Tell me a STORY...

SOU TAKI DASKALO - BITOLA

L L TE E M . . .

Y R O T S A A collection of short stories from amazing students.

FOREWORD Only children can be creative enough to reach beyond the stars, to travel beyond what eyes can see, to smell the spices of the never-visited Orient, to taste the dinner of a never-met friend. They can fly dragons, space ships, sing better than Prince, move planets, destroy villains, bring people back to life, brew potions and give hope and joy. They can do this, and more, by the strength of their words.

These teenagers constantly show us what they can do. So, let us appreciate their talent, value their ability and place great worth on their remarkable contribution to our school and our community. Let us be their guides and the wind in their sails. Most importantly, let them be the spark that will ignite a bright future for all of us.

Valentina Bogojovska English language teacher SOU Taki Daskalo Bitola

REDEMPTION

BY EVA SIVAKOV II 12 APRIL 2021 • ISSUE 1 • VOLUME 1

Blinded by the reflection of light of the powdery white snow, the now panting Esmeralda tries to catch her breath while thousands of needle-sharp snowflakes pierce her pale face blotted with freckles and concealed by the bulky and soft animal fur hanging from the top of her head all the way down to her waist. With all her might Esmeralda comes to an abrupt halt. The bloody white furs on her back and around her waist whoosh behind her and her feet now covered up to her ankles with snow, create a rustle accompanied by silence. The serenity is quickly broken by Esmeralda’s pounding heart, her snarky grim, droplets of blood falling onto the snowcovered barren wasteland and the striking roar, growl of a charging polar bear. Despite a wound the color of night and the stark contrast of muddy brown and fiery red around the gash onto a pure white canvas on the left side, of the colossal bear bolts at notable speeds. Esmeralda assumes a defense position, petite but stiff she proudly extends a long spear. Her hands are firmly clutching the wooden shaft of the spear while aiming the candescent obsidian at the gory and furious bear. A wide-open mouth with canines larger that her hand appears within millimeters of Esmeralda’s puckered brow. A sudden groan for help is emitted followed by a thud. Barely being able to breathe and tenaciously gasping for air, while being suffocated by a half ton wet polar bear she wrestles to lift the humongous animal but is unsuccessful in her endeavors. As soon as she gives up on lifting the bear her head violently plops onto the now red snow. Blue dominates the sky above her and despite the crushing weight on her and possible broken ribs she says “Huh”, followed by a soft smile. Her condition gradually begins to worsen, her blinking becomes slower and slower as she begins to feel warmer and warmer.

“The programmed session has now ended. If you would like to continue please enter the pass code and after choose a plot.” – A well-spoken robot voice muffles in Esmeralda’s ears as she is slowly gaining consciousness. The same source repeats itself paraphrasing the initial request - “An answer is required otherwise the system will shut down after 30 seconds”. This time Esmeralda can hear it clearly and habitually but angrily dismisses. “No, that will be all”. A buzzing sound emitted by the ear pods tightly locked in Esmeralda’s ear lobe startled her to the point of irritation.

REDEMPTION • EVA SIVAKOV

She attempts to raise her hand in order to remove them but she is put off by the throbbing pain springing in her throat and permeating down to her limbs rendering her immobile. Suddenly she becomes aware of the cacophony.

Coughing, cries, comedian on the flat screen adjacent to her, the humming of the computers, the dripping infusion on her left, distant whistling which is getting louder and louder and a tempering smell of ethanol lingers and at times it gets so intense as if a bottle of 100% alcohol has been poured down her nose. Her throat pretty much feels the same. Her head is locked and her body rigid. She can feel the redness in her eyes and it feels as if a fire has rained havoc on a dessert. She opens her eyes with great difficulty and is met with an indifferent face of a middle-aged woman removing the inserted needle from her vein. A slight pinch arouses Esmeralda not allowing her to close her eyes and rest. She attempts to ask a question which has been parading through her head but is immediately stopped by the women above her. - “Don’t! You will make it worse”. Discouraged, Esmeralda gathers all of her forces and pivots her head to her right. Many people appear just like her, confined to upright armchairs, but with one distinctive characteristic. All are bald. Water rushes to saturate the barren dessert bringing her relief but filling her with remorse, fright and anticipation. She tries to swallow but there is no liquid in her bitter mouth. In her head, a swarm of thoughts zooms around.

“How long has it been?”, “I have to get back to work.”, “How did Ben do on his Math’s exam?”, “Is Ella ready for the concert next week and how did Richard’s meeting go?” “Why does it hurt so badly, it didn’t hurt as much the last time?”

Few minutes pass and an alien but friendly face appears at the door of the compacted room. Her vision is blurry as if she were looking through murky waters. But the silhouette, which appears to belong to a man with a bulky stature, slowly walks in her direction. The silhouette gets clearer and clearer to the point that she recognizes her husband Richard. A trifling smile appears on her blank face. No distinct colors seem to stand out. Her lips, cheeks and even eyes seem to have been washed with bleach. The nurse with no change in her voice informs Richard that the upcoming days will be more painful than the previous time as she has received double the doze that of her prior chemotherapy. Richard’s comforting smile turns into an unnerving frown quickly followed by an undesired smile again as he turns to face his wife. She glances at him and her eyes are filled with desperation. She sharply closes them as she feels the acute pain building up in her throat. Richard speechlessly but firmly grabs her shoulder and brings a bottle of water to her cracked lips. She hesitantly accepts to take a sip, after being given an approving nod from the nurse bearing a concerned expression. The water passes through her tongue with ease and with little to no pain but as it comes to her throat she suddenly lunges forward and violently squeezes the mattress on which she is sitting.

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REDEMPTION • EVA SIVAKOV

After seconds go by with tempering pain, she feels much better and even tries to get up. But not having enough strength she helplessly falls back onto the armchair. Aggravated she rumbles and her second attempt is successful as she manages to make a few steps with the nurse and her husband’s support. This dynamic continues all through the narrow white hospital corridor. She moves her head left to right and smirking at the irony. She sees the motivational posters hanged next to rooms where patients are either violently coughing or are in a deep slumber and fright is concealed with nothing but an arrogant smirk or explosive laughter.

“Thank you so much” – Richard says to the nurse with a coerced smile on his face. Esmeralda desperately tries to smile and nod in sigh of gratitude.

“It’s the least I could do.” – putting her hand on Esmeralda’s shoulder to let her know that the strain was appreciated, the nurse softly speaks these words and rushing up the stairs she disappears in the long hospital hall.

Richard reaches out to open the car door but is interrupted by a large bang left of him. Alarmed he turns his head and to his despair he sees Esmeralda on the pavement as her back is glued to the car door sobbing with what little tears she has left. He squats and assuring her he says: “It will pass. We’ll get through this together” It takes her a while to understand but wiping her tears she looks at him and softly, convincingly says: “No we won’t! ...But how did your meeting go and Ben … Ma…” Richard interrupts the struggling Esmeralda.

“Ben says that he did well, he was happy when he came back and my meeting was postponed again.” The tone of his voice changed as he delivered the news.

He resumes opening the car door and Esmeralda, with Richard’s help, gets inside and leans on the window to get some rest. As she watches her husband close the door and enter in from the other side of the car her face gradually saddens. “Let’s go, shall we?” – Enthusiastically Richard asked. Esmeralda reciprocated with a slight nod and a forced perky smile. In her bag she reaches for a small plastic black container marked with an illuminating white icon bearing a lion’s face and mane. Her husband sees the container and with disgust looks away. She opens the container and reveals two almost transplant lenses gazing back at her, summoning her. Above them a set of ear pods lurk under the shadow casted by the light hitting the container’s seal. As she reaches to get the lenses out Richard interrupts her by saying: “What will you be doing in your fantasy world this time?” Esmeralda turns and with a sickly but determined voice she answers “I have a quest to finish.” She carefully takes the lenses from the container and gently lands them on her flushed brown eyes. After, she removes the ear pods and places them firmly in her earlobe.

She lightly presses the side of the left ear pod and her eyes glow to the color of grey bordering white. She finds herself in an abyss and swiftly a screen appears before her.

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REDEMPTION • EVA SIVAKOV // THE WINTER VACATION • EMA PETROVSKA

A calm all too familiar voice asks: “Would you like to resume the previous plot or start a new one?” Esmeralda passionately and with great determination says “Resume.” In an instant she feels defeating weight on her. Her face turns red from the pressure but yet she still maintains a smile. She gathers all her strength and forces and directs them to her arms which are submerged in the thick fur of the now chest impaled bear…

THE WINTER VACATION

BY EMA PETROVSKA II 12 APRIL 2021 • ISSUE 1 • VOLUME 1

It was a rainy day and Tobbias was desperately looking through the window of his small house with round walls. The neighborhood was soaked wet, the lights were twinkling from the unstable electricity and the branches were bending down, taking a bow before the power of the wind. That evening was calm with no people around, except for a few cars that were rushing to their homes.

Tobbias, a seven year old boy, was waiting for the rain to stop so he could continue his cheering games outside the house. He seemed like he never got tired, always playing around and doing quite a lot of mischief. Nevertheless, he was truly enjoying playing with his cat called Anzibel.

Anzibel was an extraordinary cat. Fluffy fur with orange and brown stripes and big eyes which were glowing in the dark. Very lively, always skipping from tree to tree, Anzibel was very happy to be Tobbias’ friend. She lived on the roof of the house, which was a little strange. She was gentle and harmless, but at the same time as mischievous as Tobbias. In fact, they were getting along so well that they were partners-in-crime. But, until the rain stopped, he had to stay at home, warming his body by the fireplace and eating his favourite sandwiches his mom had prepared for him.

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THE WINTER VACATION • EMA PETROVSKA

He was in his first year at school and his mother often had to say that he needed to study. Winter holidays were approaching and Tobbias’ mood was rising, overwhelming him with happiness. He even lost his school progress, thinking of how he would spend the vacation, but his mom was always there to remind him of the reality. She was a lovely person with tall, straight hair. Her cheeks and lips were naturally light pinkish, a very beautiful woman indeed.

Her main obligation was to keep everything under control and she was never messy. With her, all the family members and the house were in perfect harmony. Her greatest wish was for her husband to return from afar, where he had left to earn money.

Tobbias’ mother was very happy to send her young boy to Aunt Helen’s. It was a tradition for him to live with his aunt for the winter vacation and have fun with his cousins. They really liked hanging out together, doing things that will go on Aunt Helen’s nerves. That year, Anzibel was going together with Tobbias to reinforce the memories they were going to create. The clothes were packed, the warm mother’s kiss landed on his forehead and, a moment later, Tobbias was in a car getting further from the house, swinging his sweet little hands, saying goodbye to his mom.

What a wonderful feeling he had when he saw Aunt Helen and both cousins waiting for him in front of their house. Such a great happiness splashed on them as they gave each other a big hug. Tobbias’ cousins, Matthew and Dorothy, were joyful to be with him again. They were six and seven years old and had a strong relationship with him. It was their first time to see Anzibel, though, because she had lived with Tobbias for only nine months. Anzibel was immediately loved by them and she was even granted a treat, a leftover fish from their lunch. By the time dinner had come, everyone was sitting in the living room, telling stories about the year that had passed. Tobbias told them how he found Anzibel, describing in details that one night he saw a small cat playfully jumping in his yard, chasing butterflies. After being served with milk and bread, she never left the house and soon after she got her name Anzibel, a very funny name that Tobbias remembered from a sore throat pain soothing medication advertisement. Matthew and Dorothy were extremely excited to hear that story and from that moment they knew that they would have great fun together.

In the meantime, Aunt Helen was preparing dinner. She really loved to cook and truly enjoyed being praised for her delicious food. Even so, she was a serious woman, always playing by the rules. Because of that, she was often tough on the children and got easily annoyed by any irregularity that might happen. However, that was just the trait that the children were using to have fun – getting her irritated. She was a little fat and was moving rather slowly, so they always had enough time to vanish as quickly as possible when she was on the mission to chase them down and severely punish their disobedience.

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THE WINTER VACATION • EMA PETROVSKA

That was really the plan for the three children, the culmination of the time they will have spent together and the ultimate fun they were up to have– playing a massive, super cool, mega catastrophic trick on her by the end of the vacation.

After the dinner, they all got in their room and prepared for sleep. Aunt Helen was washing the dishes and was cheerfully singing, not even feeling what trouble the children were cooking for her. She dressed her long and glorious night robe made of silk. She rushed in the toilet and quickly went to sleep in her bedroom. She was always early to bed, because she wanted to catch the break of the day and prepare a light breakfast at dawn, after which she was washing clothes.

Out of overexcitement, the children were on their feet very early in the morning. Warm sandwiches with egg, cheese and ham were served on the table along with some fruit juice. Aunt Helen was concerned about the health of her family, so she also prepared a fruit salad for dessert. After the morning meal everyone got into action. The children put on their boots and winter coats and rushed into the yard. The winter was magnificent and tons of snow had covered the landscape. Anzibel seemed to like the winter as much as she loved chasing butterflies. It was the perfect time for building a snowman.

Tobbias, Matthew and Dorothy split up and started rolling three snowballs, each for the head, the middle and the base of the snowman. Six untiring hands built up quite a big snowman and decorated it with a pot for a hat, broom, eyes and buttons of charcoal and nose of a carrot. It was delightful and their amusement was over the top, not realizing their hands, feet and faces got frozen.

Soon enough they went home, put their clothes to dry and sat around the fire. Aunt Helen served them with homemade cookies and milk. Her cookies were very famous and were absolutely adored by anyone trying them. She used plenty of cinnamon, cloves, orange peel and ginger to give them the warm and spicy taste they had.

A few days later, Tobbias, his cousins and Anzibel were again outside the house, sliding down the nearby hill with the new sledges Aunt Helen bought at the end of the autumn. Their eyes were twinkling while their sledges were speeding on the snow. Anzibel was particularly happy to sit in the arms of the three children and enjoy the slide for the first time in her life. The time was passing by and the children, together with the cat, had another wonderful day at the frozen river, right next to the house. They even knocked down the sign warning the people of the frozen river. It was the time they were spending together true joy and love, fulfilling their hearts with warmth in those cold days. Nevertheless, it was time for something else too. That day, was the day they had all expected. Well, except for Aunt Helen. The children lured her to spend some time with them outside in the snow.

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THE WINTER VACATION • EMA PETROVSKA

It was the biggest mistake she had ever made. Up on the hill, they were sliding down one by one, while Anzibel was jumping in the snow right next to the frozen river. It was Aunt Helen’s turn. At first, she disliked the idea, but who could say no to those cheery little faces that had gone bright red from the frost. The three of them, intentionally applied such a force on the sledge that Aunt Helen started sliding in an uncontrollable manner without being able to stop. As the anger in her was rising, she started screaming and for a moment lost her senses, then heard Anzibel’s play, accidentally turning towards her and straight onto the frozen river. She was sliding in all directions through the landscape, approaching the end point. The strategic position of the snowman was essential for the stop. Going with great speed towards it, Aunt Helen fell off the sledge, getting into an asteroid-to-planet contact with the snowman.

She ended up out of breath with the snowman’s pot on her head and the broom in her hands, while the charcoal and the carrot were scattered around.

Anzibel took it calmly, but the three children had an immense laugh, not realizing the punishment rolling down the snowy mountain, getting bigger every second. Not even worrying about that, they rushed to help Aunt Helen and brought her in the house while folding their bodies from the laugh they were having. No out of the house, no TV and the obligation to clean the house until the end of the vacation, followed next. After only three days, the children were again out of the house, though conditionally. However, they had fulfilled their mission and spent the rest of the days in peace, obeying aunt Helen’s every single word, melting her heart down to forgiveness. Who could keep so much anger to such lovely children?

The final day had come and Tobbias said goodbye to Matthew, Dorothy and Aunt Helen. He and Anzibel were heading back home until the next holiday.

Tobbias and Anzibel were back home. His mother was very happy to see him again. Hugging Anzibel, he ran into his mother’s open arms, receiving a warm welcome as only a mother can give. She had prepared a wonderful lunch for him and the cat, after which Tobbias told his mother about each and every event and incident they all had during the holidays. His mother was pleased to hear everything Tobbias had to say, but was tensed and worried about what had happened to Aunt Helen. She quickly gave her a phone call, feeling sorry about the accident. Aunt Helen confirmed the mischievous nature of the three children, but categorized the accident as dangerously fun. She was not mad at them anymore and was expecting to see Tobbias and Anzibel again for the next vacation. Tobbias and his mother had many days talking about the recent activities, though he had started at school again and had some new homework to do. Soon after, they received the happiest news of all – Tobbias’ father was coming home.

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DOWN WITH THE POTION

BY SIMONA KOTEVSKA II 12 APRIL 2021 • ISSUE 1 • VOLUME 1

Once upon a time is such a cliché start to a story, but here we are. In a distinct, nearly-vanished-from-sight village, in a demolished hut lived the elf sisters. They weren’t as tiny as elves, but their nickname rose from the shape of their ears. They were two unique girls who had big pointy ears. They were damned not to blend in, never to adapt to the scene. The people from the town always criticized them, judged them, gave them a hard time. From a young age they were rejected from the other kids because of their weird appearance. Rarely did they visit the small town near-by, but whenever they did – it wasn’t a pleasant experience. People in the streets were screaming, terrified of the first sight of the ‘creatures’.

Their tiny cottage produced the smell of rosemary, lavender and sage that spread all throughout the village reaching the town. And they carried that weird plant smell with them as well. The society of the town thought them witches. They were afraid of them. Many of them even wished to get rid of them by burning them alive. Unfortunately the witch-hunt ended a whole century ago and there was nothing to be done. But the prejudice was always there.

They were left in the village before the last resident died – an old man who raised them just before they were nineteen years of age. With no explanation, they were told never to move out of the hut, to keep it intact and take care of it as their inheritance. The people from the small town always assumed their mother didn’t survive the witch-trials, so they were raised by a kind old man who didn’t have any family himself.

It was a rainy day when Zelda and Salem decided to step out and buy fruit from town. All the muddy way to town what they dreaded most was the confrontation with everyone there. They knew what they were putting themselves into, but they were used to it. The thought of being stared at tightened Zelda’s chest and Salem could already hear the echoes of people’s whispers about them. Of course, it still upset them. Not being accepted put a lot of weight on their shoulders. However, they needed to make their life as normal as possible. They still had hope that maybe one day, people would stop their hate. They still hoped that perhaps one day, they would be looked at with something more than just negativity. What they didn’t know was that this gloomy day was going to change their lives forever.

DOWN WITH THE POTION • SIMONA KOTEVSKA

As they entered the small shop for weeds, everyone turned their heads towards them. Their accusing eyes were burning holes through their bodies, the girls could already feel the strong judgment and the fear that surrounded them. They were the odd ones out.

“They’re here for new equipment. Groceries, they say, but really it’s only the ingredients for their next spell.” Said a whisper, loud enough to attack them.

However, they managed to ignore it, the way they always did. Except, once they asked for the needed weeds, they were rejected. The man selling them, very harshly and shamelessly told them he doesn’t sell his things to ‘witches’.

He had a threatening expression on his face, an unwelcoming one to say the least. The other people in the shop laughed, fueling themselves with power over the helpless girls. This was unusual, since they’re mostly greeted with only glares of no acceptance. They could always buy anything, since people were afraid to object to them. But, not today. Not anymore.

The line was crossed once they were kicked out of the shop. Something that’s never happened to them before. They were humiliated beyond limit.

“We are not afraid of you anymore! We just want you away! Go away!” A man screamed and pushed the girls violently out of the store.

Salem hit the ground and her hand was bruised from the man’s grip around it.

Zelda quickly helped her up, worried about their safety. People passing-by were already staring at the scene. A small crowd was created to watch them be humiliated, anticipating the next move which made the girls nervous. They were scared for their lives because of these crazy people’s opinions. They didn’t even give them a chance. They didn’t even try to get to know them.

“Please don’t do this. We’re not out to harm anyone.” They begged.

“We know you’re using curses on us. Just stay where you belong – in that decaying hut where you were left alone.”

This time Zelda took the blow from the angry man but she still stood with firm legs on the ground. Everything went blurry for them, the guy from the shop kept pushing them violently and everyone else supported that. That was the moment they heard the people around chanting. They were yelling at them to leave and never come back. So, they did.

Zelda and Salem held hands while standing above the hot steam coming from the big pot. They had their crystals and their candles lit to protect them.

Their hands were shaking but the decision was made. The smell filled the room, boiling leftovers of plants spread in the air, a weak fog was created like a protection shield around them. The uncertainty on their faces was evident, but there was nothing else left to do. This was their only way out.

“Are you sure the potion is going to work?” Salem asked.

“It will work. It has to work.” Zelda replied while raising her glass.

The light in their crystal began to fade and the earth began to shake. Both girls stood there trembling, “What have we done to ourselves?!”

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DOWN WITH THE POTION • SIMONA KOTEVSKA

Once the potion was drunk and the cups were empty, so was the little cottage.

The next day, a happy atmosphere filled the air in the small town. People were out in the sun, the improved weather cheered everyone up. But that wasn’t the only reason why people were in a good mood. They’ve discovered they had newcomers. The new residents, two wealthy sisters have just moved in a big manor in the town. They were already known as very well respected and accomplished ladies, ones which everyone was eager to meet. They had the best-looking dresses, four carriages and a lot of maids to help them around the big house. However, nobody knew anything about their background. That didn’t catch their excitement as much as their existence in general did. Why were these two ladies living alone and how big was their inheritance?

Whispers of curiosity filled the town as well as laughter and music. Few days passed by and the respected ladies stepped foot downtown. The welcome they received was numerous gasps of awe and smiles from everywhere. They were treated like royalty.

