The Eternal Skirmish

By Sokratis Brizas

‘Tis not the first time

That men cross swords

Over ideologies, possessions

And other such folly anyway.

Death envelops the battlefield

Both soothing and horrifying

That is man’s eternal fate

To bask in Thanatos’ sublimity.

Yet amongst that chaotic order

Eight men dare defy the law of nature

Whether it is their will or not, matters not It is a rare act nonetheless.

How will their tale end? I haven’t the foggiest. The least they can do is put up a good show. Even if the Moirae Sisters have already decided the outcome, even if no one can escape the Norns.

Maybe we can learn from these brave men:

Let their resolve be an example for all under the sun, For one should challenge fate and nature even though it is a futile act.

Now I bid you adieu as I must.

I shall return to my land amongst my sisters. You shall move on with your everyday life. And may we Nymphs and Muses never have to aid you again. My beloved poet, I adore you.

Samurai Death

By Achilleas Ververidis

I’m weird and the roots of my hair feel golden this is dead land is there anybody out there?

My fighting style resembles a panic attack this sound is kind of silent is there anybody out there?

Relationships like neuron spiders gloommongering over my slivered hands tangled in my brain forest invisible?

I can cut the fruit with my wakizashi drink hot cocoa from my thermos bottle heartless but sentimental honest but pretending alone when not lonely lonely when not alone the sun behind my eyes the blood still inside me the faint strength in my fingertips

I think I’m still alive

Borders by Andrianna Solomonidou

Freedom is not freedom which plucks the rose’s red. It is not freedom which makes grown men cry and beg and bend. It is not freedom which has mothers pray for the lives of their children. It is not freedom which kills hope and seals the deal with the screams of a child. It is but deliberate, delirious deception. We are watching the living cross the borders, many, yet alone.

little- we are so little from the face of the earth like that, I found it impossible. I still remember the sickening feeling I got in my stomach after the officers rang the doorbell. The kind of feeling that starts crawling around your insides and slowly makes its way up into your head. The funeral was held days later. Gray clouds covered the autumn sky and the weather was unreasonably cold. Or maybe I was too sensitive. I don't know.

I thought if I just continued living my life, maybe everything would go back to normal. Dad would come every Sunday to talk about the news, we would cook pasta (his favorite) and we would have a good laugh. Sunday came but dad was six feet under the ground. I hadn't got proper sleep in days, I hadn’t gone to work for three days and my concentration had vanished in the infinite forest of my imagination. The sun had risen, and I creeped out of my bed, put my suit on and went out of the house.

The cold breeze hitting my face made me remember my forgotten tie and scarf and a sandwich I had prepared to take to work the night before. Right at the corner, a gentleman was selling the newspaper. Inflation was up by 3,2% and NASA was preparing to launch a mission that carried five astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger on a six- day flight. Walking to the train station was already hard on its own. I had to climb the stairs which made my heart beat even faster. I stared at the people waiting, everyone in their own little world, their own anguish, their own agonies, it was quite painful to watch everyone’s miserable face. Maybe it was defeat in disguise? Anyways, I didn’t have time to think about it because I had to get off the train. Soon enough I arrived at work. I sat on my dark wooden desk and took a look at all the files I had to review since my absence. I didn’t seem to concentrate at all, my speech was disorganized and the gray clock above my office was ticking annoyingly loud. Time was passing unordinary slowly, my head was getting heavier, my legs were twitching, it was too warm and sweaty. I became exhausted and needed a break. This place was too miserable for me to stay any longer. I knocked on the door of Mr. Nelson's office and took a breath that half-filled my lungs.

‘Good morning Mr. Nelson’, I said.

‘Oh, David good morning, I couldn’t reach your telephone the last couple of days, is there a reason you were absent?’, he said as if I wasn’t someone diligent enough.

‘I actually came to discuss something with you, if that’s ok’, I answered.

‘Yes, please go ahead.’

‘I see that I have days of workload waiting for me, but after I finish all that, I wanted to ask if I can now utilize my ten-day brea-well now seven day break’.

‘Yes, of course,’ he said in a kind manner.

'I better get to work then’, I whispered as I was just about to leave.

‘David, wait, is there anything else you want to tell me? ‘he questioned as if we were friends of some sort.

‘No sir, that’s about it’, I answered and went off. After I finished work I immediately took a taxi home. My head was hurting, I couldn’t stop thinking about dad and a veil of guilt covered my already troubled mind.

I understood a long enough time had passed because a layer of dust started formulating on the kitchen counter and the fridge was getting emptier by the day. My unironed clothes were now falling out of the basket. Time flew by and I had lost count of the days. I had read every book in my library all over again. When I had eventually read them all, I just wanted to lay down, there was no reason to leave the bed, nothing to look forward to. Dad wouldn't come again on Sunday regardless of how much I wished he would. I had no more books to read, no plants to water, no dog to pet, nothing, just me and my empty house.

