JEA Media Review - WeUs Magazine VOL7

Relationships

Quarterly Theme of Spring

FirstAnniversary

QingMing The Economic DreamArchitect

AGhost of Fern Sea

WeUs

Electronic Edition: issuu.com/weusmagazine

Sponsor: Saint Paul American School, Beijing

VOL.7 | Spring, 2022

Advisor: Zac Balk & Tenny Yan

Chief Editor: Fanyu (Freya) Sun

Art Director: Zizhou (Justin) Wang

Writer: Fanyu (Freya) Sun, Zixuan (Chloe) Wang, Wentao (Dylan) Deng, Yihan (Flora) Wang, Zihan (Samuel) Liu, Zihao (Cloud) Dong, Sihan (Aaron) Chen & Yixiao (Coco) Xu

Copy Editor: Yihan (Flora) Wang & Fanyu (Freya) Sun

Art Designer: Zizhou (Justin) Wang, Wendi (Wendy) Zong, Yimeng (Maggie) Zhang, Shuangru (Aurora) Wei & Zihao (Cloud) Dong

Artist: Zihao (Cloud) Dong & Shuo (Lydia) Tian

Intro to A

Previous

Intro to This Season

nother school year just started, and WeUs Magazine is back again. This is the first issue of the semester, and we hope that we can give you our best, just like what we did before. We are composed of 13 talented students and 2 responsible supervisors. We are a literary magazine club that

Relationships

Volume 6, December 2021

What is your purpose?

publishes SPAS students’ original artworks, stories, poems, photographs, personal articles, etc. We encourage, promote, and try our best to improve creativity and ingenuity. Don’t be unnerved by the thought of “What if my work is horrible.” WeUs can help you to steer clear of many subtle mistakes and improve your work together. Hope you can submit a piece of your work for our publication.

WeUs WeUs

The idea of our name is originated from two words: We and Us. Everyone in SPAS is a different and special individual who works very hard in our own field to make our life meaningful. WeUs want to include everyone to be part of a group, a team, an “ us”. Maybe we are all mediocre beings, but together, we can make some gigantic achievements. Thereby, WeUs has been found on behalf of not only ourselves but also all students endowed with talents and dreams.

The kind of lunch you chose, the college major you applied, the people you married, the meaning you endowed to your life. Actually, there isn’t any. Some people may argue that this is farfetched. A real example is the WeUs Magazine. As everyone can see, we print out our magazine and set up the website. After several decades, there will hardly be anyone who still remembers this magazine led by several passionate young souls. The controversial part is that we all know that one day nothing will exist when the Sun exploded or the Earth is too far away from the Sun, and yet we are still doing something. This is the origin of our theme for December: Chaos. Everything is chaotic when we start any.

New semester, new start. WeUs is back again, and we are prepared to bring you all the best. How did you become the way you are? Through experiences, knowledge, or relationships? For this issue, we want to discuss people around you as well as the relationships you have with them.

There must be different kinds of relationships. It is these relationships that keep you moving on your way. The ones you love and the ones who love you will always be there for you.

Who are you thinking of now? How have that person or these people ever shaped your life?

For this season, we chose the theme of Relationships just to keep all the ones that are around us in memory.

Just remember, that no matter where you are heading, your friends and the ones who love you will always be on your side. Cherish all these relationships you have, you are so fortunate to have them.

First Anniversary in WeUs

"When the idea of a literary magazine first began formulating about two years ago, it sounded like it could be an interesting addition to the school publications. As we are near the beginning of its 2nd year in publication, I am inspired to see what this student-lead project has produced and I am excited to see where it will go from here."

— Stephen K. Dignin

"I remember those eyes on the very first day, eyes full of excitement, curiosity, and a bit of confusion about what the future would bring to them. They didn’t come to WeUs for grades or their resumes. They came to create, push their limits, and become their “better future self.” People tend to think that WeUs is a child of founding mothers, while in reality, the credit of founding goes to these small kids with big hearts and great minds."

— Maria Rasnovska

"To be honest, I don’t think any of us knew what to expect when we all signed on to create a school magazine. However, what the students lacked in experience, they more than made up in enthusiasm and creativity. From brainstorming ideas to writing each article, I am honored to have witnessed the literary growth that our students demonstrated with every new edition, and ultimately leading to the brilliance of the magazine now."

— Catherine Yeung

"The WeUs Writing Committee is filled with some of the most hardworking and talented student writers on this earth. They are creative, precise, diligent, and passionate. Upon joining the organization, one can never quite know what to expect. The WeUs Writing Committee has blossomed and flourished into something special that should, and will, be observed and admired for many years to come."

