Leak, by Jiin (Lara) Kim - 12th Grade
Endemic
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10
Born on the edge, by Mariana Alonso - 12th Grade
Like, Literarily! - Issue 10
May 2021
Endemic
Like, Literarily! Issue 10
The Bilingual, Student-run Literary Journal of CNG
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General Editor in Chief: Poetry Editors:
Jelena Vásquez Valentina Waranabe María José Pérez Moisés Akerman
Fiction Editors:
Mariana Pardo
Hanna Bing-Zaremba
Lia de Valenzuela
Marketing Manager:
María Laura Saenz
Art Editor:
Alessandra Gallo
Teacher Advisors:
Guzmán Julio - HS Technology Teacher Ernesto Carriazo Osorio - HS Spanish Teacher Tiffany Touma - HS English Teacher Diana Sánchez - HS Philosophy Teacher Stalin López - HS AP 2D Design Teacher
Issue:
Online Publication
Special thanks to the H.S. Principal: Ivan Velasco. Associate Principals: Mary West and Jesse Wagner. Colegio Nueva Granada Cra 2 Este No 70-20 www.cng.edu Bogotá, Colombia ISSN 2590-5287 May of 2021 2
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Table of Contents
Poetry Destiny, by Jelena Vásquez Yes, it is for you, you know who you are, by Violeta Portilla Hombre lobo, Anonymous El aroma de la rosa, Anonymous
Fiction Sins, by Eugene Kim Adapting, by Nicolle Pechman A Year in My Life, by Rochelle Seidner
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Like, Literarily! - Issue 10 A Lonely Life, by Mariana Alonso - 12th Grade
POETRY Poesía 5
Destiny Jelena Vázquez
For what is ours or what should be mine? For what it’s worth of in my mind Yet detritus pensive for the warblers top in the pine It’s such eagerness camouflaged in timorous, Unease for pre-set paths. Is destiny destiny with no effort from my side? Past, future and present, But the distressing five seconds from now, That one who ghosted in the blink of an eye, May be the locke & key for my dow For what it’s worth of in my mind For what will be worth of for our minds For what is theirs yet it was once mine?
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Yes, It Is for You, You Know Who You Are Violeta Portilla
Five minus trees three. One cut in half, One fourth to be precise. In fine the artifice of the five, Here and out, Hearing truant, Might ne’er here come back. For the owl was crowned, For the spider in the rise, For the future with a catch Will edify the value of once was. For the lost soul 5 As to farewells, they are not attached. Rejoice on the screech you’ve brought us upon, The deed has been done, the souls are long gone, For this may I ask, When will it ever be enough?
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Hombre lobo Anonymous
No quiero ver tu rostro, pero estás llena nuevamente, alumbrando la noche oscura y convirtiéndome otra vez. Mis garras rasguñan lo que una vez construimos. Mis colmillos destruyen lo que una vez consideramos paraíso. Debajo de tu luz es donde se escuchan mis aullidos. Pero me siento desorientado al llega el amanecer. Veo todo en pedazos y tú ya no estás. Estoy solo en este nuevo día empapado de sangre derramada. Esperando la figura de esa luz al amanecer.
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El aroma de la rosa Anonymous
El aroma de la rosa, como un perfume hipnotizante, mancha mi atmósfera sin ningún remordimiento. Con su cabeza vino tinto, la flor se abre al escuchar el llanto de mi anhelo. Mientras me acerco otra vez, sus espinas, que aprendió a usar contra el mundo que la crió, me penetran la piel dejando nada más que sangre y heridas abiertas. Cortes profundos, que parecen sanados, hasta que inhalo nuevamente El aroma de la rosa.
