me I could expect to get excellent with him if I kept my efforts in his class. Being honest, chemistry is not my thing, but getting to understand it moves me. However, now I must focus on working on this registry as my English final essay —by that I mean you— in my last days as a Senior student and future college student apart from all this mess. First, let me tell you the basis of my life as a student; I enjoy studying, I have been a great student during all high school and my grades can prove that. I also enjoy spending time with my friends or practicing soccer, although I have had to change it for the gym because of the amount of time school needs. I also participate in volunteering during Christmas or at school in social events because I enjoy the pleasure this can bring to many people less fortunate than myself. Apart from this, there is not much to tell; I watch Netflix as much as I can, I don’t party as much as most can expect from a 17-year-old, but it is because as much as I like spending time with my pals, I prefer to spend my time usefully.

Now let’s get to the bigger picture; in my English and literature classes, we have been assigned by Mr. Harry to write creatively the purpose and goals for, and on this ground, I have decided to transform it into a kind of journal so it feels more authentic, like a more formal and public diary collective writing. As you can expect, I have everything planned since my sophomore year in high school.

“Bruce, you can expect to do everything you propose, but keep your mind focused on your goal and construct a plan to achieve it, or rather than an expectation you will just be day-dreaming”. My father always told me.

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Afterward, the first time he told me that, I asked; “And how do I turn daydreaming into a viable plan?” “you just need to start from the basics, like choosing what path you may take to achieve it”. My father responded.

And I believed it, so I began searching for the necessary data for my after-school life. In the beginning, I chose my best options for my career, which were; “Economics, international business, and pilot.”

Economics was the first option that caught my interest, as I have always been the best in mathematics, and my parents always supported this choice as it was a very viable and employable profession. My other option was business studies which started as a hobby, searching on how great companies were operating, their plans, and how they executed their businesses in the most profitable ways like Apple, for example, paying more for less. The last option was the least suitable for me because I like traveling and meeting new places, I thought that by being a pilot I would be fulfilling my lifelong traveling dream. Nevertheless; I concluded that I would rather keep my feet on the ground to work and meet new places every once in a while. So, finally, I decided that I could join the two finalists instead of purging one of them, the first goal achieved.

These were just my first steps into designing what it came to be my planned future, and all I was missing now was defining where I will study my chosen paths. My only idea was to study in the most prestigious universities, and this idea came with the great perk that it was just a few cities away, right on the northern side of the capital city.

As many of the countries located in Latin America, the best universities are in the capital or the main cities, but here in Colombia, your best shot as a student is to go straight to the capital city, as the chances of getting a better first job increase.

Also, this perk is good, as it gives me not only the chance to 432

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start my planned future but also the fresh start in my life. No more parental control over midnight parties or having to deal with the same problems I have been facing in my social and personal life, just a clean start, and even better now that I am fully capable of controlling it. As anyone at my age, we know that we have already get over our childhood and most of our teenagehood, so we do know how the real world feels, and college is our chance to prove it. So yeah, this is my plan for my immediate future that it will all come true after I pass with honors my national test in about two months from now and I get the scholarship necessary to finance my studies, until then, I will keep my registry here until I get my score.

March 30, 2020 It all unfolds as I mentioned before. I presented my test around three weeks ago and the scores finally arrived. To my surprise, I was shocked by the fact that I didn’t only get my desired score, but I also got the highest grades that allowed me to get a fully sponsored scholarship in my dream college, which will be covering my tuition fees, home expenses, and transport fee. I couldn’t be more grateful and proud of my accomplishment.

Before this result, I had also applied to one of the local universities in my hometown just to please my mother, she wanted me to have a plan B just in case things take a different turn. to which I was accepted without a problem, Anyway; this couldn’t be more perfect. My parents are very proud that I have achieved my goals and everything I am missing is graduating and leaving this little town, I have called home for all my life. As for now; I believe that achieving my life goals is no longer my concern, after all, I just need to stay focus on my plan, and it will all come together as planned.

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April 5, 2020 Hey there, I just arrived from a family dinner as a reward for my good score in the test. It was a fine meal, we went to a fancy restaurant and we spent a very nice moment in the family, with my parents and my sister.

The thing is that now my mother made me realize how my life was going to be changed forever. She also mentioned that I should start looking for my new place in the capital if I want to find any decent place. This idea of moving away from home, had me in shock, not because of the unexpected, but the opposite; “I have been waiting for this moment for so long that I had no time to think about myself doing it,” I said to myself.

Right now, I am ready to accept my new path, I think so, or at least; I hope so! At this moment, I’m not sure of what to expect about my future.

“What if it was a bad idea? What if I made a bad choice of moving away? What if I don’t get to like my career, or the college or I screw my scholarship?” lots of thoughts flooded my mind.

And there, I told myself that I won’t waste my chance, I have worked so far for it and I will not reject this now.

“College, here I come.”

April 15, 2020 So, today was my mother’s 50th anniversary and my father threw a surprise party with all my mother’s family and friends, including some of her old friends that are from her hometown that is an hour and a half away by car. We had a buffet and my mother gave a speech on how she was so grateful for having them all gathered together to celebrate her birthday and how she was so proud of me for nailing my goals and how she will miss having me around or in special events, that eventually,

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I would not get to attend thanks to my very elaborated plan.

This gave the chills.

“How would I bear to be so far from home and my family?”

“Yes, I do want a fresh start, but who will cheer me when I feel sad, or will join me when I feel lonely?”

I know that I shouldn’t be doubting my plans, and even more now that I came this far, but the uncertainty and the holes in my plan don’t leave my head. Also, I remember applying to my local university, just to please my mom, but it is still a viable option. Yeah, maybe it is not as privileged as other colleges across the country, and maybe my careers are not as complete as in the capital, but how would I manage to finish my studies if I feel lonely or sad in the nights by myself?

Maybe I should talk with my parents about it, just maybe.

May 2, 2020 Dear Mr. Diary, I already gave you enough about my concerns and worries until last April 15, and writing about my problems doesn’t seem like a therapizing option in this situation. I sent you to Mr. Harry a week ago, he read you and now he is concerned about me. Don’t get me wrong, he liked the way you have been written with honesty, but he is also worried about my doubts regarding my plan. He sent me this email: “Hello, Mr. Campbell, I received your first draft of the registry and I must say; that I was moved by your writing ability, I enjoyed reading it. Nevertheless, Speaking about the contents in your writing, I can see that you have doubts about the plan you mentioned in the first parts, and I believe that you should keep writing about it in the registry until you make your final decision. I will be paying close attention to your work and if you require any help you can come and see me or write me an email.

Congratulations on your work and good luck talking to your parents about your new decision.

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Regards; Harry” (This email came in the right moment as my decision just changed about a day ago) So; I responded; “Hello teacher, thanks for the help.

I spoke yesterday with my parents about it. My father was initially pissed about my changing of plans so late but he finally respected it. My mother on the other side was very glad I wouldn’t leave home now, as she considers that I can perfectly leave to study abroad for the Ph.D. after finishing college at home if I want to, As I will be more mature and grown up with the basis of independency she says I will get in the university.

My big problem now is not getting away to study, but the basic idea of getting to college right now. I feel that during these last months any decisions I have decided until now have fallen apart, and my biggest concern currently is getting to choose the career I want to work on for my whole life. Taking this into consideration, I am planning on taking half or a whole year to think about it, maybe traveling to Europe to expand my personal experiences or volunteering in a country in need, I don’t know yet.

I will keep you informed of any news about my decision and for now, trust me, and thanks for the concern you have about my process.

See you in class, Bruce C.” As you could very well see in the emails, many things have changed from the beginning until now. I have never thought that this could happen to me, but as you noticed, this is my current reality and for now, I just need to wait to see how everything unfolds.

May 29, 2020 This is it, today I am supposed to hand you in “completely” and I need to conclude you as you well deserve to be 436

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concluded, with the outcomes that were unfinished before.

I decided finally to quit my idea of entering college for now —maybe in a year or so— and my local university told me that my scholarship could be kept for two semesters so I have plenty of time to decide. During this time, I have decided to go to Guatemala to volunteer as a medical assistant in the second-largest city in the country, Quetzaltenango. This volunteering will take me around 6 to 10 months and during this time I will have plenty of moments to think about what I want to do after this volunteering.

I know that many people could disagree with my decision, or may think that I am wasting valuable time I could use for my studies, but how could I use my time for that if I’m not sure if the careers I chose are the ones that I truly want to do for the rest of my life? These last months left me a valuable lesson, that you can’t plan your long term future, as life change constantly and you may not appreciate some aspects before like your feelings or personal life, but there will be some occasions where these two aspects of life could play a big role in a bad decision, by making you regret or have doubt that may lead to making you feel lonely when you thought you were making the right choice.

I may not know what I want to study or what my future holds, but for now, all I know is that I want to help people and after this, I will think about what careers to study and what university to go. As they say “If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.”.

Thank you Mr. Diary. For the Good six months, we spent together; I will now leave you in the very safe hands of Mr. Harry.

Take care.

GONE WITH THE WAR Written By Daniel Suescún Tenorio 438

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veryone keeps telling me not to forget what I just lived through four bloody years of insignificant bloodshed, however, my moving mind keeps telling me to burry deep down all those rotten memories. Throughout the war, there was nothing but the feeling of despair, a cold constant dropping of sweat at my back and continuous dreadful breathing, emotions, feelings, which were barely calmed by the wee picture of my mother and sister at dawn; two angelic creatures, with skin so white even in the dark, you could see them shining like a mirror and their hair, yellow as that of daffodils leaves. Not a day passed without me writing them a letter, telling them insignificant things as the weather, the crackers I ate, or the cities I visited, not a single warlike word, just to have them alienated from the nonsense of war. However, I never received an answer.

After I got off the train in Dover, white drops were falling along with a shivering cold wind, I guessed it was Christmas, I’ve forgotten it existed. The train station seemed to be a military compound, full of those of us who survived and were able to breathe a serene wind again. Along with me, was my good ol’ pal Laurence, Colonel of the 14th infantry brigade, he was my superior. He happened to be from my same hometown, Dover, however, he was more of a top-drawer kid. He lived up in Park Road, while I lived on the outskirts of Dover. He was known to be some sort of, a snobby young man, but he wasn’t that bad. He was two years younger than me, but for some nuisance reason, he referred to me as a son, maybe he was a little annoying. Anyways, we were waiting outside the train station for one of those new taxis everyone was talking about.

“Jamie, I just spoke to a guvnor, he told me our beloved Dover was bombed, we were never told, were we?”

Said, Laurence.

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“Not a word, good thing those box heads can’t aim” I responded.

“Remember, never underestimate your enemy, son,” Laurence said.

Finally, we were able to grab ourselves a taxi, they were fancy alright, but their grand charm was obscured by the receiving town of Dover. There was a mixture of a gloomy yet happy fervor in the air. Children were running through the windy streets, accompanied by the alluring chant of seagulls; businesses rose from the dust and rubble with their signboards held high because victory was ours. Our beloved red, blue, white, triad was exposed in every single corner, symbolizing promising times, despite the destruction of past years. Leaving behind the downtown roads and chatter; we arrived at Park Road. The trail of the bombings was more than evident, nevertheless, Laurence seems to have forgotten all that and stepped out of the taxi, eager to rejoin with his family. Laurence gave me a Fugate and he left the taxi.

Shortly after that, I arrived home, the cold sweating returned, everything which I used to call home, was gone. The small house was still up, however, my mother and sister were not there, I decided to look for Mr. Wilson, our neighbor to ask him if he knew something about them.

“Mr. Wilson!” I shouted fiercely. He didn’t answer at first “Mr. Wilson!, it’s me, Jamie, Jamie Williams from number 12, are you home?” I shouted “What’s all this nuisance son, can’t an old man have some quality kip,” said Mr. Wilson grumbling. He opened a small window next to the door, and he lifted the blinds.

“Mr. Wilson, my mother, my sister, where are they? they are nowhere to be found!”

“Long gone they are I’m afraid, moved north they did, I heard from Mrs. Evans they moved up to Yorkshire, young man” 440

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“Yorkshire?, what on God’s earth are they doing on Bloody Yorkshire?”

As I finished saying this, a young man, with a greenish suit, stepped out of a taxi, it was Laurence.

“Laurence, what are you doing here? I thought you were having a blast with your family, unlike me as I’m...” He interrupted me.

“They are gone, Jamie, they are bloody gone. Maybe the boxhead can aim” he paused. And then he added; “they perished in one of those bombings the guvnor told me down at the station; I found a letter saying that they perished one year ago” He continued, “I’ve lost everything pal, four bloody years for this!, for a dead family and a future all cocked-up-” I interrupted him.

“Don’t give me that nonsense Laurence, you’re not done yet pal, you might have lost your family but you are still a young bloke! cheer up, at least you know what they did to them, I just learned that my mother and sister moved up north without a bloody notice” “Guess we are both cocked-up, don’t we Jamie?” He said discontentedly “I tell you what, we are going to look up for my family and you’ll be with me, understand? you’ve lost yours but at least you must have some reason to live and that will be helping your friend”.

Laurence had nothing left to lose, so he accepted to accompany me in my long journey up north to find my dear mother and sister. We stayed that night at my house. In between sobbing and despair, we managed to pass the night, our wandering minds were just reminding us that maybe all we fought for was lost, we were condemned to our memories for eight hours.

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an old kit bag as the song says, and with a small amount of hope we boarded the first train to London; there, we took a train to Yorkshire. We didn’t have the slightest ideas where my mother and sister were, so the best guess was to arrive at Yorkshire’s capital, the industrialized jungle of York. During our trip, the repetitive landscape, which to me once seemed engaging and wholesome, was becoming overwhelming, as my anxiety towards meeting my family rose. Accompanied by my perturbance; Laurence in a way to overpass his own grief was schooling me about the war of the roses, as we were going up to the land of the white rose; he was truly an intellectual.

After Laurence’s history class, his sorrow returned, his face; that feeble tired face showed nothing but the fear of failure, the expression of lonesome, and the sightseeing of a future all turn down by moments impossible to mend.

He might still have money alright but besides that he had nothing. The thing with poor old Laurence was that he was promised the bloody sky, he was destined for greatness along, of course, with the unconditional support from his family. No money, nor status, in God’s alluring earth could replace what the poor chum just lost.

Two hours had passed, and we could barely spot the small twinkles of small city lights coming from the jungle of concrete. When we arrived at York, the city received us with a gloomy charm; orangish tall buildings rose from the street in some sort of dominant posture, and his people hidden in their fedoras and overcoats escaping from the subtle but yet piercing drops of rain. The strong winds from December were mixed with small taints of carbon, exposing the heavily industrialized world we were now condemned to live in.

“What now?” asked Laurence.

“Mother was quite a good worker, she used to knit some

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lovely socks and sweaters, I bet you she is working in a clothes factory along with Anne, my sister,” I said.

