THE HITCH HIKER’S GUIDE SPRING 2018
White May 2018 Seoul, South Korea Yongsan International School of Seoul The Hitchhiker’s Guide
CherryBlossoms Allison Park
Below Daniel Hwang
City of Contrast Katie Yoon
refuge Sophia Shin
Cosmic Latte Natalie Pak “Hey, Daisy. Come look at this.” Daisy’s head pokes up from behind the register. Finn sits at one of the tables nearby, absentmindedly tapping his fingers along the rim of his coffee cup. Daisy darts her eyes back down to the haphazard pile of change in her hand. She has lost track of the time, but she knows that it has been over sixteen minutes and twelve seconds. Still, she has not finished adding up how much money she has so she could buy one of Finn’s pastries. She frowns, remembering how many times she has continued counting past 100 just because she wanted to count up as high as she could go. After, she would be unable to convert her large total back into whole dollars. What awful times they were. “Daisy?” She pops her head up again. Finn is giving her a questioning smile, waving at her to come over. Daisy never likes to leave her tasks unfinished, but today could be an exception. She is getting beyond frustrated with the change. A break would be a nice reward for all her hard work, right? She places the coins back into her pocket and scurries out from behind the counter. She slides with as much grace as she can into the seat across Finn. She brightly beams at Finn, heart soaring when Finn returns the gesture. “Look what I found in this coffee,” Finn says as he gestures to his cup. “I've never seen anything like it before.” Daisy’s focus moves to the brown liquid in the cup Finn is holding. At first glance, it seems like a typical white coffee, which could be any other cup of joe. Yet, upon closer inspection, Daisy notices that the cream bubbles in the coffee form the shape of a star. Curiously, Daisy nudges the cup, gasping when she sees the bubbles starting to glow. Daisy leans in closer, blinking to clear her vision. No matter how many times she blinks, the bubbles remain shining. “That’s weird,” says Daisy. “I’ve never seen bubbles do that before.” “Me neither,” Finn chuckles. “It kinda made my day though.” Daisy smiles. “Maybe, it's a good sign… And you'll end up with some sort of prize!” While Finn lifts the cup to his lips, he fixes Daisy with eyes curved in the shape of crescent moons. Daisy nibbles her bottom lip, worrying at dry skin peeling because of the icy winds outside.
“Your pastries always make my day,” Daisy states. "They always help me to have a good day." “You never seem to have a bad day, Daisy,” Finn says. “Though, you don't eat what I make every day…” Daisy's eyes grow large and she leans across the table. “But I’d like to!” Finn laughs out loud, snorting into his coffee. “I’m sure you would, Daisy.” Daisy adamantly repeats that she would like to have Finn's baked goods to infinity and beyond. Finn shakes his head, having a tender look in his eyes as Daisy pulls out the spare change from her pocket. As Daisy proceeds to count out loud, Finn leans back in his chair. His eyes catch sight of the clock on the wall. His break ends in a couple minutes. Daisy smacks herself in the forehead and howls. She scatters her coins and restarts her count, listing numbers slower than before. Finn casts another absent-minded glance to the clock. He'll clock back in a little later today. He can afford being late by a few minutes.
“It’s okay if you don’t get it, most people don’t.” Danny Song
Beginning of Something Katie Yoon
(not white) Rebecca Kim lukewarm dribble pitters on the tile drip drip drip drip still warm but cooling like the metal inside time to learn our alphabet let’s spell it out together a boy crimson in the hallway.
nostalgia Jaydon Han
Clothesline Katie Yoon
Evanescence Katie Yoon
white & you Woojin Yoon white was the color of your hoodie when you grabbed my hand for the first time. white was the color of your knuckles because your grip was so tight, fingers strangling mine, but i loved it anyway. white was the color of your teeth anxiously biting your lower lip as you tried to shield your face away from mine. god, we were both such nervous messes, but we made it work, didn’t we? white is all of this and more: white is your acne scars and your loud laughter and your perpetually messy hair. white is the feeling of your head resting against mine and your arm around my shoulder and your left leg hooked over my right. white is the color i associate with you.