Soon enough, the sisters – Zoella and Scarlett met almost everyone in the small town and left them speechless and impressed. Everyone loved them. Not only were they wealthy and beautiful, but they were described as the kindest souls in town.

Weeks passed by and on a sunny spring day a young man started yelling around the main street. Everyone was caught off guard by the news he spread – the young witch sisters have escaped!

“I passed through the village just this morning, the front door of the hut was open and no face was showing.” The man explained, breathless and in panic.

“Do you think they’re out to hunt us, after we kicked them out of town?”

“I’m sure they seek revenge. Dear residents, we’re all in danger!” The man announced.

“We need to find them first and get rid of them at once! Everyone let’s search every single spot around town!”

And, so the investigation began, the whole of town snooped around, looked every corner, under every rock. Searched in dusk and dawn, restless from the threat they all felt. Until the witches were found, no one was safe.

Word reached the young ladies soon enough, their faces blushed from shock and fear from the news they found out. In an instant they decided to join the hunt, they wanted to help their friends and live safely in their new town.

Zoella and Scarlett took a very brave risk, when they dared to go as far as the missing witches’ cottage. The proud ladies stepped alone in the little hut, where they found nothing but dust and a weird smell of mint and sage combined. The ladies searched around in panic, to check whether they were alone. No one answered back so they closed the front door. They roamed around the house, looking for answers to them unknown.

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DOWN WITH THE POTION • SIMONA KOTEVSKA

“Two dangerous witches on the loose.” Zoella said.

“Where could they have gone?” Scarlett wondered out loud.

“I guess they’ve turned into dust.”

“They wanted to escape. They were kicked out.”

“Do you think they seek revenge on the society?” Scarlett turned to her sister.

“No, I think they’ve just had enough.” Zoella answered with a smile.

“We could say we killed them.” They both looked at the ashes in front of them.

“That would be a lie.”

Once the ladies got back in town, they decided to reassure all the residents that the witches were no longer around. They claimed they saw the witches in ashes, almost nothing of them left to find. They announced the town’s safety and everyone clapped and cheered in relief.

The sisters returned to their home and exhaled in unison. They had nothing to worry about anymore; the safety with their stay in the town was guaranteed now. They made sure of it themselves. They appeared as heroes in everyone’s eyes and they were both very satisfied with it.

So, they decided to celebrate themselves. They poured glasses of wine and drank to their happiness, the warm welcome they received and the new life in town.

“So, we’re dead then, huh?” Zoella chuckled at her sister, slowly getting more and more intoxicated.

“I guess part of us really is.”

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STRANDED

BY LEONID RIZANSKI I 13 APRIL 2021 • ISSUE 1 • VOLUME 1

Your day starts off as any normal day; you wake up go to the bathroom eat breakfast and head to work, today is your last day here, whether you know it or not. You have been excited for the last two weeks seeming as it is finally your time to take a well-deserved break from your boring office job and finally go and travel somewhere like you have always wanted to. You have already decided where you want to go; you have been preparing for such a long time and you even feel a little bit nervous, but, even so, the only thing left now is for you to get your notice so you can go out there and finally have fun after such a long time.

You sit down at your desk very ecstatic that you won’t have to be seeing the bland desk that you have. Your boss approaches you with a pile of papers, slams them hard on your desk and walks away. With a face of confusion that your boss chooses to ignore, you open your mouth to call out to him but no words come out, you are only bubbling up with anger as you have to sit and do an immense amount of paperwork while seemingly everyone else is enjoying themselves on a vacation, unlike you, who is stuck there.

As you sit there filling out the paperwork, time slowly passes by and you wonder why your boss hasn’t mentioned anything about your vacation. You decide the best course of action for this is to go and confront him about it and also ask him why you have to do triple the work out of anyone in the office. You go to his office and confront him asking him about your threemonth vacation that at this point was well overdue. He starts apologising profusely as he seemingly forgot. What a load of crap-you think to yourselfhow could he have forgotten if he got a two-week notice, but even so, he writes up a notice very hastily, hands it to you and wishes you a pleasant vacation. You give him a forced smile and leave his office.

As you collect your things one of your co-workers approaches you and wishes you a good vacation and asks if you have any plans in peculiar. You tell them you want to travel over the whole pacific and go to Australia. Your coworker seems to be very surprised as how this trip would be very expensive.

This is one of the many things that people around the office love gossiping about. It seems that everyone here is desperate for any type of gossip as their normal lives are so mundane-although yours is not so different-you still dislike all of the people there, without a reason.

STRANDED • LEONID RIZANSKI

As you head out of the office you finally start feeling happy as you are no longer crammed in your little cube doing paperwork until your eyes start to get baggy. For the next three months you can finally do whatever you like and go wherever you please, no longer having to worry about work. When you get home, you have a nice view overlooking the city, and decide to go to sleep. As your plane will be leaving very early in the morning you don’t even have to pack your bags; have been ready and packed for a week already, with everything you can possibly need for the long vacation. While you sleep all you dream of is how you’re going to have a wonderful time enjoying Australian cuisine and going on long walks along beautiful beaches.

You wake up at around 4:30 AM in the morning, your plane leaving at 6 AM and you having to get a ride for half an hour. This seems like the perfect time to head out, you check to see if your luggage is in order and if you have forgotten anything and when everything seems to be in order, you turn off the lights, lock your doors and head down the elevator and walk up to the taxi you have ordered. You have exactly calculated how much money you will need for the trip even have a schedule of what you will be doing everyday as you stay there. Sitting down in the back seat, you give the driver your location and you head off. You nod off once more in the car as you arrive at the airport. The driver taps you on the shoulder slightly to wake you up and hands you your luggage from the trunk. You pay him and even leave a little tip; he thanks you and drives off. You check your watch once more and read that the time is 5:15 AM you start to look a bit confused at why you arrived a little bit late, but you think nothing of it as it could have been bad traffic-although you wouldn’t know as you dozed off. You patiently wait for your plane to arrive and as you climb aboard you seem to be the only passenger on the plane, but you don’t think this is weird as it is the middle of winter; although in Australia it is much warmer as it is summer and, as you despise the winter season, you are very happy to be leaving and going somewhere warmer for the time. The plane takes off and you know it will be a while till you arrive, so you just sit there patiently being the only passenger on the plane. You don’t have to be quiet and you start listening to music on your speakers-although turned down-since you don’t want to annoy the pilot. Even though you are the only passenger, the flight assistant still tells you the safety instructions in case of the plane malfunctioning, like that would ever happen.

Some time passes as you spend most of it watching some dumb TV shows that you downloaded previously on your laptop for the long trip, you check your phone once more and the time reads 10 PM, only a couple more hours and you’ll be in paradise. You wake up and start to feel a bit panicked.

Thinking of the clock you check it and it reads 11 PM; you have only been asleep for an hour and yet, something feels off, you look around and see that the masks from the top of the plane ceiling have dropped.

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STRANDED • LEONID RIZANSKI

You seem to remember that these would only appear in a case of an emergency, if the plane has malfunctioned in any way. The flight attendant walks up to you and kindly asks you to put the mask on as there has been a problem and the plain will be making an emergency landing. You look bewildered but, even so, you comply and put the mask on and decide to look out of the window.

You feel a sense of dread wash over you as you see that one of the engines on the wing has disappeared and the other has caught aflame, your heart rate starts to ramp up and you start feeling panicked but, in that moment, you start to feel dizzy and you can hear commotion coming from the front of the plane.

You seem to remember that if you start feeling nauseous while on a plane, then there must be a drastic change in altitude. Your heart sinks as you realise that your plane is falling into a vast ocean of nothing. You grab hold of your seat and start to tear up thinking of how much you would rather have stayed at your mundane job and talked to your boring co-workers if you had known what would have happened. You hear a loud thud at the front and see water starting to fill the plane; you quickly remember about the raft that would be ejected in case of this ever happening although you have no clue on how you would get out of the plane. You start kicking the aluminium frame hoping it will give in and break so you can at least get out of the plane but your luck seems to have run out as it doesn’t even seem to have a dent in it. You remember the doors at the front of the plane but you remember that the whole front of the plane is filled to the brim with water-but what other option do you have; you think to yourself as you take a deep breath and take a dive toward the door. You pull the lever on the door and it cracks open as more water flushes into the cockpit; you think of the flight crew and start swimming towards the front. Though when you arrive you see their lifeless bodies floating burnt to a crisp from the flames around the plane, you start to gag uncontrollably but stop yourself as you would lose your breath. You escape out of the door that you opened and start swimming toward the surface of the water, the plane beneath you sinking deeper and deeper into the dark pit of the ocean. You swim up to the surface and start to breathe uncontrollably panicked and frightened of what’s to come. You swim up to the lone raft and start paddling away from the crash site into nowhere and start to feel yourself slip away and fall unconscious.

You wake up in the middle of nowhere washed up on a shore of an island so small you can see the end of it. You stand up and think to yourself how much you would want to go back to your mundane office cube if it just meant that you wouldn’t have to live through what you just have. You think to yourself that if you could survive, there would probably be a cool movie about it and you could sit next to the actor that played you in the cinema, but as you stand up the only thing you can feel is dread as you realise that you are alone and stranded.

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THE DESPERATE ODYSSEY

BY DEJAN BOGOJOVSKI I 13 APRIL 2021 • ISSUE 1 • VOLUME 1

I took a fresh breath and finally arrived next to a small bridge. Peaceful and awkwardly quiet weather. Not a single bird was in my sight. As my head was full of dust, I could be seen sneezing all the time. A small burst of wind made my nose red and my face dry. While the sun was rising a long time already, not a single minute of wasted time was in my plan. I quickly decided to rush towards Melingother Castle leaving the dirty bushes behind. The nature opens itself every time you head towards the castle. Small yellow dandelions planted on the shore were looking at the sun with their smile, cows in the paddock eating grass and a mountain taller and stiller than ever on the other side making the Sun seem friendly-low and the sky just above us, safeguarding. If only it was like that for the people.

A huge and beautiful castle in front of me was the last thing I saw. It was somehow, although certainly not unexpected, the most complicated thing by FAR. With almost broken legs and yet five thousand shields and armor plates on me, I crossed the soon to be collapsed bridge in front of me. The closer you get to Melingother Castle, the nicer the smell gets. Lots of tea planted and the crops behind could also get in one’s nose, somehow.

Only when I got in, everything was revealed. Not for the first time. Merchants with lamas in the dark entry, their noses bigger than Pinocchio’s, bulging red eyes with a gentler skin color, with the old dresses on top-didn’t look attractive at all. I saw a big pile of dresses five times nicer than the ones they had. On my right, a dark dungeon for people, surprisingly, it felt more like a place to forget something that you didn’t want to remember than a “cozy” place for prisoners as it was advertised. A big ugly and boring “Hail to the king” banner was hanging on the left-hand side.

I was strolling on the passageway in front, slightly curved left, simply because it wasn’t well made. The only thing you could see there was weapon shops and tall houses with large chimneys. I suddenly turned left to the darkest place of the castle. My friend was living there ten years already. She was by far the poorest one in the castle, but maybe the smartest. Stereotypical. When I got in, it wasn’t as usual.

She was always sitting on her table experimenting with the characteristics and states that the dobldragon matter could be found in.

Dobldragon matter was a dust-like matter that didn’t smell nice, yet it returned dead people to life.

THE DESPERATE ODYSSEY • DEJAN BOGOJOVSKI

Every day it could be found on the Daring Dragon planes for no reason. There was a theory that it’s a matter that materialized when people harvested and found dead crops, but it’s very unlikely that that was true. I saw my friend Juliana there sitting, this time with a sad face. She got up and hugged me, sat me and we started talking: “Hi Juli, how are you”? - I said.

“Don’t you think it was time for me to unveil you the truth?”

“Well… After all these years?”

“Yes. Look what I found.” She placed a huge torch in front of my desk and poured some of the dust on it. It started flashing and making dragon roars and I fainted. It was a huge magic hitting me strongly. “It actually burns,” she said. I have to say that I was confused. A person that passed out is less noticeable than burning? After I got my sanity back, I only saw burnt dust. Speechless, I exited the room and rushed towards my granny’s house, pockets full of dust, to ask her about the “meaningless’’ vision.

It was already noon. The Sun was drying everything and I was hardly able to breathe. It was really strange that the grass hadn’t dried yet, before the flowers did so. My grandmother lived on the highest spot on Earth. Higher than the Moon and the stars in the night sky. It was a ridiculously small wooden house with ingrown trees. She had only two rooms. One bed in the first one, and the second one, a small room where she was unveiling mysteries and my grandfather was sleeping. As I got in and started drinking the tea, she activated her magic pot. I was an orphan, from the youngest age and I always wanted to find my unknown parents’ graves and retrieve their bodies back.

Then, the dobldragon matter could give them life and we could start living as a family. As her vision cleared up, she started speaking.

“Don’t expect to be happy. You remember sunny boy, that big dragon with three heads that’s dropping dust on my crops every year?” “Yes, I know him,” I said. “That dragon wants to take your parents’ graves away aand…” And then again. My ears got muted for a second and I fainted. Again. She didn’t notice that and continued speaking. I heard her one sentence later: “That’s what might happen, but going there is still fine. Come on, let’s get up and see what kind of monstrosity that dragon is.” The only thing I got was that I will have to head towards the Dragons’ Graveyard with my grandmother. I didn’t know why and what was going to happen there, but for sure, I was always keen on obeying her.

She opened her old closet and decided to have a look. After five minutes, she picked her wool jumper and her warm boots because it was getting dark. We were walking fast there and got really tired. It was a huge forest we needed to go through first, then a colossal cave would have come on our way and then finally reach the graveyard. As her face looked all down and I was just confused, it started getting colder and colder as time was progressing. The huge trees were making a shadow above us and it was getting freezing cold.

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THE DESPERATE ODYSSEY • DEJAN BOGOJOVSKI

From below us, it felt like the ground was drilled with holes all around.

Towards the end of our first stint, it felt like it was so dark that I saw light in the empty cave. We were running through it slowly as we couldn’t see a thing.

And then, out of nowhere, a small light could be seen. It was the dreadful graveyard.

Purple sky above us and grayish dead ground below. Countless graves and dead bodies, even out of the graves. My foreskin slowly got aroused from my headache and I felt just terrible. I could simply smell that awful dead meat and the flies around it. Two hours of walking and my parents’ graves were right in front of me. I picked both of them up and got confused. “Didn’t we need to do magic to get them back?”- I thought into myself. Then I could finally conclude that what happened was a serious misunderstanding. My grandmother got mad. She stopped talking to me. Suddenly, a roaring dragon flew above me and, as I got scared, I didn’t hear her screaming. It was a huge mistake of mine. Questions then, a chain of questions flew through my head.

Why couldn’t I hear my grandmother? Why did the nauseas come at the exact important moments? What hindered me from hearing the most important advice? Everything was unknown.

We went through the cave and the forest again. It was dead midnight. It was a moment of time that shocked me seriously. The bodies vanished… Then my grandmother suddenly became history, she was nowhere to be seen. I collapsed and that was the end of a desperate odyssey, more than a sad story…

Sometimes life gets strange. Sometimes a sign appears in front of you. A sign that simply doesn’t mean anything at that moment yet shows a peculiar experience and hope. Then out of nowhere, particularly when you want something, something goes wrong and you can only blame yourself. Adverse events always come and we always need to be prepared.

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BRAVE BEFORE PERFECT

BY MARIJA SERVINI I 13

APRIL 2021 • ISSUE 1 • VOLUME 1

Life is full of beauty. Notice it. “Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind”-as wise men say. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams. The following story takes place in one of the most romantic towns in the world, Venice. The day is full of sunshine and happy faces on the streets. There is a big house in the center of the city and a cute small dog in front of the door. If you walk into the house, you’ll see a richly decorated house with spacious rooms. You’ll also see a beautiful unique girl sitting on a black couch. She’s holding a colorful album with a lot of photos that are covered in tears. She’s crying and thinking about her life and her previous decisions. Now, let’s start from the beginning…

First of all, you need to know that she was born here, in Venice, Italy. Her name is Sofia. Unfortunately, she has a very strange and sad story. But whether it will be till the very end of the story, you will conclude for yourself.

Sofia grew up in a rich and well-known family that was perfectly prepared for every life situation. From a young age she wasn’t allowed to make her own decisions in any way and had to be literally perfect. Every individual person in her environment had very high expectations for her. She was actually everything that everyone imagined her to be. She was never late, she was always nicely dressed, she paid attention to her behavior etc. At first glance, Sofia had no flaws. But, here comes the sad part of the story. Sofia never made a bold decision. She didn’t leave her comfort zone and was trapped in fulfilling her high expectations. Most tragically, she never complained. She didn’t even think about it. She never took seriously her tears at night, as she should do. Sofia felt fatigue most of the time which was the result of all the responsibilities she had to perform during the day. All this seemed very negative. Although from the outside she had a rich life, she was a wellgroomed and respectable girl, she was never completely free. But deeply in her heart, she wasn’t happy.

When she turned 18, she had to choose in which direction she will continue and which university will be her choice. Guess what? The faculty she had chosen wasn’t her choice. She enrolled law school and the reason was very simple - her parents decided to. They wouldn’t accept a “no” for an answer.

BRAVE BEFORE PERFECT • MARIJA SERVINI

On the contrary, although she told them what she really wanted, they rejected her suggestion without thinking. It was unacceptable for them to accept that the daughter of the most famous judges in the city would study in the literature school. However, she accepted that fact and she enrolled the college with her best friend. Unlike Sofia, her best friend, Julia, loved law and that was and still is her biggest passion.

They were then in their last year of college and a few months ago they received a notification that students would be exchanged through a nongovernmental organization. Several students from the University of Venice were selected to visit Paris for three weeks. On that trip, the first week was planned for communication with students and exchanging experiences. The last two weeks were completely free. They could do literally anything they wanted and all they had to do was to inform the principal. Unfortunately for them, Sofia was chosen, but Julia wasn’t. However, Sofia went to Paris with a smile. Julia honestly wished her a very nice trip just before the journey.

The first week in Paris wasn’t beautiful and comfortable for Sofia. She was sick of seeing the same places, the same people and the same studies. Finally, that week was over. On the first day of her second week, she woke up earlier than usual and decided to have breakfast at the most famous bakery in Paris. She wanted to visit every corner of the city of art and love. That quiet and beautiful girl couldn’t even dream of what would happen next.

After the breakfast, she took a bike and admired every possible corner and every characteristic street in the capital city. She was a huge fan of books, so she went to the most famous independent bookstore in the world, “Shakespeare and Company”. Sofia was fascinated by its beautiful style and arrangement. She picked up a book and a letter fell down. Sofia was confused and she didn’t know if she was supposed to read it. But she did.

In the letter, a young girl named Emma declared her love for a boy named Lorenzo. She explained that she was very lost, that she didn’t know what to do and the pressure from her parents to marry a rich man who lived on the other side of the city was enormous. She explained that she wrote it crying, as evidenced by the stains of her tears on the paper. Sofia was stunned by the game of destiny of a young girl 50 years ago. She realized that the letter didn’t actually reach the right hands. Unfortunately, it ended lost through the bookshelves in the bookstore.

Sofia was just a twenty-two-year old girl that didn’t know anything about life. She never felt love for someone, or being loved by someone. That hits different, but she was very compassionate. Sofia was very sad about her situation, but then, she came up with an amazing idea. She was never completely free in her life. She realized that this was her turn to show who she really was and to enjoy in every moment in her life. She deserved it. This was her chance, especially because she had two more weeks to explore this city and, of course, maybe find the old lady from the letter, Emma.

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BRAVE BEFORE PERFECT • MARIJA SERVINI

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. She packed her bags and marked streets on her map. There were only three streets with the same name as it was mentioned in the letter. When she thought a little better, she realized that she was still young and alone, she could get lost. Especially because the streets were located in a huge city, with millions of inhabitants and tourists. But she didn’t lose hope. At that moment, she recalled her best friend and telephoned her, as they did every day. Julia was a communicative girl, with many friends, so she organized a young boy to be Sofia's driver. The next day Sofia met the boy in front of the Eiffel Tower and their adventure had just begun. Honestly, he was very handsome and attractive, just like Sofia, but she didn’t want to accept that. The girl was shy, naive, but the boy named Louis was wild, unstoppable and not so optimistic. After he had heard Sofia's story, he first laughed sweetly and then belittled her. His first words were: "That's impossible!”

You can assume that the following relation between them was tensed, but sweet as for a young couple. Despite his opinion, she still believed in herself and her purpose. But things changed when they visited 2 houses on different streets, without any result. Nothing similar with the story of the letter. That night they were in the car and the silence was ruined by Sofia’s crying. She felt very hopeless because she was very strong during the past week. Sofia was scared that everything she did in the past wasn’t good enough. Of course, Louis was here to return her smile back. His words were full of optimism because he didn’t want to see her crying. He bought a dinner for her and he was very protective that night. The following morning, they visited the last house and heard the news that Emma, the lady from the letter, died 2 years ago. Sofia was broken. Louis noticed it and tried to comfort her. He only wanted her to be happy. That was the moment he realized he loved her. She didn’t say anything but went to Venice, to her home.

Now, she’s the girl on the couch with an album covered in tears in her hands. She saw photos from her birth till the present. Sofia was fascinated with her life achievements. She realized that she was very strong because she accepted all the obligations imposed by her parents. She realized that she had never felt happy, adventurous, and especially loved before. What is more important in life than loving someone and being loved? Sofia noticed that every moment with Louis was truly happy and fulfilling, although sometimes with anger and rage. At first glance, they were two opposites, but with a great energy connection. Because, both of them, at one point, could say: "No, I'm giving up, this doesn’t make any sense." They could, but they didn’t want to.