“How is your mother? If you give me her description and the one of Anne we can separate and look faster” Laurence suggested.

“Both of them have this amazing blond hair and reddish cheeks. They are white as a snowflake and their eyes are just the mirrors of their purest soul-” I said.

“Blimey, you do love them, mate” exclaimed Laurence.

About an hour ago, as the sun was setting, smoking factories were closing down for the day; Laurence and I took separate ways to look up for my mother and sister; we decided to ask in different hostels and pensions for them. After an hour and a half, we managed to find a young lady who happened to have helped mother and sister get to a train to a small town a little bit to the south of York, called Doncaster. This young lady gave them a place to sleep and a couple of quids to get off to Doncaster, searching for a more rural life. She told me the look of their faces was of unrest.

“Your mother and sister are quite the runners maybe we’ll never catch them, son,” said Laurence.

“Cheers mate for that lovely support, don’t be that negative, I know they are just looking up for a better future,” I said with a feeling of uncertainty.

That night the amiable young lady offered us a bed for the night, so we gladly accepted the offer. The next morning, we took the first train to Doncaster. Doncaster had a vast difference with York, it’s air was not only refreshing to one’s body but it gave me a feeling of hope. Again, Laurence being the good old chap he was helping me, asking for the girls around town. While walking downtown I gazed through a scarf shop showcase, and I was able to spot those iconic daffodil hairs;

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I’ve finally found my mother. I ran towards the shop with incredible speed.

“Mother! Mother! it’s me, Jamie, I’ve come home, mother, your boy has survived” As I said this Laurence entered the shop. “This is Laurence, mother, my superior has been helping me finding you, mother-” She interrupted me.

“That old man, Mr. Williams couldn’t keep a bloody secret could he?” Said mother in disgust.

“I don’t get it, mother, I’m here, that’s what matters, right?” I started to stress out and I added. “I’ve come from Dover mother; to join you and Anne, where is she?”.

“At our home Jamie, My home,” she said biting. “We’ve managed to forget you Jamie, and we’ve done alright by ourselves, and I’ve heard you army men came from France with your minds all cocked-up, and Anne and I don’t need that at all-”. Laurence interrupted her.

“Excuse me Ma’am but we are not insane, your son has done everything he could to join you and commit to his duties as a son-” Said Laurence firmly. A small crowd of people was starting to gather around us.

“You disrespectful young man, don’t talk to an older lady like that-” she said fiercely. “I’ve done everything in my hands to protect my daughter from the bloody conflict fought and promoted by you! stay away! and don’t you ever come back to me, Jamie Wallace!, we are doing just fine without you!” and with tears of anger falling through her cheeks, she kicked her only son out of the store, but most importantly from her life.

Laurence and I walked crestfallen; my mind could only be compared with the hesitated breathing from a kid whose mother is lost. My thoughts stabbed me and I was left alone with my own demons. From the people around us, we could listen to words of comfort, as well, words of reprehension. Not a single instant of war could compare to what just happened; 444

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the bloodshed from a piercing Howitzer round hurt less than the betrayal of one dearest mother. Laurence gave me a small pat on the back to comfort me, it was pointless. Laurence’s family was buried away, there was no turning back; however, mine was still living but desiring I was gone.

“How could she son? you’ve done everything for her and yet she looked down on your effort. This is bloody nonsense!

Jamie, you don’t need this trumpery” He said madly. “I tell you what, we are going to leave this bloody town and we’ll move down to London, we can fix a business there, I know we can handle it” He added.

“I don’t know Laurence, my mind is just jumbled up, and, you only have a couple of quids on your name and some fancy clothes,” I said wistfully. “I guess we can do something about it, for the time being, let’s just grab a train to London, this town is hunting my mind,” My voice was soft, almost fragile as if my heart would break any minute. Perhaps my heart was already broken.

We managed to get ourselves tickets for the last train heading to York. When we arrived in York Laurence told me that he needed to pick up a couple of personal objects he left in his old house, down in Dover before we get to London; so we headed south to our hometown. When we arrived at Dover, its promising winds and allurement seemed to have vanished as dandelions seeds during a hefty gale. We arrived in Park Road, were Laurence’s state laid. The wide brick wall building, was rather imposing and marvelous, showing that it once housed the family of a promising young man. As we entered in, everything was as my wandering mind once thought, charming, sophisticated, alluring; which seemed rather bizarre as the house was supposed to have been demolished by the German bombing. On the floor, unopened correspondence laid, but a letter called my attention as it was from the ETC, it was 445

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a telegram for Laurence. He picked up the letter and after a small gaze at it, he shouted: “They are alive, Jamie, they are bloody alive!”

“Alive? you’re mental Laurence, you told me they died on the bombings” I answered.

“All of us were just victims from an awful fraud, Jamie, a merciless soul tried to steal our family’s money! here’s a letter from mother, saying that they were cheated to move to the capital” He exclaimed merrily.

“Good thing we are moving to London!” I responded with Hope.

The next morning we took the first train to London. As if winter faded miraculously, sky’s mightiest and yellowish king accompanied us with its delightful sizzling tones along with it’s frothy white yet a bit gloomy sidekicks. Dover’s hopeful winds returned, and Laurence’s face showed nothing but thorough ecstasy. It took us around two hours to arrive in Britain’s greatest metropolis; despite its evident mighty factories and its people alienated from humanity’s essential concept of amiability, I managed to let myself blend into its enticing greatness. The telegram Laurence found had an address from downtown London; his family was staying there.

Laurence’s encounter with his family was sublime and grand. A young man who seemed lost in between despair and grief had one of the rarest and most divine gifts of all; a second chance. I stayed outside while Laurence rejoined with his loved ones. I waited outside to the inevitable fact that Laurence will stay with his family and he’ll leave me alone in my ailing solitude. Thereafter, the door of the house where Laurence’s family stayed, opened and it was him; he looked vivid again.

“Oh Jamie, I made it, I’m home again boy!” He said blissfully. “I’ve talked with my father, they are alright, he would 446

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kindly lend us some money for our business, well, after the fraud problem is solved. It was a bloody insurance scheme, would you believe it?” He said eagerly.

I doubted at first; now I wasn’t sure about working with Laurence, all and all he was back on the tracks with his family and I would only be a bloody nuisance. I gave it a thought and after all, we’ve become brothers not only during this journey but during the war, we couldn’t be separated. I couldn’t help myself and I accepted his offer, and promptly his family welcomed me as one of them. After a few months, we mounted a library together located in downtown London, and it turned out to be quite known. Little by little life started to taint itself from hope and peace, as my memories from the bloodshed I experienced started to vanish as the feeling of company and brotherhood grew into me. I couldn’t manage to live the life I once thought I will live along with my mother and sister; from which now I know little about, but now, like Laurence, I’ve received the most divine gift of all, a second chance, but in this case to be in a place I could call home.

THE HIDDEN SORROW BEHIND A BULLIED DWEEB Written By Daniel Terreros Hoyos 448

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“Wait long enough, and people will surprise and impress you.”

—Randy Pausch

V

indicto was an affable fifteen-year-old boy that lived with his parents in a ginormous mansion in Turin, Italy.

Although his personality was charming, he was not graced with beauty. He had a square-shaped face with skin as pale as a ghost, his eyes were as little as two marbles and they had a peculiar amber color that made him look like a mutant.

His hair was like a greasy, messy, and red pile of noodles and he had the mouth of a koi fish. Besides, he was a lanky guy and had a pair of round spectacles. Everybody loved Vindicto because he was hilarious, friendly, and liked to help, he was like a ray of sun. He liked to be with his family and he also liked to spend time with his friends a lot. Little did Vindicto know that his future would not be sunshine and rainbows.

One day, Vindicto went to the bakery shop with his father to buy some biscuits and a cheesecake for his mother’s anniversary. They went by bicycle because it was a sunny and vivid day. They were passing by an avenue when abruptly, a red Ferrari crashed with Vindicto’s father’s bicycle. Everyone in the avenue went to see Vindicto’s father’s corpse, then some paramedics came and tried to revive him, but they were too late, Vindicto’s father was already lifeless when they arrived.

Since that day, Vindicto’s soul got dark and wicked. It seemed like Vindicto’s essence died the same day his father did, he became a lonely wolf. He stopped hanging about with his friends, stopped picking up his phone and he did not talk to anyone in a year.

His mother, now widow, Naiverta White, did not have anyone to take out all that pain she was feeling, she needed to be strong and powerful for his wreaked little son. Mrs. 449

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White became obsessed about cleaning and whenever she was not feeding or taking care of Vindicto, she was cleaning, polishing, shining, washing, or dusting that enormous house his dead husband left her. It seemed like her only solace was to roam through that big old mansion every day and restore all the memories her and her spouse once lived between those gloomy walls.

A year had passed since the incident happened. Vindicto was still not talking to anyone and Mrs. White had been diagnosed with OCD. His doctor, Mr. Giovanni Bianchi, recommended her to move to another place so that her nerves may calm a little bit and also to stop her anxiety attacks.

Impulsively, Mrs. White bought a house in Cupertino, USA, and bought two tickets in first class the next day to fly to their new house in California.

After approximately hours on a plane, Vindicto and his mother were already in Cupertino, California. A driver picked them at the airport and took them to their new house. When they arrived, they saw a vast, spectacular and immaculate white mansion on top of a hill.

Then Mrs. White said to his son in her Italian American accent “Look at that beautiful house I bought for us Vindicto, here we will have a fresh start and we will be happy”.

Vindicto did not answer because he had not spoken in a year.

“I know its hard my dear, but I believe we are going to be strong enough to overpass this vicissitude,” Mrs. White said.

The driver helps them to put their luggage inside the house (their furniture had already been installed by some decorators Mrs. White had hired). The mansion was welcoming from the open door to the extensive hallway. Upon the walls were a lot of Italian paintings that were from the renaissance.

The floor was like a marble mirror that reflected every sun ray that entered through the big crystal windows and the walls 450

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were the dark red of good Italian wine. The banisters of the stairs were a twirl of a branch, tamed by the carpenter’s hand, they were like the stairway to heaven. Mrs. White felt pleased about the beauty of the house, Vindicto also liked it a lot but he did not demonstrate an emotion or feeling.

Days passed and Vindicto was beginning to feel bored about being all day home alone. He was laying on his bed when he felt the necessity to socialize and open to people again. Vindicto went to the kitchen and spoke for the first time in fourteen months.

“Mom, I wanna go to school. I want to make new friends” Vindicto said in a low voice.

Naiverta’s soul came out of her body with happiness and she replied with happy tears in her eyes “Oh Lord, you’ve listened to my prayers! My dear Vindicto has come back! Of course, you can go to school, I didn’t think you were ready, but you are my dear. I’ll call the Cupertino Academy right now and you’ll start tomorrow” As Mrs. White said this, she kissed his son’s cheek and went directly to call the academy. The next day Vindicto was indeed going to school.

The next morning, Vindicto woke up very early. Vindicto’s room filled up with the golden breath of the sun when he opened the curtains. He took a shower and dressed himself up and then he went to take breakfast. After breakfast, Mrs. White drove his son to the academy for his first day at school. The levels of dopamine, endorphins, oxytocin, and serotonin were high in Vindicto’s organism, he was feeling overjoyed. When they arrived at school a woman was waiting for Vindicto in the front door.

“Deary, promise me that you’ll call me if you feel bad or if anything happens to you,” Naiverta said.

“Don’t worry mom, I’ll be, Okay!” Vindicto said.

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Vindicto came out from the car and he went towards the woman that was standing in the front door.

“Hello, you must be Vindicto,” the woman in the front door said.

“Yes I am,” Vindicto said.

“I’m professor Holly Ryan, and I will be your homeroom teacher during the rest of the semester. I’ll take you to the classroom to meet your new classmates, please follow me”.

The woman said.

Vindicto followed the woman to the classroom. It was an enormous room full of colors. There was a big white-board in the front part of the classroom and on the walls were a lot of posters about biology, physics, and astronomy and also, there was a big map of the USA in the back wall of the classroom.

In the back of the classroom, there was a plastic model of the human skeleton that caught Vindicto’s attention because he loves to study the human body.

“Dear students, please welcome our new student Vindicto.

He just came from living in Italy and he doesn’t know a lot about our culture, please be kind to him to let him feel comfortable. Vindicto, please tell us about yourself” Miss Holly said.

“Hello everyone, my name is Vindicto Jackson and I’m fifteen years old. I come from Turin which is located in Italy and I live with my mother. I like to play chess and to build things with Lego and I also like to do some research about living organisms because I would like to study biology or medicine. I’m very excited to get to know everyone and I hope we all can be friends”. Vindicto said nervously and anxiously.

When Vindicto finished a voice in the back of the room said “Loser!”

“Please have some respect towards your new classmate Alex,” Miss Holly said. “Go to your seat Vindicto, next to the blond kid named Henry”.

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While going to sit, Vindicto was feeling really bad because that guy was bullying him.

“Hello, you must be Vindicto (they both shook hands) my name is Henry Smith and I’m also fifteen years old, I believe we are neighbors, yesterday I saw you walking by my house. If you need anything just tell me”. Henry said amiably.

Vindicto did not answer because he was not feeling like talking at that moment because of the incident that happened during his presentation.

“Oh, you are thinking about what Alex told you… don’t worry about it, he’s just a bad guy keep away from him and you’ll be fine”. Henry said to his new friend.

“Thank you, Henry, you’re very nice” Vindicto answer with a smile on his face.

The rest of the day was great until lunchtime. During lunchtime, Vindicto was eating alone in a table peacefully a sandwich his lovely mother made for him. Suddenly Alex Fox arrived with some other seven guys and began to insult Vindicto.

“What shu’ doin’ wop, are we interrupting your chess game with your imaginary friend or what,” Alex said it laughing trying to ridicule Vindicto in front of the other boys.

“Shut up you scoundrel, leave me alone or I’ll tell Miss Holly you are bothering me,” Vindicto said it trying to look tough.

“Are you going to accuse us, you wop. Let’s see if you can talk after we give you what you deserve” Alex said.

Alex and his gang began to punch Vindicto. They broke his spectacles and left him almost blind. Vindicto was as helpless and a little fox that trapped by five bloodhounds, he did not have any escape. Suddenly Henry came and stopped the fight, Alex gang also punched Henry, but Henry was able to stop them with his words. Vindicto went bleeding and when he arrived his mother did not even notice he was hurt because 453

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she was having one of her anxiety-attacks that happen when she remembers her dead husband. Vindicto was feeling lonesome in this world as he did not have anyone in this world to express his emotions.

The next day, Vindicto was feeling even worse. Last night he needed to call an ambulance because his mother tried to kill herself and now she was under some drugs that make her feel alienated from this world. Vindicto needed to go to school by himself. When he arrived everyone was asking about Alex because he did not come to school and his parents went to school to say he disappeared last night. Everyone was worried about Alex’s disappearance but not by Vindicto’s state of mind.