White Blouse Sophia Shin
Underneath Rebecca Kim
Magic Aamna Shehzad Lara got ready at Nathan’s command, even though she didn’t want to practice any further. She was tired from practicing all day and wanted to rest and relax a bit. Although, she didn’t know why she expected to get any sleep. “How many?” Nathan asked. “Three…four…five,” Lara counted. “Quicker!” “Seven…Eight! Eight! White! A white phone case!” “Okay. We’ll do cards now,” Nathan said. “You get the I and J books out.” Lara nodded reluctantly and held her right hand out. She saw that her hand instinctively contracted in a position that perfectly hid the infinitesimal, silver transmission device in the palm of her hand. She walked over to the closet and took out a small, blue notebook hidden behind her clothes and walked back over to the bed. Nathan came back with a black book in his left hand and a cigarette lighter and some playing cards in another hand. The cigarette lighter was an example of how committed Nathan was. Neither of them smoked, but they still used lighters because Nathan believed that it was a common object many people had on them. “Alright,” Nathan said, sitting down. “Turn around.” Lara complied, making sure that she couldn’t see Nathan or his hands at all. She sat there are waited for a while, and nothing happened. She wondered whether Nathan had sent the signal and was about to ask him when he interrupted her thoughts. “Well? You’d better be spot on! You took your sweet time this round.” “I…I don’t know,” Lara said fearfully, turning around to face Nathan. “I didn’t get any signals.” “Are you serious?” Nathan cried. “Get your act together and focus!” “I’m trying…” Lara started, tears forming in her eyes. Nathan grabbed her shoulders and looked directly at her. “Look! Our next gig is really important! We’ve already gained great fame, but knocking it out of the park this time is gonna establish our career fully. Don’t you want that for us? Imagine the money, the fame, the respect and admiration! We’ll be rich and famous, but that won’t happen if you are distracted, don’t practice hard enough, and ruin the whole show!” Lara lowered her eyes and finally decided to speak her mind. She still feared Nathan, but she was already living worthless life that she had no control over. Maybe speaking her mind this once would increase her self esteem a bit. “What’s the point?” she asked. “I don’t think that mere tricks can make someone rich and famous. We’re not doing badly right now and you’re still unsatisfied with what you have. Even if we do become the best magicians in the world, you’ll still want more and more.” Lara stopped and looked at Nathan’s scowling face. She knew that expression. He would
shake her and shout at her and criticize her for being an absent-minded good for nothing. She would then cry and acquiesce to practicing for the night. She didn’t care anymore. She was just happy that she spoke her mind. But none of that happened. Instead, Nathan just sat silently and fixed his expression. “I understand,” he said in a soft voice, a voice that Lara had never heard before. “You’re tired. I’m tired as well.” Nathan smiled a bit and let go of Lara’s shoulders. “I’ll go get some coffee for us to calm down a bit. You just relax. We’ll practice later.” Lara stared with surprise as Nathan got up and walked out of the door. He had never acted like that before. He never cared for her and disregarded her feelings. This was a whole new Nathan altogether. But, unfortunately, one night of kindness couldn’t make up for the six years of sadness and mental torture. Lara took the lighter that Nathan had left on the bed and began burning the H, I, and J books. She opened her closet and found all of the code books, papers, and other objects that were flammable and associated with her years of “magic practice.” She also took the transmitter on her palm off, stretched out her hands, and lit the pile of papers and objects on fire as Nathan walked in with two mugs of dark, brown coffee.