Louis was the only person she felt totally free with. She went back to Paris because she knew she would find him waiting for her. Guess what? It was like that.

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BRAVE BEFORE PERFECT • MARIJA SERVINI

What is more important inlife than our own freedom and happiness? Who has the right to take it away from us completely, or to decide on our behalf?

Each person has to believe in themselves and their dreams, so it will reflect the reality. Because, as we know, not all those who wander are lost. In the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take. Maybe this story was a game of fate, or maybe it was Sofia’s chosen path.

THE COLORS OF VIRULENCE

BY KSENIJA MANO II 12

APRIL 2021 • ISSUE 1 • VOLUME 1

Once upon a time in the land of Onysus - a place where mythical creatures, beasts, warlocks, demons, all live together in peace. Well, usually. Something had attacked. The skies had already started presenting a tiny tint of red, plants had started stagnating their growth weeks ago.

"What do you think it may be?" - a girl's voice could be heard faintly.

"I don't know, but it's definitely something in the fountain of Ardour." - an enthusiastic voice replied.

From the sidelines, you would see three teens sat down on some floating rocks going about their days worth of classic chit-chat, but what was going on in their heads was so much more than that.

They even looked like a team of heroes. Two dark haired - Alex and Annie, Alex constantly wearing flower crowns makes it even better, Annie dressed in what seems even like armor, with red chestplates and silver underneath, presenting a strong aesthetic along with her boy-short hair. And our last team member is our friendly demon Ronnie, dressed mainly in light colored clothes, currently keeping his wings tucked in, with light brown curly hair reaching almost to his shoulders.

"Do you think someone's already got to it?" Ronnie inquired.

"I doubt they'll make it past the first batch of sorcerers"- a tough voice said, very monotone-like.

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THE COLORS OF VIRULENCE • KSENIJA MANO

Alex was never a talkative person in general, but when he spoke he made his words sound like they were etched in stone.

The fountain or Ardour was a sacred place in this world. It was what powers it.

Being destroyed would mean the slow but sure death of all living creatures, the skies would close up and the earth would become uninhabitable, various needed substances would simply disappear. Knowing this, throughout the thousands of years known for this place to have existed, suicidal maniacs have attempted to destroy its core a countless number of times, none of which have got even close to succeeding. They usually get stopped by the sorcerers up front, but if they somehow make it past the gates they are confronted with an army of hundreds of paladins willing to risk their lives to save us.

"Do you guys want to go see what's going on?" Annie has always been the most adventurous and reckless type, "I know it's dangerous but come on...we won't get super close." She cut off Alex right as he was about to say something, knowing that he'd encourage her not to pull through with this idea.

Ronnie looked slightly persuaded by Annie, and decided that it probably isn't as terrifying as people say it is. Together they pushed Alex with their idea until he folded.

They could never have guessed what was in store for them. The road to the fountain was long, but the castle protecting it being placed on plains made it possible to already be seen by our heroes. Trees have been the only things surrounding them for a good bit of the way this far, apart from a witch's hut here and there. All of them were walking with a glowing mushroom in their hands, which Ronnie had dropped when they heard a ruffle in the bushes.

"Stop being paranoid, it's probably just an elf or something; you almost smacked me with your wings."

"I know Annie, I'm sorry, it's still scary though."

Annie chuckled but Alex stopped in his tracks. The talkative pair turned back to him confusedly.

"It wasn't just an elf-" A strong noise of thunder cut off his words and shook the ground. It looked like blood had been spilled on the sky and it was slowly shading towards a darker red. Something is seriously wrong.

"Continue." said Alex and the others followed the order without asking questions. Alex is a warlock who connects with nature mostly, so when it comes to situations like this the others don't doubt Alex's decisions. The same sounds kept appearing over and over again, trying their best to ignore them while going down the path the kids tried distracting themselves with conversation.

"Imagine if we have to be the ones to save the world, how cool that would be" "Annie do you still have those dreams? You're too old to still have those expectations for yourself."

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THE COLORS OF VIRULENCE • KSENIJA MANO

Ronnie didn't necessarily not support Annie's spirit, but he was scared. He cared for her and always thought her born warrior self would suffer from the consequences of her impulses.

Suddenly a dog-like creature popped out of the bushes and growled at the trio. It was dark purple with 4 glowing yellow eyes and fangs dripping with foam. Ronnie jumped into the air and stayed at last a few feet off the earth as the duo on the ground were startled and shaken. It jumped swiftly to attack them but Alex quickly put up a see-through shield in front of them, electrocuting the animal and leaving it motionless on the dirt.

"I've never seen that before." said Alex, and they knew now that it was definitely time to panic.

The sound of wings flapping didn't stop anytime soon, and footsteps could be heard rapidly increasing in speed as they were moving forward.

"I can sense more of them" said Alex quietly, "Be on your best guard, both of you."

And he was right.

A dozen of those same creatures in a pack were now moving towards them, they were all different colors, all with different shaped glowing eyes, but they were all after one prey.

It was a test of instincts for our three heroes as the dogs started rushing towards them. Annie swung her sword at the first batch that headed for her and as their carcasses hit the ground they almost disintegrated, a big cloud of smoke came out of all of them and not a drop of blood was left.

Ronnie stunned the rest of them as Alex cast a fire spell on the ground, finding the same thing that happened with the first batch happen with these ones as well. They didn't seem like real animals. Just - puppets.

Explosions started erupting from the now near castle, and the heroes started running. Only one thought was racing through all of their heads- and it was that they needed to save the world. They didn't care how, but they knew they had to at least try.

Their legs felt like they were becoming lighter and lighter, the adrenaline in their bodies was leading them to strength and their only focus was dodging the grey branches hanging lower from the trees.

They reached the foot of the castle.

Sorcerers that were always standing in their organized place were still there, the only difference is that they were dead, all in their place.

Annie was stood for a moment or two staring at the scene with disbelief.

"Something strong has attacked from behind, these sorcerers aren't killed, they're assassinated."

Just as she had finished her sentence something flew out of the main door and next to them, it was a skull, seemingly exiting smoke from its holes.

Slowly walking into the castle all they could feel was the silence.

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THE COLORS OF VIRULENCE • KSENIJA MANO

The explosions had stopped but there was a strong stench of burning coming from the ground, the white marble walls were turning grey in some parts and there was dust, and pieces of walls and ceiling on the ground.

The fountain was seated on the second floor, on the stairway up the only thing the trio could see were corpses of paladins, but not nearly enough to form an army of.

The doors to the fountain room were open, and inside was a tall, dark figure with a vampire-like cloak standing and glowing black eyes. Right next to him was what looked like a giant version of the dogs that had attacked them in the forest. Its fur was dark grey and its eyes looked like a void of red.

"More challenges?" The man spoke loudly, causing a loud echo throughout the whole palace.

The heroes stood in incredulity, watching him turn slowly towards them.

"But...how?" Annie asked with a low sound.

"I'm not as humanoid as I look, trust me. Why did you come here?"

The heroes just looked at each-other, confused as to what to answer him.

"Oooh, let me guess - you're going to be the heroes that save the world from mass destruction, something in your souls just made you come here to fight me, you feel like the chosen ones, don't you?

I'm never going to forgive the gods for not fighting their own battles, instead they send teenagers to save the world that they know will end one day, the question is just when."

"The gods?" Alex wondered.

"Let's just get this over with; it’s absolutely pointless to explain myself."

The beast next to him started charging at them almost as if he was telepathically commanded. It managed to pin Ronnie down just as he was about to fly off to avoid it. Annie and Alex almost felt like they read eachother's minds as well, Alex made a giant boulder float and Annie charged at it and threw it towards the dog, pushing it away from Ronnie. He opened up his wide wings and stunned the beast in place, just for Alex to tackle it and summon meters of chains around it to tie it to the few pillars at the side of the room.

Meanwhile, the villain was seated on the side of the still flowing fountain, watching everything go down. "They chose stronger ones this time." He said under his breath.

Ronnie, while up in the air, unexpectedly felt a strong electric current flow through his body. The tall man seemed like he was getting larger and holding Ronnie up in the air with magic. His dark blue wings started losing their tint and were slowly fading towards a dark green, as well as his eyes losing the life in them and starting to look numb.

He was let down on the ground slowly and safely. Annie and Alex went close to him.

"Are you okay?" Annie's voice shook.

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THE COLORS OF VIRULENCE • KSENIJA MANO

All Ronnie did was look at them. He stomped his foot on the ground hard and made spikes of rocks and boulders puncture through the floor and fire both Annie and Alex in the air, him calmly flying close to them, then using extreme power pushing Annie back on the ground, immobilizing her for a tiny moment, and taking Alex and pinning him on the wall close to the ceiling. All that could be seen in Ronnie's face was an urge to devour what he had in front of him. That wasn't Ronnie any more; the magic did something to him. "He" didn't exist anymore.

He was about to bite down on him but Alex used his power to shock him and pushed the dark haired boy away. Annie saw both of them seemingly numbly fall to the floor with a loud thump. Why didn't Ronnie just fly?

Even though Alex was extremely injured from this he crawled towards Ronnie to see what he did, despite the possible danger of it, he was worried for his friend.

"He isn't breathing." He had a hand on his chest as he turned to Annie.

"Don't feel bad about that. You technically didn't kill your "friend", and he would've died anyway." The man seemed like a giant at this point.

Alex in the heat of the moment tried to catch him off guard and shoot a spell towards him, missing just by an inch. The man started heading towards Alex and picked him up in his hand, looking almost as if he's going to squish him.

Alex started using any spell he could think of to free himself, but it was useless. It was almost as if the man could distort reality.

"Exactly what I needed" The man exclaimed and started draining Alex's powers and taking them in his chest, it looked like fog, then like a storm, then there were vines. Alex's body was going soft, and he stopped resisting, slowly closing his eyes. As the man took all the power, he turned towards the water flowing from the fountain and touched it with his hand. There was a loud monotone sound, like after the explosion of a nuclear bomb and the walls of the fountain started falling apart and collapsing into the ground, along with Alex’s body falling from the man’s hand.

Out there it looked like somebody was coloring the world grey, bit by bit, inch by inch. Plants started reseeding into the ground and trees were falling apart.

Creatures everywhere were becoming scared, feeling sudden pains, dread, orange, brown, and grey. So much grey.

"I don't understand..." a girl's voice was heard.”I don't get it."

"Oh, I forgot about you." The now- regular sized man said as he got close to Annie.

"The soldiers? Weren’t they supposed to be here to protect the world?"

"They were. Now they're dead. I even took the time to dig graves and place them down. For "honor" or whatever you killable creatures find fulfilling" "But there were thousands of them..."

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THE COLORS OF VIRULENCE • KSENIJA MANO

"I said I'm not as humanoid as I look." He pointed his arm towards his beast, unlocking the chains and calling it towards him, it came obediently. "I'm a god.

I do whatever I want."

"Why? Why did you choose to do this? Why did no one stop you?"

"Onysus was going to come to an end. The gods knew that. I just pity the fact that they send innocent people to "try" and stop me, when they easily could've done that themselves if they so chose to. This proves the fact that they knew their little playground of creatures had to get destroyed for something else to start again."

"I still don't understand. I don't think I'll ever be able to understand you. You feel bad for the innocents that were sent to end you but you choose to kill every single innocent and sinful creature at once, not only that, but forcing them to have a painful, slow death. You made me watch my friends kill one another and then die by your hands. What is wrong with you, and the gods, or whatever there may be up there?"

The man saw Annie's sword and took it from the ground, close to where she was kneeling next to the wall. He smiled and put the tip of it right under her chin, forcing her head up to look at his eyes.

"Now, now, we don't want the gods to be mad at you, do we? You'll have to face them in just a bit."

"I don't care if the gods are mad. Once I see them they'll have to beg for MY forgiveness, not the other way around" "Still feisty, huh? Look at it this way - It's like drawing out Death in a deck of tarot. Something has to end for a new beginning to show its way to us. That's why I'm doing this. That's why I wasn't stopped from doing this." He slid the sword down to her heart. "As for the soldiers, your friends, the endless innocent creatures...There's only a selfish explanation for that. I simply miss the playfulness of mortality. Spending your days almost only with immortals, it gets boring. I wanted to experience death over, and over, and over, and over again."

All that was left in the room hereafter were drops of blood on the broken up floor, smoke... Lots and lots of grey smoke, and the smell of fatality.

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THE POWER AND THE CURSE OF AN OLD PIECE OF ROTTEN WOOD THAT MADE SOUNDS

BY ANA ANASTASOVA II 12 APRIL 2021 • ISSUE 1 • VOLUME 1

Are you reasoning during the blackness, before your mind gets snoozed into the deep night? Does that help you expedient to fall asleep? I’m sure that you let your mind flow in the middle of the ocean of your thoughts. Thinking until the night falls into your palms can be a perfect cure for insomnia. But not for every person...

On a particular summer night, going from 17th to 18th September 1986, a lovely young woman had been faced with sleeplessness. The real reason for her issue was a divine event, that awaited for her the very next day. In her modest room entered a total gloom that filled the whole space. Darkness that she couldn’t see, because of the beauty of her two crystal emeralds to which the light was jealous. That damn possessive sun glow changed their inner shape. Those two tiny marbles which had a pigment of spinach that rolls over in the cow's mouth while it gently chews it lazily, were getting closed. Now it was time for a show made by her wise brain. It worked hard and now was the moment to show the fascinating presentation it made. It formed an opinion to expose the whole archive that was made previously in her head.

If we recognize the day by the morning, then Daphne wasn’t blessed by a nice destiny. It all started with her appearance to this world, and the hostile, disinterested, gray caregivers, that hardly ever fulfilled the lamb’s wishes.

Those rough paws grabbed the magic fiddle-bow from the children’s tiny hands. And the enormous child’s will, growing intensively from day to day, was becoming eager to achieve and to reach that summit. Never-healed pain that hurt more and more every second was being present. When you don’t get a chance and your dream is growing bigger and bigger every moment, your consciousness awakes and you are looking for an exit. The divine sounds made by an old rotten wood, coming from the apartment next door, was the golden key to her life decision. Her determination and desire greater than the starry space made her leave ‘comfort’ and indulge in the mercy of a stranger with skillful and magic fingers. Maybe she had never seen the look of a violin, but growing up with her melody every nightfall, inspired her to choose the right way.

THE POWER AND THE CURSE OF AN OLD PIECE OF ROTTEN WOOD THAT MADE SOUNDS • ANA ANASTASOVA

She evoked the day of her escape. The moment when everyone in her dwelling had fallen asleep, outside echoed the sound of the notes playing, as the raindrops were dancing magnificently. She just wanted to dance to the rain, so she waited for the moment to order her favorite song. When she found the exit door and finally went out, she needed to find the magician. By following the gentle notes that cried along with the dark clouds, Daphne found his apartment. Her wet feet left a mark on the cold floor, which was disgusted by the mud of the shoes that trampled it. And so, slowly, leaning against the moldy wall, she managed to reach the door which hid the sound of the mournful song. She just took a deep breath to get oxygen to her brain and knocked shyly. Then a sharp silence was developed and a pause of the wellknown melody interrupted by loud crackle of the parquet.

Few seconds later the door was opened by a totally shocked boy of her age.

She took another deep breath and introduced herself to him. Then she started telling her story, but at that moment she was interrupted by the boy who invited her inside. Т he conversation had lasted almost the whole night and through it Daphne and Antonio got to know each other better. She told Antonio her wish and asked him to teach her to play the violin. The young guy opened his heart to her and admitted that the violin is all he had. He made a living with it, playing it on the streets. He also gladly accepted to be her teacher.

It took four years of hard work and exercise, great desire, perseverance and passion to succeed and fulfill the child's dream. Years spent in constant exercise and training, a lot of hard work and effort. Struggle for life, travelling all over Italy and honest earning. Many salty tears were shed in all those years.

A lot of joy and sorrow was shared. They faced various situations on the streets which all remained history, except one…

It was just a plain Wednesday when Daphne and Antonio perform ed in the small town of Cremona, where once lived the great Stradivari. And while Antonio was taking a break and Daphne was playing alone, she was approached by a man. This lovely girl noticed that the one who was coming near her was a man who moved with ease, very carefully and elegantly taking care not to ruin his new shoes. Also, her well-developed sense of smell noticed the strong, but at the same time very pleasant perfume of the gentleman. The refined man had noticed Daphne's lack and admired her talent; so he decided to talk with her. After a brief conversation in which Antonio also took part, the gentleman, delighted with Daphne's story, invited her to a competition for the best young violinist in Italy. Pleased and honored by the invitation, the inexperienced girl accepted without thinking. That was the proof that, hope makes the beggar rich.

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THE POWER AND THE CURSE OF AN OLD PIECE OF ROTTEN WOOD THAT MADE SOUNDS • ANA ANASTASOVA

She had only two months to prepare. It was a period that she devoted entirely to rehearsal. Many nights, just like this one, were spent sleepless in creating melodies. Simply, the young lady neglected everything around her and had dedicated herself to the “nightingale”. She learnt and knew by heart the entire texture of the hollow wood and the four magical Italian spaghetti.

People say that if you can’t sleep, it means that you are awake in someone's dream. Maybe it’s true, who knows. When her body finally stopped trembling from excitement for tomorrow's event, the dream definitely took her in its arms, after long hours of rolling over and evoking.

Few moments earlier Antonio, confused, had woken up and started to behave very strangely. What was hidden very deep in his subconsciousness came to the surface in his dreams. In fact, a lot of emotions floated and got mixed up so much that the water became too cloudy. The padlock with which he locked the big secret, hit him hard into his heart. Great and dark shade covered him with the appearance of Mr. Alessandro in their lives. The fact that he ended up being a forgotten old shirt after buying a new one broke him. His ego was hurt, and the snake in his red muscle in the middle of his chest was growing more and more, which at one point drove him crazy. The vase, in which the flower lived, broke, and the combination of light and glass created a fire that ignited his soul and warmed his body. The hot air rose and hit him directly in the head, so he began to act like a predator watching the prey, moments before the catastrophe. And it all happened in just few seconds. The beast in him attacked the sleeping beauty, which completely changed the fate of these two young talented beings.

At that moment Daphne seemed to be eating Snow White’s forbidden poisoned red apple, so suddenly she started realizing. It only seemed so at first, until the venom mixed with her blood caused her to commit a heinous act. Moment of truth, Daphne's execution, unpreparedness and the awakening of the devil in her were a strong competition to that monster. So, as in the Bible, Eve killed Adam. Е motionally, but also literally. Т he third one present in the room noticed the situation, yeah, yeah, she, the culprit for all this, the violin. She had repented, closed her eyes, and began to weep bitterly. That rotten pathetic wood and its melodious weeping, was one of the main offenders in this tragedy. That's why this object spent its whole life whining.

She lost her entire working life creating melodies around Italy making people cry, with the gentle touch of Daphne’s hands. And when that piece of wood, needed to prove and present the most, she destroyed everything, including the life of the young Antonio. She also ruined the career of the hidden prodigy, who locked inside four walls and retired together with her. To be honest, she was Daphne's biggest inspiration and lifelong support. But, at the same time, she was a Brutus who betrayed his Caesar. That, the melodious instrument, was now the initiator for the lynching of her master and the main participant, dragging two innocent victims into her dark world.

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THE POWER AND THE CURSE OF AN OLD PIECE OF ROTTEN WOOD THAT MADE SOUNDS • ANA ANASTASOVA

For several years, she taught depression classes to eternally frowning captive characters in orange uniforms. She was part of the rat orchestra and a consolation to the helpless forced listeners. And at the end of the century, she left with all the memories. The master who demolished the stone bridge he built himself, left. The young lady hugged the magic wooden music box tightly and went to Antonio. In fact, she entered something that looked like an elevator and, according to the material from which it was made, that came from the same family as the pathetic pear-shaped singer. Only this was a little bigger, faded and worm-eaten. That elevator may have led to Antonio, who knows, but the first stop didn't look so impressive.The place was reminiscent of Halloween. Black, dark and dangerous. This is where each of us will end up. So until that day, let’s live our dream and not play dice with it.

WHEN DOVES CRY

BY EMILIJA KRSTEVSKA II 12 APRIL 2021 • ISSUE 1 • VOLUME 1

Jodie remembered the lyrics from Prince's song by heart - Kiefer knew that she could never forget them. She had gotten into the habit of listening to it regularly while driving her car since it was the first song on her playlist. Her whole teenage years listening to the idol - She kept her hair like his in the '80s and even wore a polka-dot outfit like his when she celebrated homecoming.

For her, he wasn't just a singer, he was an inspiration.

Yet, even though she had the greatest love toward a man she never met, she was touched upon just like an angel's kiss, she never sang his songs out loud.

She kept her singing voice to herself and never sung, even if she was alone. So one could imagine how bewildered Kiefer was when he saw her singing while setting the dinner table.

Even though her driving habit had deteriorated in the past two or so years, she still knew the lyrics. Kiefer could catch her humming the chorus or the bridge while making her breakfast or when she had difficulties sleeping. The last time she heard the song while driving was the evening of the 20th of June when she was driving back to her town with her family.

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WHEN DOVES CRY • EMILIJA KRSTEVSKA

Coincidently, as the world is only a speck of coincidences and unexpected occasions, today was the 20th of June. And her family was coming to have lunch with her. She was excited - her heart was beaming with joy that she will see the face of her mother Theresa, hear the laugh of her father Clarke, and the joyful childish innocence of her young sister Andie.

Jodie had set the table earlier than anticipated, she wanted everything to be perfect - She had laid a rich silk mat that covered the sharp edges of the dark wood, set the porcelain china from her wedding, and placed a luscious bouquet that scented like summer. The smell of the flowers was mixing with the aroma of the food she was baking in the kitchen. Ma & Pa's favorite chicken breast with orange gravy and french fries for Andie. As he did not want to bother her, he slowly left the room.