During the following week, each day, one of the seven members of Alex’s gang disappeared mysteriously and no one knew why. The SPA was really worried because the only boys that were disappearing in the state where the ones from the school, they were speculating that maybe the mysterious kidnapper was Mr. Chessy the art teacher because he was really weird. The next day, the CPD went to the Cupertino’s Academy and told the principal they found the body of one of his students, it was Alex’s body. The police said they found his body down the river that passes through the academy, they said it was clearly a homicide because they found the body without the head. They also said that the forensic doctors found out that the head was chopped with an axe. The SPA went into a panic and they decided to put charges against Mr. Chessy because they did not have anyone else to blame for the crime.

Meanwhile, all of this was happening, Vindicto’s soul became rotten again. Without his mother he felt alone in this world, his essence was faded by the water flow from the river of solitude. He did not have anyone in this world, all the people he trusted were in Italy. One day at school something marvelous happened.

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“Hey, Vindicto. You know Miss Holly asked us to do a poster for tomorrow and I was maybe wondering if you would like to be my partner for this project?” Henry said to Vindicto “Do you mean it for real? Of course, let’s do it this afternoon at my house” Vindicto answered gladly.

Some of Vindicto’s soul reborn from the ashes of his sadness like a Fenix. Vindicto felt he had someone to hold on to, Vindicto felt hope again.

That afternoon Henry went to Vindicto’s house. Mrs. White was still on her medications but now he was able to sustain some conversations but with a little dilution. Henry rang to the front door and Mrs.White answered the door.

“Hello, Mrs. White my name is Henry Smith. I’ve come to do some work with Vindicto” Henry said.

“Oh deary, you’re the famous and unparalleled Henry Smith! I’ve heard a lot about you. Please come in, Henry is in his room, go upstairs and turn left. I’ll get you some food and be upstairs in a blink of an eye” Mrs. White said in a voice that made her look like she was drunk.

Vindicto came running downstairs “It’s okay mom, I’ll take care of Henry. You go to your bed and lay down for a little while” Vindicto said in a nervous and embarrassed tone.

Vindicto took Henry to his room and they laid down on the floor and began to do the poster they were assigned to do.

They both had an extremely pleasant time together, they told a lot of jokes and they were becoming best friends. Vindicto’s soul shone with joy, it was the first time he was happy during the past year.

“I’ll bring us some snacks, I’ll be in the pantry,” Vindicto said and went out from the room.

Henry stayed drawing the poster laying on the floor of Vindicto’s room. He was coloring the title when he noticed that the part of the floor where he was drawing on was trembling, 455

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he got scared because he thought it was an earthquake but it was not because at the moment he stopped drawing the floor stopped shaking. He stood up and he removed the poster from the floor and he saw that there was a loose tile on the floor.

Henry tried to adjust it again in its original position but he saw there was a concave space under the tile, he lifted the tile and he was able to appreciate that inside the concave space there was a big haversack. Henry’s heart was beating as fast as the heart of bat. He tried to pull out the bag from the hole but it was too heavy so he just opened the haversack in there.

At the moment he opened the bag, he almost fainted and he felt disgusted; at that moment Henry lost all hope in humanity. What he found out in the bag were eight human chopped heads including Alex’s, the rest of the heads were the heads of the member of Alex’s gang.

At that moment Henry’s head was chopped off from his body with an ax. Sometimes people do things you would never expect from them. Vindicto closed his eyes and began to see with clarity what he had done.

“This must have been a hallucination, this can not be possible” Vindicto thought to try to calm himself up.

He opened his eyes and saw his room was covered with red sparkles in the four walls of his room. Vindicto went near a wall and touch, smelled, and tasted the red substance. Indeed, it was blood and it was real. At that moment, harsh reality kicked Vindicto in the guts. Vindicto’s face turned yellow, then green and he finally puked on the floor. Vindicto was not able to believe he had killed his only friend in the world, and worst he was not even sure why he did it. Suddenly, Vindicto’s eyes began to melt, it was the first time he had cried since his father died.

“How was I able to do this? ” he thought dismally “I must pay for my actions, he gave me his friendship and I paid him 456

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back by taking his life away...What were you thinking about?”

Vindicto said aloud.

Vindicto was not even able to see Henry’s dead body so he closed his eyes and put Henry’s head and body in a big plastic bag only using his sense of touch.

“I’m going to put this plastic bag in the front yard and call the police, I will pay for my actions even if it is the last thing I have to do,” Vindicto said in his life.

Vindicto took the body to the yard and called the police at 5:37 pm. The police arrived immediately and they saw the plastic bag and Vindicto staying beside it.

“This is the Cupertino police department, put your hands where we can see them. You’re being accused of murder, anything you may say could be used against you in the court of law if you have anything to say please say it now.” a policeman shouted.

“I declare I killed Henry Smith. He is… was my best friend and I believe I must pay for what I have done to him. Also…I killed some cretins from my school, but I do not regret it…”

Vindicto said in a cold tone.

The policeman handcuffed Vindicto and escorted him to the back seat of a police car. Vindicto had a big smile on his face, he was happy. He was partially happy because he thought he was making justice by giving himself in but also he was distressed about what was going to happen next, he was a confused teenager. Mrs. White came out from the house screaming at the police officers because she did not know what was happening. Then, she saw Vindicto in a police car and run directly to him. When Vindicto saw his mother running towards him, a mixture of conglomerated feelings overwhelmed him and he began to cry. All Vindicto wanted was to control the situation, but at that moment he realized he had lost control of it.

REVERSE HAPPINESS

Written by Daniela Uribe Ariza 458

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I

t was a bright sunny Saturday in New York City, and Laia was free to do wherever she wanted. She decided she was going to get ready, have breakfast, and go to the museum.

There was this museum where she wanted to go that had a new exhibition since last week, it was an exposition about rare inventions that people had created. She got ready, she was wearing her favorite pants and a blue shirt, she brushed her black hair and then combed it in a ponytail, she looked at the mirror, and stared at her round face, her skin was bright and soft. She applied some mascara to her almond-shaped eyes. She went to take breakfast and then after brushing her teeth she took the keys and went out of the apartment. As she was walking in the street she could hear the birds singing, the museum was close to her home so she was able to get there in 15 minutes.

The entrance of the exhibition was free because it was Saturday and was still early. After 2:00 pm the entrance would cost. She first went to visit the second floor where there were a lot of very interesting machines, then she went to the first floor, slowly observing all the machines until she found one that especially caught her attention and made her stay longer observing it. It was very small compared to the others and had a lot of details, there was a label on top of it that said that it was a time machine which was interesting.

—Because; you would imagine a time machine to be something big that you could get inside.— She got too close to the machine and suddenly the little machine apparently turned on and the lights went off and it immediately came back on; she felt as If she had just witnessed a flash of lightning in front of her because there was a green light in it, but she didn’t pay much attention to it.

That day after visiting the museum, she went for lunch at her favorite restaurant that served pasta, and then she 459

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went home to rest and watch a sci-fi movie. That night she had dinner with her mother, and she told her about her day at the museum and the interesting Little machine, they both laughed and she went to bed early. The next day when she woke up she was not in her room. She thought she was still asleep because she was in a very big room all white with nothing in there, just her laying on the floor. She tried to tell herself to wake up but apparently, she was already awake. She stood up, she went out of the room and found out that she was in a building, she saw a guy, that was dressed all in white and had an apron on top of his shirt, and she asked what was the room where she got out from and the guy said it was the new room for breakfast but that was not ready yet for hosting, “you can find breakfast for now going straight that corridor”, she noticed a different accent that she was already used to, and she responded “hosting, what do you mean, where am I”, the man said, “you are in Marriott Hotel in London”.

She was scared and couldn’t believe what was happening, so she said; “how is it possible that I was at home last night and now I’m in London”, then she remembered about the time machine in the museum and then she asked herself “is it really possible”, “am I just dreaming.” She took the elevator and got to the lobby, she asked the woman at the reception If she had seen her coming in last night or if there was a record of her in the hotel, apparently, she didn’t check-in, in the hotel and there was no clue how she got there. She paid for some breakfast in the hotel and then asked where she could find a library.

One hour later after eating and traveling in the metro, she was able to reach the nearest library. She went in and started looking for books about traveling in time, she found one and started reading it, there, it said that many people have tried along history to make time traveling machines but that none of them were proved to work; although there were certain 460

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discoveries of people who came and made predictions and then suddenly disappeared, this was not yet understood or proved to be true. She couldn’t find in the book representation of a machine like the one she saw in the museum. She sat down and think, as she didn’t know what to do or who could believe her, she was still processing everything that had happened to her that morning.

Then another girl came and ask “do you mind if I sit here”, Laia said that it was fine, the girl sat down with her computer.

After some minutes Laia decided to say Hello and introduced herself, following she asked; “do you believe in time traveling”, the girl answered right away “well I think it sounds kind of fantasy but I know many people are very deep into the idea of trying to travel in time” Then Laia said that she just had an unbelievable experience that she couldn’t even believe herself. She told her about the museum and how she woke up in London that morning.

The girl was astonished but in her eyes, you could see that she wasn’t sure if to believe or not, they stayed a long time talking and the girl offered Laia to stay at her house that night since she told her that she had no money and no idea how to go back. The girl’s name was Willow. The next day Willow lend some money to Laia so she could travel home and check if everything was normal and check out if maybe she had just flown to London overnight. First, she contacted, the US Embassy in London and she said that she was an American citizen and that she needed a provisional Passport because her Passport had been lost, the Embassy was so nice with Laia, after checking her personal information, they provided a Passport for her to travel back to New York, the same day, and she left the Embassy to the airport right way, she bought her ticket.

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there was another family living at her house and that these people didn’t know anything about her parents. In the middle of her confusions, she tried to go back to the museum to see if anyone could give her any answer, but the person in charge told her that; all the machines have been brought to the national museum of England 20 years ago, she was confounded and didn’t know what to do to get her life back, so she decided to use the money she had left to fly back to London, after explaining everything that had happened, Willow agreed to let Laia stay at her place until she found the way to get her life back in New York.

Time raced by, and Laia was still trying to find the time machine that she used in New York, meanwhile, she also started to work in a nail-salon, which had always been her dream since she was younger, she was really good at it and also she needed to work to find enough money to help her research, and amid the time she spent with Willow, they both got very close, and Willow loved it when Laia fixed her nails at night while Willow is telling her about the books she had read.

One day like any other day, Laia found a place where supposedly they used to keep the machines, Laia and Willow decided to go there and check it out and on their way, Laia noticed something very interesting on the road, it was another time machine similar to the one Laia had seen on the museum, they got closer to observe and couldn’t see anybody around that could be the owner of the thing. they both got out of the car and Laia held the artifact in her hands, it was very cold and she noticed that this one didn’t have any buttons. They returned home and Laia kept the machine in her room.

A few days later, Willow and Laia sat down at the table to talk, Willow asked Laia if she had figured out how the machine worked, Laia said no but that she would keep investigating.

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They kept talking for some time until they got sleepy and went to bed.

Two months later, Willow was worried about her friend Laia as she had been worried and sad because she couldn’t fix the little machine for her to have her life back. Willow decided to organize a little surprise welcome party for Laia, she invited some of their friends from work and neighbors, When Laia came from work, she noticed multiple cars parking outside but the light was switched off from Willow’s house, as she entered the house, and switched on the light, everyone shouted; “Welcome to London Laia, We love you” she got scared a little bit and then she felt enchanted and immensely happy and loved, she couldn’t believe that Willow had done such thing for her.

Everybody was happy and enjoying the party. It was an unforgettable night for Laia, they danced until their feet hurt.

That night, Laia stepped outside to get some air, as she had been dancing, shouting, she was running out of breath, she needed to get some fresh air. She looked at the sky and noticed some beautiful stars and all the memories from the past months went through Laia’s mind, remembering everything that had happened, how she woke up in London, how the people in charge of the museum told her that the machine was transferred in England for the past 20 years, and all the search she had been doing for the past couple months, trying to find the little machine, but later all these sorrowful memories were turned into a smile when she remembered the welcome party that Willow had organized for her, which made her feel welcomed in the country.

It had been a really nice evening and now she felt like she was comfortable and it seemed as if she would have accepted to live in this reality forever. But there was still one thing that had her worried and that made her still want to go back, the 463

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fact that her mother would be terrified because she suddenly disappeared and was nowhere to be found. She wanted to know that her mother was alright.

The party ended and the two girls had a small talk, Laia was enormously grateful for her friendship and everything she did for her, she couldn’t stop thanking her for understanding her situation, for being there at all times and always encouraging her to pursue her dreams and help her when she was having trouble with anything and Willow simply said; “Don’t mention it..that’s what friends are there for,” Willow later asked Laia how she was feeling then and Laia responded that the last few months had been tough for her but that it was a great learning experience and that she was more cheerful that night. Both girls were happy and went to sleep that night with the thought that the next day would be a wonderful day full of new emotions and new life experiences to live.

The following day, Birds were singing and there was a little light coming from the window which meant it was already daylight and time to get up, when Laia got up she found that the machine at the “night table” was on and had a green light on it, she stood up very fast from her bed with the thought that maybe she had returned home, she looked out the window and found that the outside didn’t look like the same road and the same houses and trees that were outside willows house, it looked like outside of her mother’s house, she got out of the room and proved that it was indeed her mother’s house and that she had returned home.

She stepped out of the room anxiously, and ran to her mother’s room to check if she was okay and found her getting out of bed, she had just woke up, she said “hello sweetie how did you sleep last night” and Laia said “I slept okay but mother are you okay, I’m sorry that I was missing for a while, but if you allow me, I can explain”, then mother said” what do you 464

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mean missing, I saw you last night and we ate dinner together, I also hugged you before you went to sleep”, then Laia was astonished because she had been in London for half a year but to her Mom, it was like, It had never happened. Her mother asked her” what happened sweetie why do you seem so surprised”, then Laia started to explain everything with all the details. When she finished she added that she wanted to go back because she didn’t say goodbye to her friend and didn’t want things to end up like that.

Her mother sighed and told her; “Hahaha, Honey, breathe slowly! It was just a dream, yesterday, you told me about a machine, you saw at the museum when we were having dinner” her mother grabbed the little machine in her hands, and she explained to her daughter; “Honey, this is just a 100W Sterilizer Machine, you wanted for your birthday, and the little green light just indicates the temperature, and since its automatic, it readjusts as the temperature changes” Laia was so surprised about everything, and she finally realized that everything that happened was just a dream, she thanked her mother so much for the surprise gift that she had always wanted, to start her own nail salon.