Untitled 2017 Rachel Kim
serenity Jaydon Han
a light in the dark Jaydon Han
The Planets Rachel Kim Mars Pulsing My heart shatters into parts Crimson cinnabar fire My mind consumed by desire burning I reach out undiscerning as my fingers barely close around the flaming globes garnet spheres Flushed with scarlet and Spotted with chartreuse Knotted in a trap of amber quartz that crushes all arts I cannot bear Venus Beaten and wearied I float amongst the stars My form but miniscule against the looming planets In a weightless consciousness Searching for a peace that was yet is now not The bitter embers left a burn scars that return Still stringed silence mends with slow agony each pierce of the needle a tormented howl Mercury When least expected The messenger is winged Notes exchanged between her harp his cello, Isang Yun Sonoluminescent strings quiver A flute spins out a sliver The astrological premiere pierces through my mind’s stratosphere and elicits a tear Gustav’s embassy, A mirror in melody showing my reflection of audible illustration I must end my self-damnation and hope of promised elation
Jupiter Allowing myself to finally Exhale taking in a renewed breath I let myself go to dance with each wandering star fourth position on the barre There is joy in living giving, for-giving Immersed in pleasant light at cosmos height I receive new insight and give up the worthless fight Saturn Ticking metallic and Glinting off my wrist I bring it up to my ear where it whispers “here, another hour but never the same.” I nod, smile, spell out my name Another day, never the blame Another year, never the shame A wiser me, better and claimed Uranus Endless Gazing into an interstellar void where certainty is destroyed with each fading asteroid Quiet celestial power presses around each X Dimension As I try and suppress my apprehension No need to be afraid of the unknown; A great might guides me through the galaxy An everlasting gravity My own elliptical orbit Neptune The world expands And my mind is left in my hands The choir behind me melts mystical music pinpointing each border of the universe at intersecting parallels Heaven’s refrain pumps gold in each vein As I float down from The Planets Back to ephemeral Earth
Rabbit and No Storm Bia Nam
To All the People: A Poetry Collection Anonymous I. To all the people who whisper meaningless lies in my ear at night: I am not a failure. I am something of a miracle, with anger coursing through my veins every minute, my teeth jagged with hatred and bitterness, my hands coarse with old age, anxiety, and loneliness. Reality is something of a dream – A dream that just so happened to turn itself into a series of living nightmares full of words that deflate my ball of self-esteem and make me lock myself inside my own mind. I am Frankenstein’s creation, with claws for hands and beads for eyes, each breath rattling my lungs and body. I am alive. II. To all the people who taunt me with biting marks and cutting glares: I do not desire this life. I wish I could say that my suicide notes were thrown out years ago, but all thirty-six of them are still at the bottom of my trash can, waiting to be taken out and reused. Truth is, it only took a couple weeks of insults, names, and abuse before Depression took the key away and Anxiety swallowed it down. Words are eating away my sanity. I am not a miracle. I am a disappointment. III. To the person who says that I’m worthless: I am a work of art. I am made up of random blotches of red, blue, yellow, and lines that are not really lines, and shapes of unrealistic things. I am the type of art that has people stop in their tracks in art galleries and go, “This painting is unbeautifully beautiful.” I am vibrant with bright streaks of hope and ambition, and hints of dark blue from my depression and black from my fears. Each part of me is a flaw and a deformity, but together, I am Picasso’s best. I am a masterpiece.
vivid Jaydon Han
A Reflection of My Four Years with “The Hitchhiker’s Guide” Rachel Kim Let’s rewind and become that blundering ninth grader... from: 18.rachel.kim@students.yisseoul.org to: hitchhikersguide.yiss@gmail.com “Hi! ...I was just wondering when the next publication is coming out? I'm a freshman so I haven't heard about much about the physical Guide copies before. Thanks so much!” From Ethereal Silence to Moments From the unpublished Rose to a Summer Nightmare Lost in a Dusk of Montmartre I read Dear dreamers, Soft sunshine glow caressed my body to wake from languid dozing. I opened my eyes slowly and, lazily rolling them to the left, glanced at the fruit hanging ripe from the Tree. “Forbidden” seemed to be placed higher—just out of reach. My gaze followed their pendulous dance, swaying gently in the light breeze... In a moment of immature anger, I flung my blueberry yogurt across the living room in an explosion of sweet off-white. The text on the pages began to writhe up my arms, across my shoulders, and around my neck. Velvety ink stained my fingertips as I reached into shifting tones, drawing light from those who were willing to display them. Silent, I watched as whispery cirri enveloped each delicate glow, stirring through the dark composite. We choose to be “...dedicated to all of the written and artistic pieces submitted to [The Hitchhiker’s Guide]. We prefer to call them ‘pieces’ instead of ‘works’ because everything submitted here is not just something we've worked on, but it is a part of our being. A part of our hearts. A part of our souls. And in the end, we hope that you, too, will be able to enjoy what little pieces of ourselves we have to offer.” (G.H.)
RACHEL KIM DANIEL HWANG MS. AMY ATKINSON DANIEL HWANG RACHEL KIM REBECCA KIM JAYDON HAN BIA NAM NATALIE PAK ALLISON PARK AAMNA SHEHZAD SOPHIA SHIN DANNY SONG KATIE YOON WOOJIN YOON + A. hitchhikersguideyiss.tumblr.com issuu.com/thehitchhikersguide