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Like, Literarily! - Issue 10 Spider attack, by Mariana Alonso - 12th Grade
FICTION Ficción 11
Sins Eugene Kim
Another gloomy day at the faraway and insignificant Eliatrope City greeted a newbie in the Eliatrope City Police Department. The dark and roughly circular clouds blocked the sunlight and lazy policemen eating tuna sandwiches just stood and watched people commit crimes. The unusually passionate newbie with an innocent dream of cleansing Eliatrope from corruption and crimes was assigned to be detective O’Connell’s partner. Detective O’Connell was talking with the Medical Examiner regarding the recent portside homicide case victim and pointed his finger at the newbie and then flicked it signaling him to come. O’Connell’s first words to Noah Patterson were “don’t try to do anything stupid, do as I say so, and we will get along just fine.” After a little slap to Patterson’s cheeks, O’Connell grabbed his gun and headed towards the exit of the police station. Zoned out, Patterson heard “are you coming or not?” from afar and quickly rushed towards O’Connell. The 25-minute car ride to the port did not lead to any sort of bonding whatsoever between the two and some classic 80’s music from the radio relieved the awkwardness a little. As they approached the crime scene, forensics was already working on collecting and examining evidence in white suits. Officers greeted O’Connell as he lifted the police tape and stepped into the crime scene, while they glanced at Patterson and whispered among themselves. It was quite obvious what they were talking about: they were making bets on how long he could last in the ECPD. There was dry blood outlining the silhouette of the victim’s body, which indicates the scenario 12
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of the suspect stabbing the victim multiple times after taking him into the ground. However, there was no significant lead as to who the suspect was. Patterson thought the only thing to do now is to wait for forensics and see if there are any fingerprints or a weapon that they could trace, but O’Connell was calling him to the car. Patterson asked, “where are we going?”. O’Connell responded, “Stones”. Patterson pondered on what that could be for a minute. He didn’t recall any location called Stones and he naturally discarded the thought of the infamous criminal. They entered a bar with a medium-sized stage and lots of empty tables. There was a person making jokes on the stage, not exactly a comedian, whose voice was shaking. A lonely audience was having a meal of steak and wine, and O’Connell approached him. In the meantime, Patterson heard moans as if someone were to be assaulting another and headed towards the sound. Behind the backdoors of the bar were four men, one noticeably big, kicking and swinging bats to a man on the ground. “You are under arrest for assault!” exclaimed Patterson as he walked towards them with handcuffs. Once Patterson got close, the massive man swung a heavy punch on his face. The former navy Patterson did not go down without a fight and gave him back agile punches and kicks. Both of them were bleeding and breathing roughly, trying to keep their balance. Oconnell came out and screamed “stop” getting in between the two. The big man was still pissed and O’Connell yelled “Butch! It’s me.”. The man who was eating steak came out and gave a glare at Butch, as he patted Patterson on the back. He wrapped his arms around Patterson and turned back towards the bar. He said,“you are a good man. 13
But think about what kind of man you want to be in Eliatrope.”Patterson did not think much about the vague message at the moment and returned to his fiancé’s house after returning to the station with O’Connell. Barbara, the blonde woman with crystal blue eyes loved by Noah, brought a piece of chocolate cake and beer to the couch to talk. The big stove lit up with a cozy fire warmed them both and Barbara gathered her legs and lifted them to the couch to take a more comfortable position. She asked “so, how was your day?”, and Patterson thought of what to answer as he finished chewing the cake. He responded, “well, the usual. A murder in the bay and no clues”. She asked, “are you sure that was it?”. After taking a deep breath, he said “yeah” with his eyes widely open. He added, “I want to go to bed. Join me?”. At 5 a.m., Patterson woke up as he couldn’t sleep and drank a coffee as he prepared to leave. Without waking up Barbara, he headed to the station. Surprisingly, O’Connell was already there but as Patterson approached him, the odor of cheap vodka was noticeable and O’Connell’s eyes were red. O’Connell slammed the table with a file and shouted, “I got a lead!”. “No, you can’t do police work drunk” claimed Patterson. O’Connell smiled and commented, “don’t you worry about me. Drinking is a lifestyle. You drive and I’ll do my part”. Patterson started the car and asked, “so what do you have?”As O’Connell lowered the window for fresh air, he said “You remember the dude from the bar? The one with the big scar below his eyes who was watching the geek pop jokes.”. 14