A few months later, Laia was able to open her first salon with the help of her mother, and as she was happy about her new achievement, One day like any other day, a client walked in her nail salon, holding 4 books in her left hand and she asked her to fix her nails, when she laid her eyes on her, this person looked very familiar, and Laia asked her where she was coming from since she had a foreign accent, the client responded I’m Willow, and I come from London and she added, “I broke my nails in the library, while I was looking for these books, It may sound crazy, but do you believe in time traveling?” Laia was shocked when she heard that, as she felt that she was living her dream, but she smiled happily and 465

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proceeded the conversation by saying, “Willow is good to see you again, do you remember me?, I’m Laia your friend, we met in the library do you remember?”

Then Willow answered, “how do you know my name?” “ I know things about the future”, Laia answered smilingly. Then Laia added, “I’m glad you’re here so I can fix your nails”. They continued the conversation, Willow and Laia were getting along just so well and after getting her nails done, they exchanged their phone numbers and they kept in touch ever since. Until one day, Laia invited Willow to her house, and Willow gladly accepted the invitation.

It was a sunny day when Willow arrived at Laia’s house.

Laia’s mother opened the door, she looked at her very kindly and said, “Hello, how may I help you?” Then Willow said, “Let me introduce myself, I’m Willow, a friend of Laia, is she home?” Then her mother responded, “yes she is home, please come in, we were expecting you.” They sat down at the table to have a chat.

The conversation was going well and then Willow remembered and asked Laia if she could please tell her about the future since she had told her that she knew things about the future, then Laia started to explain her dream, she explained everything that happened in her dream, how she ended up in London and she also mentioned where Willow stays in London, and so much more; then Willow interrupted her hurriedly and ask, “wait, that is exactly where I live in London and I do go very often to that library, How could you possibly know that information?.” Then Laia answered that she lived every moment and that for her, It didn’t feel like a dream. Then Laia’s mother, all surprised asked her daughter, “So this is the girl you told me about right sweetheart?” then Laia said, yes mother she is Willow from London.

MY MIRROR OF LIES

Written By Sabina Valencia Maldonado 467

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s it happens in most Latin American territory, in Colombia there is a large and noticeable social inequity. In which the countryside has become the home to every citizen in search of adjustable life conditions and resources due to their lack of income and the meeting point for every Colombian that has suffered the absence of the government in their human right’s fulfillment. Whereby, the upper classes have established themselves in the principal cities of the country, having, as a result, large segregation between the low and high social classes of the country. Therefore, the social classes are drastically marked and as it has been taught to us, we do not mix. As it happened to me, the ones that are born inside this exclusive community are admired and liked in an easier way than the ones that just search or achieve a place in this society. However, being born in this circle adds apart from economical advantages multiple aspects to your life decisions, that demand you to achieve what is socially expected through life perfection.

As a woman of the De la Espriella family, I have married a wealthy man from a wealthy family, I have had three kids with my only husband and I am the head of the women social club.

For the eyes of others, my family appears to them as the perfect family regarding economical and personal goals, they would like to achieve in life.

Growing up, I have been told and taught how to maintain my familiar social status. However, I find myself trapped in my mirror of lies, inside a marriage for convenience, without love in between and external to my child’s lives pretending I am not aware of their struggles as they think I am. Nevertheless, even if I act the opposite I know my husband has been having an affair, I know my son Esteban has issues regarding commitment, I know Julieta is seriously in love with a black man and I am so afraid for their relationship to reach another level and finally,

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I know my older daughter Paloma feels lonely and afraid every single day.

As I learned from my mother, I wait every night for Roberto to arrive from work with a delicious meal and ready to fulfill his needs through intimacy, but the truth is that in the last 6 years of marriage we have never had any type of intimate moment and every time he arrives home he greets me with a kiss on the cheek —as if I was his mother—, he eats what our maid has prepared and at the end of the day, we sleep facing the opposite sides of the bed. The reality is that my marriage is more of an endless fellowship, on the basis thereof, divorce will never be an option for us. For this reason, I had to accept the possibility of Roberto having a lover that may satisfy his sexual needs but never to the eyes of others. So, in other words, I was constantly making a fool out of me, acting as if I did not notice the perfume in his suits, the mysterious late-night calls, the messages at dawn, and of course the unexpected business trips.

To my mind, I tried to keep my mind occupied so I didn’t have time to feel lonely or sorry for myself. Therefore, I founded the women’s social club to which I chair the committee, for me; to be constantly working in the planning of every charity or social event and distract myself from my pathetic life. However, a moment arrived when there was nothing I could do to stop my sorrow, and there was nothing else I could do to cover it. Yet I found my lifeline when a young boy from my support group gave me a bag of marijuana as the perfect way to bury my feelings. And so it became my salvation any time I felt stressed, depressed, or when I only wanted to feel relaxed. Though it was one of my biggest secrets and nobody could never know about it, not even my kids.

Moving forward, I felt calm and casual every day after I used my little secret and it made my life a lot easier. I became incredibly faster and logical at planning events, and so I did an 469

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impeccable job with the organization of the “Annual fundraising event of 2018” that chose an NGO Hospital (non-governmental organization hospital) to receive the donation. I was so proud of myself during the event and I felt great my husband was by my side until a little curly-haired girl came running to Roberto’s arms and, to my surprise, I heard her calling him daddy. I wasn’t sure of what was happening until I saw my father’s former nurse chasing the little girl; In a second, a thousand ideas and images came into my mind and I remembered the jealousy I felt when the nurse Marcela lived with us when she was taking care of my father before he died. I remembered, the way Roberto looked at her and how I knew he liked her. In the next second, I realized that we needed to leave the room immediately, due to the reason it was full of press, important magazines, and our family and friends.

Once we reached the exit of the big salon Marcela said “Oh, Ms. and Mr. De la Espriella, I’m so sorry Jennifer is only playing, I hope I didn’t ruin your night, any case we are leaving, bye…” and she tried to take the little girl out of my husband’s arm, but Jennifer stayed still and said, “No I want to stay with daddy”.

At that moment I felt a swirl inside of me, I looked to the girl and I realized she was about 10 years old, almost the time my father has been dead and I felt as if a bucket of cold water felled on me. I couldn’t look into Roberto’s eyes because I would have never imagined him having another family. But of course, I had to manage the situation and so I placed all my feelings away and told them “We are all leaving so we could finish this conversation at home, Roberto, bring the car”. I said firmly.

During the twenty-minute ride, I pushed my thousand feelings to the deepest part of my body. In the end, I knew what I had to do, I called Marcela over and went up to grab money from 470

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the safe box. I returned to the living room, as Marcela arrived to give her the package and I told her she had to leave the country with her daughter and never come back and never say who was her daughter’s father.

Marcela decided to accept the deal and told her daughter that they would be leaving the country as soon as possible.

Jennifer abstained from leaving, she refused to leave her friends and her school. I felt a conflict coming. Marcela was furious and told her daughter that it was an end of discussion. Jennifer cried and told her mother that she wouldn’t leave the country at free will but in the end, both of them left the house with the money.

After they left, I found myself in one of the biggest arguments of my marriage and even though Roberto asked me for a divorce, I shouted and told him; “Roberto, for you to make up for all your lies and mistakes, you have to stay by my side for the rest of our lives to maintain our family social status.”

Little did I know that Roberto had been keeping another secret from all of us. For as long as he can remember he had been avoiding taxes and have had close to no savings in the bank and that he was about to file for bankruptcy, despite keeping up with the idea that he was extremely rich and wealthy in his way.

He had married me for nothing but my money, and with my money, he had not only been doing tax evasion but also putting it into non-ethical company starters that paid him back 300% of his inversions, and dirty money.

I found this out when Roberto got hauled off to jail one day after all these incidents, he was taken away for tax evasion and correlation with suspicious companies. This shatters to me, but I couldn’t let it bring me down socially so I covered up this terrible truth and said that Roberto had gone on a trip to Saudi Arabia to complete some business that had been pending for a while.

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“I wish he hadn’t left, but I’m so glad I’ll get my Moroccan pearls after this!” I said laughingly to anyone who asked.

Even though I tried my hardest to cover this up, Marcela figured out that Roberto was actually in jail because he had been writing her letters secretly over the past months. I absolutely refused to let this trample me, and I felt as if I had a duty to myself to keep my head above the water and continue shredding on with the position that I had fought so hard to get in the society. This place hadn’t been easy to get to and I wasn’t about to lose it over my husband and his stupid decisions and his stupid affair. So after I got the worrying call from Marcela that revealed that she knew the entire truth and she would spell it out even the slightest of my movements against her, A call which I had gotten when I was at the Dentist’s getting my fixtures, I hopped in the car and thought about what I could do to solve this.

I truly didn’t know Marcela decided to leave without Jennifer, to start a new life after all of this mess had happened and Jennifer had to start working at a grocery store to sustain herself and buy food. For an entire month, she lived in her mother’s old apartment, barely paying bills and barely eating enough. She had to drop out of school to work more hours, and could never see her friends anymore. For the longest time, Jennifer felt lost. Her mother had gotten involved with the wrong people, the type of people that cared too much about the things that you own and you show off instead of the things that matter. Society had completely failed her. She loathed everybody, as well as her mother. She realizes that to so many people, money was more important than your own family.

This information came to me as a surprise, as I thought her mother had left the country with her, I finally realized that people like me, socialites who care about nothing but the way people dress and how expensive they can make their life look 472

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had ruined the lives of so many other people, caught in the rocks of this madness, the hard-working social classes that get trampled by us. When I finally found out that Jennifer had been living on her own and sustaining herself for random months I decided to take her in. It wasn’t an easy choice, but I thought that it was the best thing to do after I participated in ruining her life, by separating her from her father and offering money to her mother and forcing her to decide between her child and financial stability, I felt completely responsible and I knew that if I took her in, it would be with a lot of love and she would get to meet her half-sisters and brothers and that it was a step in the right direction, for a better future where social classes weren’t as separated and money wasn’t the only thing on my mind, I thought this was something important that I owed Jenifer.

For the longest time, I always thought about money and my image and the way that every other person saw me, and now after seeing her situation, I realized that this was the most important thing in life, that it goes deeper than that, and also that what really matters was the love and passion for those that you have around you and for the things that you want to do, the things that you want to achieve.

And that is why I decided to start making better decisions for a better future not only for myself but to my lovely children Esteban, Julieth, and Paloma, who were also the victims of this madness, to understand them better and support every decision they make in their lives that makes them happy, and also to my lovely country of Colombia, and most importantly for the rest people that still live behind the glass bubble that blinds them from the reality of the world and stop them from realizing that money won’t make you happy if you are not in the first place.

ON THE ROAD TO SOCIAL ACCEPTANCE

Written By Natalia Varela Alencar-Ponte 474

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ne day, during the last summer in South Africa, the sky wore the most beautiful rainbow flag of the symbol of peace, a living masterpiece of nature. Though it grows unnoticed by so many, It is more to my eye than any artwork that brings its likeness in beautiful sights of softest nature, and there he was; Ukufa, medium height with an endomorph looking body. Black, Coily hair neatly styled to reveal a round, chubby, charming face. Dark smooth skin that gracefully compliments his hair. Glistening dark brown eyes, set low within their sockets, watch longingly over the rainbow.

Little did I know that we would later become more than just two strangers.

I felt a particular connection to him, therefore I decided to sit next to him on the bench. He seemed very shy but he started a conversation with me by telling how beautiful the sky was looking. We talked for hours. He told me that he lived in Uganda but was visiting his aunt in South Africa for the summer vacation. We talked about our lives, our hobbies and the things we liked and disliked. We discovered that we had many things in common like our love for music and dance. I was curious about his country so I said: “I’ve never been to Uganda, do you like it there?”

He said: “Well, I love my country. I live in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. I believe that it is a magical, beautiful place filled with nature. Many rare animal species live there.”

I said, “that’s amazing.”

He said, “Yes it is. Also, Uganda remains very traditional regarding its culture. You can still see women dressing in kitenge dresses, children wearing traditional clothing, batik pillows, and more. There’s only one problem.”

I asked; “what’s the problem?”

He said; “Being very traditional is not always a good thing. Where I live, homosexuality is seen as a demonic 475

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thing, as something that is not right and shouldn’t happen.

Additionally, homosexuality is seen as a result of Western influence, against our culture, and conceived to destroy the actual African tradition so they oppose it. After listening to him talking, the pain it caused me was indescribable. It is not fair that people can’t be who they are because they are afraid of being hurt or being alone. I just wish everyone could have the freedom they deserve, feel love and acceptance.”

We felt an immediate utter trust in each other. We felt a bond. We were both dealing with similar pain, and we both coveted for the same things, freedom, love, respect, and acceptance. That day, we both knew that we had created an everlasting friendship that would endure regardless of the distance.

When he went back to Uganda, our friendship grew stronger. We texted each other all day every day and we video called every night. We were in an akin situation, we gave each other the support and love we needed to be able to be our true selves.

With him, I was able to finally accept who I was and start my journey of self-love, and with my help, he was able to have the courage to do what he believed was right, tell the world who he really was and stop acting like what people wanted him to be. In Uganda, people believe that homosexuality is lined up with demonic deviation, and Uganda is seen as a homophobic tide that disables LGBT bodies. Notwithstanding, Ukufa’s parents were really loving and caring and he believed that because they were like that they would love and accept him if he came out to them as gay.

One morning, I woke up and saw that Ukufa had publicly come out as gay on his social media. I called him immediately and he was crying, hiding in a bathroom stall at school.

He said: “My peers are looking for me. They want to beat me up.”

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I said: “OMG, stay there. Don’t go out until everyone is gone and you are safe.”

He said: “You don’t understand. I’ll never be safe. They’ll never accept me, my life will always be at risk. Even if people from school or the city do accept me. I’ll always be hiding or running away because I could end up in prison forever. I hate myself for being like this.”

When I heard this my heart broke into a million pieces, I couldn’t believe that someone would fear for his life just because of his sexual orientation. After some hours of hiding, Ukufa was finally able to go home, a place where he believed he would be saved. When he arrived home his family was crying, they told him that he was a disgrace to them and that they would prefer a dead son over a gay one. His parents said that he had a demon inside of him and that they would get it out one way or another.

My best friend’s world was crumbling and I tried everything I could to make it better. For him, every single day became the worst day of his life. He had an invisible weight on his back that he couldn’t take out. Life at school became hell, his friends now hated him. Every day the older boys at school would look for him to beat him up or make fun of him.

He stopped going to school because he couldn’t take being in this situation. He used to leave his house and stay at a park until it was time to go back home. Before he came out of the closet, going home was something pleasant, something he looked forward to. But now, being home was unbearable. His family would verbally and physically abuse him because of their opinion towards homosexuality. The only person that still showed him love and support in his life, was me. The only problem was that I lived in a different country.

The morning of December the 15th Ukufa called me. He

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was crying his heart out. I could barely understand what he was saying until he calmed down and say; “They just kicked me out of the house. My mom threw a bible at me and then she threw all of my stuff out of the window. They said they didn’t want me anymore. They said I shouldn’t exist. Maybe they are right. All I cause is a pain to my family and they don’t deserve it.”