Kiefer heard his wife opening the front door only fifteen minutes and muted the TV to hear her voice. How could a voice so bubbly, as if she had eaten the purl of the streams, gentle as the song of a magpie, never allow themselves to sing out loud? She greeted the bunch and called for him.

The husband ran to the foyer and waved his hand left and right like a metronome, peaking a gentle smile toward his wife. He joined her as he sat on his arranged seat and waited for Jodie to bring out the food. She set the meat and the fries so that the garland is in between the two, and then sat acote him.

He tried to imagine if she will look like her mother when she ages. Theresa had speck around her nose and small eyes with low eyebrows, yet her visage seemed very symmetric. Her lips were pursed and full, always with the same shade of lipstick. She never got into the habit of using anti-age cream, mostly because she never seemed to get older.

No, Jodie wouldn't look like Theresa when she got into the heart of womanhood. She would most likely look like Clarke - He had a large forehead just like the one he gifted her, a larger nose with seemed in line with his bold and full eyebrows and almond-shaped eyes. He had two wrinkles aside the ends of his lips from laughing too much, which laid a few centimeters from his dimples. Jodie has only one, on her right cheek.

She got all her habits and style from him and partly from Prince. Jodie never wore bold colors or tried anything extreme, yet always had an aura surrounding her that justified the gaze she got. It was the same with Clarke Everyone would adjust their gaze when he was passing by, just from the way he moved his feet along the sidewalk Andie on the other side was just like Theresa - The two of them had the same shades of strawberry blonde hair, the same degrees of curliness and diastema.

Even their voices sounded the same - Like the squeak of a rubber duck. The two of them had a knack for wearing shiny clothes and large bracelets. They seemed like a more glamourous version of the Gilmore Girls. Most people would call Andie a miniature version of Theresa, but nobody would call Jodie a miniature version of Clarke.

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WHEN DOVES CRY • EMILIJA KRSTEVSKA

The dinner had been going well, but mostly it was the sound of Jodie trying to keep the conversation going. Kiefer felt a droplet of sweat slowly dance to his jaw, drawing the crevises of his cheekbones. He wiped his lips with the edge of his paper tissue and set it on the side of the plate. The edge of the tissue started to soak up some of the orange sauce and began spreading down as imaginary streams. He gently laid his hand on Jodies' shoulder and excused himself. A milky shadow of sweat was left on the soft material of her shirt.

He heard his footsteps as he went for the bathroom and shut the door behind him. Slowly, he rubbed his face with his sweaty hands, which were magically dry at the same time, as he walked to the mirror. Was he feeling guilty, that he hadn't invited his parents, or simply the summer weather was too hot for the attire he had dressed with? He knew as much as everyone else at this point.

Kiefer raised his face and saw his complexion. His skin was tanned from the summertime sun and had a healthy glow. The blonde eyelashes were standing out as if they were glowing from the opaque shade of his dark brown irises.

Biting his lower lip, he saw that it was peeling in the middle, showing an open crust of skin that was parting as it reached the vermilion. He never had an issue with his face, he even had the bravery of calling himself attractive, as if he knew what attractive meant as an abstract term. Neither he had an issue with point out his good and bad points - It was easy. His blonde hair and roman nose. The bad points? Most likely the scar that traveled down the side of his face, touching the ends of his crow's feet and ending an inch before his jaw bone.

He hated it, as much as one could hate anything. When he was a kid, most of the superheroes he knew had some specific scar that made them stand out, and most of the time, he thought that if he had one, he would seem cooler. Was he wrong... He envied every childish dream he had about owning a scar, about being an action hero, or wanting to feel the adrenaline course to his body as much as he could. The single dream he had now was to get the scar to fade, but as time passed, it seemed to get only more vivid.

Kiefer gently put his fingertips on the scar and felt the texture. It felt like touching the peeled skin of a peach, which had wrinkled in the sun. There were no hairs on it, and it was three shades lighter than his skin. He felt as if his blood was pulsing fast beneath the layer of wrinkled skin, that it was heating it and getting ready to burst and bleed out, covering its crevices and nooks. He'll never get used to seeing it, nor get used to how people's faces twist and change when they see it.

His hand fell from the scar atop the faucet. He twisted it to the side, letting cold water hit the smooth surface of the basin. He rinsed his race, rubbing the coldness of the water under his eyes and swishing it around his teeth until it became lukewarm.

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WHEN DOVES CRY • EMILIJA KRSTEVSKA

Jodie was probably getting worried about his weird departure from the diner table and locking himself in the bathroom. She knew deeply how much he hated this day, how much he hated the number 20 and the month of June, but never took part in helping him with his shortcomings. Possibly because she was too busy with hers to even notice him, feel him, and warm him.

He pressed the faucet so the water stopped filling the basin and raised his eyes to the mirror. The dripping water had soaked the edges of his dress-shirt, brushed the hairs of his eyebrows toward their creases, and gave his face an even more tired and stressed look. Loudly, he sniffed and pushed himself away from the basin, rubbing the water from his face with his sleeves. The time came, to make his annual worst even worse by finally confronting her about everything. Kiefer couldn't even count how many things everything is.

The door hit the hinges behind him and took the first step toward the dining room. Pressing his hands into hard fists, he gulped and stepped into the long room.

All of a sudden the rage he felt, the pain from being neglected, and all the emotions with no names vanished from his body, like the smoke of a cigarette.

He saw Jodie, with the widest smile, showing her unnaturally straight teeth, the laughing wrinkles same as her fathers, looking at the empty seats opposite her. Her hands were resting on her thighs and her shoulders were moving as gentle giggles emerged from her small throat. He wanted to slap himself, so hard that he could fall, so hard that he could only imagine how much it hurt her and that he deserves every moment of neglect, for only to use them as an excuse to mope in his unhappiness.

From the first 20th of June, when all chances of happiness vanished from his life when the glass shard scraped the side of his face so deeply and left a survivors mark, he forgot how to show his teeth while smiling. Kiefer only knew to stretch the ends of his lips toward his eyes to give an illusion of false satisfaction, and Jodie never questioned it. She forgot how to be happy too and she didn't want to learn how.

She punished herself strictly, feeling the deepest of pain from what she caused. One time it was the rain's fault, the other time it was her fault and another time it was Prince's fault. If she hadn't gotten too into singing,, When doves cry'' alongside her closest family members, they could still be having regular dinner parties together. Not dinner parties like this, where the guests are as real as ghosts, as pale as illusions, and seethrough as children's lies.

But today, when her eyes played the part her mind longed to see, he finally stopped envisioning her smiling face because it was right in front of him, just as for her, they were right in from of her. Her source of happiness. Theresa's face beaming with joy, the laugh of Clarke and the joyful childish innocence of Andie. The face that she never saw again, the laugh she never heard again, and the innocence she always wanted to get back. All because she allowed one moment to see how it feels like when doves cry.

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THE UNEXPECTED ADVENTURE

BY SARA JANEVSKA I 13

APRIL 2021 • ISSUE 1 • VOLUME 1

Another morning, bright and fresh, dawned on the village of Ine. The sunlight streamed into the huts of the people and shimmered on their faces.

The slumbering villagers awakened to the sweet singing voice of the birds and instantly got out to do their morning chores. The entire village was filled with sounds of people. Some began reciting their morning prayers, mothers could be heard trying to wake their children, a lot of villagers left their homes to go fishing and the dogs began barking so they prove that they were awake, too. Levi jumped out of his bed and he took a shower instantly. His mother was completely shaken when she saw that he had dressed up so early and wondered what miracle had taken that day. Levi ran to his friends Eren and Mikasa who were already waiting for him. ‘’Where is Armin’’ Asked Levi. ‘’Oh, he has caught fever because we scared him as ghosts last night!’’ answered Eren. ‘’He is completely rattled up and shivering in his bed. He won’t be coming today’’. They laughed at the plight of the poor fellow and set out towards the forest. What they saw when they reached the forest, took their breath away. They saw a waterfall, it looked so pretty and it was glowing.

Strange big birds flew over the waterfall. They were amazed of what they were looking at. Levi went down to the waterfall and he started shouting. ‘’We only live once, let’s enjoy this beauty!’’

Mikasa and Eren descended after him without a thought. Some birds spotted them and flew over them, and then they landed. Eren, Mikasa and Levi ran towards them, suddenly one of the birds flew and started to talk. ‘’You won’t see us again, let’s enjoy our time together today.’’

Levi, Eren and Mikasa started shouting because they were scared. Another bird spoke and said: ‘’There is no need to be afraid of us, we won’t hurt you, we just want to have fun and make new friends’’ Eren, Mikasa and Levi were so scared and surprised of what they saw and heard. The three birds stood in front of them and adjusted so that they could get hold of them and fly together. The three friends weren’t sure if it was wise to do that for their safety.

THE UNEXPECTED ADVENTURE • SARA JANEVSKA

But the birds looked too cute; so they got on them and they took off. In front of them the village was not there, but there were more interesting things and a lot of different and pretty butterflies. After a long flight through the beauties of that amazing place, they stopped on an island where all the nature’s beauty could be seen. One of the birds said to them: ‘’I want to tell something I remember from my past life" Eren, Levi and Mikasa were still so surprised and did not blink their eyes as they listened to what the bird was saying. ‘’It was a lot of years ago. I was young and also very handsome. I found a dragon, she was lost and her name was Yela. Every time she saw me, she got more and more excited. We were practicing flying tricks. Yela was also talking and she was saying that my tricks were really unique, even amazing. Even when Yela fell into the snow, she always got up, hurt but still smiling like most of the humans and she was shouting, “Come on! Again! Yee-haaa!’’. We created so many new tricks. That’s the story I remember the most’’, Levi said. ‘’That’s amazing, it sounds unbelievable, and I’m proud of what you did to help her. I’m also curious if the other two birds remember what they were in their past life.’’

One of them said: ‘’Yes we do remember a lot of things, all of us were humans and at the same time friends like you are now, we had a lot of fun together and we still do.’’

After that talk they enjoyed, they explored all of the places there. They all returned to the waterfall together. Eren, Levi and Mikasa had to say goodbye to them because it was already dark and they had to go back to the village. As soon as they came back to the village, they went to Armin to tell him what happened, even though they knew he wouldn't believe them. Mikasa started explaining and telling everything that happened that day, but he said: ‘’This is definitely one of the lies you tell every day, I don’t believe in anything you are saying right now because that doesn’t even sound real.’’

Levi said ‘’ If you don’t believe us then come with us tomorrow you will see by yourself.’’

The next morning, just before the village woke up, Levi and his friends left home and went to where they were the previous day. But there was nothing, just fog and random little birds. Armin turned to them and screamed: ‘’I knew it! I knew it was just one of your lies, I don’t know if I’m ever supposed to believe in you guys after this.’’

Mikasa said: ‘’It’s not a lie, it was all real!”

They came back to the village; they were so disappointed and sat down next to the fishermen. They enjoyed the morning and the rays of the warm sun. Levi looked at Armin and said:

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THE UNEXPECTED ADVENTURE • SARA JANEVSKA

‘’You may not believe it Armin, I know, but it really did happen, it was real and I also learnt something for yesterday. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you are from, what you look like. Just do what you enjoy, love who you want, be friends with who you want, because you only feel that way once!!’’

One of the fishermen pointed at Levi and spoke: ‘’You are right, but being friends with everyone is not a good thing because you never know what they want from you, enjoy the people with the same vibes as you.

After this conversation, everyone hugged together and promised Armin that they would never do pranks and practical jokes like they did before ever again and that they would never go on adventures without him.

LOST AND FOUND

BY ALEKSANDRA MARKOVSKA I 13

APRIL 2021 • ISSUE 1 • VOLUME 1

An angry man bursts into the police office to report his missing girlfriend. The officers calmed him down and asked him questions. “Okay sir, calm down.

What’s her name and how old is she?” “Alyssa Cooper, she’s nineteen.” He stuttered. ”When was the last time you saw her or heard of her?” “Yesterday around 8:30 PM. We were talking on the phone and she said that she’d go to the store and call me back later. I waited for her to call me and then I thought that maybe I should ring her up, but it said that her phone is out of network coverage. I sent her a dozen of text messages and still, no answer. I even called her friends and they had no idea of where she might be. I’m really worried that something bad might have happened to her. Can you please help me? I’m really concerned!” “We’ll do whatever we can, son.” The officer pats him on the shoulder. “Can you describe her appearance?” The officer asked. “She’s got pale skin, long wavy brown hair, blue eyes, her face is round-shaped and she’s about 5’5 feet tall” “Do you, by any chance know what she was wearing?” “No, but I know for a fact that she’s always wearing a silver, heart-shaped locket that I gave her for our anniversary. Look, I’ll show you, it’s the same as mine.” He took off his locket with a picture of Alyssa in it, and showed it to the officer.

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LOST AND FOUND • ALEKSANDRA MARKOVSKA

The officer took the picture and asked for his name and number. “Chris Corel”, he wrote down his number. “Chris look, I know you are worried but we cannot start searching until 24 hours pass.” “But she could be hurt by then, or even in another place, and maybe worse!” Chris raised his voice. “Calm down kid, we don’t want any problems here! We’ll start searching tomorrow. Now go home and call us if she returns.” “But you don’t understand, she’s in a really dangerous situation right now and I can’t let her down like that.” “Chris I understand you, but law is law!” “Can I at least come with you while you search for her?” “Absolutely not! You aren’t helping at all and if you keep annoying us like this we may never find her!” Chris was madly irritated. He rolled his eyes, loudly slammed the door and left. He decided that he would search for her on his own.

After hours of shouting her name and looking in every corner of that small town, there wasn’t a trace of her. It was midnight and after the whole day of searching for her, he didn’t give up. “Alyssa” he shouted, and the same officer from before interrupted him. “Hey Chris! Shut up before I come and arrest you!

I told you not to get involved in this! Now look what you’re doing, violating the law! I swear if I see you one more time consequences will happen! Now get out of my sight!” With tears in his eyes Chris shouted “Fine, but if something bad happens to her you’ll be the one to blame and even then, consequences will happen! He ran home. After hours of thinking he came up with a plan. He dyed his long blonde hair to black and put brown eye lenses to cover his blue eyes so the officers won’t be able to notice him. The next morning he went searching in a nearby forest, which was on the top of one hill.

Meanwhile, Alyssa was terrified. The previous night, on her way home from the supermarket a tall man with dark hair and dark clothes had hit her on the head with a wooden baseball bat. She had fallen on the ground, unconscious.

He had taken her and put her in the back of his car. The following morning she woke up tied to a chair, in a strange wooden cabin and realized that she’s held hostage. She started panicking and shouting “Help! Help!” A tall man entered the cabin and said: “You can scream until you lose your voice if you want, but no one can hear you nor save you here!” She kept on shouting “Help! Where am I? What do you want?” He didn’t say anything.

A couple of minutes later, he came back in the cabin and brought her some food in a porcelain plate. He said “Eat this”, put the plate on the floor and left.

She could hear the sound of the engine starting and that’s when the epiphany that he was gone hit her. All of a sudden, she quickly thought of something that might save her. She broke the porcelain plate; picked a broken piece and she managed to cut the ropes. Soon, after realizing that she couldn’t get out through the small window, she grabbed the chair which she was sitting on, used all of her strength and started bashing the wooden door as much as she could. It was a life and death situation, and after a lot of effort she managed to get it open. She heaved a sigh of relief, even though she knew that it wasn’t over.

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LOST AND FOUND • ALEKSANDRA MARKOVSKA

She knew that the man would go looking for her after seeing his cabin totally destroyed.

So, she started running and running. The road was strange but she kept going. There weren’t any people around to help her get back home and safe, and she was really scared. The hours passed and the day exchanged with the night. Alyssa was cold, nervous and with nothing to eat. Tired, she settled to sleep by a lonely river, hoping for a better tomorrow. She was woken up in the early dawn by a disturbing nightmare. She dreamt that the kidnapper went searching for her, found her, recognized her and killed her. Frightened by the fact that he may recognize her, she impulsively cut her long hair really short.

She continued walking by the flow of the river. On the way, she saw berries which were her first sign of hope. The night slowly approached and Alyssa went to sleep with less worries and more courage than the previous day.

Chris on the other hand, was searching for Alyssa the whole day in the forest, at that point he started losing hope. Before he even realized it, the night approached so he had no option but to sleep in the forest. Luckily, he knew how to start a bonfire, which kept him warm during the night.

The next morning, Alyssa woke up really early by the sunshine rays shining into her eyes. Far in the distance, she noticed a smoke coming from a hill that looked familiar. Not after a long time of walking, she entered a forest. As she followed the smoke, she entered deeper and deeper into the forest. The forest was filled with many trees, berries, flowers, mushrooms even small animals.

After that long walk in the forest, she finally got near to the bonfire. Next to the bonfire, she noticed a tall man with dark hair, resting. She was petrified and thought that that’s her kidnapper. Without even thinking what she’s doing, she grabbed a rock and hit the man in the head. He fell on the ground unconscious.

She went near him to check if he had a phone she could use to call for help.

She noticed that the man lying on the ground wasn’t her kidnapper, but another person who looked like him. She felt really bad for what she did to him and tried to wake him up. She splashed a little bit of water on his face and he immediately woke up, panicked. “Where am I? Who are you?” He asked.

Alyssa was shaking and nervously answered: “We’re in a forest. Who are you? He scratched his head but he couldn’t remember most things. “I don’t know how I got here, but I remember it was something important.” He replied. “Do you have a phone we could use to call for help?” She asked. He reached down his pocket only to find out that his phone was out of battery. “What should we do?” he asked. “Let’s try to find a way out of this forest and, hopefully, we’ll find someone who can help us!” she replied. They started walking and asking each other questions. “So, what’s your name? You didn’t answer me earlier.” He asked. ” Sorry, but I don’t trust strangers!” She replied. “Okay, if you say so” He sighed. “So, how did you get here?” He asked. “Let’s just say I got lost, I won’t go into details…” she replied, refusing to open up to him.

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LOST AND FOUND • ALEKSANDRA MARKOVSKA

All of the sudden, a north wind blew. Alyssa was really cold and shaking.

When he noticed her, he said: “Hey, you seem really cold. Here, take my jacket” When he took of his jacket to give it to her, the heart shaped locket unleashed.

When she noticed it, excitement and relief filled her up. “The locket!” Alyssa shouted with tears of joy in her eyes. “Chris! It was you all of the time!” She shouted and hugged him as hard as she could. “Alyssa! How could’ve I forgotten?” At that very moment, all of Chris’ memories came back, he was unexplainably shocked and happy at the same time over what had just happened. They managed to get to the town before the dark. As soon as they arrived they went to the police station and reported Alyssa’s kidnapper. The officers tracked him down and after 2 days he was sentenced to prison. Love and justice always win, even when you think that there’s no hope left.

In case you were wondering, Alyssa and Chris are still together, and this story is their most bizarre adventure.

THE LOST PRINCESS

BY ANGELA POP-GINOSKA I 13 APRIL 2021 • ISSUE 1 • VOLUME 1

Once upon a time in a big old castle near the lake lived the king Julius and the queen Victoria who had three beautiful baby princesses. The oldest one, whose name was Annabelle, had the power of fire, she had blonde long hair and blue eyes and she looked exactly like her father. The second one, whose name was Cressida, had the power of wind, she had long brown hair and blue eyes. Lastly, the third triple, whose name was Bryony, had the power of ice, she had long black hair and blue eyes, and she looked just like her mother.

One night, the queen and the king were invited to a ball party. They left the princesses in the castle to the most trusted guards and servants. The servant who was with the triplets in the room inadvertently fell asleep. Suddenly, the window slowly opened and a cold wind was swirling around the room and it transformed into a figure of a tall man. He was Norman the evil lord from the South. His aim was to take all the babies’ powers and to become powerful himself. However, he didn’t know that when the princesses turn 18, they will reach full capacity of their powers.

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THE LOST PRINCESS • ANGELA POP-GINOSKA

He went next to the bed to take all of them but, suddenly, one of the babies cried. The servant woke up and yelled to the guards. Norman didn’t take all of them, but he took Bryony and he immediately left.

When the king and the queen arrived home, they noticed that everyone was in tears and frightened. They were confused and didn’t know what had happened till they went to the room where their babies were kept in, only to notice that one of the babies was missing. The king got mad and called the guards and servants and asked them: “Where is Bryony?’’ Their heads were down, then one of the servants said, “Norman took her’’. The king and the queen started crying and sent them out of the room. They knew Norman because years ago, the two kingdoms were in rivalry with one another. As history repeats itself, the king of the South kidnapped King Julius’s father and killed him, but he didn’t take his powers. When the king went downstairs, he ordered the guards to search for Bryony in every forest, every mountain and in every sea.

One month later, all of them got back but no one found Bryony. The time passed quickly, nobody knew where she was. The only one who knew was Norman because she was with him in his evil castle under the ground. There were some strange creatures, strange nature and everything was dark. There was nothing but soil and dead plants, on the inside it was made out of rock and ice and it was cold, too. He attempted to take Bryony’s powers but it didn’t work; he was planning on what to do next and then it occurred to him that when she turns 18, she’d gain full control. So, he kept her till she turned 18.

During that time, throughout those years Bryony was kept in a dull princess dress and she lived with her powers contained within her. 17 years later the princesses grew up. The king and the queen didn’t tell Annabelle and Cressida that they have another sister because they didn’t want to worry them.

Annabelle was kind and honest and she also had a beloved prince that she would get married to soon. Cressida was sometimes jealous of her sister because Annabelle found her own prince but, she also was kind and never did anything bad to her. And the third sister, who lived with Norman, didn’t know that she belonged to a royal family and didn’t know that she was a princess.