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“Yeah, what about him?” “So, he’s Stones, the right arm of the infamous Maroni.” “You mean the strongest man in Eliatrope?” “Yup, that’s the one. You could say we’re friends. He told me that words on the street are that some dude calling himself Longshot is our primary suspect.” “And how do you suppose we find this guy?” “I also got an address.” Patterson smiled with excitement while resisting the urge to ask O’Connell how he even became friends with Stones. Patterson stopped the car under the bridge across the street of the supposed home of Longshot. Both of them took out their guns as they approached the building. The rusty main door with spider webs all over was unlocked and they headed to apartment 301. Each step of the stairs creaked but it was normal for Eliatrope and the two looked at each other in the eyes as they positioned themselves on both sides of the front door. Patterson kicked the wooden door and entered with his gun ready to shoot. Inside was a noticeable transparent strip curtain that covered stairs to somewhere downstairs. After eye contacting O’Connell, Patterson slowly walked down the stairs. The first impression of the basement was that it had hospital types of equipment. After noticing the open windows, Patterson hastened took a look outside but only stairs were seen with no trace of any person. Both of them put their guns away and took a look around the place.
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“Patterson, come look at this.” “What is--” Patterson and O’Connell stayed silent for a while and couldn’t look at the bodies laid in front of them. A stack of bodies behind a rather fragile wooden door produced a sickening stench making them cover their noses tightly with their elbows.“Looks like we got a serial killer here,” said Patterson. O’Connell called forensics and they went outside to get a quick meal while the evidence was gathered. Lunch was a taco and coke from the food truck parked a block away from the scene. Back at the station, Longshot, or at least the occupant of the apartment, was identified as Anthony Rowley. Anthony Rowley was a former scientist of the biggest laboratory in Eliatrope and had no criminal records. His parents were dead, there was no information on his relatives or friends, and only his wife had an available address. Patterson and O’Connell jogged to the car and took off towards the address of Martha Rowley. It was a residency area, but they took out their guns just in case. After knocking on the door three times, a voice was heard: “come in!” Patterson turned the handle and the door opened. A woman with a pale face, bony, and shaky, asked “who are you?”. Patterson answered, “ma’am we are here for a man called Anthony Rowley, your husband.” “What about him?” “We suspect that he committed multiple murders.” 16
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“No, there must be a misunderstanding. He is such a sweet husband.” “We understand ma’am, but do you know where we could find him?” “Wha-, yes he’s probably in his office working.” “Working? Did he not quit his job 4 years ago?” “Oh yes, but I’m very ill and he told me he’d find a cure.” “Could you tell us the address of his office?” “Yes, it’s 3763 Lucky Duck Drive Apartm-” “Sorry to cut you off ma’am but we identified multiple dead bodies in that direction.” “That’s not possible. He told me he was testing on rats. I don’t have much time left.” “Do you know where he is?” “No. He left the house around 7 a.m. to go to his office but he still hasn’t come back.” O’Connell called in and requested immediate backup to surround the house. He knew that Anthony Rowley would eventually come back for his wife. In fact, Anthony was already at the bottom of the apartment thinking of what to do. It was nearly time for Martha’s medication, and he was nervous. Martha suffered from an unknown cell-killing disease that has weakened her body every day. Anthony, a loving husband with pure intentions, has become obsessed with the objective of saving his beloved wife and lost his mind (one could say). Patterson and O’Connell went outside towards the car and Anthony approached them pointing a gun at Patterson. “Don’t move! I don’t want to shoot you,” said 17
Anthony. Patterson put his hands in the air and O’Connell gestured his hands telling him to calm down. “You too. Hands in the air!” shouted Anthony. “You don’t have to do this Anthony,” said O’Connell. “We can figure it out. No need to get messy.” Distant siren sounds were heard-- it was the backup coming. Drops of sweat raining down the forehead, Anthony was thinking what he should do. In the meantime, the police cars surrounded Anthony, Patterson, and O’Connell, and more than 10 guns were pointed at Anthony. After a brief moment of silence, Anthony screamed of frustration and dropped his gun. Anthony was given 100 years of sentence and Martha was slowly dying. Two weeks in prison, Anthony received the news that Martha no longer lived, and he killed himself soon after. This was a cultural shock to Patterson, but it was just the beginning of his Eliatrope detective career.