When he finished that sentence he hanged up the phone. I called him and texted him numerous times but he didn’t answer.

The day passed and he still wasn’t answering. I texted his sister to see if she knew something but she said she was at school and didn’t know or care. I spent the whole day crying and I didn’t eat due to the anxiety I had because I didn’t know what was going on with my dearest friend and there was nothing I could do to help. I was worried because he didn’t have a place to stay now that he was kicked out of his home.

I didn’t want him living on the streets especially being so young. I never imagined things would be much worse than not finding a place to stay.

Late that night I got a call. It was Ukufa’s sister. I suddenly felt a pain on my chest that I couldn’t explain. I knew something wasn’t right. She said that she was calling me because she knew how much I cared about her brother and thought I deserved to know what happened to him. She told me that her family went out to eat to celebrate that they had gotten rid of Ukufa. When they went back home they saw that someone had forced the entry of their house. They thought it was a thief until they went inside and saw Ukufa. He was hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the living room. He gave them what they wanted, to get rid of him forever.

When she said that he was dead, a part of me died. I felt dizzy, I was disoriented, my sight went blurry and my knees 478

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went weak. The pain I felt was almost physical and it wouldn’t go away. I felt empty inside. Not only was my best friend gone, but he was also gone because of me. He was gone because I told him that if he wanted to come out he should. He was gone because I told him everything would be alright. He was gone because I wasn’t a good enough friend to help him. He was gone because I didn’t go there when he needed me. He was gone because I wasn’t there for him as I should have. I was his best friend, I should have been able to help him, to keep him alive. Instead, all I did was lead him into his own grave.

I didn’t leave my house for a month. I was barely eating and only got out of bed when I had to. Everything reminded me of him, even the most innocent and banal of things. Every time the pain was there. The pain of him being gone.The pain of him being gone because of me. I truly hated myself, not only because of what happened to him but also because I was like him. After that month I began going out but the pain and guilt were still there. I used to go out to watch movies or to eat but after what happened I just wanted to go out and do things to ease my pain. I changed, people didn’t even recognize me.

I began going out to parties. The ones I went to weren’t the type of gatherings other thirteen-year-olds would go to. When I started going to those celebrations the worst thing I would do was take a shot of alcohol and it would be enough. After some weeks taking a shot wasn’t enough so I began drinking as much as the eighteen-year-olds that were there. I began partying every weekend and getting as drunk as I could. Not only did I begin drinking, but I also began kissing every boy I could to try to make myself feel attracted to them, it didn’t work. Even after getting drunk every weekend, the pain was there. I needed something stronger. I began doing drugs. The same thing that happened with the alcohol happened with the drugs I took. At first, I started smoking weed occasionally 479

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but it wasn’t enough so I began smoking every day. The thing is, it is never actually enough. Therefore, I began doing coke, 2CB, popper, lean, MDMA, and shrooms. I became addicted.

There was not a single day in which I didn’t drink or use and every weekend I went to these get-togethers and got as high and as drunk as possible.

The pain I used to feel the weeks after his death shifted into numbness. I managed to take the pain away by intoxicating my body but then there was something worse than feeling pain, not feeling anything at all. I wanted to feel something again. I thought that maybe increasing the number of drugs I used would work or that cutting and burning myself would make me feel something, it didn’t. I continued destroying my body, going to places I shouldn’t go to, and doing things that were not right. I didn’t have any type of limits.

One day, I hit rock bottom. As I had been doing for months, I went to a party at a house of someone I didn’t know. There I began drinking and doing MDMA as I would do at most parties. As every weekend I got so intoxicated that I wasn’t even able to walk. The only difference was that this time I was alone, the friend I was with had fallen asleep and there was no one to look after me. Two guys that were approximately twenty years old and that I had never spoken to, noticed that I was alone and that I was extremely high and drunk. They took me into one of the bathrooms and raped me, I wasn’t able to stop them nor scream for help.

I hated myself so much that I thought I deserved what had happened to me and that it was my fault. I couldn’t see a tangible future for myself, I felt hopeless. The day after it happened I tried killing myself by an overdose but a friend arrived soon enough to save me. As crazy as it might sound, trying to commit suicide was what saved my life. It helped

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me realize that I actually needed help and I was finally willing to receive it.

I began going to therapy every week and things slowly began to change. My psychiatrist recommended me to do social work. When I started doing social work I met some incredible people that became my friends. Even though they hadn’t known me for a long time, they were there for me every step of the way, even when things got dark. I will forever be thankful to them and with my doctors for the support, love, and guidance they gave me. I hope to someday help someone the way they helped me.

What happened to Ukufa is something I wouldn’t wish upon anyone but that critical moment is what motivated me to try and teach people that everyone deserves love, respect, and acceptance regardless of their differences. I think humans are like little shattered pieces of glass, all odd and misplaced, but glittering, shining in the sunlight, and some of us, just some of us, reflect little rainbows, and thankfully, I get to glimmer in the sun and give back my light in seven colors, full of pride.

I met some people just like me and discovered a community, a safe place, a worldwide family where you will always find someone that understands what you are going through, that will accept you, guide you, and help you however they can.

Now, due to my best friend and my personal experience, I am an advocate of the LGBT community and our rights. My dream is to be able to live on a planet where everyone can embrace themselves without being judged or discriminated against, and I will do my best to try to fulfill my dream.

THE PARADOX OF TRUST

Written By Nicolรกs Vรกsquez Renjifo 482

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ill it be a good day today? Will it be a sunny day? I think everyone asked themselves that particular questions on the 18th of September 2019. And it did. Everyone wanted that day to be perfect “first day of school” to the last one at Montgomery High. That particular day was a very sunny one; in fact, it was 107.6 ºF at noon. The sun was so intense that you could feel each of your pores secrete each droplet of sweat. The sunrays were in such direct angles that it felt like a magnifying glass on top of you. Everyone was arriving at school, and I was the first one to touch base. After myself, Greggory showed up on his Mustang GT, then Jorge on his Lamborghini Roadster and Veronica on his Audi Q7 after him.

I was in the parking lot, standing under the tree of the entrance, I was waiting for the bell to ring to go inside, and while waiting, I was reading a pretty exciting but bizarre book my English teacher from sophomore studies asked us to read. I am not sure if you’ve read it, but I’ll give you some clue, it’s a story of a weird kid that likes red, he hates yellow and poop, there is a murdered dog that he tries to find out who killed him. Oh! And he knows how to predict the future with cars passing by on the driveway. Pretty weird, isn’t it? You should read it. You’ll get to love it.

After a short instant, I heard some loud noise, and immediately I thought of Duke Ronalds Dickenson. He and his lovely ritual of arriving at school as if anyone cared about him accelerating on neutral his Mclaren P1. I thought.

With him came in his best friend Christian. And after him in a Ford Raptor F150, 2019 came in all of his other folks playing in the car at full volume this song “Losing it” from FISHER with the windows pulled down. The noise was so loud I felt the bass echoing and making my chest bump. But I enjoyed it because I like the song.

I quit reading the book and decided to walk inside. It was a 483

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quarter past eight in the morning, and the class started at 8:30 am. People were talking about their summer vacations with their friends and laughing and hugging.

Suddenly; the sound of a Yamaha MT-10 broke the silence in the classroom, and the atmosphere in the room made my blood as cold as the brisk air that crept through an open window. There was no whispering noise or rustling from the rest of the students. It was from Harry James Buttwillowe. He took his helmet off with the weird painting of Venom teeth on the mouth area, showing off his straight blond hair glowing like the sun. He was a good looking guy. Students stared at him, getting off his bike as if it was a TV show. All of the girls were whispering between them about him.

Harry James got down to his feet from his motorcycle, left his helmet on the top of his lovely bike, and started walking to the entrance of the school.

When he was inside the main hall where the lockers were, Duke and Harry met. Duke approached him with all of his football team, folks.

“Hey man, what’s up?” Asked Duke.

“Hey.” Said, Harry.

“So you are the new guy, huh, let’s get to know each other” Duke asked while grabbing Harry around his neck.

“Leave me alone, man, gotta go to class.”

Said Harry while getting Duke’s hands off of him and leaving for the classroom.

“Oh, look at this little asshole.” Said Duke mocking around with his folks.

“I was just trying to be nice, huh.” He added.

Later that day, some people did meet Harry James. They said that he was brilliant, amusing and kind; except that he didn’t like jokes.

The students later found out that; on his other school, he 484

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used to be maltreated and experienced bullying, and on the basis thereof, he heartily despised such bad behaviors. People didn’t get to know him very well; he was kind of reserved about his life.

Everyone was outside in the parking lot, screaming and laughing about something, so I ran to see what was happening. Harry was with Mrs. Peterson, asking somethings about the class. Still, when everyone was shouting, he came out of the room and went to the parking lot.

When Harry arrived, everyone hopped onto their cars and left. And the only thing that left behind, in the parking lot, was his Yamaha MT-10 on the ground painted and vandalized. He just cleaned it up and left.

Along the school year, time passed by; Harry and Duke didn’t get along with each other. There was always some tension between them because Duke has always been trying to intimidate and produce fear in Harry, but he didn’t care about it; he was very determined on those things. Also, Harry hated bullying, so; he tried to evade him at all costs. Duke was always with his football team, folks. On the other hand, Harry was well known for helping people at school with different classes and also on extracurricular hours with some math and sciences, including some of Duke’s loyal friends in secret.

Students started to feel and to think that Harry James was a good friend. Unlike Duke; they started acknowledging that he wasn’t the best person, everybody thought he was, and that he should stop being a bully.

A month later, Harry James gained popularity at school and enlarged his group of friends. People started to spend time with him; at parties, he was the life of it. And Duke as always; he was trying to beat him down in all aspects.

Someday, as I can’t recall the exact day, everyone was hanging in the cafeteria at Montgomery High, and Harry 485

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James had grabbed his lunch to sit down with some friends, and Duke approached him and started yelling.

“Hahaha, I know about you now, you asshole.” Said Duke while dripping some juice on the floor on purpose.

“Come and bring your mop, groomer.”

“Yeah, I know that you mop Mcdonald’s floor to pay your house bills.” He added.

Anyone understood what Duke was saying. But obviously, Duke had done some investigating on him, and he discovered that he lived with his mother in some lousy neighborhood, and he needed to help with the house bills. Additionally, his dad had left them on their own because it turned out that his father was having an affair with another man.

Everyone after that felt compassion for him and felt that Duke was a terrible person in values for what he had done just to regain his popularity. They continued hanging out with Harry James. Unlike Duke, he Finally had some of his soup of crap. He was now left alone.

After the holidays, back at school in January, Harry was now the popular kid with lots of friends. They all spent the new year’s eve and had some incredible parties that looked like a “Project X” the movie. Days passed by, and all stayed the same. Duke Ronald and his money and attitude didn’t matter now; students grew to understand that not everything in life is about money. Harry James, instead, was pleased with his new friends and new social life, but even like that, people trusted him but didn’t know him completely.

As people believed him, he knew some of the top secrets things on each of his friends, which empowered him in many aspects as time went by; some conflicts broke-out in paradise; and Harry’s allegiances were placed in questions unexpectedly.

One day at school, Harry James betrayed the trust of one of his friends by exposing a very complicated and messed up 486

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secret that he was privy with; while having lunch with his new friends in the cafeteria. Unintentionally, this intended act led him to the same familiar position Duke ended in, the day he exposed Harry in the cafeteria.

Harry James found himself alone again, which was very heavy for him, and people thought that they might get back to Duke because he made some mistake, but he showed his true self and the way he is. And well, that happens in life, sometimes we trust people by what they seem to be, but on their inside, they can be another story.

METAMORPHOSED GRIEF

Written By Virginia Velรกsquez Tobรณn 488

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“

Lara, you’re not capable of taking care of Meg! It’s just the reality. Please don’t interfere with our job and let us take Meg. It’s the best for the two of you,” said Karen, the blond witch, with a cynic smile, who has haunted me for a few months from now.

You may believe that a Monday afternoon by the sea on the beach of Molokai would be the most memorable and delightful experience someone could have, and it usually is; however, this was not the case for today. Everything was awful gray; from the sky to the sea, everything seems soulless.

We thought there would not be more bodies. We could not believe this thought.

We were the typical FAMILY MATTERS type of family, with two lovely parents and two daughters, who spent their free time together and always seemed to be very happy, and we were, or at least I was. Yet, now that’s just an illusion or a lucid dream where I wish I was, but could never be in it. How could you go from being at the top of the world to being abandoned, just on your own? Well, that is not true. I still have Meg, my sister, we call her the little Einstein, she is an adventurous, tenacious, and compassionate 16-year-old, but sometimes her rebellion makes her choose the worst decisions; and Meg has me; we have each other’s back. But still, the loneliness is crushing us in an empty room, with the coffins of our parents, which gleamed in the early morning light that streamed through the windows of the room.

I was conflicted by the original idea of the coffins. After all, it was expertly crafted not to bring comfort to the departed but to soothe living. These bodies or what they said it was our parent’s corpse were unrecognizable from the multiple impacts they received while the car was going down the hill into the sea. In the middle of our pain, a woman with blond hair showed up, she glanced at us and then smiled. I have 489

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never seen her, so I guess she might be someone from my parents’ work.

But to be sure, I decided to ask her, “Excuse me, did you know my parents from work? The thing is that this is a private reunion, and we will appreciate it if you give us some time.”

The women then said, “Hi, I’m Karen, I work with the family welfare, and I’m here to talk to you and your sister.

You’re Lara, aren’t you?”

At that moment, I was in shock. Why would someone from the family welfare be here?

Then I responded, “Yes, I’m Lara.” For a moment, I look at her. Then I decided to ask her, “What are you doing here? I am eighteen, and I can take care of Meg.” Karen stared at me and said, “Lara, I know you are a responsible and hard-working person. We were able to identify that, at the moment we heard about your situation.

However, you don’t have any work whatsoever. We need to take Meg with us.”

I have known this woman for about five minutes, and I already hate her. How could someone have the audacity to go to a funeral, where the family is destroyed and pull into a half, and then said that she needs to take away one of the two members left? How could someone be so cruel?

I stared at her and said, “I would get a job. Just give me some time. We will be okay. Just don’t take Meg away from me.”

That despicable woman, trying to fake just a little of compassion, said, “look, I’ll give you a month. If in one month you don’t have a job, Meg would come with us. Do you understand?”

At that moment, the only option I had was to say, “Yes. I understand.”

I would not let them take Meg from me; that’s just wrong, which is why in that month that I tried my best. I swear I did.

