Why were they leaving her? Where were they going? Katherine looked up into the smiling faces of her parents. Though they appeared to be cheerful on the outside, she could sense the worry that hung about their shoulders and the urgency in their movements. She watched as they put on long black overcoats and dark hats with brims that obscured their eyes. “Mommy, Daddy, where are you going?” Katherine asked anxiously. “To somewhere safe. Don’t worry, sweetheart, we’ll come back for you. I promise.” Her father hugged her tightly, giving her a soft kiss on the cheek in the process. “But why?” Katherine queried. She was confused. Why were they leaving her? Where were they going? “Honey, we cannot stay here, we must keep moving.” Katherine’s mother sighed heavily. “Everything will turn out all right.” Katherine watched as her parents ran off into the rainy night, droplets of water hitting their overcoats like shafts of silver arrows. When they were almost out of earshot, she heard her father call, “Take good care of baby Lily for us.” And then he rushed away, a dark shadow moving with expert stealth. Katherine felt a tear escape her eye and run down her cheek. She sniffled and looked at the sign on the door behind her: Mulberry Orphanage. She looked at her baby sister, asleep in a little bundle on the doorstep, unaware of the confusing world around her. Once again, she looked out into the night, hoping that her parents would return soon. She stood there for a long time, smelling the earthy aroma of storm, the noxious fume of gasoline, and listening to the rain beat out its arbitrary time signature on the roof. Finally, when it became clear that her parents were not returning anytime soon, Katherine curled up next to her sister and slowly, painfully, heart-wrenchingly, cried herself to sleep. * * * EIGHT YEARS LATER… Katherine awoke suddenly. Her body was tangled in her sheets and soaked in a cold sweat. The last few moments of her dream lingered fresh in her memory. She desperately wanted to see her parents again, but interacting with them in a recurring dream ad nauseam made her long for her life to return to the way it once was. “Kkkhhonkh.” Katherine looked over at the sleeping figure of her younger sister and smiled. Lily was sprawled across the bed, the blankets wrapped around her torso like a bedcover toga. Her long auburn hair was spread across her round face in knotted clumps, and her mouth was open, exposing a number of pearly white teeth. Katherine nearly giggled, but her face regained its now familiar solemnity when she thought of how innocent her once baby sister had looked, sleeping in that little bundle on the doorstep of the orphanage. Silently, Katherine stepped off the edge of the bed and stole carefully across the floor, trying not to make any noise. It reminded her of the times when she snuck out of bed to get some extra food for Lily from the orphanage pantry. She remembered how underfed the kids at the orphanage had been, each one subsisting on only a tiny bowl of porridge, a cup of chicken broth, and a few pieces of bread and cheese a day. It had been awful living in the orphanage. The director had been a cruel man. He had hated the kids; the only reason he had decided to run an orphanage in the first place was the prospect of money. He had been strict too, and punished the kids for no particular reason. The whole situation had been almost too horrible to endure. But Katherine and Lily had had to bear it… and for eight whole years they did, accumulating calluses all over their hands and feet and growing skinnier by the week. Each day had been the same: short, dull, and hazy. Work, study, eat, work, study, eat; that had been their life. But then there was the joyous day when a woman had come to the orphanage. And she was nice; very kind. Katherine had liked her… and she liked the woman even more when she decided to adopt Katherine and Lily. Now, Katherine quietly slipped out of her bedroom and into the living room. In the ghostly moonlight, she could see the faint outlines of the furniture. She tiptoed across the floor to the window, her nightgown ballooning about her knees. Silently, she eased open the creaky window, allowing the delicious nighttime scent to waft into the room. Outside, Katherine could see the lights of the city spread out in front of her like the bioluminescent scales of a fish. Each one glittered and sparkled, one infinitesimal spot of color in a gown encrusted with sequins. Beyond the city, Katherine could just make out the chain of mountains on the horizon, a jagged line frozen forever in a state of hazy evanescence. And beyond that, into the ebony heavens above, Katherine saw the stars, twinkling and shimmering, like their cousins, the lights of the city, reflected in a tranquil pond. “Oh, Mommy, Daddy, where are you?” Katherine asked aloud. “Why did you leave me?” Katherine thought of what her father had said: “We’ll come back for you. I promise.” Had he been making a promise he couldn’t keep? It was hard to know for sure. He had seemed so sincere, so honest. But no one was exactly the way they seemed. It was a hard mystery for Katherine to ponder, for deep down she wanted to believe that her parents had been good people, and yet she was shrouded in the gray veil of doubt. A single teardrop dribbled down Katherine’s cheek. “I wish things were simpler,” she whispered, more tears escaping from her eyes. “Oh, Katherine, don’t cry, everything is OK.” Katherine felt a warm hand on her wrist. She looked up, expecting to see Amber, the woman she and Lily now lived with. But no, it was her sister,
November/December 2015
Camping in the Fall
Dark skies The Milky Way shining through The once bright blue sky Toasty fire Turning white marshmallows To golden brown Silent wind nips my nose The occasional hoot of an owl The yellow-orange flicker brings Peace to the family Optimism to the air Light dew begins to form Across the sloping grass Leaves slowly float to the ground Nature’s music soothes me Minnesota’s northern lights cast an eerie glow Across the forest It’s half past ten Crawl into the tent Waiting for the early light of the morning Sonja Minge, 11Minneapolis, Minnesota