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Adapting Nicolle Pechman
Red, orange, yellow, pink the rays of the sun were shining on the deep blue ocean water. Everyday around 5:30pm I would go to the beach and watch the sun go down. It was one of the most extraordinary things I have ever seen. I live on a small island off the coast of Italy. I have been living here all my life from the day I was born until now graduating from high school. Next week will be the first time I ever travel outside of this island. It’s all I have ever known; Castaway Island was my whole world. But I knew I was destined for greatness when I got my acceptance letter to my dream school, NYU. Although it was on another continent, I had never been more nervous and excited at the same time. I have only ever dreamed of living the city life; I had never even seen tall buildings or cars in person, only in photos. On the island we only ever used bikes or went by foot since it is a small village of only a couple hundred people. A week later, I was standing on the stage in front of my graduating class and parents getting my diploma. It was one of the most unforgettable moments of my life. As I walked off the stage, I could see my parents smile, but underneath all of the happiness I could tell they were really sad about me leaving them for the first time ever. They headed towards me as graduation ended and hugged me tightly for a few minutes and wouldn’t let go. “I am so proud of you!” My dad said. My mom started to cry while she kept holding me tightly like it was the last time she would ever see me again.“Mom, don’t cry, it’s going to be fine, and you can always come and visit me whenever you want.” I responded. My mom let go of me and wiped her tears. Smiling, she responded,“These are tears of happiness. I am so proud and 19
happy of my little girl going off into the world on her own.You deserve to experience the outside world and explore places you have never even dreamed of.” I smiled back at her and hugged them tightly never wanting to let go. The next day, I was packed and ready to head off to the airport. There isn’t an airport on Castaway Island, so I had to take a boat to get to the main island. I said goodbye to my parents and friends before I hopped on the boat. I was a very lucky person. Usually people who study and live here all their lives don’t get into a college in the States if they aren’t in the top of their class. Most people don’t even leave and just study in the community college of our island which doesn’t have the best education. It was hard to leave everything behind, but I was ready for a new start and experience. As the boat moved away from the island, I saw my parents and friends waving from a distance. Two hours later, we arrived at the main island. It was crowded and filled with people. I took my bags and got into an island car, which was essentially a golf cart that most people used on the island since it wasn’t very big but was not as small as Castaway. The wind blew on my face and the air smelled like flowers. I saw all sorts of things on my way to the airport: children playing soccer, a stray dog, people eating, shopping. For me this island was like New York City; it was in the center of all the small islands where everyone came to work, went to meetings, traveled, or opened up businesses. As I got out of the car, I saw homeless people sitting outside the airport; there were always a lot of poor people on the streets. Most people here couldn’t afford to travel 20
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or live somewhere else, and sometimes they couldn’t even support themselves or their families. The majority of the population had lived on this island all their lives and didn’t have the opportunity to go somewhere else, which made me so grateful to have gotten a scholarship to one of the most prestigious universities in the world. I got to my gate after checking in, and directly got on the plane.The plane was very small compared to regular planes and was pretty empty. Here was a family of 4 in the back with a crying baby, an old married couple three rows in front of me, and a couple more people. The plane ride went by so fast; most of the flight I was looking out the window and admiring the pretty view of the ocean. More than ten hours later, we had arrived, and I was exhausted but thrilled at the same time. From the view of the tiny plane window, I could see all the city lights. The view was the prettiest thing I had ever seen; the photos I had seen didn’t do it justice. I now could tell why they call NYC the city that never sleeps. The city looked alive even at midnight. In Castaway everyone was already asleep by 10pm, so the change of scenery felt so good. Just then the flight attendant said over the speaker, “Welcome to New York, we will land in a few minutes.” My excitement was over the roof. As I took my first steps out of the plane, everything started to hit me at once. I was going to live here now. I noticed the climate was much colder and the people looked less friendly, probably because they were in a rush to catch their plane. Although I was feeling homesick, I tried focusing on the exciting things that would 21