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But things did not work as I planned. I went into too many interviews and did not get an answer, and the ones that call me back in less than three days fired me because they said they had found someone more appropriate for the job. What did they mean by; “someone more appropriate?” How could they know for certain that this person was better than me? I guess I would never know nor understand. It seems like it would be impossible, because it feels like there was something or someone always pulling me back, and I didn’t know how to escape from them. Every single day, in every job interview, I could only hear Karen’s voice saying that she would take Meg. It was like if she was haunting me.

One week before the month ended, I went to my last interview. It was for an outstanding company, where they value your work ethic and the way you treat the customer. And I believe it went well, or more than well, it was terrific. It was as if I had seen the green light, the one that F. Scott Fitzgerald describes in the Great Gatsby. It was my last hope. But in the end, it wasn’t.

The day came. It was earlier in the morning when I heard the door ring. Could it be? Couldn’t that woman arrive late? I opened the door, and there she was, that woman again. For a minute, I imagined just locking her in the house and get Meg from the back door and run as fast we can. However, that didn’t seem like a plausible option.

I let Karen in, and without even hesitating, she said, “We know you don’t have a job.”

Without thinking twice I said, “I know I don’t have a job, but giving a person just a month to get their life together, it’s just stupid.” I stared at her and then continued saying, “That’s why you should not take Meg because the condition you said made no sense.”

I turned around and decided to look at the window. I did 491

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not want to see that woman anymore or to let her see that I was holding my tears.

Then I heard Karen saying, “Lara, you’re not capable of taking care of Meg! It’s just the reality. Please don’t interfere with our job and let us take Meg; it’s the best for the two of you”, said the blonde witch with a cynic smile, who has haunted me for a few months from now.

I felt furious and powerless. I didn’t know what to do or say. Nor that I wanted her to take my little sister away from me; Meg is the only thing I had left. Amid my internal conflict, I saw Meg across the room and got out of the house as fast as she could. I didn’t know where she was going or what she was thinking. Karen and I tried to chase her through the forest, but it was useless. I tried to think about where would Meg go? What place would she know I would find her and not the family welfare?

I was thinking hard when I heard Karen say, “I’m going back to the house. I would call the police so that they can help us find her.”

The forest path stormed ahead as lightly as a napkin laid on a table, yet each footfall costs me more strength. But that’s for me to deal with; the track is the track. So whatever happened, I kept going. When I got knocked down, I had to get up because there’s no other way. I knew she was out there, though, I told myself. I know because the universe told me.

It said, “just walk,” and so I did, and as I suspected, there she was, sitting at the front door of the house by the staircase. I walked up the stairs and sat next to her.

“I don’t want them to take me. I want to stay with you,” said Meg trying to hold her tears.

And I said, “I don’t want that either, but what can we do?

We can’t run away from the family welfare forever, and” at that exact moment, I received a phone call.

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I didn’t know who it was. What if it was someone from the family welfare? Despite my fear, I answered the call. It was my green light, the company from my last interview. They said that I had gotten the job and that I would start working on Monday. That phone call was the solution to all of our problems. At that precise moment, Karen appeared with two police officers. I tried to explain to her that everything was fine and that now she couldn’t take Meg, but she didn’t care. She told the policeman to take me and Meg to our house, where there was a car waiting to take Meg with them. I was enraged. How was it possible that I had been following the only condition that she gave me “to get a job”, and still not get to be with my sister? That made no sense. I tried to fight her and the police officers so that maybe I could have a chance to stay with Meg but it was pointless.

The police officers put Meg inside Karen’s car, and out of nowhere, she says, “Look, my job here is done. If you do have a job, then you should go to our office and show us that you have worked with that company for at least a month. If you don’t have that, don’t even bother.

I hate her. I do hate her. But if what she said is true, I have maintained that the job and prove that I am capable of being responsible not only for me but for my sister. I’m sure I can be her legal guardian. So that is exactly what I did. I worked that whole month, and I tried to be the first to arrive and the last one who left that place. The members of the company were astonished; they had never seen someone working as hard as I was. But what can I say, I had motivation, a significant one.

The day finally arrived. I woke up early and went to the family welfare location in the south of Molokai. I had been talking to Meg, so she knew that I was doing my best and that we will again be together. She had packed all her things and was ready to go when I arrived. I signed a bunch of papers 493

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and show them proof that I have a job and that I have been working there for a month, which was the requirements Karen told me. They verified that everything was in order and then gave me the last paper. The one where it says that I could be Meg’s legal guardian.

Here in Molokai, there could be some awful gray days, in which everything seems soulless, but if you wait for a moment, you would be able to see that the gray transformed into the light of hope, illustrated in a beautiful sunset, where gray does not exist anymore. In the darkest of nights, the brightest the stars seem to shine, in the deepest of grief your tender will reveal.

THE CAVERN

Written By MartĂ­n Verdesoto Contreras 495

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Y

our grandmother always told me, “Son, you must work to find a job with these two characteristics, first that you will be doing something you like to do, and second, that it won’t make you starve, of course, something that will allow you to have a decent life”, and I believed that thanks to the long studies I did, I accomplished those words.

My name is Rick Dawson, and I’m a Subaquatic Archaeologist from the Archaeological Institute of America, on the Honolulu (Hawaii) society. I’m a historian for the hobby as well. Doesn’t sounds bad at all, right? well, this expedition I’m going to explain to you, about my book, totally turned the tables of my life.

It all started in 2023, when my superiors had received a notification of a possible location of a big cavern underneath the sea not very far from Hawaii after some fishers were using their electronic fishing equipment to follow a suspiciously big fish, that disappeared in an interesting location, were later on sonar electronics detected a cavern, that looked like it had been revealed after some recent underwater earthquakes.

First of all, I should introduce to you the people that worked along my side through all this mad experience. Kalev Alver is the big guy of the team. He is an Estonian, 2 meters tall, expert, on Geology, physics. He is very reserved, doesn’t talk much, and only laughs in very particular situations. And recently showed us as well his trowing abilities with his favorite tool, a hiking ax that he named Tara. He has also demonstrated in our previous expeditions that he is a tough nut to crack. Then we have Jessica Morris, she is a very talented doctor from Atlanta, who also has a master’s in advanced biology. She loves animals, math, and dad jokes. she has been working with us for the past 4 years now and looks like she has decided to stay with us.

Lastly, there’s Charlie Wilson. He is a great friend of mine, 496

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cause we have been working together even before we formed this team. Char is recognized for being an excellent biologist and scuba diver. If you ask me, you could say that he is the kind of person that doesn’t matter which activity you are doing with him, he will make it enjoyable for sure. We can go for hours and hours talking about our past adventures, and he was, the one who taught me and gave me my official diving certificate, and for a weird but interesting fact, when we were young, Char needed a blood transfer, and we are the same blood type, so I gave the doctors some of my blood for him to be fine. And as for me, I’m the leader of the team, but also known as the guy with the map. So here I was, on my expedition boat, the Forseti, Which is the Norse god of Justice. It was named by my dad, who used to love Norse Mythology.

At that moment, I remember I was on the main deck, talking with Jessica after dining with my team when we got the news from a companion boat that the first reconnaissance team of Divers lost contact with their boat for a while now. We were all very worried because we knew that these scuba divers weren’t any fools, these were highly experienced divers, and if they are having trouble coming back, it means something critical must have happened.

We all waited to get some news about the topic, some good news, but the boat didn’t talk to us until the next day, however, none of us slept well that night, because this man, this mysterious native Hawaiian guider came up with the bright idea of shocking us with some intriguing traditional local legends concerning the incident of the divers, that talked about some kind of wandering ghosts that attacked the sailors “after the mud and rocks of the island have spoken” and a mythological underwater beast that is told to hunt in some areas of the sea close to Hawaii.

The next day, in the morning I was notified by the other 497

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boat that the scuba divers have not returned last night and that, due to this very possibly meaning that these good men had perished under the waves, we must abort the expedition after an intensive search on their bodies in the area. So, that was “partially”, what we all did.

The second boat needed a refuel in the mid-afternoon, so we all went to the place where they disappeared and began the third search on that day.

“Hey pal, I don’t want to be pessimistic but, I doubt that we will find any of those ducks alive you know? the weather wasn’t nice at all last night, and if there was someone left, we would have noticed them by now.” I remember Char said.

“Man, remember not to lose hope. These people knew what they were doing, we must continue searching” I told him.

Then, I saw Kalev, coming from the main deck yelling; “ Hey, Rick we got one!”

Then we saw the body. It indeed was one of the divers, and it showed evidence of drowning. His name was Robert Jackson. I hope he will now rest in peace. We continued to search, but this last time, we went with proper scuba diving suits and equipment.

We tied a rope to the ship, so there was no way we were going to have the same fate as the last group. I told the team to go fully equipped just in case, but, the only “small” detail to mention here, is that Char suggested we used the old rope instead of the new one we bought in Hawaii, and I accepted, only because it was still in a very good state, and was bought by him, for the team. But accepting this was my big mistake.

Everything was going according to the plan. We were watching as the fish swimming around us, and we were getting close to a big reef, as I saw an eel pecking up from a rock. Whoever, we all started to notice that suddenly, there was no fish around us, and we were alone with the corals and 498

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the rocks, as we were getting closer to the site where the boat lost contact with the group.

All this happened pretty fast. We noticed how all the rocks started to crumble, and a strong current quickly pulled us over inside a big cavern, hidden between the corals and the algae.

We all started to pull from the rope to scape the strong current, but the rope started to receive lots of friction and succumbing to the damage and age, the rope finally broke. The last thing I remembered is that I was getting sucked to a water tunnel as dark as the summer sky of New York, and then, lights out.

Jess was the one to wake up first. When I woke up, I saw her trying to wake Kalev, who was still unconscious a few meters away from me.

She then turned to me and said; “Looks like we have been knocked out with the walls of rock in the underwater tunnel, with all that strong current.” my head was still going crazy, but I could still hear her.

“We must stand up quickly because Charlie is nowhere to be seen!” she said.

After a minute of dizziness, I managed to stand up and started picking up my stuff.

“Collect our remaining equipment and let’s explore these caverns. We can’t think about leaving this place without him.

Anyway, he can’t be far from here” I replied.

As we all walked, I started to think of how unlikely it is that he simply woke up and walked away without helping us, or waking us. It all was very mysterious to me.

Another issue is that there was little to no sand on those passages, so it was practically impossible to notice any possible footprints.

As we walked, we noticed the big quantity of crystals, and some mosh that I thought somehow managed to lightly

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illuminate the surroundings, but it was all still pretty dark, so we had to inevitably use our flashlights; “The light does not come from neither the mosh, or the crystals. it comes from a very unique species of microbes that feed on the nutrients in the crystals and walls.” Jess explained.

We all three walked for at least 2 hours, and we were starting to worry about the food and how we were going to go back.

Thankfully, our bud Kalev told us some crucial information; “Thanks to the rock formations, and the filtration made by then, at least we don’t have to be worried about the two most important things humans need to survive; water and oxygen” Here is where things started to get even weirder for us. I started to see if there were some writings on the walls, and all my studies on ancient writing and languages did not help me at all to understand what they all meant. Furthermore, there were some paintings, some drawings illustrating what it looked like some people hunting an animal that resembled an enormous mantis, but I couldn’t recognize it very well.

There was another one though, that showed the same people running away from this weird animal.

We were getting tired of walking, and after we all talked about what to do next, we all concluded that it was probably in our best option to take guarding turns while the rest try to rest here, so tomorrow we will have more energy to keep searching. That’s what we did.

When I opened my eyes, I instantly felt a strong headache.

I noticed that I was getting myself carried by something, by someone, because I could see his feet. but I couldn’t move at all, just my head. I tried to shout, but they didn’t respond.

Only Jess responded; “Rick! you are finally awake. I thought you got killed. looks like those mad cave people clubbed us on the head last night by surprise” she said. And as I was slowly moving my head in 500

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circles due to the pain, I spoked her back; “Yeah, my head is hurting like hell” Then she said; “I think they didn’t have it easy with our Estonian friend, because I managed to see him for couple seconds a while ago, and he was being carried unconscious by two of those savages, and his face didn’t look good”.

I remember I replied; “Damn, well, I hope he isn’t that bad.

Anyway, We must think of an escape strategy, but first, we should pay attention to our surroundings, perhaps this mad lads caught Char before they caught us. We cant call much attention if we want to get out of here alive”.

So yes, things turned just a bit different from what we thought we were going to do that spring. We were now indeed on a cage, in a huge cavern beneath the sea, with lots of savages around us, a whole human community that learned to live inside these caverns, hunting and gathering what they needed. It seriously amazed me at the moment, such a big finding. But, I was really scared as well, to be honest.

After a while, they gave us some uncooked fish and some water in a bowl. Then, an old man approached our cage with another bowl, however, this bowl had some powder in it, some strange orange powder, that he signaled me to eat it. I thought about it for a while, but taking into account our situation, there was no other option, so I ate the powder, and the old man did as well.

I quickly felt very dizzy, and I went to sleep, but, I had really weird dreams. I saw that old painting on the wall again, but this time I saw it moving, I saw some kind of story that explained how this ancient tribe was now being hunted by the main creatures the used to hunt.

They called these creatures Kuyulaks, and all this was happening because one of the creatures, evolved into having stronger, thicker skin, so the algae and stone weapons these 501

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people were using weren’t working as good as before. And then, I saw Charlie, he was trapped in one of the chambers of the cavern, in an area called by the old man as “the heart of darkness” but he was injured and had already defended himself with his diver’s knifer from two Kuyulaks, and other were coming for him. I heard the old man’s voice in my language, as I saw all this, explaining that what I was watching is an imminent future that only I can prevent. The only option was pretty obvious, we needed to help this tribe by working together in fighting off these creatures.

The next day, when I woke up, I didn’t even need to try and explain my offer to the old man. It looked like he was inside my mind, and I was inside his, thanks to the powder, we could understand each other.

With Kalev’s and Jess’s help, we prepared these people for hours. By using the old man as a language translator, and we taught them the magnificence of fire, and how to use it to create stronger weapons made of bronze and iron, that came from the walls, and in return, the old man shared invaluable medical knowledge to Jess and us. it was an incredible day, but we all were very worried about Char, so after a few moments, we felt everyone was ready, we conducted an expedition to the “heart of darkness”.

I felt as If I was looking at something coming from a movie, a horror movie. These creatures were nightmarish. they were about the size of a teen but were very fast, and on their hands, you could see what can only be described as pincers, strong enough to break bones. Their faces were just like an insect, but similarities with the crabs.

That afternoon was bloodshed. We all were gaining terrain, but not without suffering losses.

Jess, Kalev and I were forming a line, just behind the hunters that had created improvised spears with our equipment.

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I didn’t know why, but those beast were afraid of me, they simply chose not to attack me. later on, I found out why. But this didn’t stop me from killing them and helping these people.

There were moments, where I felt we were all gonna die there, and that we weren’t gonna make it, as I saw more and more victims falling from our side. I was engaging with one of those monsters that were attacking a native when I saw how my dear Jess, got her hand-cut off by the Kuyulak that was facing her.