She just had her necklace and hope that one day she would find her family.

She was a very quiet girl.

One day Annabelle and Cressida went horseback riding. When they were passing the dark forest, they fell in a ditch. When they opened their eyes, everything around them was dark and strange. In that place they found Norman the evil lord. When he saw them, he realized that they were exactly like Bryony. At that moment he knew that they were the princesses whose powers he wanted when they were babies. He knew that he had a chance to take all of their powers, so he called Bryony, pushed her into the other girls and took of their powers all at once. After this, they fainted.

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THE LOST PRINCESS • ANGELA POP-GINOSKA

A few hours later their eyes started to flutter open, they felt exhausted and slowly got up from the floor. When Annabelle and Cressida saw Bryony, they were shocked. They realized that she looked exactly like them. Suddenly, their necklaces started to shine and something outlandish happened in the room.

The energy was too strong; it destroyed Norman’s castle under the ground and himself, too. The powers that were emitted from Norman were restored back to each of the rightful princesses. Nature regained its luster and the sun was shining brightly. The princesses took Bryony to the castle for they didn’t want to leave her alone. When they went in the castle, the king and the queen saw her, they were surprised; they ran towards her and took her in their arms. The sisters were very confused; then their parents told them the truth of what had happened long time ago. On the same day of the reunion, the three princesses turned 18, regained full control of their powers and Annabelle had her wedding. They all lived happily ever after.

WENDY’S WORLD

BY BRANKICA CVETKOVSKA I 13

APRIL 2021 • ISSUE 1 • VOLUME 1

I will never forget the beautiful August idyll when the sun's rays slowly but surely passed over the Greek women in the apartment and how they told me:"Come on, it's time for the beach.”

Lured by the wonderful smell of locomades,I decided to get up and together with my parents we had a sweet breakfast and talk.

As always,I set off to the beach first.Indeed, the sea air was different.Waves like naughty children played the most beautiful sea dance.The Sun eagerly awaited everyone to come to the beach and admire,like me when I admire the sunrise.And while I was admiring the sea idyll around me,I said to myself:"Oh, how nice it would be if the sun could speak." So I would talk constantly.I look clumsy, but what if we let ourselves into the world of fantasy at least once.

Still, it is a world we can enter into at least once. And then, suddenly, a gentle voice said the following:"Brankica, here I am." I was all confused, I just could not believe that one day I would be able to talk to the Sun.The first thing I asked was the following: "But, how do you speak and how do you know my name?"

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WENDY’S WORLD

• BRANKICA CVETKOVSKA

The sun replied: "Well, my dear, I know everything." I am the one who in the morning sneaks through the window of your room and gently touches you my dear. I'm the one who makes your tan chocolate-like, but be careful, if you don't put on sunscreen, your cheeks will turn red like apples.And after we smiled sweetly, something dark suddenly appeared and said to us: "I'm jealous, a frowning and dark cloud that envies you for your stupid conversations, I am the one who will spoil your party and instead of the Sun, it will rain."The last thing I saw was the weeping Sun that was already gone. And the evil cloud laughing so roughly and dropping raindrops, chasing all the people off the beach. At that moment I heard a gentle voice saying to me:"Don't worry, the afternoon will be beautiful and sunny again."

After the afternoon nap, we headed back to the beach. It was really nice, as the mermaid told me. When I arrived, the Sun greeted me in a friendly way and winked at me. Everybody was enjoying, joyful voices could be heard from everywhere, the people were making them as they were feeling content. I also enjoyed the beautiful sea dance, following the mischievous waves. That wonderful day passed and before I left, the Sun said to me: "Tomorrow, I will take you to a place you have never seen before."

That night I could hardly sleep, I was carried away by curiosity.The next day after I got up I immediately got dressed, I didn't even want to have breakfast, but my mother forced me to and I had to have breakfast. And after I quickly ate two or three bites, I immediately headed to the shore. There, a completely amazing aircraft, made of all kinds of sweet things, was waiting for me and swiftly took me to a completely different world. Imagine: "The grass was made of bananas, over the river a bridge of strawberries, and, instead of water, there was chocolate sauce running underneath. The houses were made of pieces of cake, and the roofs were made of red lollipops. And as I looked with admiration, the Sun said to me: "Let's jump over the rainbow", I want to see you happy all my life! The rule is: "Whoever jumps over the rainbow, will be happy all his life”. And maybe that's why I'm always happy, cheerful and smiling; because I crossed over the rainbow.

After that, a strange creature appeared in front of me, which, at first, I was scared of, although it did not seem scary, but still different. For a long time my eyes were fixed on him until the Sun said to me, "Let me introduce Wendy."

And after we met, we talked for a long time on different topics.The most interesting thing for me was that they had a special traditional chocolate star dish; believe me, it had really amazing taste! And then Wendy suggested we go to their beach.

When we arrived I was amazed. The pool was full of chocolate milk, the sunbeds were made of sugar wool and the umbrellas with whipped cream with drops of chocolate to keep us cool.It was a paradise for eyes and soul. I enjoyed being there.It was wonderful and fun until the dark and evil cloud reappeared.Then, at that moment, I said to myself: “This cloud is addicted to make people unhappy.

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WENDY’S WORLD

• BRANKICA CVETKOVSKA

He seems to be allergic to happiness. I can`t understand how some can be so full of hatred and fed up with the grief of others, but why is that?-However, there is a solution for everything, right?-Yes, my solution was: “And what if you make a deal with each other, you dear friend Sun, and you dark cloud. While everyone is on the beach, everyone is having fun, you can shine and warm up,and while everyone sleeps in the afternoon, you, dark cloud, can drop cooling drops." The decision was implemented, I am really glad that my decision was finally fulfilled.

It was the last day of my summer vacation in Greece.Truly, that summer was one of the most memorable moments of my life.But saying goodbye is always the hardest. It was hard to separate myself from this truly amazing and beautiful sea idyll, from the beautiful world of Wendy filled with various sweet things, from the friends I met here, from the moments I spent with them.

It is human to forgive, it is human to give another chance even though someone made a mistake we know that we learn from these mistakes so that the cloud learns not to make others sad while having fun, because it is not nice.I want to be happy, but also, to make others around me happy.There is nothing more beautiful than friendship, because friendship has no price and can not be bought with money. In this pandemic that has befallen us in recent months, it has taught us that it is priceless spending time with loved ones.You are here today and tomorrow you aren't. One day I will leave too, you will leave too. Love, respect, share wonderful moments with your loved ones, we all make mistakes no one is sinless, but learn to forgive and make the most of the rest of your life.

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THE FIRST CONTACT

BY HRISTIJAN ANGELEVSKI I 13

APRIL 2021 • ISSUE 1 • VOLUME 1

For many years people have been trying to find other intelligent life but, as we all know, they have been unsuccessful with that. Some people think that we are alone in this universe, while others believe that we are just one of many civilizations that exist in the universe. I personally think that they are here on Earth and, when we are ready enough, they will come out and say hello to the whole world.

This incredible story is about Pavel. He is a 50-year-old man who lives in Dulce, New Mexico and claims he saw some fascinating stuff. He is a tall, lanky and smart man that has lots of talents and he knows how to calm down people and make them feel much better than before. When he talks, he is so convinced that he is telling the truth so you can’t help believing this man.

This is what happened 30 years ago in his home town, Dulce.

Pavel was climbing the Montero Mountain when he saw a flying disc over his head. He wasn't thinking of aliens though, because he knew that people from the Dulce base have been testing some kind of strange flying things before.

So, he kept walking without fear and panic like most people would have done in this situation. But, then, he heard a loud bang in the background and he immediately turned around and went to help. Nevertheless, as he was approaching the place where something crashed, he heard some strange noises. And then, he was shocked because the flying disc that crashed was pretty small for a human being. In a few seconds, Pavel heard that the door of the disc opened and what came out changed everything.

It was a grey alien that had been hurt from the fall. It waved at Pavel. It was searching for help, but Pavel didn't know how to help; so the alien went inside again, put a strange device on the throat and it started speaking English. It said that Pavel needed to listen carefully in order to help. It told Pavel to go inside the disc and get some of the medic stuff. Pavel did that, the little being got something which looked like a pill and swallowed it. It fainted straight on Pavel's hands. Pavel quickly put it in his car and he brought it home with him. He laid it on his couch and put on a blanket to make the alien warm.

A few hours had passed and Pavel was worried about the little alien. Then, all of a sudden, the alien woke up and threw the blanket away. The alien said that it didn't need clothes or blankets because the tight suit was keeping the same temperature everywhere.

THE FIRST CONTACT

• HRISTIJAN ANGELEVSKI

Pavel asked who it was and where it came from; the alien answered that its name, translated from its language, sounds something like Sophie and she comes from the binary star system Zeta Reticuli which is 39,9 light-years from our Earth.

Pavel wasn't scared at any point of this meeting between the two different civilizations. Sophie was a 150 cm grey alien that had big black eyes, a small nose and a small mouth. She was cultured and very polite alien unlike some, as she said. Sophie didn’t want to be seen by other people because Pavel would be in big trouble. Pavel told the alien not to worry; he would try his best to hide her. Next, Sophie said that she needed something from the flying disc that would help her hide. So, they went in Pavel's car, but the car wouldn't start. Pavel didn't know anything about cars and he thought, that's it, Sophie would live with him till someone reported the alien to the authorities and they would take her. But, as he was thinking, Sophie already fixed the car with a machine used for fixing her disc as well.

When they returned to the place where Sophie crashed, the disc was gone.

Sophie was a little angry as she watched the ground with X-ray glasses and told Pavel that they were going to the Dulce base.

Ten minutes later they arrived. Sophie said to Pavel to get inside and fly away with the disc after briefly explaining how to fly it. When Pavel was ready, he came to a steel door which squeaked and slowly opened. He rushed to the disc and went inside. It wasn't very comfortable because it was made for smaller beings but he was trying his best to fly away. A few minutes later, armed men came and fired. The guns did nothing to the disc. Everyone was shocked and Pavel flew outside. He picked up Sophie and they went in the middle of the desert.

Sophie took something which looked like a gun and told Pavel to shoot at her. Pavel did that; a strange noise and light followed and Sophie turned into a human being. Now, she was 180 cm with brown curly hair and brown eyes. She was very strong and muscular. Pavel's mouth was wide open and he was speechless. They went back to get the car; this time it was Pavel’s turn to teach Sophie to drive the car. It was nice to see these two best friends driving around. After a long drive they came home.

Few weeks had passed and Pavel and Sophie were inseparable. But then, Sophie got a message from her planet. They were worried about her and wanted to get her back to Zeta Reticuli. She opposed them and told them that she would stay here with her new best friend Pavel. Still, they said they were coming. Sophie was very angry and talked to Pavel in low voice to calm him down. A tear rolled down his face and they hugged each other. Sophie took the gun, shot at herself and was an alien again.

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THE FIRST CONTACT

• HRISTIJAN ANGELEVSKI

A few days later, the aliens arrived and they wanted Sophie. She hugged Pavel and said it was not the end. She got into the mothership but then heard Pavel talking to these aliens, telling them to do the same transformation on him and change his human body to alien. The aliens looked at each other and consented. A few seconds later, he was inside the ship.

The aliens led him to an operation room where they examined his body.

Pavel was astonished; everything was different than the operation rooms on Earth. They scanned all his body and then they took a sample of his blood in a small bag to experiment further on it. They were shocked when they saw he had 2 lungs, stomach and guts, unlike them who had one lung and one huge organ that functioned like stomach and guts combined. Still, they were able to make the transformation.

When Pavel came to himself, he had a long conversation with the aliens.

Many questions were asked and answered. He asked them if they had a cure for cancer; something they knew nothing of. It became their next quest-to find cure for cancer. They are still working hard to help their friend Pavel and humanity.

FRIENDS CAN’T BE ERASED

BY DRAGAN GJORGIEVSKI I 13

APRIL 2021 • ISSUE 1 • VOLUME 1

“Some people can come and go, but those who stay true to you will be with you forever”- I said to myself, coming home after another big day out with my closest friends. “I always have fun with these people, and they always try to understand me if I’m feeling down”, I continued. I went home to sleep, as I was extremely tired and sleep deprived.

The upcoming week was pretty difficult as I had lots of exams and questioning, but we agreed to go out in the weekend so, I wanted to get this week done quick. It went by and I was feeling severely bad because of family events. The weekend finally came around, and I and my friends met at our usual hang-out spot. We went to get food and sat down in the park.

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FRIENDS CAN’T BE ERASED

• DRAGAN GJORGIEVSKI

We were a total of 4 people. It was me, David, Luka and Ariton. We would go out constantly, and on my birthday, they would visit my house and climb up on a hill that’s behind my house. The hours went by and we were sitting down talking. I brought up my week because I was feeling down, and I felt better talking about it with my friends. Afterwards, we saw a very familiar person walking around with his friends in the park. Two of my friends immediately saw something wrong, and I caught along noticing he was one of my former friends. I stopped talking to him after I realized he was using me not to have to pay for something, and to cover up his shenanigans, and as soon as I noticed him, I almost instinctively told my friends to hit the hay and walk along. He noticed my closest friend and approached him to greet him. As he walked along, he noticed me and asked why I was not talking to him. I had left him behind 2 months prior to these events and cut contact with him as soon as I realized how my naivety was being used. I decided it’s time to break the news and tell him that I don’t want to be friends with him anymore because he used me. I knew what I was doing, but the consequences would turn out to be massive. He claimed to declare war against me and stop at nothing to ruin my life.

I and my friends initially weren’t thinking much of it, but I was afraid. I was very afraid because not only did I put my own safety at risk; I put my friends at risk, too. I told them to be precautious, as he’s very unpredictable and dangerous. The next few weeks, I kept guard of my friends and asked them about confrontations with him. They all collectively heard naught of him so far.

And in the end, all his declarations turned out to be banal and useless. I felt very relieved and was able to feel good with my friends again without having to fear anyone doing anything to my friends.

We went out again, and we stumbled upon a semi-destroyed basement that was originally an arcade. I told my friends, “Let’s visit this place, we’re always walking around in circles so I feel like we should mix it up a bit.” Visiting these semi-ruined basements and buildings was always exciting and fun for me and my friends liked it, too. And so, we entered the arcade. My friend David found a writing that said “Dario was here” but it was barely readable as there were scratches and holes all around the writing. I wondered why it was like that. My second friend Luka added up and said that the building was semi-destroyed and it only made sense that there were scratches and dents around the writing, as they were spotted all over the building.

We all turned our heads to the right of the writing and saw an old arcade. It was, surprising to see, still in function. But it wasn’t a game we found there.

Just a bright red screen with the word DOOM on it. I looked down and saw something that looked like a big circle under it. I told my friends to drag out the arcade and see what the circle was. We saw the circle completely and there’s a hole exactly where the arcade was.

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FRIENDS CAN’T BE ERASED

• DRAGAN GJORGIEVSKI

It was big enough for an average person to fit through, but the arcade was around the size of a desk so it sealed off the hole pretty good. I peeked down the hole, I saw skulls there. Nothing but skulls.

I went down with Luka to investigate, and on the floor, there was another writing that said “Dario was here” and it was exactly like the last one. We told the others to come down and check it out. As they came down, the arcade moved and sealed the hole again. We were all afraid and confused, because as soon as the arcade sealed the hole, we started hearing loud noises. The worst part was that everybody heard different noises. It reminded them of their worst fears. I started hearing screeches that kept saying things such as “You’re a burden “or “You’ll never be good enough “. The screeching eventually stopped and we felt relieved as we survived that. The arcade still sealed the hole though, so we knew that this would most likely not end until we were dead.

And then, a completely random creature that called itself “The Worldbreaker” appeared. It was three meters tall and had an axe the size of my own body. I found an axe that wasn’t as big as me; yet big enough to at least be able to stand a chance. My friends scattered so that The World-breaker wouldn’t kill them all at once and tried to distract it. They bought just enough time so I could hack its leg. It fell on its knees and with the help of my friends, we killed it. The arcade that sealed the hole was dragged away and we got out.

As we were leaving the arcade, we all asked the same question. “WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!?” We eventually agreed never to speak of it again, but then my friend Ariton said, “This isn’t the end of this, guys.” “How so?” - Luka replied.

I knew what Ariton was on about. I said, “We have to find Dario. I and David noticed that the skulls were plastic and hollow, so this was a trap to kill us.”

Ariton replied, “What about the World-breaker?? Is he not real as well?” Luka realized and added that we needed to find him because The World-breaker WAS real and we needed to stop him before an army of creatures like him attacked. We knew almost nothing about The World-breaker, but we knew we had to stop him and its kin in their tracks. The only way we could do this was by finding this Dario and confront him about the other World-breakers, if there were any other World-Breakers to begin with.

At the pit of the arcade, we all saw a writing that gave some crucial information about Dario and the other World-breakers. The writing was on the first World-breaker’s axe which said “He who summoned me is not a stranger.

He who summoned me dwells among one of your pasts, and he must be stopped before he destroys all mankind, as he does not know what power he holds.” I immediately thought of who it was, and I realized we had to stop him as soon as possible.

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FRIENDS CAN’T BE ERASED

• DRAGAN GJORGIEVSKI

We looked for him for weeks and eventually found him and confronted him.

He pulled out a green dagger and threatened to kill us if we stopped him, and that the world was at his feet. We surrounded him and eventually disarmed him, and as soon as we did that, something shook up behind him. It was another World-breaker around twice as strong as the latter one. We could do nothing but run. Ariton took the knife and saw something written. It said “Kill him and the World-breakers die along with him.” We had only 1 shot as the World-breaker was coming to get us.

Suddenly, I remembered the past and I felt a burning rage. Something that I simply could not fathom. All this time in my life I felt as if I was completely useless and a burden. And now I had a chance to save mankind right in my hands. I simply didn’t care if I died, as long as I took Dario along with me. As we were running, I turned around and told my friends to stay safe and remember me. I ran for Dario and reached him with his own dagger, stabbing him directly in the heart. As I turned around, I saw my friends turn around with me, and actually manage to wound the World-breaker, to save me and mankind. I thought to myself, “Some people can come and go, but those who stay true to you will stay forever.” As soon as this happened, it was over. The World-breaker above us disintegrated and so did Dario. We broke the dagger and threw it in the river, as we were walking home to rest.

THE HOUSE

BY DAMJAN MITREVSKI I 13 APRIL 2021 • ISSUE 1 • VOLUME 1

The battle between the good and the evil is within the core of our lives. This story best describes this fact. Without that fight, our lives would have no meaning, because the heart of man is made to fight problems and come out as victorious in the end.

The James Family decided to sell their house. They had been living there for 12 years. After the sale, they bought a new one, which at first glance, looked very nice. When the day came to move out of their old home, a lot of stuff had to be transported. Eddie worked in a post office, while his wife worked in a bank. They had a 16-year-old son by the name of Michael who trained basketball and a daughter named Clara, who was a very withdrawn girl.

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THE HOUSE

• DAMJAN MITREVSKI

Michael started training in a new basketball club. All was fine, except the new kids were behaving and treating him differently than usual, and he never knew why. They thought they were going to live in that house for a long time, without having any problems.

When Clara went to her new school, she heard a lot of gossip about her new home, but she had no idea what was happening. When she came back home, she told her parents about what she had heard st school. Her parents, confused, had no idea what was being discussed, and told her that the gossip was because she was new to the school. That night, while everyone was asleep, Michael woke up because he heard a voice and immediately went out of his room to see what was happening. When he went down to the kitchen, he saw that the stove was on; he turned it off and decided not to wake up his parents, but tell them tomorrow.

The next morning, he told them what had happened. The parents, confused yet again, had no idea what Michael was talking about. They even started an argument about it. They were wondering who could have turned on the stove in the first place.

One day, Eddie went down into the basement to see where he could set his tools, and, all of a sudden, he noticed a room where the following text was scribbled: “This is where Heaven ends”. He had no idea what the text meant, so he decided to take a look and open the door. After opening it, he felt a bad presence. He left the basement and went to the car, but, when he stepped inside, he didn’t have the car keys on him, despite being sure that he left them inside the car. He entered the house yet again and managed to find the keys.

He had no idea how they got there.

The day ended and the James family sat down in the dining room and ate dinner. The family noticed that Clara wasn’t present. Her mom went upstairs to her room to see what was going on. However, upon reaching the room, she noticed that Clara was speaking to someone, but there was nobody there. The next day, she immediately consulted a psychiatrist. After the discussion, the psychiatrist said that she was probably talking to herself and the reason for that was the change of scenery and her new friends.

One night, while everyone was deeply asleep, Clara woke up. She subconsciously went to her brother’s room, stood atop of the bed and proceeded to choke him. When Michael woke up, there was nobody there. A few days later, Clara began to show aggression towards her friends and teachers. Her mum was called in. The visit to the psychiatrist didn’t give any significant results, so she decided to take her to church.

Clara was hesitant not to enter, but after some negotiation, she finally stepped forth in the church. Her mum met up with a priest, told him about their troubles and he gave her his phone number, just in case something happened

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THE HOUSE

• DAMJAN MITREVSKI

Later, while Clara was showering, her mother walked in and noticed the scars on her body. Confused, she worryingly asked where the scars came from.

However, Clara didn’t spit out a single word. Her mom became furious and she punished her. That night, when her parents were asleep, Clara went downstairs to the kitchen and grabbed a knife. She slowly approached her parents’ bedroom with the intention to kill her mother. However, just in the nick of time, her father managed to see what was happening, and tried to get her daughter away from his wife. But he immediately noticed that it wasn’t his daughter. It wasn’t Clara. It was a different person, a being, out of this world. It looked evil and unnatural, something you wouldn’t see in your everyday life.