come like all the new people I would meet and the new adventures I would have. I stepped out of the airport and taxis were waiting at the door. I took one and told the driver my address. During the ride he glimpsed at me through the mirror and asked, “First time in the city?” I responded, “Yeah how could you tell?” “Your wandering eyes of amazement looking out the window say it all. Plus, most New Yorkers don’t look at the city like that,” he answered. I smiled and continued looking at the tall buildings that lit up the city. I felt like a tiny mouse in this giant city. Soon after I made it to the campus, I noticed it was twice as big as Castaway. There were students everywhere I turned. Most got dropped off by their parents, which made me miss mine a lot more, but I knew they wouldn’t want me to be homesick and dreadful on the first day, so I lifted myself up and headed to the dorms. At first, I didn’t know where I was going so, I asked a bunch of people on the way who didn’t know either. Afterall, they were freshmen as well. One girl who was wearing designer clothes looked at me like I was nothing when I asked, then shoved me and continued walking. I was worried until I came up to this one girl, Maria, who was a junior and helped me with my bags while taking me to the dorms. She was the nicest person I had met on campus and in New York in general. Maria had blue eyes like the ocean, and bright blonde hair that shimmered when it hit the sun. She reminded me of my best friend from back home with her bubbly personality, so it made me drawn to her.“Here’s room 23, I live right down the hall, so if you ever need anything just come and find me.” Maria said smiling as she set my bags down on the empty wooden bed. I thanked her and she walked out of the room. 22
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The room was very spacious and there was another empty bed across from mine. I wondered who my roommate would be. Just then, I heard someone’s footsteps getting closer and closer with each passing second. Suddenly, I saw someone at the door: it was the rude girl from earlier. “I guess this is my room, and who are you exactly?” She said obnoxiously. “Hi, we bumped into each other earlier. I guess I’m your roommate. You’re Samantha, right?” She nodded and then looked me up and down like she was a teacher judging a bad project. Behind her were her ten Chanel suitcases stacked on top of each other. I then looked at my single, ordinary suitcase and tried to hide it under my covers. The narrator had said she has never left the island and tried to hide it under my covers. “Nice suitcase.” she said sarcastically. Not knowing what to do, I looked down at my lap and started playing with my fingers. She then settled in and started setting up a high-end Gucci tapestry along with lights on her side of the room. Meanwhile my side looked the same as when I first came in. All I did was change the bed covers and hang up some pictures of my family and friends to always remind me that they are always with me even when we are apart. As I put away my clothes, she looked at me hanging them up and started to look a little bit upset. I shouldn’t have cared about her feelings after she made me feel bad about myself and my things, but I asked her what was wrong anyway. She looked confused and said, “Why are you asking me that?” I responded, “Because I can tell that something is bothering you.” “Why do you care?” She asked meanly. I took a 23
deep breath and said, “It’s a new school and we will be spending the next few years together and I know the first day can be hard. Also, I would want someone to be there for me If I were feeling down.” She looked around the room not wanting to make eye contact. Abruptly, she started pouring out her feelings like I was the best friend she had known for all her life. It seemed like she was holding in her feelings for a long time.“Nobody has ever asked me how I am feeling, my parents don’t even care for me.” I looked at her luxurious items and said, “Seems like they do care for you.” She looked away and responded, “They just buy all these materialistic things to cover up the truth: they don’t want to deal with me. They were so happy the day I left for college. I guess seeing you hanging up photos of you and your family made me remember how bad the relationship with them is.” I was stunned; I misread her situation completely. I thought she was just a spoiled brat, and I felt bad for judging her when in reality she puts up a strong front, so she doesn’t get disappointed or hurt by people. Before I could say anything else she apologized for being rude to me at first. “It’s ok, I get it. You can always come and rant to me whenever, but maybe just try being more open to people so you actually make friends here” I said. We both laughed and we ended up talking for the whole day after that. I even presented her to Maria so she would make more friends. Since then, we have been inseparable and never leave each other’s side. We go everywhere together: the gym, lunch, parties, classes, and pretty much everywhere on the weekends.