“Jess, Noooo…” were my words, but I couldn’t help her, as I was stabbing one of the creatures on the head.

She managed to finally kill the creature, and bandage up her cut with her cut clothes. I told her I didn’t want her to participate in that madness, but she refused.

“I’m not going to stay here. I’m not going to stay while y’all getting eaten by subaquatic monsters,” she previously said that day.

Kalev, with his casual poker face, struck one by one of the monsters with his small hicking ax.

We finally found a big cavern, and Char was on the corner.

I have no idea how but managed to survive with all these creatures around. We helped him recover with some water as we were running away from the place. That’s when the abnormally big Kuyulak appeared from one of the entrances to the cavern. We weren’t going to be able to get back to the camp with that big thing behind us.

That’s when I heard Kalevs voice for once, honorific and sadly last time.

“For science, for my team,” Said Kalev, as he graved Tara, his ax, and threw it right into the animal head. The animal did not die, but Kalev’s action successfully provoked it, so the beast was no longer paying attention to us.

We all run outside the cavern, and I saw how the brave 503

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Estonian fiercely confronted the big Kuyulak with tara on one hand, and his knife on his other hand, slowly getting cut and overcome by the other beasts around.

We were now at the camp, and for the next days, we shared more knowledge, learning from each other’s culture.

Moreover, Jess found one terrible fact. With her medical equipment, she notified me that we all were infected with a Retrovirus that lived peacefully in the bodies of these natives, but not on ours. And not only this but that according to her equipment, this virus had pandemic capabilities if we allowed it to spread to the world. Char and I were immune to this, thanks to some special body defenses we shared. The old man finally taught us about a route to what they called the “world of the light”. But, at that point, a long time had passed, and for a reason, I don’t know till this day, Just before the old man was going to start guiding us out of there thanking off for the extremely important knowledge they learned from us, Jess, my comrade, my friend, decided to stay. Her life, her dreams, her private life, I didn’t know much about it, but, she seemed like a happy woman. I still think about it. Thinking about the reason she had, the motivation She had.

We then followed the guidelines to an opening on the rock, where we had to dive, and surprisingly, we came out impressively close to Hawaii, and because the search parties were still looking for us, it didn’t take long for them to notice us, that close to the island.

As for Char, he lived the rest of his life in Hawaii, and never officially scuba dived again.

As for me, well, you know the story.

Thank you, my son, for loving me, taking care of me in my final days. And thanks, for reading this letter.

I wanted to tell you, but when you were ready, and you are, so, yeah, the book, I published that allowed me to pay for 504

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your university, it wasn’t fiction, it was a true story. My real name is not Tomas Jobs, and I wasn’t a reporter or a journalist. However, the real details of it, of all the madness of that story, I didn’t want to share them with the world, because in the end, they would do more harm than good to that ancient tribe, that deserved to live in peace.

I write this letter, for you to open it on your eight-teen birthday because that’s when I wanted you to know the truth.

You deserve it, young man. Fight for your dreams, and if your dream is becoming an archeologist like me, then, you are welcome to visit my old friend, Charlie, that hopefully is still living in Hawaii. He has lots of things to tell you, lots of knowledge, and lots of interesting things to show you. I’m sorry for the lies, but, it was the best decision for both of us.

I know you will act responsibly with this information, because I know who you are, you are a good man.

With love, Papa.

THE BUTCHER

Written By Alejandro Zapata ValdĂŠs 506

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y name is Demian, and I live in Transylvania. Since I was a child I have worked in the business of butcher shop, Because my father was born in the countryside, somehow he was always involved with the cattle business.

That’s why all my childhood I was around many farm animals, like horses, cows, chickens, pigs, hens, etc.

When I finished high school, I decided that the academics were too hard for me, so I decided to work in the butcher shop of my uncle because my father does not allow anyone to get into his business.

When I started working, every morning I had to go to the market and buy some things, it was a really easy job, I didn’t complain, as well I had the opportunity to see some beautiful ladies right there. In other cases, I had to go and pick up the cows and pigs on my uncle’s farm, I took around half an hour from Transylvania, but as well I did that task with pleasure because the girls could see me when I was driving that big truck. In some cases, I had to go with a child of around 12 years old who always talk to me during the entire trip. The road was very particular, because at one point it spread in a half and created to different streets, forming a species of “Y”, one road took you to the city and the other to one small cavern, or that’s what people say about it. The older people told stories about that particular cavern, they said that inside there was “something”, something supernatural.

In the decade of the ’60s, many teenagers were hired by one of the wealthiest men in the area, and as my father and uncle, he had farm business. People said that he arrived at the cavern with an enormous truck of three tones and inside the car was his most expensive and healthy cow, all intending to feed someone or something inside the cavern. If I have to be honest I never believed in this kind of stories but the community already saw this as normal, however, no one knew what 507

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he was doing inside that cavern. Besides his deceptive appearance was mysterious, he appeared to be Younger, It seemed as if life had restored his age.

Many citizens think that the money, the locals, his territory, and finally his Cattle, he has it is thanks to a pact he made with the devil. My uncle met with Manuel, because he was one of this helpers in Manuel’s business, at the beginning his deal was a complete disaster, he had many debts, and no one bought his products, sometimes he had to sleep outside because he had no money for the rent, but one day his good luck streak started and in a blink, he was so rich that he could swim in money. Later, with all that cash he bought the business of his competitors. At that moment, he brought loads of attention to himself and the curious people started checking what he was doing in this daily life. After a while, they noticed that Mr. Manuel one day at the month goes to the cavern with a cow and when he leaves the animal is not with him.

However, nobody knew what happened inside the hollow, and why he does that.

One night, my uncle and two friends met Mr. Manuel —his boss at that time— in the middle of the road. He was placing the cow on the grill of the truck, on one side of the street. Subsequently, Mr. Manuel asked them what they were doing so late on this particular road, since it was midnight With a fixed and angry look, he told my uncle and his friends that he didn’t want to see them here, and threatened to take away their work if when he comes back they are still there.

The three of them stayed quiet until he finished, and then my uncle said that they were already leaving because they were very drunk. My uncle and one friend did what Mr. Manuel told them, but one of them said mockingly that he would follow the old man to see what party he was doing in the cave with their partner the devil. This because he was tired 508

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to be poor and he wanted to be a rich man quickly like Mr. Manuel. Finally, they decided to live his friend to luck, who was willing to discover the secret of Mr. Manuel.

The next morning my uncle and some friends were talking about the sudden disappearance of his drunk friend, it had been weeks and a couple of days without any news of him.

However, this was pretty normal in him, because his house was very away from Transylvania, and every time he went to a party he disappeared for some days.

One day, my uncle was working as always in the butcher shop when Mr. Manuel arrived, then he asked my uncle with a calm voice, “How was your day?” and my uncle replied that everything was good, nevertheless he also, added that he was worried about his lost friend, the one that was with me that night we met. My uncle wanted to ask Mr. Manuel if he had seen him, but he didn’t have enough courage to do it when Mr. Manuel said “Don’t worry, if your curiosity in knowing your friend’s status, he’s fine. Moreover, yesterday I set him free because he already did what he had to do, and I couldn’t stand him any longer.”

When my uncle heard that he just turned pale and the only thing that he did was watching how Mr. Manuel was going out of the butcher shop, he was just disconnected from the real world until the end of the shift. In the afternoon, my uncle saw far away his friend all covered in mud and with the appearance of spending days without being able to change his clothes. Then funnily my uncle asked him if the drunkenness was that good, but his friend, with a serious look said that this time was different. He said, “you remember when I decided to spy Mr. Manuel and see what he was doing in that cave?” And my uncle answered “yes, I remember, you’re crazy” then his friend continued “well, I did it, I followed him. I took a distance of about 20 meters and when we arrived I put my 509

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body to the ground because there were no drifting trees, then Mr. Manuel parked his truck in reverse, leaving it about five meters from the cave entrance…Dude, What I saw that night, I will never forget.” He added firmly. Then he continued; “When the old man got out of the truck on the side where I was, I saw that he was putting a foot outside, but this was not a foot with a shoe, rather it was the leg of a black rooster, its three welltoned fingers were seen, the rest of the leg was covered by black feathers. I swear I saw them like that. I was so anxious when he took a few steps in front of the cave I completely paralyzed. I wanted to run away but my body wouldn’t let me. I could only see that thing that was supposed to be Mr. Manuel doing a kind of prayer in front of the cave. While the cow was making strange sounds as if she knew something was wrong in the environment. Then Mr. Manuel got inside the grotto and the truck without reason started moving, at that moment I thought I was dreaming, I couldn’t believe what was happening. I was so afraid that my symptoms of drunkenness completely vanished.

Afterward, the sounds of hundreds of pigs begun to leave the cave, and when the pickup was closer, those noises became louder and louder. When the truck was inside the darkness, the cow that was in the back of the automobile began mooing of terror, this happened while the truck shook from side to side in an absurdly violent way.

Something was killing her and the poor animal’s fear was present with every heartbreaking sound. Then, when the horrible sounds stopped all the place was in complete silence during two minutes, nonetheless the whole place began to smell equal as rotten, like when an animal has been dead for several days under the sun, at that moment my feet began to tingle, I thought that were ants but I remembered that I was using my work shoes, so I turned around and what I saw were 510

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no ants, but white worms that looked like grains of rice. The road to the cave was upholstered with these worms. I turned my head again and it was when I felt and saw on my shoulder a thin gray hand which was burning my skin, later I heard a voice that said “so you want to have money and stop being poor, huh!”, in that second I was about to pass out, but then, something inside me wanted to say “yes” and stuttered I said it with difficulties.

At that point, he took me by the shoulders, and then he told me that I have to get inside the bakkie that was in the entrance of the cavern and take him to the town and he would reward me, in that instant I knew that thing was Mr. Manuel.

Although I was very afraid, I agreed and got up with the few forces I had to go and pick up the truck. When I was getting closer the smell of rotten was more unbearable, I can swear by my mother. Then Mr. Manuel told me that if I look backward he will eat my soul, so for my security, I got inside the truck as fast I could. The only problem was the sound of the pigs that were inside the cave, but I think that those were no pigs since it sounded like an old language. Then that thing got inside the truck with me and said: “There is no doubt that you have the eggs well glued”. During all the trip he took my arm and when we arrived, he said “too bad, he didn’t like you, however as I said, I’m going to give you a reward” Then he reached into his pocket and took many bills, more than I would have ever imagined. Fearful I took them and I approached them to my face to see them more closely, but these bills had the same smell of rot so I pulled them away quickly. The morning finally arrived and the first rays of the sun were catching. I knew I was safe.

Then Mr. Manuel said, “Well man, I am not going to waste your time anymore, I’m going to leave you here because I need to find something to eat.” Then he took the place of the pilot and I got out of the truck. Finally, he put his face out of the 511

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window to say goodbye with the eyes, however that face was not that of the old man I knew, but it was a black goat’s head with huge horns, it had red eyes and it was very smoky from its mouth as if it were smoking. Instantly, I heard the first chimes of a church near there, then the truck disappeared in about 50 meters with that thing inside. I was very tired and confused about this unusual experience.

Returning to my home I saw a guy with a flock of goats, The shepherd wished me good morning, then by courtesy I wished him the same, I noticed that at the end of the flock one particular goat —this was bigger than the other ones and his hair was completely black— started to follow me with his eyes, drawing a kind of mocking smile on his face. I just stopped walking and without noticing I was already alone with that black goat, sharing looks. Suddenly he stood on two legs and began to say “I hope the money I gave you will help you a lot and you know how to take advantage of it”. That’s the last thing I remember before I lost my conscience and passed out. So basically that’s what happened that night. But when some people found me they said that one of my bags was full of worms, the bag where I had the money that Mr. Manuel gave me.”

This is what that friend of my uncle told him, and I have to believe this story because that guy is already dead, so I can’t confirm the myth. Nowadays, Mr. Manuel still alive but you hardly see him. Many people said that Mr. Manuel is alone in his house on the outskirts of Transylvania, the only thing he does is administrate his business. Nevertheless, it is said that the pact already charged him the bill, since recently a son of him died thanks to the pact he made with the devil many years ago. The cavern still there, but Mr. Manuel no longer feeds that thing, and for several years he pays a large amount of money for someone with the courage to do so. Would you do it?

LIFE HAS NOT ALWAYS BEEN WHAT WE EXPECTED Written By Martín Zapata Valencia 513

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I

did not always have everything I have now, at the beginning I didn’t have all these cars, houses and luxuries, I came from a humble family, where we had to face adversity, and I had to work very hard to achieve everything I have now, I had to make a lot of sacrifices to achieve some of my goals.

My name is Amanaki and this is my story, I was born in Sao Paulo in 2001, in a favela called Aclimação, even though I was born in a poor family, I had the opportunity to share my childhood with my mother and father, since I was little I had a big passion for sports, but the one I love the most was soccer, my father was really happy since he was a big fanatic of the sport, he was the one that took me for the first time to a soccer game, It’s a nostalgic memory since my dad isn’t here anymore, the saddest thing is that I have achieved everything I told my father, but he is no longer with me, Everything started on the 26th of February in 2006 during the World cup in Brazil, there was a match between Brazil and Argentina, and father and I sneaked into the game since we didn’t have the cash to pay for the entries, I remember we arrived the day before to the stadium and we ran past the security guards and went directly to the bathrooms, and we stayed there until the end of the game.

The next morning, the noise of the fans woke me up, however, we couldn’t get out of the bathroom until the game started since we didn’t have tickets, nor did we have anywhere to sit and we had to wait until everyone was focused on the game so we can look for some free chairs, finally we were able to sit down, in that exact moment the anthem of Brazil started to sound and everyone started to sing it, and an indescribable feeling went through my skin into my blood until it finally reached my heart, it was a feeling I had never felt before, and the game started.

The tension started to increase, the game was tied, and we 514

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were close to open the lead, the game was about to end, we were in the extra time and brazil retrieved the ball and made a counterattack, Ronaldinho was running on the left side with the ball, there were four defenders behind him trying to stop him but they couldn’t, Ronaldinho was taking out every single opponent, in the other side was Ronaldo one of the best soccer players of all times, he was running into the goalkeeper area, at that moment Ronaldinho made a pass into the 5.50 and Ronaldo intercepted the ball and scored, everyone in the stadium went crazy, there was so much noise I couldn’t even hear my voice. On the way home back home, I started to realize soccer it was more than just a game, it was the happiness and sadness of millions of people, I can say this because in every single house there was a Brazilian flag with people celebrating around brazil victory.

And I said to my father; “Why is everyone so happy?”

Father replied. “It had been a long time since Brazil classified to a final.”

I had a lot of feelings in my head, I was excited, and I had that weird feeling again, and I decided to say to my dad; “I want to become a professional player.”

