May/June 2024

This is the second installment of Alice Pak’s novella, which we will be publishing over the course of three issues. You can read the beginning of Alice’s story in our January/February issue. Chapter Two Unlike Misha, I was always a little on the more reckless side. I was two years younger than him, though sometimes it felt like six. Misha had always been the quiet, observing intellectual and preferred to stand in a corner and watch the world unfold before his eyes. I, on the other hand, wanted to unfold the world myself, so I constantly started getting myself in more and more problems as time passed. I remember the first time my karma backed up a little and hit me on the head. I was wobbling behind Misha, trying to jump in as many puddles on the street as I possibly could while he calmly strolled ahead, raising his head up to the sky to breathe in the warm, wet air. My pink rain boots squeaked with every impact, sending water splashing in all directions. Had there been more people outside, I would’ve probably been more conscious about my childish behavior, but the intermittent rain seemed to have scared most schoolkids back in front of their TV screens. The only pedestrians left outside were groups of laughing men gathered outside of smoke shops and bars and a handful of elderly women gossiping on benches while feeding pigeons. We were heading to the park. The very park we had been to with our parents ever since our birth, the very park where I held my ninth birthday, the very park where the trees were so old that some of them seemed to be growing crooked. The park downtown, which slowly turned into a hotspot for schoolkids to gather and play soccer or hang out. Me and Misha went there at least once a week and played soccer and held races, which became a sort of ritual for us every Friday after school that I looked forward to every single time. So did he; sometimes, if he was in a good enough mood, he would stop by the local convenience store and buy ice cream for us to enjoy on our walks. I remember thinking about ice cream with a smile that moment. Would I pick strawberry? Or vanilla? Definitely not chocolate, though; Misha always got chocolate, but I thought it was too sugary for my liking. Plus, it always made you extremely thirsty. Maybe vanilla with a chocolate coat? That was when I heard it the first time. It was a loud, shrill sound, shocking the area for miles in intermittent waves of wailing. The siren seemed to almost freeze the street as the people outside immediately stopped their affairs and raised their heads. The noise continued for several more minutes, steadily growing louder as panic started to boil among the pedestrians. I turned to Misha, confusion brewing in me as I noticed a scared expression on his face. “What’s going on?” The screech seemed to bring a particular fear to the street. Chaos ensued, people running in and out of buildings, shouting orders at each other, and trying to figure out the meaning of the situation. Dust rose up from the feet pounding the pavement, creating a cloud of smoke. I stumbled back, eyes wide, as a stampede ravaged the street. “Misha?” I yelled. “Misha!” “Varya!” Misha hollered back somewhere on my left. “Hurry, we have to go!” I spotted Misha through the dust cloud, waving at me to follow him. “Come on, what are you waiting for? We have to get out of here!” “What’s happening?” Misha’s face seemed to get paler by the second as the sirens blared behind me. “Don’t ask questions! Just follow me!” I sneezed, blinking the settling smoke out of my eyes. “Come on!” he called desperately. “Don’t be stubborn, Varya, please. This could be dangerous!” “Tell me what’s happening, or I’m not going anywhere!” I heard a piercing whip slice the air above me. I twisted my neck to look at the gray sky, stepping back to see nothing but a gust of wind curl the tip of the clouds. It all happened in a second. There was a soft whizzing sound, like an arrow being launched. I turned around sharply to see a single window shatter in the building above me before the rockets hit the wall and my world went pitch black. *          *          * My shout died in my throat as time slowed down around me and I watched the building explode, a million pieces raining down on the pavement around me. Chunks of concrete and drywall crashed into the street, a cloud of dust rising up in the storm of rubble. I finally found my voice again and screamed, reaching out a helpless hand towards the spot where Varya had stood seconds before. I couldn’t see her now. Someone grabbed me and pulled me under a metal sheet and I knelt down, the blood rushing in my ears, deafening me from the noise of the outer world. I struggled to breathe as through blurry eyes I made out paint- streaked bricks shooting through the air like missiles out of control. My heart pounded as more bullets slit the air and more muffled blasts shook the ground like an earthquake. Several buildings around me collapsed. It felt like the climax of a horror movie, I thought, as I crouched down, covering my head with trembling hands. Around me, huddled together, were other people, but I looked right past them, out into the crumbling world beyond. The earth rumbled violently, explosions rocking us back and forth with every smash of concrete against the ground. The wind rushing past me felt like a slap in the face, carrying hundreds upon thousands of bits of pebbles, some of which stung my eyes, making tears spring out as I rubbed my face forcefully, trying

A tribute to a young girl’s garden Leaves everywhere, big, small, short, tall. Trees that lead you to unknown places in their towering branches. Bushes that you have never seen before. Flowers so beautiful you can’t see them. The sound of birds. Bugs, small bugs with wings, old and young bugs, everywhere. Nowhere is a better place to be than Allison’s garden, where nature will always be with you.