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Some months passed and it was already winter break. Since my parents couldn’t afford flying out to see me this year, I went to go visit them. I ended up taking Samantha with me since her parents were in Cabo. I couldn’t let her spend Christmas alone and she was always telling me how she was dying to see Castaway after all the stories about the beautiful sunsets I had told her. After many hours of traveling, we arrived at Castasy; everything looked the same as when I left. Samanta looked at the town in amazement. It reminded me of how I looked at NYC when I first saw it. It was already getting late, so before we saw my parents, we headed to the beach to watch the sunset. Through the palm trees we would already see the sun starting to set. “Wow, it is gorgeous! It’s better than I ever imagined” She said in astonishment. I smiled and looked back at the view. The sky was all sorts of warm toned colors. I had missed this part of living in Castaway. Samantha and I layed down on the sandy warm beach until the sun went completely down.“That was indescribable. Thank you for taking me here.” She said happily. Finally, we got up and headed to my house where I would reunite with my family once again. I was finally happy and all I wanted was for this feeling to last forever.
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A Year in My Life Rochelle Seidner
On March 12th of 2020, I got an email from Dr. Habegger (the school’s director) saying we all had to evacuate campus immediately because students from CNG have been in direct contact with someone who had tested positive for Covid-19. I remember this day clearly. I was in chemistry class, my last period of the day when some junior yelled out that their fashion show had been canceled because of this weird sickness going around. I was confused on why they had taken such an extreme measure on something that was irrelevant. I mean we had gone through this before with H1N1, which lasted for a week, and everyone ended up perfectly fine. Just a moment later Chucho (who was my chem teacher at that time) yelled out to the class “check your emails now” We were all very confused about what was going on, so we all quickly hurried to see. At the top of my email was a mail from the school saying something along the lines of “Dear students, as many of you may know during this past week a student from the English School who attended the CNGmun conference has tested positive for Coronavirus. You will have an online learning day tomorrow and then will continue to do the class time at home until further notice. Good Luck! -Dr. Eric Habbeger.” I was so excited when I got that email! It was just like having a vacation for two weeks. Staying in bed, sleeping all day, Netflix, and doing absolutely nothing all day. It was just like that for about two weeks or so. We would wake up, do school, 26
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and spend our days watching Netflix, TikTok, and facetime through this app called house party with our friends. But after a while everyone got bored of this, people started fighting with their friends, everyone was breaking up, fighting with their parents, siblings, just fighting with anyone in general. I like to call this period the “grey” period because everyone felt alone, mad, sad, unwanted, and everything in between. This period lasted for about two months or so, absolutely everyone I knew was fighting with at least one person and crying multiple times a day. At this point we had finally realized that this “two-week quarantine” was going to last much more than two weeks; in fact, at this point, we all thought we were going to be like this forever. It finally got to June, the end of the school year, the moment I had been waiting for since I was ten because I was supposed to go to Israel with my friends. We had been seeing for years and years how the people in the grades above us kept on going and coming back happier and closer than ever, every single Jew in the grade had been talking about it for months. But on May first, we all got the devastating news that it had been canceled, so we all had to stay locked in our houses for two months without being able to come out. I had never felt such devastation in my life. However, my family decided that we were not going to stay this long doing anything, so we rented a house in Anapoima for about a month. It was the longest month of my life. My days looked something like this: wake up at 2:30 pm, have lunch at 4:00 pm, watch Netflix from 5:00-7:30 pm, help make dinner from 7:30-8:00, and then continue to watch Disney plus the rest of the night (from 27
