“It Started on a Rainy Day” | Henry Brandstadter ‘22

Staying up late at sleepovers playing Call of Duty Zombies trying not to wake my parents. I miss not worrying about college and loads of school work And the time I need to take to do them.

I’m missing the time to take care of myself. I’m missing time to go to the gym, I’m missing time to play my favorite sport. I’m missing the time to stay active. I miss it so much.

Maybe I’m not missing it Maybe it’s moving faster, Maybe I’m not being careful. All I know for certain is that I miss it.

My brother once told me “Never wish time away” At a time when it felt like time wasn’t moving at all.

Maia Collins ‘24 / By My Side / Charcoal

Maia Collins ‘24 | Critiques | Charcoal 24 Pub

It Started on a

Rainy Day Henry Brandstadter ‘22

When the trucks and tanks rolled down the main street of town that rainy day, very few raised their heads in concern. Families just watched from their rattling thin paned windows as a column of supplies and soldiers flooded the roads. Some welcomed the men while many others stayed by their hearths, wanting to stay out of the wars of political unions. One man and his family had lived in the small town for many years before the war and had seen the town live hard lives in the mines. The man had worked in the nearby coal mine along with the other men. The man would work long hours for little pay, but it was all he could do. When the soldiers occupied the town, the mine was forced to close and construction began on some facility close by. The man and the other miners of the town gathered to discuss the soldiers. “They are ruining our livelihoods, I can’t pay to feed my family!” one said. Many bellowed in agreement but others retorted, “they are just trying to protect us from the war. If they need to close the mine and build, so be it.” When the meeting dispersed, the man went home to his wife and daughter and told them what had happened over a plate of cevapi at dinner. The wife, a woman who had lived in the town since she was born, told the man this time things seemed different. “There have been wars but never has the government needed to patrol and set up camp in or around our town,” she exclaimed. “The frontline is tens of kilometers away from here, why come here now?”