The Fire of Diwali
The candleholders were simply beautiful A TRUE STORY Kamina grinned. Finally, it was Diwali! She had been longing for this day since she had come with her family to her grandparents’ house, and now she could hardly wait to start the celebration! Diwali was an Indian holiday, celebrating the return of the prince Ram. The story was that Ram had been exiled from the kingdom to battle demons, and when he came back, the people of India lit candles to guide him home. “Kamina, Kamina, where are you?” a familiar voice squealed. It was Liliana, or Lili, Kamina’s little sister. Kamina looked around for a place to hide. She spotted a tall tree, its branches easy to climb on but leafy enough so Liliana wouldn’t find her. Quickly, she grabbed the nearest branch and swung onto it, hooking her feet in the small crevices of the trunk. Soon, she had climbed on a branch where she could see Liliana but Liliana couldn’t see her. “Kaminaaaaa! Where are youuuuuuuuu?” Liliana’s voice echoed up to the branch where Kamina was hiding. Kamina stifled a laugh. “Kamina, if you don’t come down now, we will prepare for Diwali wiwout you!” Kamina couldn’t help but notice that Liliana had pronounced “without” wrong. As much as Kamina liked to annoy her little sister, she did not want her family to prepare for Diwali without her. So, she climbed down, trying to stay out of Liliana’s eyesight. But, as soon as her feet touched the ground, Liliana yelled, “Found you!” So much for sneaking away, thought Kamina, disappointed. But her disappointment flew away as she saw her dadi, the Indian word for grandma, taking out the boxes of beautiful candleholders. Her dadi handed her one of the boxes. “Here,” she said, as Kamina took the box from her hands with the greatest care. “Put these on the porch for me, will you?” she asked. “Of course, Dadi!” exclaimed Kamina, already heading towards the porch. Kamina carefully placed the box on the porch, then opened it to make sure none of the exquisite candleholders were broken. Kamina gasped. The candleholders were simply beautiful. Some were blue, some were green, some were so decorated they burned Kamina’s eyes! But if she was impressed by these, she was completely unprepared for the second box of candleholders her dadi gave her. Dashes of rainbow, sunlight, and joyful thoughts filled Kamina’s mind until she had to close the box. Skipping this time, she went back to her dadi to see if there were any more boxes to be carried. “No, there are no more boxes to carry,” said her dadi when Kamina asked. “But,” she continued, seeing Kamina’s disappointed face, “you can help me clean the kitchen.” “Uhhhh, no thanks, Dadi,” said Kamina. “No offense, but I’d rather be bored than clean the kitchen.” Her dadi smiled. “Off you go then!” she replied. Kamina ran into the house to find herself face-to-face with Liliana. Uh-oh, I better get out of here, thought Kamina, but it was too late. Kamina found herself playing dolls with Liliana. A few hours later, Kamina’s dadi called them in her room. “I have a surprise for you girls!” she exclaimed. When they entered Dadi’s room, the first things Kamina saw were two gorgeous Indian dresses. “Do you like them?” asked Dadi, watching the girls’ reaction. “Oh, Dadi, they’re wonderful!” exclaimed Kamina. “Are they for us?” Their dadi smiled. “Do you think I would order dresses that small for me?” Liliana squealed and picked up the smaller dress, one that was gold-embroidered with fiery-colored threads that shined. “Oh, thank you, Dadi!” she squeaked happily and ran to the bathroom to try on her new dress. Kamina stared at hers. It was the most beautiful piece of clothing she owned. Speechless, she carefully smoothed it out and hugged her dadi. Then she ran to the bathroom as well, to put it on. A few minutes later, Kamina was staring at herself in the mirror. She looked amazing. The dress was black with golden stones and threads that brought out the golden highlights in her brown hair. She loved it. Soon, the family was almost done preparing. The fireworks were out, the food was almost cooked, everybody was dressed up, and Kamina’s dadi had taken out her camera, ready to take photos. Liliana was bouncing in excitement. To calm Liliana down, Kamina asked her if she wanted to play hide-and-seek. Liliana agreed, and soon Kamina found herself looking around the house for her annoying little sister. “Found you!” she exclaimed, as Liliana came out of a closet. “Girls! Time to eat!” called Kamina’s mother. Sure enough, Kamina smelled the scent of spices floating through the air. She licked her lips and headed towards the dining room, where delicious-looking food awaited her. Kamina sat at the table, grabbed her fork, and dug in. After the feast (which was as delicious as it smelled), Kamina and her family went outside to light the candles. Kamina and Liliana weren’t allowed to light any candles but they were allowed to watch. As Kamina’s uncle lit the last candle, there was a terrible scream. Kamina turned around and saw Liliana leaning over a candle, her bangs on fire. Kamina, not knowing what to do, also screamed. Her mother was racing towards Liliana, but Kamina’s grandpa, her dada, had gotten there first. He used his bare hands to pat out the fire as quickly as possible. Her dada was soon joined by Kamina’s mom, and soon they extinguished the fire. Kamina’s heart was racing. She was trembling in terror. As much as she thought Liliana was annoying, she was her sister, and she loved her very much. Kamina watched as her mom raced into the house with a crying, screaming Liliana in her arms. Quickly, Kamina raced after her. When she got there, her mother was pouring water on Liliana’s forehead. Kamina stared at the sink, where lay blackened bangs, crumbling as she touched