9:00 pm to about 4 am). As you could imagine this was without a doubt the worst month ever! A whole eternity later I got to Bogota, on August 3 to be exact, and I couldn’t have been happier to be back in my amazing house and in this incredible city. Which keep in mind I strongly disliked the apartment I lived in at the time, and I do not enjoy living in Bogota at all, so you can imagine how terrible my month in Anapoima was. But that was finally in the past, and now I just had to focus on being ready for school. I was starting 11th grade (the hardest grade ever, of what I had been told) and I was extremely nervous because I had gotten the worst classes ever, and with people I strongly disliked or that they disliked me. A couple of months passed, and it had finally gotten to November, the moment everyone had been waiting for, everyone but me.The school had finally announced that we were going to start hybrid learning, we were going to be divided into two groups (group a and group b), that day everyone was texting and calling each other to see if they were together, at the end of the day we had found out that about 90% of the grade was put into group b and then the remaining 10% was in group a. I had been “lucky” enough to be able to go to because my mother is part of the CNG staff, but I couldn’t have dreaded going to school these days more. Every single day I would try and convince my mother that it was not a good idea to go to school, because I had a headache, or none of my friends were going, or anything along those lines. This period lasted for about three months, where I 28
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absolutely hated coming to school to be surrounded by people I couldn’t stand and be forced to actually get out of bed every single day. Finally, after these terribly long months, it finally got to December break, the moment I had been waiting for since the beginning of quarantine, the moment I finally got to go back to Miami (my happy place.) I was so excited that I failed to consider the fact that everything had changed due to Covid. I couldn’t see my friends as often as I would have liked to, or my family. I would stay most days at home watching Netflix (which I could clearly do in Bogota). After a month of staying in other people’s houses, and not seeing my immediate family, it was time to go back to Bogota; I was so mad that I cried the entire flight home. I did not want to be back. Back to seeing the same people again, the same teachers, the same boring old plans that we made every weekend, but I had to go back. After crying for three and a half hours I started to feel the cold of the same old Bogota and started to get the same old feeling I always got every time I came back to this city. For two weeks I went to school with the same people I always did (in group a) until the school changed its plans again. They announced that starting on March eighth there would be no more groups, everyone would be able to go every single day. This was the first time in a year life would be “normal again” and I couldn’t wait.
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It had finally gotten to this day, I had woken up bright and early to go to tennis practice, and then I came home and got ready for school. This was the first time in as long as I could remember that I was actually excited to go to school. Until the moment I actually got to school where I started to remember how actual school was, getting up every day to get ready, preparing lunches, having a full day when I went to bed at 2 am not at 10 pm. I started to remember all the important moments that have happened at this school. While I was going up the hill. It was crazy to me the fact that only a year had passed since the last time I was with everyone I had ever known in one group, yet it felt like an eternity. Now it is Thursday, March 25, 2021. Over a year has passed since I got this email from Dr. Habegger; since the moment I thought that the Coronavirus was just an exaggeration; since the moment everyone’s life changed completely.
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Like, Literarily! - Issue 10 Spider attack, by Mariana Alonso - 12th Grade
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Eating the stares, by Mariana Alonso - 12th Grade
Fragility, by Jiin (Lara) Kim - 12th Grade
CNG