After all the commotion, Eddie’s wife woke up, with a scared and disgusted look on her face, after seeing what Clara had become. She rushed to Michael’s bedroom, grabbed him and ran out of the house. But the demon managed to lock all the doors in the house with some supernatural power. In that moment, she remembered the priest and him giving her his phone number.

After the call, the priest was on his way to the family’s house. When he arrived, he noticed that all the doors were locked and that the only way inside was through the roof. So, he decided to do that. After he came up to the rooftop of the house, he faced the demonic presence which stopped him from entering. But he managed to overcome it and came inside. Behind the door, Clara appeared and attacked the priest. He, however, freed himself from that power and immediately found Michael and his mother, who were hiding in the bathroom. After he came in, he closed the door, but suddenly, Clara appeared and started breaking down the door, threatening to kill them. He said that there was one room in this house that contains evil and that its energy is coming from there. He added that that room is now open. So, everyone decided to defeat the demon together and close the door to the demonic room. When they got out of the bathroom, the demon immediately attacked.

The priest told them to go and that he’d hold the demon off as much as he could. He wanted to make sure that the demon is as far away from them as possible. When Michael and his mother approached the door, they saw Clara, or the demon in this case. Eddie wanted to fight the demon and to focus its attention on him, so the others could successfully close the door. But, right as Michael approached it, the demon stopped him and didn’t allow him to close it. The priest poured holy water over Clara and the demon inside her couldn’t counter, and so, the door from that demonic room was finally closed. Clara, after the event, returned to being an everyday girl.

After this, the James family sold the “demonic” house, with a goal to never remember what had happened. Nobody knows what happened to all the evil in the house, or if it still exists. This story shows that the evil can fool any one of us, unless we have a strong and unbreakable faith in God. The family lived happily ever after.

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POSSESSED

BY HRISTIJAN MOJSOVSKI I 13 APRIL 2021 • ISSUE 1 • VOLUME 1

There have always been different myths and legends, beliefs in evil spirits, fairies, and supernatural forces. We have heard different stories from our ancestors, from our grandparents. In almost every place on earth, there is a story told and passed on through generations.

Once upon a time, there was an old house; it was called the house of fear. It was abandoned. Then a new family, a man, a woman and two children, moved into the house. There was a story about the house, which said that the previous owner (the father of the family) butchered the two children and his wife with an axe many years ago. The house did not look any differently than other houses on the outside. But, on the inside, as soon as you would open the door, you could smell fear coming out of it.

The four members of the new family didn’t know anything about this story.

They were happy to have found the perfect home for them. They parked the red Audi in front of the house. The driver went out of the car, and the two children and their mother came out. Before entering their new home, they decided to look around the house, and walk around the nature, because the house was located in the forest. The children were so happy to hear the leaves whispering and the birds singing their lovely songs. They were enjoying walking around the house. They got back to the car, and they started taking the luggage out to put it inside the house.

When they opened the door, they saw spider webs all around since no one has lived in the house for a long period of time. The first sight was a little creepy, but it didn’t stop them from their tour around the house. First, they examined the ground floor, which had four rooms and a bathroom. There was also a basement, and another floor. The plan of the rooms was exactly the same on both floors. The children ran upstairs to see which room would be for whom.

After an hour passed, the dad went into the basement to see if there was any fire wood. Suddenly, there was a loud sound in the basement, and the door closed itself. The man could not believe what happened, he looked around, and he saw nobody but for a black cat which ran across the room, and kicked an old frame hanging on the wall. He prepared the fire wood, and he brought it upstairs. Then he started the fire.

POSSESSED • HRISTIJAN MOJSOVSKI

His wife had already had some bags unpacked, and started to clean some of the rooms. It was soon dark. After the dad started the fire, to keep them warm, he gathered all the family around him. They were preparing dinner and exchanging their impressions about the new home. As they were sitting all together in the new living room, a dazzling ray of light appeared outside the house, shining light on the whole house. Furious wind started blowing out of nowhere and they could hear a strange sound buzzing around the house. The sound soon disappeared, and there was complete silence after that. Their eyes met as if looking for an answer to what had just happened.

The boy was younger than nine. He asked his dad to walk him to his room, and to make him company during the night, since they were in a new place, and it was their first night there. The girl, who was fifteen, helped her mother with the housework. They cleaned the table, washed the dishes, and they sat down to get some rest as it had been a very tough day for all of them, and they had been very tired from the trip to their new house. When they were ready to go into their rooms, as soon as the girl stepped on the first step leading upstairs, the lights went out. She stopped with fear, but soon her mom came, calming her down that it must have probably been just a problem with the electricity, and soon everything would be fine. And so it happened. In two minutes, the lights were back on, and the whole house was bright. The mother and daughter went into their bedrooms.

The next day, the sun came out, and the family gathered together for breakfast in the same spot where they were sitting the previous night. While the mother was preparing the breakfast, the father was getting ready for work.

He was in the bathroom. The children were supposed to go to school, so that’s why they were in a hurry. While everyone was focused on his or her obligations, a quiet voice called Alex, the young boy. He went outside, walking quietly, and started following the voice. Walking through the woods, the voice led him to a dark place where the previous owner of the house had buried the bodies of the people from his family whom he had killed. Alex sat on a log and it was like a strange force or a spirit got inside him. It was the spirit of the young boy that was killed.

Alex’s parent soon found out that he was missing. They started looking for him. They split in different directions through the woods. One person looking in one direction, another one in a different one. There were voices through the forest calling: “Alex! Alex! … ” After a long search, they saw him sitting on the log, contemplating deeply in silence. As if he was another child. He got up, and silently walked back with his dad, and he kept silent all the way back. They all gathered together, and went home, but not sensing anything, they just went into the car and continued to the children’s schools and their work places.

First, they left the daughter at school, then Alex, and last they got to their work places.

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POSSESSED • HRISTIJAN MOJSOVSKI

A long time had passed, around seven hours, after they got back home.

Everything was calm, until the girl went to the kitchen, where she heard noise.

The windows started to shake and make rattle as if it were a scene from a horror movie. Her brother kept sitting silently, looking at the others. All of them noticed something strange in him, being so silent and quiet. He went into the kitchen where his sister was, and as soon as he looked at the kitchen tap, blood started coming out of it. The girl screamed in fear, and ran to her brother and she hugged him to protect him in her arms. Her parents heard the scream and they immediately ran to the kitchen to see what was happening, they looked into the tap, but there was nothing strange to be seen. There was deathly silence, and everything was calm as if nothing had happened. The girl thought that the house must have been possessed by evil spirits, because they even started to hear and see things that were not real. She told her parents that she has seen blood coming out of the kitchen tap when Alex looked at it.

Her mother was listening to her story with disbelief, and she tried to convince her that it wasn’t real, that it must have been happening because they still haven’t been able to get used to their new house, and that it would take them some time to adjust to the new situation. After they all went to their rooms, they got ready to go to bed not knowing what was going to happen.

The woman told her husband about all the things they had witnessed during the day. The full moon had already spread her light through the branches, and lit the little boy’s bedroom. It was Alex’s bedroom. That night, the spirit that had his body possessed, was supposed to attack his father, James, who was fast asleep after the long work day. As soon as everyone was asleep, Alex got out of his bed quietly, and walked silently, step by step, down the stairs, as if a shadow made him walk towards his parents’ room. In the meantime, he thought of something, so he went into the other room, opened the drawer and took a knife out of it, and hid it behind his back. He got back to the place where he was supposed to commit the crime. The evil spirit wanted to make him kill his father, and it was on purpose that he wanted to commit this crime, because it had been the father who killed his children, who had once lived in the same house. Alex moved around as if he were an object, led by a supernatural force to his parents’ bed. His mother was sleeping on one side of the bed, and father on the other side. Just as he wanted to stab him, his mother woke up and she thought she heard something. Alex hid behind the door, and she went back to sleep, convinced there was nothing. Alex came back again, but this time he went on the other side of the bed. He got near his father, sparkles coming out of his eyes. He moved the bed cover, and tried to stab his sleeping father several times. His father woke up, when he felt the attack, and he started fighting with his son, not being able to believe it was actually him. After a long fight, the spirit finally left Alex’s body, and he came round to his real self.

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POSSESSED • HRISTIJAN MOJSOVSKI

The family decided to leave this house, shattered by this event, and knowing the house is possessed by demons. Before leaving, they called a priest to be completely sure the evil spirit had left Alex’s body. The priest’s prayer and healing calmed them so they could leave the place in peace. They had to be certain that the demon had left the child, and he was safe.

This whole event, although very short, left a mark on their lives. A dark mark for the rest of their lives which they took with them and the chance to retell this unwanted event they had survived. The next day they left the house, with the priest’s blessings, and with the wish their lives to be settled and in peace, because this period of their lives, they would never forget, and a long time would pass before they recover.

THE FOREST

BY IVO PANOVSKI I 13 APRIL 2021 • ISSUE 1 • VOLUME 1

It was a beautiful day. Me and my son Timmy were flying to Canada on a plane early in the morning. He is my eight-year-old child. He has got brown eyes and hair, tanned skin and a short hair style, remarkably similar to me. I was born in a small village called Valor and lived with my grandparents and my brother. One day my brother Joe, mysteriously disappeared. We were devastated. The village tried to search for him, but nobody found him.

When I turned 18, I went to a survival school where we were taught all about survival, from chopping trees, to building a shelter, to starting a fire and hunting animals. I’m 27 now and I wish I could go back to those good old days.

I met many amazing people there, but it was time for me to leave and continue a new chapter in my life, with Timmy’s mother - Sarah. Unfortunately, Sarah passed away shortly after giving birth to him. I wish he got to meet his kind and caring mother, a person who would do anything to make others happy.

Once we arrived at our airport, we checked in for our flight. The airport workers began to search our luggage. While they were checking our luggage, we came to the passport control.

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THE FOREST • IVO PANOVSKI

“Papers, please!”- One of the workers said.

“Here”- I replied.

After a short while, our passports were returned and we headed to get our luggage and proceed further. We boarded our plane and went to our seats. The plane was full of people and Timmy got a window seat.

Once everyone was led to their seats, the flight attendants made sure everyone had a safe and comfortable flight. After a long period of time, the back tires were pulled up and we took off. The view from the plane was incredible! It was like I was in a fairytale; from the sun rising above the beauty of the Atlantic Ocean, to the clouds which filled the blue blanket with beauty, and the mountains and fields down below. I thought that nothing could possibly go wrong; it really did feel like that. Timmy and I had some fun before it got dark and was time to sleep.

Not for long, though. It was the middle of the night, around 3 AM when all the passengers were woken up by a siren sound.All I remember was the Captain’s voice saying: “Our left and right engines have malfunctioned! We are losing control very fast! “ Not long after, the plane crashed into a forest. All I remember was being unconscious and unable to move. When I woke up, I saw a man, covered in what seemed like red paint. I still wasn’t able to move, nor was I still stable.

It seemed like he was carrying someone in his hands, and then it hit me.

“TIMMY!”- I screamed as the man carried him away, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it.

“I’LL FIND YOU; I PROMISE.” – I said to myself.

Once I pulled myself together and felt strong enough, I stood up to see… nothing and nobody. It was at that moment I realized I was all alone. I walked around in what was left of the plane crash to explore. There were some leftovers in what used to be the kitchen and a first-aid-kit. In the storage room of the plane there was something that seemed like a hatchet. I thought it would come in handy, so I took it and wandered outside. In the front of the crash there seemed to be scattered luggage from the passengers who were on the plane as me.

There were some useful things I thought, like cloth and leftover snacks. The forest seemed beautiful. Sunshine over all the trees canopy, flowers blooming, animals running around…it was beautiful. After a short while, I stumbled upon a sign that read: “DANGER, KEEP OUT! NOTHING IS AS IT SEEMS. DON’T BE FOOLED BY THE ONE PULLING THE STRINGS!” After reading that, I was worried for what was yet to come. After a long walk I stumbled upon what seemed like a village. There was nobody around, though. I decided to go explore and see what it had. There was an old pot staying on a shelf.

I thought it would be pretty useful to clean some saltwater, from what I’ve seen from nearby ponds anyway.

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THE FOREST • IVO PANOVSKI

After a while the sun started to set and it got dark very quickly.

Remembering our lessons from my Survival School, I set up a Log Cabin by chopping up some nearby trees and gathering some rocks and leaves. Not too far I lit a campfire for the night, put some water in the pot and let it clean.

After the water boiled, there were sounds of people in the woods.

It looked like they were people from a tribe, but they had seen me from a far. They all began to run towards me, I was scared for my life. As I was running away, I heard several of them shout: “FOOOOOOD! WE WANT FOOD!” They weren’t people from a tribe, they were cannibals! People who eat other people!

I had to do something, and then I got an idea! There were a lot of big bushes, so I hid in them. It was still dark and they thought I was still running ahead.

After that incident, I wasn’t feeling safe at all. The next morning, I went hunting for food and shelter, the log cabin wasn’t going to last for long. Upon finding another village of some sort, there was a small stone building with a rope going down. I thought it was an underground tunnel, so I decided to go explore. I went down the rope. It wasn’t a tunnel; it was a cave.

It was very dark there, so I lit up a torch. I knew there was trouble up ahead.

Going deep into the cave I found something. It looked like a sword, in perfect shape for fighting. Wandering a little further in the cave, I saw something so terrifying…I froze. It was something straight out of a nightmare…It was an abomination! That…thing…It had FOUR ARMS! It was some kind of a mutated beast! But, unfortunately, it saw me and came charging at me! It was all or nothing. I set out on a mission to find my son and bring him back home. I pulled out the sword and began stabbing the beast with all my strength, but it fought back.

That mutant creature held back my sword with its hands and punched me in the stomach with the other ones, but I saw a weak spot. I was wounded. I knew what I had to do but I did not know if I had the strength to do it. The top of its head looked like the core of the whole body. With all my strength, I charged at it and stabbed it right in the core. The filthy beast fell onto the ground and slowly disappeared into atoms.

That thing looked like it was guarding a building; it looked like a laboratory entrance. There was a sign before the entrance. It read: “WELCOME TO SAHARA LABORATORY” The door was locked, but there was something on the sign. There was a keycard that read: “SAHARA ACCESS”. The door opened after the scanning of the card. I was greeted by a voice that said: “WELCOME HOME, PUPPET MASTER.” This place was eerie, I must say. There were all sorts of supplies everywhere, and a lot of rooms which seemed like testing grounds for many different things like potions and even cloning. As I walked further, I saw a really strange machine I’ve never seen before. Everywhere I looked, there were people… people from the plane! After further investigating around the place, I saw the name of the machine.

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THE FOREST • IVO PANOVSKI

The machine was called “The Mutator”. It must’ve been how that mutant beast was created. The “Puppet Master” used those people from the plane crash for his experiments!

While walking around, suddenly, I heard something from a room nearby.

All I heard was…this: “THIS is your home now whether you liked it or not! So better get used to it!”

“Get away from me!”

That voice…it seemed so familiar. I slam opened the door, and then I saw them both- Timmy and the man covered in red!

“GET AWAY FROM HIM” – I screamed at the top of my lungs.

“Well, well, well… look who it is”. – The man replied.

“I’m sorry, how rude of me not to introduce myself… I’m the one they call…“The Puppet Master”.

After he said that, it was all clear to me.

“So, you’re the one responsible for this?!”

“Well, of course I am! The funny thing is that…you’ve known me since the beginning…it was all under your nose the whole time!”

“Wait…I recognize that voice…Joe…I-Is th-that you?!”

“Well, well…Hello, Brother!” – He said.

“So, you were the one that sent those cannibals and that mutant thing after me?!”

“Of course, I was pulling the strings all along and yet you never realized!”

“I’m going to be the one to stop you and get my son back! You’re not the man I knew a long time ago!”

“Fine by me, the hard way is more fun anyway!”

I never expected this to happen, the long battle between my own brother and me. It was a tough clash between us both, but at the end I had the upper hand, his weapon was gone and wasn’t able to do anything.

“What are you waiting for? Finish me already! That’s the thing you came to do after all, Isn’t it?”

“No, it isn’t, I came for my son Timmy. I’m not one to hurt others, especially a brother. Let’s go back home, as a family, brother.”

After a long time of convincing Joe to come back home, it finally got to him what he had done. The things he had created, the family he left behind.

I didn’t think he had it in him but he destroyed the machine and brought us back home with the same thing he came to this forest with, a yacht on the shore.

This was the story of a terrifying event. I had to make some tough decisions, but it all ended in the best way possible. I’ve got more stories to tell, but those are for another time…

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HOPE

BY ANGELA ATANASOVSKA II 12 APRIL 2021 • ISSUE 1 • VOLUME 1

Little, low-ceilinged common. Quiet. No birds chirping, no people talking outside, no radio. It was raining that morning and the water was leaking through the ceiling bringing the rain closer to Tanner. All the soft water drops splashed all around the room. They were dripping down slowly and calmly, repetitively hitting the cold cement floor. It didn't seem as like the morning has come. It was dark, gloomy, foggy, and cold. There wasn't single sunlight overcoming the room with its shines. All you could see from that one miniature window in the middle of the room was another wall, with four black lines. You couldn't see greenery. You could only see the tragedy of a story and dark grey clouds lurking from the sky. Cold breeze quickly entered the small room creating an even inhospitable atmosphere there.

Tanner was laying on his white bed covered in sticky mud and gore. The tranquility of the light-colored bed sheets was only to be suppressed by the filthy mess melting into the fabric and one isolated fellow. He was wearing a lawngreen sweater with denims that were loose on his body. He couldn't rest because he was focusing on his thoughts overcoming his non-closing eyes. He couldn't even withdraw from the bed because an unseasonably severe and perilous storm was furiously stabbing his peace. He couldn't cease hearing the water trickle its way down to the floor non-stop. It appeared as like every single droplet was helping to create a pond in which Tanner's thoughts were intertwined. Rage streamed through his blood, causing him to be unaware of the wind circling in his head forming a massive and powerful tornado costing him to be clueless in his choice of action. The bed was moving along with his body. He was laying in disbelief. His soul was whining thunderously, but he let the storm continue. His head was far and wide wandering foolishly through a desert of concern, but he let it go. His heart was shattered in tiny pieces of glass representing his unbearable pain, but he was disregarding the cause. He wouldn't even react if you kept poking him with a needle. He wouldn't be bothered if you held a knife to his neck, putting his story on the chopping block. His body started having ticks every once in a while. He started hitting the bed over and over again desperate to gain control over his nerves. His breaths diffused roughly. For a split second his body was stiff. He stopped. He wanted to get rid of all his thoughts but he couldn't escape the trap he was in. He felt like he was in a spider web not knowing how to get out of that tangly mess.

HOPE • ANGELA ATANASOVSKA

All of a sudden, out of nowhere, there was a quick tap on the door. He immediately gathered his body at the top of the bed. Fear could be seen spreading in his eyes from miles away. Tears quickly escaped running down his face. On the other side of the door was Ron, who was the only one Tanner knew. He rubbed his face making it have a brilliant scarlet red color. His tears disappeared from his frightened face as they were soaked in his knitted viridescent sweater. Ron walked into the room bringing Tanner food. He quickly entered and sat next to his friend. As he was eyeing the bed, he slowly discovered the scary scenario. He saw Tanner wondering alone in his red world of unconsciousness. Anguished and overwrought about the devastating reality of someone's world, he was puzzled and saddened. Tanner was shaking uncontrollably again, feeling helpless, perturbed, and doleful. He was constipating to tell Ron about everything, but various thoughts were present in his head at once. He was facing the tragic pictures restrained in his memory, hardly believing what he has done. His control over his body was way out of his reach slowly disappearing in the dense, milky fog diluted in front of his profile.

He furiously started hitting his head with his tough hands covered in red drops. Ron, despondent, couldn't watch the tragedy that was happening in front of him. Just as he was going to help his friend, they both heard large footsteps approaching the door.

The silence was broken as another knock was heard. It had shaken up the whole room leaving Tanner in much suffering. He hid his ears on both sides of his head holding them tightly. Attempting to lessen the disturbing sound of the wooden door shaking back and forth in its frame, he made his veins pop on his forehead. A purplish color appeared on his face. Before Ron could escape the circumstances he was in, Tanner's hand landed on top of his without an ounce of hesitation, leaving his head to rest from the pressure he was applying previously. He seized hold of Ron tightly, undesirous to let him go. His mouth was extensively opened and his tendons were stretched out along his neck. He was frozen. Not a single word escaped his dry, crusty lips.

Not a single body part moved for a second. He couldn't breathe from all that was aching his already splintered heart. He couldn't force out any other emotion than irritation and soreness. His strength faded away as he heard words entering the room from the cracks scattered on the door. He loosened the grip he had on Ron's hand. Ron stretched out his hand getting the blood circulating in his harmed palm. He went close to the door and got a firm hold of the loosely attached handle.

As he opened the entrée, he differentiated the silhouette of the man that was standing there. Trevor, hearing the sound of the creaking door was becoming apprehensive. He crashed to the ground in agony with his face buried in his ribs. His wounds spread intensively through his heart. Scratching his head in eager to leave this situation, he swung his body on the floor crawled up in a ball.

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HOPE • ANGELA ATANASOVSKA

Leaving fresh scratches going down his face as he was carried away by the ticking clock in his mind predicting his secret will come out to haunt him. Ron immediately recognized his acquaintance as the rare light landed slowly revealing his face. It was a guy named Michael. He and Ron knew each other from high school. Now Michael was a charity co-founder and CEO, having a well-paid job and a decent life. Ron's facial expression strongly indicated shock, because he hadn't been in Michael's presence since their school days.