If you do things over and over again, it starts to get insignificant when you actually do them. It made no difference if it was night or day. So, I found myself reorganizing my plates at 3 o’clock in the noon. As I was trying to decide if I should categorize them by size or by color, I heard a fist bang on my door. Who could it possibly be? I looked out the window and I saw Richard! What did he want? I half opened the door but he kind of forced himself in. He seemed concerned, I could sense it by the way he looked at the stacks of books that were lying on my coffee table and the plates that I hadn’t finished organizing. He sighed and advised me to come to work or else Nelson would fire me. I was confused because I was sure that I had a few days left. I glanced at the calendar which was hanging over the kitchen door to check the date, but I had forgotten to erase the previous dates, therefore I didn’t know what day it was. He broke the few second silence by joking around, ‘For God's sake, David, eat something you look like you survived a twenty-day trip to a deserted island’, he said. Legend has it that every joke has a grain of truth or in this case, the joke was an analogy of the condition I was in. He was right. He was the only one here. He would and could understand if I told him. He would… he will. He did.

His kind brown eyes were staring directly at me, I must have been thinking for a minute or two, anticipating whether to tell him or not. I finally gathered the courage to speak to him, heart to heart.

‘Richard, I want to get something out my chest—'

‘Yes David, are you alright?’

I couldn't look at him anymore. I so badly wanted to get this awful pain off my chest. I just wanted to explain everything to him. He radiated warmth, he filled the house with light. Not the kind of light that blinds you from its brightness, more like the light of the moon on a summer’s day. I didn’t need to say anything else; he knew.

‘Stop it David please, get a hold of yourself, you haven’t shown up to work in days, your house is a mess, you’ve got books taking over your table, you sound like a mad man.…Ah look, I know that your dad loved you and tried his best after your mom’s death, but don’t let your life go downhill because of this!’

‘So dad is dead after all’ I thought, pulling a chair to sit at the dining table.

‘Look, Amanda’s birthday is on Friday and she’d love to see you. We are hosting a dinner at our house. Many guys from the office will be there, so take a bath, put on a nice suit, go out, buy something new and I will come and pick you up at 8:00 pm. Come on, you have to make a fresh start David, what do you think?’ He said this with a cheerful but serious voice. I nodded.

‘Oh David, why are you being like this?’ He got up from the couch and sat next to me.

‘OK, Richard, maybe I will give it a try,’ I answered, and just like that I felt my lips forming a smile.

Richard saw me smiling and I believe that he felt relieved. He waved goodbye and the following days had me looking forward to the “fresh start.” I cleaned my apartment, went to the barber’s, and bought a new green wool scarf to match my brown shoes.

Before I knew it, Friday was just around the corner. I took a warm bath, dressed up, put on the watch my dad had given me on my birthday last year, wrapped the new scarf around my neck and went out to wait for Richard. As I went out the cold wind and snow made my ears hurt. Richard had already arrived so I quickly got into his car.

‘Hello there, someone looks nice today; I see that you followed my advice,’ he said and we both laughed. When we arrived at his house, I was greeted by concerned stares and awkward silence. ‘Happy birthday, Amanda,’ I said and then called, ‘long time no see’ to the staring faces, and everyone went back to normal. I hugged Amanda and gave her a bouquet of flowers since Ι hadn’t known what to get her. The night was moving along smoothly, and I was active in the conversations that were happening. They all skipped the fact that they hadn’t seen me in a while. It seemed everyone had something nice going on with their lives.

I suddenly took a break and stood back observing everyone for a moment. Their smiles, their laughter, the way they were getting so passionate about sharing their life experiences and how others enjoyed themselves. I realized I had lost so much precious time digging myself in a hole that was impossible to get out of. The sense of an unbearable void slithered around my insides. The more I kept thinking of it, the more I panicked. It was getting progressively harder to breathe. I was feeling dizzy, but I don’t know if it was from the lack of oxygen that was getting to my brain or the fact that I hadn’t drunk so many glasses of wine in a while.

I stood up, went to Richard and whispered, ‘I think it’s time for me to go.’ He stared at me.

‘Are you crazy? It’s eight below outside. Wait for the guests to leave and then I will drop you off, or you’ll sleep here tonight.’

‘No Richard. I don’t think I will be able to stay any longer.’

I raised my voice and shouted, ‘See you on Monday, everyone!’ I stumbled across the room and rushed from the house as quickly as I could. By the time I got out, I was gasping for air and in my mind I was replaying the most precious memory Ihad of my mother and my father together at our old house. I kept recalling all the other childhood memories and felt so lost in them. ‘Why didn’t things stay the way they were? Why...why...why?’ My feet guided me to the train station and a dark, deep desire swam to the surface of mind. I could hear the whistle of the train getting closer. It was approaching, and my heartbeat was beating louder and faster, yet life hadn’t felt so peaceful in weeks, it was time for me to finally rest…

‘Stop!’ A man screamed at the top of his lungs, I turned around with my eyes filled with tears. It was Richard. He had followed me. He ran towards me and hugged me so tightly that I almost couldn’t breathe. ‘What were you about to do, are you crazy?!’

Ι surrendered myself in his arms and between sobs I managed to get the words out of my mouth ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with me Richard, help me, I can’t do this anymore!’ He stroked my hair like my late mother used to do and said ‘It’s ok now David everything will be fine. It’s ok now, we’ll find a solution together.

‘It’s ok’ he repeated as I cried a river of tears in his arms.