Father replied; “That is a really hard goal to achieve Amanaki, but if you work hard enough and sacrifice everything for that dream, I’m sure you will do it.”

And I said; “but, I don’t know how to be that good.”

And father said; “don’t worry I will support you and help you no matter what, next week we will go to a soccer academy to see if you can join them.”

I was really happy, I wanted to become a soccer player, and make my dad and mom proud.

Next week we went to the local team academy that was called “LAGAR FC”, I was nervous I had never played competitive soccer before. I started in the bench, the second time was 515

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almost starting and I knew my time was coming, 10 minutes later the coach called me to warm up, my heart was beating very fast, I was about to throw up but I looked up and I saw my dad, and it calmed down.

The moment was about to start the coach asked the referee to make a substitution, I got into the field, I was shaking first two balls of the game I couldn’t even control them, however, I heard the voice of my dad saying “be confident son, I know you can do it.” After that, I started to be more confident, I began to ask for the ball, I was doing good, I even scored 2 goals, after the game the coach called my dad and they started talking, 5 minutes later my father came near me and told me in the ear “son they want you in the team, I’m so proud of you”, at that moment a feeling of happiness seized my body.

Training season was about to start, but it wasn’t that easy, the training field was 2 hours away from home, and I had to travel alone because mom and dad had to work so they could pay some debts, but I was willing to do that sacrifice because I knew that if I became a soccer player, my mother and father would never have to work again, my mom worked in a supermarket all day and father worked as a garbage collector and they were really exhausted at the end of the day, but they always picked me up at the training field, its something I appreciated.

A few years went by, and I was doing good, I was about to sign with the first team, and I was only 16, but suddenly in one of the matches we played, a guy from the opposite team, crashed with me and I felt down immediately and my knee was destroyed, at that moment I felt devastated, the worst thing is that the injury wasn’t with LAGAR FC so they were not going to pay for the surgery, and my family didn’t have the resources to pay it, one week later the team decided to kick me out, and I didn’t know what to do, I started to hang out with 516

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the wrong people, and I started to fall into drug addiction, the relationship with my family was getting worse, I was always really angry and disrespectful, my dad tried to help me to recover of the knee and go back to the field, but I didn’t want to do it, in my head that dream of becoming a soccer player was already dead.

Two years later, I was coming back from a party and all my family was in the house, I knew it because I recognized my cousin and aunt cars outside the house, I was confused it had been a long time since we were all together when I entered the house everyone was crying I didn’t know what was going on, my cousin Jack took me to my room, and he told me the worst thing that I could have ever imagined, “your father died in a car accident”, I didn’t know what to do, my heart was broken I couldn’t imagine that the only living man that supported me and raised me, was no longer with us.

From that day, Everything became strange at home, since my mother was always working so we could pay the bills, and I started to become and feel more useless, I didn’t know what to do with my life I had touched rock bottom, I tried to keep my head up but I couldn’t, I was lost, I started to remember everything that my dad had told me since I was little, and I saw in my memories the first time I played a soccer game, and I remembered the words he told me when I was playing, “be confident so, I know you can do it”, at that moment I knew I wanted to try my last shot into my dream.

I told my mom I was going to sign in into a soccer test, and if I made it I was going to travel to Spain to play for a team called “Celtic”, she replied, “I hope you can make it, dad will be proud of you”, we both broke into tears, and I promised her I was going to do it, I started to train every single day, and I stopped to hang out with people that were not positive to me, after 6 months of training the moment had come, I was 517

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prepared. It was a soccer game and they would only select the best to sign them, I was a little nervous but I was going to do it for father, I gave all I had in that game and I was able to score 3 goals, I went back home and told my mother, and she was utterly proud, but she had to wait for the call. 3 days later I received a call of the coach I passed the test, I was going to Europe, it was going to be hard since I had to leave my mother, and she was all I had, but I knew if I wanted to accomplish my dream I had to leave her, so I did it.

It was hard to be all by myself in a different country, but I was doing a really good job, I was breaking records in the Juvenil team; belatedly after, the coach called me and he said that I was going to debut, I felt into tears and I knew that my dad was proud of me, I called my mom and told her the news, and we both cried on the phone, I asked her if she was going to watch the game in TV and she told me of course, that she was never going to miss for anything in the world. The time of the debut arrived, and I was a little anxious and scared, but I was able to play a good game, after that game I started to train even harder, so I could be where I am today.

A few days later, I decided to call my mom, and told her that I bought her a plane ticket so she could come and visit me, I told her to call me when she arrived in Madrid so I could pick her up at the airport, but the flight already arrived and she didn’t call me, so I went into the Airport support and ask if they know anything of the flight and they asked me the information of my mom’s itinerary, so they could track her and inform me what was going on, and the lady from the airport told me to follow her, she guided me into a room and told me to sit down and wait, I was really confused I didn’t know why they took me into this room, some minutes later another woman came in and told me; “Hello Mr. Amanaki I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this 518

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information, but your mother had an accident on the plane, and she is in a coma, she is being transported to the hospital right now”, I was shocked when I thought everything was going perfect, the most important thing on earth to me is in the line between life and death. On my way to the hospital; I couldn’t stop my mind from thinking that about what had happened and how life can be so unfair, then I finally realized that, life is worth to be lived every second because you never know what might happen next. I prayed for my father in heaven to protect my mother.

THE IRRESISTIBLE CHOICE

Written By Sebastiรกn Zapata Valencia 520

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T

wo hundred years ago; a war raged took place in the second biggest and powerful continent in the world, Serian. The conflict was between Serian and Tanes the strongest continent of all time. The Color War originated because Tanes wanted to take possession of the ancient technology that Serion possessed. Nevertheless, when Serian was about to lose the war they decided to hide the ancient power, and until these days the whereabouts are unknown. After the war Serian economy, culture, and ancient technology disappeared.

The continent fell in a state of poverty and chaos. The people started to live for trading objects for money and searching for the most wanted peace in the world, the stone of Ea. The legend says this stone was hidden before the war ended and that could control the ancient technology and it contained the secrets of the creation of all. A lot of people started forming groups that latter will be known as guilds, that have the objective of finding the ancient stone.

Three decades after the new Era began, a little boy was born, in a small town far away from Artanida the capital of Serian. The name of the city is in honor of Artania —the god that protects and accompanied adventures in their journey.— This little boy that was just born didn’t know that he’s destined to do big things. This young boy was named Airam Elira, which meant freedom. Airam was born in a particular family.

His father was a well-known blacksmith, his mother a peasant and his grandpa was a wise that seemed to know everything.

All of them lived in a little house, in a small town that had a little number of houses. Nevertheless, it has a stable economy, that is based on trading objects for money. The trading takes place in the town hall.

The time had flown, now Elira was 17 years old. In this time he had made a lot of friends, his father taught him how to forge, his mother how to grow grains, and his grandfather 521

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taught him about history, he read him every single night a story, he teaches him how to fight and read the ancient language. But that was not all, Elira’s appearance has changed dramatically. Now he’s not a little guy, he was 1.87 meters tall and weighed 88 kilograms of pure muscle. His hands are coarse and ragged, yet strong like wood; the training was daily, from dawn to dusk, and with the years, they became his most valuable weapons. His skin wasn’t white as snow, or dark as night, it was warm ivory, His gaze was deep as the ocean and his eyes green like an emerald. Even though time has passed and he had changed there was something that had never changed; his love for adventures, and the dream of finding the ancient stone. However this was only a myth for him, this was a reality for me. Elira’s father was getting old, he has noticed His son’s passion for adventures, so Elira’s father talks to his Grandpa, and they decided that when he turns 18 they would help him fulfill his dreams. Months later, Elira’s birthday arrived. To celebrate his party, the pope had organized a big party in the town’s guild, many people gathered to celebrate the birthday. However, although Elira received all kinds of gifts; weapons, clothes, books and even an entrance to be part of the guild could be seen well inside in his eyes there was a grain of sadness, it seemed that no one had noticed this, and so the night fell.

When the sun was gone, and the moon was shining in its maximum splendor Elira Airam left his house and walked to a mountain where the smell of pine predominated, where the wind caressed his body softly and lovingly, here Airam sat to see the starry sky trying to appease the doubts of his heart.

Minutes passed and Elira Airam could not answer his questions, instead of calming down, he began to stress. Elira Airam not knowing what to do, entered a state of stress, his breathing was beginning to accelerate, his body was shaking, and Elira 522

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was on the verge of collapse. However, a subtle and tender touched Elira’s shoulder. When he turned around, he realized that this cozy feeling came from the hand of Grandfather, who with a smile said; “Difficulties are part of life, but tranquility is part of man.” The young Elira did not quite understand those words, but also without realizing it, he was calmer. The grandfather sat next to Elira and asked what is going through his heart, to which Iram replied: “I have many doubts Grandpa, although I have always wanted to leave, and now that I have the opportunity I do not know if I should go.” The grandfather with a welcoming look told him “What makes you doubt” He said calmly.

“I do not want to leave everything behind, I do not want to leave Papa, Mama, and you grandfather, you are already old I feel that if I leave I may not get the chance to spend more time with you, and I don’t want to waste my time. ” Elira responded.

After these words, the silence welcomed the place for a few seconds until the grandfather replied; “There is nothing to waste when you look for your dreams, it is true that time is limited so do not limit yourself to the time of others, it is not the more time you spend with others but the one who is most with them is the one who appreciates that time. Besides, there is no greater happiness for a father and a mother than to see their son fulfill his dreams. ”After saying this, the grandfather stopped taking a large sheet of paper from his pocket and gave it to him without saying a single word. Elira took the paper and unfolded it, it was a map, it looked a lot like the maps of the adventure stories that her grandfather used to read to her. But this map was different, it had blurred parts, names of cities that did not exist and the paper looked old and crumpled. But that was not all, in the corner, there was a letter posted by hand that said of Papa and Mama “You can”. This

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simple and short word was the push Elira needed. Elira full of tears turned to thank Grandpa, but he was gone.

The next day Elira assembled her suitcase and went to the guild and there filled out the registration papers, and participated in entrance exams, which he passed all with ease. After this Elira returned home at night and was received by a great dinner made by her mother, As a celebration for having entered the guild, however, it seemed more like a farewell dinner. The next morning, with the suitcase in his hand, Elira had received a letter that the capital of Serian should leave for Artanida to the guild headquarters. Iram left his house without anyone listening since he feared that if he said goodbye to his parents he would not be able to leave. Elira walked through the town towards the exit of the city, and when he was about to leave Elira could see her grandfather and her parents under the tree waiting for him outside the city. Elira was so surprised, he approached them and ask “what are you doing here” to what the parents responded with a smile “You are our son, we knew what you were going to do” after hearing those sweet words, Elira embraced her parents and grandfather, and so the tears occupied the main stage, After the warm farewell Elira not only parted the town with a heart full of intrigue but with a new sword that his father had forged for him, food that his mother gave him for the road and an old book that his grandfather read before leaving. And that’s how Iram Elira’s adventure began.

COLEGIO JEFFERSON · 2020

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

By Issa Muvunangoma

T

he production of this book, from the birth of the idea to final publication, required an army of people united toward a common goal. For me, the first of those people is Stefani Page, as a great human being and a notable friend that she is, for her remarkable support during the revision and editing process of the book and by pushing me to make it the best it can possibly be, regardless of our time differences.

Thank you, Page.

On the basis thereof; I would also like to express my sincerest gratitude to the principal of the school, Mr. Juan Pablo Caicedo, and our senior coordinator, Ms. Edith Valencia for approving and believing in our project. This activity would not have been possible without their guidance and enormous support throughout the process. Thank you very much.

The writing process of this book was fun, from creating characters, puzzling around the plot development, and devouring the last final drafts with my students was undeniably a divine experience, One that I will cherish forever. To that end; I would like to thank all the sixty-eight authors of this book for their astounding work and patience. Most importantly the students’ committee, chaired by Antonia Gable, Germán Figueredo, Sebastián Sluga, and Sebastián Gómez representing the promotion 2020. For their collaborative work filled with creativity and passion which enabled this book activity to be a success. You’ve made us all proud.

In addition to this; we were also joined by a group of professionals who showed immense support and care throughout every step, Ms. Claudia Ampudia and Stephanie Hernández.

They were always there for me, period. As well; my debt of 525

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gratitude goes to Miss Natalia Pérez Penagos, the designer of this book, for her meticulous attention to each detail. I will forever be indebted to you all.

My last and most special acknowledgment goes to all the eleven editors and reviewers involved in this project: Fiacre Innocent, Lauryn May, Paul McDonald, Natasha Alexander, Florentine Gihozo, Cédric Laurent, Andrés Hernández, Eric Wiley, Diane Franz, Lewis Marco, Thierry Nicolas. All those who devoted their personal time by solving all the technical problems in this book, many of them during our sleepless late-night meetings on Zoom. Any mistakes you may find are the results of questions asked while we were on our last legs. Without those people, this task would have been vastly more difficult.

Lastly, and certainly by no means least, I would like to thank everyone else who contributed in some way and I may have forgotten to mention.

—Thank you.

“ The creative vibrancy of youth. At once the easiest and most difficult energy to capture. This is what life felt like before the compromises.”

JAMES DAVIES, EX SUNDAY TIMES, UK

“ This group of short stories will live long in the memory and the variety of writing styles is astounding, it will keep you entertained for hours on end.”

KEVIN MC CAFFREY, ENGLISH TEACHER, SENIOR

“More than just stories, this book is an argument that literature must bear witness. A valuable account of what it means to be a young adult of the 21 st Century.”

STEFANI PAGE, INDEPENDENT BOOK RETAILER, USA

“ The storylines are beautifully paced and the characters are drawn with a careful hand...

T h e A wa k e n i n g o f Y o u n g A d u lt s is a fine book.”

FLORENTINE GIHOZO, BOOK CRITIC, RWANDA

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This book was digitally published on the 12 th of June in the year 2020 by Colegio Jefferson. Edited by a group of reviewers and editors under the guidance of Issa Muvunangoma.

Graphic design was done by Natalia PĂŠrez Penagos. The typefaces used in this edition are Crimson Pro and Peace Sans.

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THE AWAKENING OF YOUNG ADULTS A Collection Of Unorthodox Short Stories

This is the final capstone work from the most highly reputed promotion of 2020 of Colegio Jefferson. It is a collection of unorthodox short stories served as a rallying point of hope for all those who share the weight of being misunderstood by the world.

This book is written in lyrical prose style. It essentially discusses topics related to the concept of innateness as it relates to the transitions of young adults to adulthood. It gives the reader a full intensity of emotion of the characters; an intriguing sensory peeks into how they experience the world as young adults. The written techniques used in this book made an enduring debut in the world of literature.

“ The creative vibrancy of youth. At once the easiest and most difficult energy to capture. This is what life felt like before the compromises.�

JAMES DAVIES, EX SUNDAY TIMES, UK

PROM 2020