Let’s Be Alone. Together.
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Contents Let’s Be Alone. Together. 1 Alone At last By: Kate Uesugi By: Kelsi Teramae 5 Stellar 8 By: Sarah Li 8 Run 8 By: Kate Uesugi 8 Plants By: Erica Machida 9 Dear You Carly Button 10 Forever Solemn By: Kate Uesugi
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Alone At last By: Kate Uesugi
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By: Kelsi Teramae
We find the dead girl about a half mile into the forest. It’s Ruth, her broken body ravaged almost beyond recognition with decay, but the star tattoo on her neck stands out brightly still against her pale, shredded skin. I sink to my knees in the dirt while Megan retches beside me. I can feel the earth through the rip in my jeans, and my arms hang lifelessly, fingers brushing the leaves. I can’t fathom how Ruth came to be here, in the middle of these woods, no longer the happy, shining girl you’d glimpse at in the hallways and think, that’s who I aspire to be, in another life. Ruth was the girl who was truly remarkable, and yet here she was, dead as the rest of us when the light finally decides to leave. “Hannah, please, let’s go,” Megan says. I don’t say anything. I’m still staring at the wrecked body of the girl I was sure was an entity that could never be brought so far back down to earth as to lie shattered here, deteriorating along with the fallen autumn leaves. “Hannah,” Megan pleads again, and it almost brings me back to my senses. Megan puts her hand on my shoulder; I’m disgusted for a moment, because I’m pretty sure she just wiped her mouth with that hand after throwing up in the bushes. “Hannah,” Megan says, but a serious edge has crept into her voice that makes me look up into her face, confused. She’s not looking at me. She’s staring out towards the direction we came from, where there are four flashlight beams bobbing around, searching the trees. The high pitched ringing in my ears dulls enough for me to register sirens and barking dogs coming from the distance. We both take opposite directions at once and start running. Fear keeps me going for a while. After a couple of miles I figure I’ve lost them. I slow down, panting, sweat beading on my forehead despite the chill in the air. I’m near the river now, and there’s no way they would have chased me this far. It takes me a while to catch my breath, and I walk towards the river. It’s quiet, so quiet here, and my ragged breathing sounds like an insult to the serene peace that should occupy this part of the woods. It’s a little less dark here, with the moonlight reflecting off the river, making the rushing water glow just slightly. I make it to the edge, looking into the rapids and wondering just
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how long I’ll have to wait in this forest before it’s safe to go out and how long it’s going to take me to get home anyway and my mom will kill me for being out this late and then suddenly someone grabs me from behind. I scream, but the sound is lost in the trees, no one is around to hear me anyway. My assailant leans in to whisper in my ear, “You little bitch, you shouldn’t go sticking your nose into places it doesn’t belong.” And then he pushes me. There’s the strange sensation of falling in slow motion as I twist around, flailing my arms, trying to do anything to regain my balance but of course it won’t work. I look up through the break in the trees, the glow of the moon and the stars dusted across the night sky, before I fall into the water and reflex makes me shut my eyes to the world. The water is ice cold and stings like needles. The current immediately whisks me away, fast as it can. I kick my legs, fighting to get above water. My head breaks the surface for just a moment, and I take in a breath that’s half air and half dirty river water, and I choke as I go under again. I fight for the surface again, kicking and flailing my arms, but pretty soon my hands aren’t slapping against the surface of the water, but waving around in the water in front of me, completely submerged. I know it’s futile when my head finds contact with the rocky bottom. There’s so much pain in death that people don’t even know about: the drowning, which is horrifying in it’s own, being beaten into submission by the current, the pressure of thousands of gallons of water holding me down, the feeling of fire in my lungs from a lack of oxygen that sharply contrasts from the cold surrounding me that’s penetrated into my bones and turned my blood to ice--no, that isn’t even the worst part. The worst part is the terror. The panic. The feeling of I can’t hold on. I’m going to die. I don’t want to die, I’m only seventeen and I have my whole life ahead of me. But that’s been taken from me, washed away with the current of the river My chest heaves, trying to take in something, anything, but my lips are pressed firmly together. My whole body convulses. My lungs are straining, dying. I’m fighting, fighting for anything, as fear wells up inside of me. Hot pricks of water leave the corners of my eyes, immediately washed
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away by the river. I want to scream, I want to do something. I’m scared, I’m so scared, and I’m going to die but I don’t want to please don’t let me die oh god please no-- *** And then it’s all too much, and I open my mouth. The dying doesn’t happen immediately. There’s searing pain, everywhere, as my lungs push water in and out of my body for a couple of breaths, and then I’m gone.
Come Fly With Me By: Kate Uesugi 4
Run By: Kate Uesugi
Stellar By: Sarah Li
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Plants When you start off in the dirt And climb through the earth You peak out of the ground And reach with no sound To the sky that smiles With stars for miles Or sunlight which you grasp for a touch Which is just normal to ask for much But when you finally mature from a spud The treasures you hold begin to bud Your flowers smile through your leaves And it is your turn to return the seeds.
By: Erica Machida
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Forever Solemn Dear You-
You looked solemn as I answered the call. “Hello?” my voice wavered, unsure of what to make of your expression. I had never seen you look like that before. You had been sad before, but never this kind of sad. This was the kind of sad that you could see. You could see the pain radiating from your heart and eating you away from the inside out. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “Its…us.” You responded. Oh god. The tears were coming, I could feel them fighting against me to fall outside my eyes. It hurt me that I knew you so well. The way you looked away from me, and made eye contact for a few seconds gave me all the clues I needed. “Your breaking up with me.” I said. “I’ve only wanted the best for you. I’m so busy and I hurt you all the time. Why would you, such a beautiful girl, choose me? I’m nothing compared to you. You have always deserved better than me. I love you. So much. The best way I can show you that I love you is by letting you go on to be something greater than me. You’ve always been the better one. There’s someone who deserves you. I’m not that guy. I can’t simply be there for you. I love you. This would have been a whole lot worse if we dragged it out. I love you.” So I hung up. I know it’s foolish, but I couldn’t face you. How does a person listen to such beautiful words as that and not break down immediately? So I did. I cried my eyes out, heaving and sobbing into my father’s arms. If this is what breaking up is like, then I never want to date ever again. Albert Einstein says that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. I would be insane if I let myself fall in love with you again. But I will. I will be insane every day of my life for the rest of my life if it lets me have you back in my arms. I love, loved, and will always love you. Goodbye. Carly Button
7 By: Kate Uesugi
The Lone King By: Vivian Bently
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