As Michael stepped even closer to Ron, he could extinguish the several traces of red scars and hideous purple-blood-filled bruises distributed central on his face. The disturbing night-colored eyelid of the one eye left small space for the pupil to peak through the long eyelashes. This was overpowering the rest of the unpleasant traces on Michael's face. His smile grew by the second touching the ends of his cheeks, creating wrinkles along with his eyes in excitement. Ron was pleased to see his friend after some time, but his startled and upset self couldn't prevent his concern and curiosity arise on the surface.

As he welcomed Michael in the room craving to discover more about the inconvenience existing on his face and his presence, Tanner at a leisurely pace lifted his frightened face up only revealing his eyes. As he recovered from the darkness he was formerly in and tried to spot who was the person that had just walked into his area, his and Michael's eyes all of a sudden met in the middle of the room. Just at that second, all the pictures from the previous night became visible in Tanner's mind. Tanner identified the man instantly putting his heart in a well of convulsion. He could see a rainy night. He could see himself and the guy standing in front of him, walking, wandering, and exploring the dug, narrow, rocky streets in that neighborhood. They suddenly bumped into each other and their shoulders involuntarily and instantaneously touched, causing their heads lost in the wilderness to turn opposite each other. Tanner, frustrated punched Michael before he could even apologize. He raised his arm, clenching it tightly with his knuckles pointed in the front before taking the hit. Michael almost fell after the first rough punch he took on his face. Confused and hurt, he rose up and got introduced to the red drops slipping onto his hands when he touched his nose. Tanner angrily thumped the guy he was confronted with again. In fear and concern of what he had done, his eyes started blinking vigorously. He began rubbing them intensively; being unaware of what kind of situation he was in. This hit was even more solid and dense and was sure to leave marks. Blood could be seen flying on the sandy ground, as Michael was laying on the rock-solid surface beneath him.

Tanner, doubtful, stopped hitting him and with big, firm, and quick steps he left. Michael, even in suffering and unendurable pain, instantly got up with his sore head, wanting to follow Tanner. He discovered where he lived without him noticing. Later, he decided to return home and take care of his agonizing traces, but with a plan ingrained and deeply embedded in his head for the following day. This was happening.

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HOPE • ANGELA ATANASOVSKA

Tanner could feel the tension building up by the second. His heartbeat increased passionately. He made a concentrated effort not to let his eyes overflowed with tears, but as he got aware of what he had done, his tears uncontrollably fell out of his eyes like two sparkling, moonlit, and silent waterfalls. His incomprehensible eyes and inscrutable body language gave everything away. Ron and Michael quickly ran to help ease the panic attack Tanner was experiencing. When Michael grasped Tanner's hand he could feel the thin skin rubbing against his bone. Without any second guess, Tanner attempted to get rid of that clench by moving lively and sprightly standing up.

Michael concerned about his situation and feeling his cold body tremble unmanageably he gathered his scared soul close to him. He put his arms around Tanner, enclosing his still opened cuts. He surrounded him in a feeling of comfort and understanding. He sheltered his head from the lightning aiming to ruin his temper. He strongly held Tanner in his hands knowing his true colors. Tanner, balling his eyes out, landed his head on Michael's shoulder, apologizing repetitiously. He felt guilt and disgust from the head he was trapped in. Michael could feel the shivering body and Tanner's shaky hands grasping his sweater. He was trying to get a hold of him and to calm him down, previously realizing the problems this man has to encounter within his head. The bewildered look on Ron's face was as clear as water. He couldn't believe what was happening. He saw Tanner's flame of temper put out in the squeeze of trust. He saw a man gluing another man's broken pieces into a whole. He saw the humanity of one person flow in the wind, picking all the clouds of the sky revealing the colorful, extraordinary rainbow which appeared post the cold, exhausting rain. Michael's love, compassion, and empathy could be felt in his heart pressed up against the tremendous, deep, and wild heartbeats escaping through Tanner's ribs. His commiseration was expressing itself in the bright light. Tanner felt protected and guarded against the gates of the unpleasant truth. He felt like the little soft red cloth waiting for the unknown consequence to unfold, was taken away from his hands. It was unattainable for his small, thin arms, making his tornados control themselves.

The utterly unaccountable and earthbound storms causing the dust of his heart to arise present in his head began to descend on the ground. But the decent and blurry fog in front of his pupils didn't seem to fade away. He opposed Michael getting rid of the touch of his strong hands from himself.

Michael approached him slowly, not wanting to create a scene. They walked coordinately. Tanner was backing up not wanting to face the actuality and Michael was going near him trying to confront and discuss his situation. He wanted Tanner to go with him and for Michael to find him a better place to live. He also wanted to take care of him, worried that if he left this helpless man alone, he would proceed to harm his pure heart. Tanner was full of doubt.

He didn't want to trust him. He didn't know what was it like to trust someone like. He didn't have anyone to trust and who trusted him.

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HOPE • ANGELA ATANASOVSKA

His mind was overfilled with second guesses and concerns as to why this man wants to help him. Why does he want to try to better one's life, not knowing his past? To try to bring hope in one's dream just to ruin it until it turns into black, mysterious, crumbly coal. The eye contact didn't break even for a millisecond. They stared at each other, one gazing into a hurt, ruined soul and the other one gazing completely lost in transition. Tanner felt warm hospitality as he continued eyeing Michael. He calmed down, lowering his face and breaking the strong eye contact. He accepted Michael's offer still constipating if he should. Michael took Tanner's arm tightly. As he took him out of that forgotten hole, Ron's face lit up from astonishment. He felt thrilled that help for Tanner was provided. He hugged Tanner tightly before he stepped out of the room with Michael. Michael thanked Ron before leaving his high school friend. The fog had cleared up and there was not a single water drop hitting the ground. The sun was peeking through the clouds with the elegant light caressing the face of the newborn friendship.

Tanner now lived in a well-equipped and small apartment. He had a well-paid job and went to therapy sessions held by Bailey, who was Michael's wife. He was getting better by the day. Michael even took him to his firm once introducing him to his workers. Everybody knew and adored him. People got to meet Tanner whose caring personality and the tough story he went through shined right through, causing everybody to share their difficult times in their lives. He was the outcome of trust, strength through unbearable pain, and the person who showed that their past doesn't define them. He was the giant everybody looked up to. He was the story that suffered through every moment but was given a second chance to redeem himself and to better his life. He was the one who crawled up using every non-existing muscle in his body just to see the light already shining on his presence. Ron visited Tanner repetitively.

He was glad to see his friend with an opportunity that turned his life around at a split second. Tanner was a beautiful story of forming a friendship and a reminder that no one should ever lose hope.

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ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE INNER PLANET

BY ANTIM ATANASOSKI II 12 APRIL 2021 • ISSUE 1 • VOLUME 1

It was 2040; humans had already colonized some parts of Mars and made the first settlements. Through this colonization, many things that were an enigma for the science before this important year are now a scientific fact.

But, with that colonization the thirst for knowledge didn’t stop, on the contrary, it had become even larger. A group of scientists from the European Astronomical Union were on a quite risky mission to discover the other part of Mars, because many of the rovers that the scientists have launched to the other side of Mars were simply destroyed for unknown reasons. This mystery will be uncovered by the three heroes of this adventure who already knew each other. The first time they met each other was on the mission on the Moon, when one of the bases was completely destroyed and they needed to save as many lives as possible, the second mission was in the Asteroid field when they had to fight with a huge monster, and now this is their third mission. Our main characters are: Stefan Zigon Macedonian-Slovenian tall black-haired physicist in his early 40’s who studied in the high-class University in Ljubljana; graceful, superb professional, sometimes frowning, he easily got angry if someone was not serious in his job, a man that preferred to be in nature more than in the inn. Wolfgang Kaltsteimer - German-Swedish astronaut and interpreter of Runic letters, gorgeous blonde appearance with hypnotic blue eyes in his early 30’s. Lover of speed and unknown places, best spaceship pilot in his generation from Pilot academy in Dusseldorf, praised in North America and Europe. Prepared for crazy parties with beautiful women and expensive beverages. And Juan Sanchez, a Spanish astronomer, astrophysicist and a guitar player, the most ambitious one in Madrid University with brown hair and Mediterranean tan, always staring at the stars.

Constructor of one of the best telescopes in history, romantic, great friend and joke teller. Great Triumvirate with successful missions. Their little misunderstandings were making them a better team that learnt from their mistakes. Fantastic team, which besides the strong characters, managed not to ruin their missions which were important for the security of our civilization.

All three astronauts had just met each other in the hangar of the Russian base Kosmos where their ship was located for departure. They were really happy and full of motivation for the upcoming odyssey and started a small talk during their preparation for the departure from the base:

ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE INNER PLANET • ANTIM ATANASOSKI

“Hey, guys, are you exited for this mission in a new world, all of us together again, isn’t it great”-Wolfgang said with great enthusiasm imagining this mission like some of his summer parties.

“Hey, great but I will be more grateful If you do not escape from a monster like on the Asteroid IG-150 and do not strain your friends because me and Juan were those who killed the monster, not you, which is really surprising because you are the strongest guy of all of us three”- Stefan replied with anger that made his face look like a dragon before attack.

“Wow, that’s a past, it won’t happen again and don’t be so negative” suddenly the conversation was stopped by Juan. “Guys we are friends and colleagues, we do not fight and we should be professionals.” - Juan said with his funny Spanish accent.

The spaceship “Horus” * was prepared for launching in space. Wolfgang went to the cockpit and started the spaceship. Our lads were feeling the turbulence of the engine behind them, the smell of the engine that can help the spaceship take off with Casimir effect. It caused a feeling of a new adventure into the undiscovered, unknown and mystical space. After several days they arrived on the Red Planet, but it was night and it was really romantic looking at the two moons of Mars. The group members were tired and they needed some rest from the long journey. They were accommodated at the hotel named “Two stars” in the city of New Washington. The city was like a Wild West town but with far more intellectual people (like scientists) and more advanced technology. The hotel looked like a bigger version of an igloo but larger and more luxurious inside. The first thing they smelled was the freshly baked chicken which made Zigon and Juan nostalgic about their childhood when they ate the chicken cooked by their grandmothers. When they went inside, they were hosted by the robotic receptionist that took their luggage and he went upstairs. The host of the hotel welcomed them with a huge smile on his face and started a conversation: “Welcome to our small hotel, I hope the space traffic wasn’t too busy?”- “No, it was really quiet, and also we are really pleased with this hotel, it is so beautiful”-Juan complimented the host. “I see amigo, you are from Spain and you have a guitar, I think that you can participate in a party at the hotel, would you accept it?”-The host asked with his persuasive look on his face. “Sure, I like parties”-Juan replied while both of his friends in the back were so unbelievably unsurprised by his silly decision.

One hour later of the accommodation in their rooms, our three heroic comrades joined the party. Many scientists, technicians and even farmers started to party hard with music from 50’s, 60’s 70’s, 80’s and a new popular rock band reincarnated the music (because the music from 10’s and 20’s from 21 century was forgotten).

In the end of the first half they had music from Kraftwerk played by the holographic designs of the band and in the second half Juan Sancez started

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ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE INNER PLANET • ANTIM ATANASOSKI

playing Cancion del Mariachi thinking he was on the stage of Carnegie Hall.

He made a huge group of fans among the scientists. During his playing the host said: “Wow, he looks like Antonio Banderas in Desperado, I can’t understand how this man is not an actor or a famous guitar player?’’- The host asked his friends with great amusement and curiosity. Wolfgang replied in a really ridiculous way “He became astrophysicist just to write songs about stars and to break his family music tradition”. The host laughed out loud about the joke spoken by the Swedish blonde hair, “Viking” looking guy that was drinking Scotch, one of his favorite beverages that tasted smoky and smooth.

The party was over, and all the scientist were tired and returned to their rooms to have a long nice sleep. The next day, our heroes woke up early, at 6am, preparing for their odyssey to the other side of the inner planet. They put on the space suits made of finest materials, superior technology and weaponry system like laser guns. They finally crossed the other side and walked for over 100 km, but didn’t find anything accept all those destroyed rovers that were mentioned by the commander that gave this mission to them.

Suddenly, something strange happened, a mini tornado appeared in front of them. They were absorbed by the disturbance, and ran all over the place, but in vain, the figure that appeared from the tornado looked like the Egyptian god of death Anubis. He held a metal magic staff and was vigorously trying to hit them. The creature chased Stefan but he, with his clear and cold mind, took the laser gun and started to shoot to the crystal in the middle of his forehead thinking it will work, but unfortunately, it didn’t. The battle between Stefan and Anubis was like in the SF series Star Trek, spectacular. After 10 minutes of chasing, Stefan found the weakness; it was the Ankh of the staff which the creature carried. Stefan shot in the Ankh, and it disintegrated into million pieces. That resulted with loss of power on the monster side, and the Anubis** looking creatures just turned into dust and strange and disgusting smell of sulfur was spread across the air with strange ghostly sound of death following It. Shortly after this amazing event, both Wolfang and Juan awakened. Wolfgang asked Stefan: “Wait, what the hell was that Egyptian looking creature with that powerful staff technology?” “We don’t know yet, but if we go deeper in this mad area maybe we shall find some trace”-Stefan answered and accidently looked in the dust of the destroyed alien and noticed that the crystal looking rock that monster carried in the middle of his forehead was not destroyed. Zigon was confused and fogged by his thoughts, besides his mindfulness, he took the stone and felt something hot, like a freshly boiled potato.

He knew he shouldn’t share the information with other members in this journey, he felt like the stone had some special energy which made him put the stone in his pocket and not share the information with his comrades.

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They continued to walk for hours and soon all the reserves of water ran out, the atmosphere started influencing their feelings, physical capabilities and they started walking like snails without houses after the rain.

All of a sudden, they saw a magnificent pyramid covered with stones made of type of concrete that was unknown to the humanity, with fragments of quartz crystal on all rows of stones except the top of the pyramid that was made of 100% quartz crystal. Four obsidian-concrete obelisks situated on the northwest, north-east, south-west and south- east sides of the pyramid. All three key figures of this story stayed shocked, with their mouths widely opened, they forgot about their pain and suffering on their journey. Juan and Wolfgang were more fascinated and really impressed by the architecture and the hieroglyphics carved on the obelisks. Then they tried to open the door but failed and wondered how to open it, while Stefan Zigon was thinking whether to tell them. He saw the door and the door surprisingly opened. Wolfgang said with his Germanic - Swedish accent: “Wow, how did you do that? Are you a magician or something?”- “I don’t know, maybe I am a relative of Dynamo”Zigon replied with great dose of irony which was opposite of his disciplined nature, while Juan was laughing secretly. They entered the pyramid, and the moment they stepped in, they were astonished by the interior full with strange rune writings, drawings of alien looking creatures and Vimana*** looking spaceships, pictures of horrors, burning people, space conflicts between races and many other mysteries.

“This is magnificent, truly wonderful, the greatest mysteries of our history in one place”-Juan said with a trembling voice while Wolfgang was fascinated and confused by the fact that runes were carved in the stones on a planet 54,6 million kilometers from Earth.

They also saw a replication of the Anubis guardians sitting inside a large capsule which produced a sound of annoying robotic tics with some sort of liquid that smelled of some unknown chemical waiting to be opened. Driven by their curiosity they went upstairs and saw a force field that divided the room and the hall. They wanted to break the force field and to see what was really happening in the room.They felt something mysterious. Stefan said to Wolfgang: “You know this type of ancient letters, maybe you can translate it”. And Wolfgang answered shortly, “I will” and started to examine the letters precisely.

After a few minutes he nearly decoded the code that was intended to open the force field but he thought that he missed something and in that moment the stone with the carved rune on it fell out of Zigon’s pocket, the other two colleges were shocked because of the rock and Wolfgang shouted at him: “Where did you find this stone and why didn’t you tell us?” – “I was afraid; I found it in the creature’s dust and there was some energy that corrupted me; plus you were not serious and I thought that it is not wise at all for this unknown stone with great power to be in your hands”,

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“Fool, the rune on this stone can open the force field” - Wolfgang yelled at Zigon.

“Maybe we can just sell-it to some Martian”-Juan didn’t resist telling a joke for once.

There was a dark cube that produced sparks with negative energies all around it that also imitated an irritating sound of a metal sheet that shakes under the gust of wind. Wolfgang just forgot about the quarrel, the stone fell out from his hand and entered the room together with Juan.

“Wow, this is unbelievable, this is exactly the problem that destroyed the rovers because there is the antenna that imitates dark energy and controls the entire army of jackal headed creatures”- Juan seriously said.

Wolfgang and Juan tried to turn off the machine but unfortunately the same creepy energies that made them unconscious during the battle with the jackal headed creatures made them not recognize the buttons and instead of 2 they pressed 4 buttons which activated the entire army of the Anubis guards that marched quickly with their metal feet that produced a sound of a real army of doom. Then both the troublemakers pressed another button which killed them. Zigon was terrified and full of despair about the death of his friends and about the fast-upcoming army that were trying to destroy him, but enough rational to turn the situation. He picked up the stone and quickly entered the room. He saw that the stone protects him from the negative energies and thought about a solution. Several Anubis guardians were trying to stop him from putting the stone in the vent under the antenna, but,using his strength, he put down the stone and suddenly all the army was stopped and negative energies disappeared. In the room, a strange monolith-looking dark portal appeared. With smooth steps he entered the portal and…he was inside the Giza pyramid. In that moment he knew that he should tell this story to the world and he thought that this story would be a bestselling book of that year, the story of the greatest mystery of humanity. He never knew that a casual mission can reveal such a great mystery and the connection between the humanity and the alien civilizations.

*God of light. After this God the spaceship is named

**God of death and afterlife

***mythological flying palaces in Hindu mythology

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THE MATH TEST

BY EVA GJORGIEVSKA

II 12

APRIL 2021 • ISSUE 1 • VOLUME 1

The sun was shining high up in the air, but it wasn't too warm, for it was spring and the wind gradually brushed against the skin. Nathan, a 17-year-old High-schooler was late to his first period. Running out the door and down the street to the local high school he was contemplating whether he should even show up. One more absence won’t hurt, right?

His best friend, Anne, was waiting for him in front of their school an hour later. Nathan decided to skip after all. “You know, you shouldn’t skip class so often. You can fail with if you’re absent for over 18 days, I looked it up” Anne started walking to their science lab for the second period. “How did you know I was skipping class?” Nathan asked, running to catch up with her. Anne rolled her eyes “What else would you do during math?” Nathan chuckled. “Fair enough”. Together they walked to their next lecture.

Every day in Nathan’s life is the same, wake up late, argue with parents, go to class, go to the local park with Anne and judge every person that walks past, which is basically their whole school, go home in the afternoon and avoid doing any homework by listening to loud music that his parents and neighbors complain about, or reading a novel he found in the trash. With the amount of studying Nathan did, so, with no studying, he was doing pretty good in school. He had average grades, besides math, which he was failing, but that’s beside the point. He was a junior, so college applications were right around the corner. If it were up to Nathan, he wouldn’t go to college, but Anne had convinced him to at least try out community college, so he doesn’t have to stay and live with the same people in this small town working as the cashier in the local grocery store. That was enough to get Nathan to try and apply.

Today, like any other day, Nathan and Anne headed straight for the park, to their favorite spot, under the big oak tree. “Are you going to ditch me and go home early again?” Nathan asked Anne while they were waiting for people to show up. “You know I have to prepare my applications” Anne responded, and spotted an old man sleeping on a bench. “You know, that’s going to be you in 20 years if you don’t start trying to do something with your life” Nathan looked up at her. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” “Well, nothing, just that you spend all your days moping around and complaining, without doing anything efficient about it.” Nathan laughed. “And so, what if that’s me, he looks happier than if he had to spend all his days in the same office” Anne was the one to laugh now.

THE MATH TEST • EVA GJORGIEVSKA

And thus, their game started, and they went on and on for hours, and they went on and on for hours, insulting each person that caught their eye, including themselves by making up stories to waste their time.

Suddenly, it was 7pm and both of them were late for dinner. They picked up their stuff and headed in separate directions. When Nathan got home, his parents were sitting at the dining table, waiting for him. “Crap” he whispered, and walked to his seat. “You’re late again” his mom’s tone was cold and distant. His dad just sat quietly, trying to ignore the tension in the room. “I told you to at least be on time for dinner!” this time, his mom raised her voice, almost to a shout. “I know, but we got caught up with Anne” “That’s always your excuse! ‘Oh, sorry mom, I got caught up’ or ‘Oh sorry mom, Anne needed help’. You have to start thinking about your future Nathan!” now she was shouting, yelling words in a tone that went deep into your bones and sank there. “Why does everyone keep saying that?” Nathan shouted out now. “What I do in my high school days won’t determine my success in the future!” he continued. “Yes, son it will. Especially if you fail a subject in your junior year” this time, his dad was speaking. Nathan went dead silent. How did they know about math? “What are you talking about?” he asked them, trying to come off as confused. “We know about math, your teacher sent us an email.” Nathans’s expression dropped. “What happens now?” he asked, not looking up from his empty, clean plate. “You try to study instead of lying around all day! Stop being lazy!” this time his dad was shouting, and he looked mad. “I won’t do that, math won’t help me in my future” “And what future, per say, is that?” his mom asked. “A publicist, or a writer.” Nathan spat out. He watched his dad’s expression slowly fall into bitter disappointment. “My son, my name, won’t be working as a silly writer in some European country getting money off of pity!” he was shouting, and he slammed the table. For dramatic effect, Nathan noted. “Thank god you’re not mine” his dad murmured, sitting down again.

Nathan stood still. His mom’s face went red in embarrassment and white in fear. “What?” Nathan asked, glaring at both of his parents. “You’re adopted” his mom said quietly, after a long pause of silence.

Suddenly, Nathan’s head was blank, empty, no thoughts, just confusion. Slowly, that confusion turned into anger. He felt betrayed and lied to. But even that anger didn’t last long, it turned into sadness. Grief over what he could have had, the life he might have lost. The sadness transitioned itself into guilt. He felt as if he didn’t have the right to be mad. Pity overtook him, he felt bad for his parents, all they wanted was a kid, they wanted to be good to that kid, and in return…

Nathan felt confused, he didn’t know what to feel. It was as if everything and everyone was against him. As if the whole world, his own thoughts turned against him. He wanted to yell, and to be mad and shout and slam the table, to finally unleash on his parents.

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But his own body went against his deepest wishes. So instead of bursting into a vicious outrage, he simply slumped back down on the chair and didn’t say a single word to his “parents”, just quietly ate his dinner and went to his room.

That night, he didn’t talk to Anne like he normally does. Instead, he curled in a ball on his floor, the thoughts overwhelming his brain. He fell asleep with the idea of meeting his biological parents on his mind.

And so, the next morning, he woke up early to eat breakfast with his parents, in order to gain information about his biological parents. Finally, he brought up enough courage to ask. “I want to know my biological parents” he spat out, the words blurring together. He could see the hurt on his mother’s face, and tried not to mimic it. Instead, his dad spoke. “The adoption center only gave us her last name, we don’t know anything else. They said it might not even be the person who brought you in, since they only need their name.” Disappointed, Nathan asked “Can I get her name then?” he tried not to sound cold, but failed.

“Johnson” his mom’s tone surprised him, as it sounded more cold than hurt.

“That’s my math teacher’s last name” Nathan was filled with questions once more. “We know. That’s why we never told you. It might be her, or it might be a coincidence” his dad explained, but Nathan was already out the door, running to school.

He didn’t have math until 5th period, when he had his exam, but also had 15 minutes until class, so he went directly to his math teacher’s classroom, and of course she was there, sitting on her desk, looking as dull as always and strangely pale, grading papers. Nathan didn’t even knock, he just burst into the room. “Excuse me” his teachers’ tone was cold, per usual and she looked confused and annoyed. Nathan didn’t waste any time explaining the whole situation. As he was getting more into the story, he could see her face drop, even though she tried to hide it. “So?” he asked her, once he was done and out of breath. “Sit down” for the first time, her voice wasn’t cold, or dreadful or annoyed. She sounded genuine. So, he did, he sat down. But then she smirked at him. “I won’t tell you anything if you fail your exam. However, if you get a passing grade, I will tell you everything I know.” All the hope Nathan had built up suddenly dropped to the pit of his stomach. “But it’s today!” he shouted out.

“Exactly” the teacher said, smiling to herself. “You’re evil” he told her, and ran out the door, with tears in his eyes filled from his own disappointment. He felt furious, his blood boiled, but there was nothing he could do. There was no way he could pass the exam.

And so, the hour of the exam came, and Nathan hadn’t spoken a single thing all day. For the first time ever, he was scared of that sheet of paper. The teacher didn’t even acknowledge his presence. He knew she was only doing this to get him to study. ‘You won’t win you evil monster’ he thought to himself. So, he wrote random numbers for his answers, and left the classroom 15 minutes early.

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Nathan had given up hope on finding his parents. The math teacher hadn’t shown up to school in a week, and they hadn’t even gotten a substitute. Anne forced him to explain everything, and he had. She offered to help him look, but he refused, said it would be for nothing anyway, adding that his biological parents clearly didn’t want him in the first place.

However, that day at school, their principal was replacing the math teacher.

“I’m sorry to inform you all, but your old math teacher has passed away” everyone gasped, and Nathan whispered “Thank god”. The principal glared at him, Anne hit him, but he couldn’t care less. She was a mean old lady anyway.

“She did however, grade your tests. I will hand them out, and we will wait for a substitute, until then, enjoy your free period”. When Nathan got his test, there was a note inside. He opened the note, read it and immediately crumbled it. A single tear dropped on it, he brushed it away, but more kept coming. The note had read “It was me. I am the Johnson. I am your mom”. “But I failed the test, it’s too late now anyway, you’re gone” he thought to himself.

DESIRE

BY ALEKSEJ ILIJOVSKI II 12 APRIL 2021 • ISSUE 1 • VOLUME 1

He was born in the heart of the city, with a rich history of events, a mixture of languages and cultures with traces of educated people, consuls, holy people, up to craftsmen in the old bazaar, artists with small galleries in a corner, and the incredible decoration of architectural buildings.

Here he grows from the first steps to his youth, carried away by the breath of the place and sighs of that beauty.

In that freedom, he knew that only a good education opens the door to life.

Here, imagine a young boy- tall and thin – I do not know why, maybe because of the height, his way of walking gives a stamp to his character. Less calm, but also clumsy, with a serious face, with honest and warm eyes. Less thoughtful, but also compassionate. The clothes reveal secrets about him – in colors he reveals love and affection for art.

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DESIRE • ALEKSEJ ILIJOVSKI

Now, merge this with its interior. Everything that was outside, in fact, revealed the inside. When you see him, you guess – he is good, honest, determined and strong. He is never angry, he knows how to apologize, he easily forgives, and he tries to understand.

His strongest side is modesty, that he never gives importance to himself, never, even when he knows everything. He does not use his knowledge to do something bad. This is because his heart is faithful to loved ones, friends, but also to every person.

He loves the art of making movies and he recognizes background music very well. Music is number one for him. The music is an eternal inspiration for his work. He respects the great composers of all times. Because of that, children often know how to make a quiz with him. They let the music play, and he immediately guesses, according to the first notes. It is powerful for them, they remain amazed, and he rejoices just like them- as a child and with all his heart.

Children sit beside him quietly for hours and he tells them stories that he (believe it or not) knows for more than 200. So, he takes them to the world of fairy tales, a place that is best for children.

Their parents sometimes let him take care of them all day, because he is a great teacher and listener and fulfills the wishes of their children. The children are always quiet with him, they calm down a lot and they even eat well in his company. That is why he wants to dedicate all his free time to all the children of his neighborhood.

In his presence, everyone feels free to be what they are. Masks were falling in front of him from everyone, even if they were golden. That’s why everyone loves him. Sometimes he forgets about time, telling about his knowledge, especially about the world. He knows very well about all the successes of human kind from the first times until today. He does not joke about the works of others, he values skills and knowledge.

But time passes and he already knows what he wants and what he needs.

Everything he wants, he has inside himself, he does not have to look for it, he carries it in his heart. He loves people, peace and writing. He wants to avoid and get out of the boring routine of the day; to break the chains that bound today’s humanity: networks, signals and speed of information.

He wants to go far, to create and make the world a better place. He wants that and in order to achieve it, he needs other things – go to a place where he visited when he was a kid. That place meant to him, not to see it again, but to put his knowledge to work there. His education will be good for place like that.

His birthplace was the most beloved, but endlessly studied topic for him. He needed to fulfill his longing. He needed to be physically there. Between the big and luxurious walls, shelves with books from the oldest times hang there.

He can still feel the smell in the big rooms where people lived with real life two centuries ago.

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He needs to be there, with his research in order to bring those people’s lives back to life again. That place for him should not be forgotten and those endless and tidy gardens must be greener. In those gardens, children ran in joy and as they grew up, they read poetry and new loves were born. He knows that he mustn’t allow to be forgotten and he decided to revive it in the only way that is known to him by writing. Writing is his greatest treasure for him, and with that love he will try to restore the meaning of the place.

And so, an obsession was born for which there would be no obstacles. As soon as he thought about it, taking the first step, an obstacle appeared.

It was a global disruption of the free flow of life, the COVID-19 epidemic, with the claws of quarantine and curfew and a ban for crossing the border. He found himself trapped between dreams and reality. Caught in a trap, his eyes became sad, as if there was no air in his chest. He also wondered how his desires could be broken right now. Now that he believed and hoped the most, everything would fall apart, but he knew that the will of his parents and grandparents flowed in his blood, which gave him hope and strength to endure. His mind was briefly clouded and there was a brief panic and blockade. But, he gathered the strength to restore rational thinking. He must calm down and act wisely. Instead of panicking, he started writing – to return to the bright side of the road.

There were hard times, but the will and faith did not stop guiding him.

Every day, he wrote messages to the place of his dreams.

Finally, spring day, windows opened and bird songs sounded in his room.

The smell tells that something nice was coming. It was the scent of spring flowers filled with endless hope. It felt like someone was standing at the door, an uninvited, but beloved guest. It felt like something would make you very happy. He notices a flickering light on his laptop. A new message, an unread mail – that was the sign; that was the day when patience paid off.

It read: ‘’Due to your request and persistence, we inform you that you have permit for working in our country, if you have been tested by a COVID-19 negative results. Your job is waiting for you and we are glad that you will join us with your knowledge. We appreciate very much what you want to do for this place. Because no one has ever written with such passion and no one has hoped for so long, waiting for permission, to start working.’’

With small luggage, but with heart full of will and eyes wide open, he stood and stood in front of him, high, beautiful and as old as the time…

Miramare Castle, Italy.

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THE CRYSTAL WITH UNLIMITED POWERS

BY EMANUELA MITREVSKA

II 12

APRIL 2021 • ISSUE 1 • VOLUME 1

It was a wonderful sunny day when Chloe decided to go for a walk in the woods. She was walking under the pleasantly warm sun for over an hour collecting mushrooms. Chloe was a gorgeous blonde girl with stunning blue eyes. She had the prettiest smile in the world and the purest heart. She was 17 years old and lived a normal life in Norway.

As she was collecting the mushrooms she noticed something really weird.

Chloe spotted a weirdly looking thing in the distance, so she decided to go after it. As she was walking towards, it was shining more and more, purplebluish sparkles were taking her whole attention. Without even thinking what could possibly go wrong Chloe decided to get closer. She took a good look at it. It was a small purple clear crystal with a dash of light blue. She grabbed the crystal, her hands were shaking she was so nervous because she had no idea what that crystal could do. Firstly, she thought that it was just an ordinary crystal and that someone who was wearing it as jewelry had lost it on their path.

After she had held the crystal for over 10 seconds in her palm, she mysteriously got teleported to another place. “This place is so odd” she thought. “Where am I?” she questioned herself. She was frightened. The place was really dark and creepy; it looked like some kind of a weird forest, like the ones in the stories where evil goblins live. The trees were dead, their shadows were so scary and there were no birds or any living creatures. Chloe started crying, her tears were watering the tree and, out of nowhere, the tree became so beautiful and so greenish. She was literally fascinated and she couldn’t believe her eyes. She didn’t know what to do and she just sat under a tree and started to think how to go home.

Few minutes passed and she heard a voice saying “Who are you, what are you doing here?” “Do you want to get in trouble?” The voice was so soft, so pleasant and so calming, she lifted her head and looked at him. It was a white rabbit which talked, yes, you heard right-a white rabbit which talked and stood on 2 feet; he was even wearing clothes. She was in a massive shock, but he didn’t give her any time to over think and grabbed her arm strongly telling her that she must get up and hurry before the evil wizard saw them.

THE CRYSTAL WITH UNLIMITED POWERS • EMANUELA MITREVSKA

Chloe started crying again and, as she was crying, her tears were falling on the ground and a flower grew from each tear. The rabbit was trying to stop her because if she continued, she would mark all the way which they had passed and the evil man could find them. Chloe forced herself to stop crying and started talking with the rabbit whose name was Spotty. He told her that he used to be a normal, ordinary rabbit before the wizard made him what he was.

He said: “He turned many of my friends into monsters and ruined their lives, he’s such an idiot”.

Chloe showed him the crystal she had found earlier. After seeing the crystal, he told her that he knew the story and that there was only one person who could save the forest from him and that was the chosen one, the one who would find the crystal. “It can’t be me” she said, “I can’t do it”. Spotty looked at her and said “You have been chosen for a reason, trust me”. Spotty told her a bit more about the evil wizard Illmood and his powers, he also said to her that she could fight against him only by using her crystal; otherwise, he could turn her into an animal or even kill her.

While she was drinking tea with him, Molly came. Molly was a beautiful hedgehog with a really soft voice. She was at first scared of Chloe, but then she got used to her and they became close, in a way. Molly told Chloe how Illmood caught her and kept her in a tiny cage and turned her into what she was then and that some members of her family didn’t manage to escape from him. They were probably still locked into tiny cages in his castle.

After hearing Molly’s story Chloe felt really bad and decided that she would help her reunite with her family no matter what because it wasn’t only Molly who had her family members locked but also a lot of other innocent animals who wanted nothing else but to live freely in peace. Spotty showed her few other animals who wanted to help her. They even took her crystal and made her a special holder for it, Chloe loved it; it was so pretty and it was handy as well. They told her that she should rest for a while and after that she’ll be ready to go and fight against Illmood.

It was around 8 am when she woke up, the sun was shining and it was a marvelous day (at the part of the forest where Spotty lived, the other part of the forest was still so dark and spooky and there was no light at all). She got out of the comfortable bed which was made out of leaves and went to take a look from the window; she was staring at the animals which were outside and was trying to motivate herself as much as she could.

Spotty entered in the room screaming: “Wake up; we don’t have the whole day to wait for you!” She got ready as quickly as she could and went outside. whole day to wait for you!” She got ready as quickly as she could and went outside.

All the animals told her something that she might need or gave her some handy things. Molly and Spotty decided not to leave her all alone and to see her at least half way to Illmood’s castle. They were talking all the way till the castle about life, how much their lives had changed, how much they miss the way they used to live before.

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THE HEART OF LEVIATHAN

BY ELENA JANKULOVSKA II 12

APRIL 2021 • ISSUE 1 • VOLUME 1

Once upon a time, in a world full of magic, spells and curses lived three kingdoms; The Kingdom of Light, The Kingdom of Shadows and the Kingdom of Darkness. They all lived rather chaotically for fifty thousand years but never allied from one another, despite the many wars that occurred between them.

Until now, it was the era where The Kingdom of Darkness made its return to take ‘The Heart of Leviathan’, the most powerful crystal to mankind that could destroy everything one wished. There were many nations who had a desire to steal it, but never succeeded, for it was guarded by a forbidden creature that the ancestors had left behind before their passing.

The tower where the crystal stood was from a far away land that belonged to the Eridians, a kingdom of magic and wonder. Once a strong kingdom full of brave soldiers, now a ruin full of ashes, defeated by the horrid darkness of the Alassians who had later claimed the kingdom of their own, only to be banished three years later. The crystal remained untouched and guarded for eternity and yet, still attempted to be taken away.

My mother closed the book gently only to look into my big eyes filled with amazement. She smiled by the sight of my reaction and caressed my head slowly as I jumped on top of my bed and confidently exclaimed ”One day I’m going to become a knight and protect you, father and my homeland from the Alassians!” my mother’s smile grew wider, a chuckle escaping her lips as she sat me back down in bed slowly: “You will become the bravest and the strongest knight across Atanor, my dear. Now, the knight in training needs to get some rest!’’ she said tucking me back in bed, making me giggle. She kissed my forehead and finally told me: “Good night, sweet dreams my little hero” and left the room silently.

Suddenly, I heard the chirping of birds becoming more louder. I felt the chill summer breeze gently swaying over my face as my back was leaned on hard wood. There was a moment of silence until “Raman…Rakan,Rakan!” someone shouted, making my eyes shoot open from my long slumber. I swung my head up to take a look at the person calling my name, only to find my partner who I worked with on my daily farming, Lorenius. He had his arms crossed and a stern gaze, he was angry at me; it was probably for sleeping during work again. I rubbed my eyes gently and stood back on my feet while I was making my way towards the displeased Lorenius in front of me.

THE HEART OF LEVIATHAN • ELENA JANKULOVSKA

I rubbed the back of my head in disappointment, ready for him to scold me again, but instead of shouting at me he placed the shovel back in my hands, sighing ”Come on, let's get back to work” I nodded while walking past him, meeting the golden view of the field’s wheat. I inhaled the fresh air while looking at the bright blue sky, wondering about the dream I’d just had. Could it mean something if I dream of it so much? I shook my head in disapproval and resumed with work.

Once the sun set down I went to a nearby river to cleanse myself from all the dirt that was scattered around my hands and face. I kneeled down and sank my hands in to the clear water, the cold sensation running through my hands as I gently scrubbed my hands together. As I was in the process of cleansing my face I saw a hooded figure in the distance beside the path that led to the woods. Out of curiosity I stood up and took a step forward to take a better look; the green hood now removed to reveal a familiar face. I froze; it was the princess herself, Meredith. My eyes were fixated on to her in shock, I knew something was wrong just by looking at the expression on her face “Your highness!?” I exclaimed in shock after which she turned her head to look at me now, shocked as well “What…why are you…?” I could not get myself to speak.

She looked at me and carried on as if I was not there “Wait!” I shouted as I ran after her, her back still facing me as her curly hair flowed in the wind, dress gripped in her hands while she ran. I ran across the woods, dodging everything in my way to reach for her “Your Majesty, I wish to help you!” I shouted loud enough for her to hear me in between breaths. The chase continued until finally, I grabbed a hold of her arm gently; once I had managed to level close to her side-by-side. “No. I’d like to save my father and land on my own, I do not seek help!” she pulled her arm away from my grip as both of us took our time to catch our breath. “What? The king, what happened to him?” she briefly went silent “There isn’t much time left. I need to go now, he is in danger—“I cut her off “Then take me with you.” I said with a hint of seriousness in my tone and expression. “I cannot let you go alone, not like this". She examined me before giving me a concerned look “You certainly do not look like a knight to me,” she said narrowing her brows together slightly at me. “Ah…” I was dumbfounded by her words at my appearance; I could not really tell if that was a mocking matter or just her honesty. I cleared my throat and looked into her emerald eyes, I may not be a knight but I aspire to be one. As a child, it had always been my dream to protect my family and my land from evil. Even if it means for them, I will sacrifice myself knowing I had saved everyone like a true hero” she looked at me briefly then narrowed her gaze elsewhere before answering: “As a princess and future Queen, I do wish the same. But, I’d like to let everyone know that I am not fragile as they think I am, I am strong like any man is. I can fight for myself without needing to be saved.” I smiled at her, delighted to know she had a similar dream as mine. She closed her eyes and continued:”But…just having to meet an unfamiliar face like yours,

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THE HEART OF LEVIATHAN • ELENA JANKULOVSKA

I cannot let you come with me to such a dangerous mission. It will cost a life to either one of us until we reach the Kingdom of Darkness.” I shook my head: “Speaking of me, I may have something to confess.” She looked at me with curiosity and listened carefully. I continued "to be frank; I’d been training along with your soldiers in secret from the very beginning. Well, not with them, but rather followed their movements. I trained myself by following their example” she looked at me impressed and nodded slowly “Very well then, I’d like you to prove your point to me, today, during this mission that you’ve trained well enough from my soldiers” she smirked at me while I responded with a chuckle. She looked at me in an admiring way and smiled. "I’d like to get to know you more um...” I replied quickly “Rakan” she nodded “Rakan. Then Rakan, I look forward to this journey with you.” I smiled and extended my hand out to her, “Shall we?” She nodded as she placed her hand in mine. “We shall".

Both of us looked at each other and grinned, exclaiming in unison: “For our country, for our land and for our people!”

And with that, with our heads held high, we bravely let the roads guide us to the far away land of Etruscan where a long journey awaited for us.

THE TWILIGHT ZONE

BY LUKA RIZANSKI I 13

APRIL 2021 • ISSUE 1 • VOLUME 1

With tired eyes he stares at his computer screen and then his gaze wanders at his watch. Three hours until the end of the day. Three long hours!

He turns his attention back to the screen, which shines too brightly against him, and hacks his fingers into the keyboard in unison with his colleagues.

The monitor unmistakably shows the result of his listless efforts, which amount to a confusion and incomprehensible gibberish. Only what he actually wanted to write is not there.

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THE TWILIGHT ZONE • LUKA RIZANSKI

So, all over again. Delete everything, type in again. Slower and more precise this time so as not to make the same mistake again. Tip, tip, tip. Now it is true. Now it's the turn of the next sheet. It looks almost like the previous one, but the differences are so small that they are barely noticeable. So, again the same procedure. Tap, delete, retype, next sheet.

His eyelids are heavy as lead and boredom is as big as the universe. If only he hadn't dropped out of school then, he wouldn't be here now. But it doesn't help. He takes a sip of the cold coffee that has been sitting on his desk since the beginning of the day. The coffee is way too bitter. He gets up and is happy for the movement that the way from his desk to the canteen enables him.

There he sits down at an empty table and stares at the ceiling while he drinks his coffee which has now been hot and sweetened again. He does not notice his colleagues who are each sitting alone at a table, just as they do not notice him. They all stare at the ceiling together. Nobody sees anything.

The break is over. Another half an hour, then it's finally over. So, a new sheet of paper has been drawn up again, typed in, this time slowly and flawlessly. Time doesn't seem to want to pass, which is revealed by another impatient look at his watch.

The look in his eyes briefly goes black, then he puts on his jacket and leaves the office. Out into the corridor, past other offices of listless colleagues, into the elevator, presses the button for the first floor, the door closes. At the bottom he almost collides with a man with a lethargic expression. It is his colleague who takes on the next shift. They don't see each other, they don't know each other. They walk past each other as if they see each other for the first time.

He steps outside and briefly looks at the setting sun. Much too bright. He raises his pale hand and protects his light-shy eyes. The fresh air invigorates his body like new and he straightens up. His joints crack as he stretches. Then he turns around and re-enters the office building. His next shift begins. His colleague comes towards him again. Again they don't greet each other, don't look at each other and don’t know each other. The elevator door closes behind him.

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Dobre Bosilkovski, Director of SOU Taki Daskalo-Bitola Ivana Angelkovska, Coordinator at the American Corner Bitola Katerina Spasovska Maurdeva, Teacher at the graphic vocation, SOU Taki Daskalo