— Zac Balk

"Life is a journey that changes us, especially when we reflect on it. For me, that is the power of the WeUs magazine. In many ways it has served as a selective SPAS reflection journal. It’s not a newspaper, not everything that happens at SPAS gets into it. But certain moments, ideas, or concepts get the WeUs treatment' and both readers and WeUs creators are changed in the process. I know I have been."

— Dr. Roger Russell

"I feel welcomed as this club has a cozy atmosphere, like a family, and is full of interesting people. During discussion time, everyone contributes their own ideas for each issue. If you pass by, you may hear laughing, that is probably someone sharing their interesting ideas, you may also hear intense conversations, that’s probably the deadline approaching, with everyone trying their best to adjust the final details to present perfectly before the magazine is published. "

—

Tenny Yan

After releasing six issues, WeUs is approaching its first anniversary. Some people say "practice makes perfect". We have grown up from mistakes and tried our best. Our designers have changed from novices to artists, and "typers" have trained from amateur to writers. Over the past year, WeUs members have gone from strangers to good friends and partners. It was clear that everyone was very satisfied with the people they were working with. At the same time, everyone was unhappy with themselves. The articles we wrote were not profound enough, the vocabulary we used was not exquisite enough, and the pattern we created for the layout was not novel enough, all of which were our reflections on ourselves. Through continuous progress and mutual learning, WeUs members

have gradually developed a tacit understanding. We are also learning from the past. So the first anniversary for us is a conclusion and a new beginning; It's a period, but also the beginning of a new paragraph.

One really obvious thing about WeUs is this brilliant idea about the name. To be honest, this name is basically the destiny we want to achieve. WeUs have been through a really tough time finding our own purpose. Before everything started, WeUs, or a nameless club, was 14 aimless students and two supervisors. That classroom was fraught with unknown potentials and awkward silence. The chief editor didn’t know how to organize a club or produce a magazine brand. Therefore, everything started with our Founding Mothers.

Advisor : Catherine Yeung

You might think WeUs Magazine Club is a pure student lead club since it is entirely run by students. However, the idea of forming a student leaded magazine club is not proposed by a student, but by a teacher. Catherine Yeung, who has taught for more than 5 years in SPAS, is one of the founding mothers of the WeUs Magazine club. Her main subjects focus on General English for 10th to 12th-grade students. This teacher has no airs at all, letting students call her “Ms. Cat” instead of “Ms. Yeung” to have a close relationship with each other. She rejoices at accepting stu-dents’ trust and helping them through difficulties, being careful and patient in pointing out and cor-recting mistakes.

Like all other teachers, Ms. Cat encourages students to use one notebook to make daily journal entries and another to take formal class materials. I found this strategy to be very helpful to recall past interesting memories because it became a good reminder of what I learned in the past and how can I keep moving on.

Ms. Cat is very considerate when students have special circumstances. When a student is extremely tired due to the SA deadlines or he broke up with his couple, Ms. Cat allows him to sleep in her class one time per semester without giving penalties. This is helpful for those who didn’t have the mood or energy to study since students won’t get lost in their next class or worry about getting punishments. She is the only teacher in SPAS who considers both the student’s physical and mental health, rather than following the disciplines strictly. Moreover, they can charge themselves using this class time and be prepared for the next class.

Ms. Cat, as a teacher, is not the type that only focuses on tests. She is more in favor of giving

out practical summative that foster students’ research skills and pragmatic competence. Ms. Cat organized a Poetry Slam competition where students create their poems and recite them in front of audiences. She also organized a Mock President Election where 10th-grade students were able to persuade the school to vote for their group. Both activities are fun and can let students truly understand the lessons of poetry and persuasion.

Meanwhile, Ms. Cat encouraged students to write their research papers so that they understand the format and citation of a formal research paper, thus being better prepared for the university’s essay. She combined education and entertainment, requiring students to act out the play Pygmalion so that they are aware of the gap between the phantasm the society made you and the person you truly are.

Compared to her relaxing attitude in class, Ms. Cat is stricter in pointing out mistakes and correcting the wrong statements because she devotes much more expectations to those who create articles voluntarily. She is open to any questions or concerns about the article and willing to help writers regardless of the time. Under her careful guidance, the word group grew from the one that don’t know how to begin to the one that don’t need much correction in the first draft. This would take longer for the word group to become mature if it were without the assistance of Ms. Cat.

Although Ms. Cat left SPAS in 2021, all the students who knew her and were taught by her miss her very much. It is a pleasure to be educated under a teacher who can both motivate students’ spirits and remind them not to be too conceited.

Zixuan (Chloe) Wang

Advisor : Maria Rasnovska

As a teacher of drama, multimedia, and speech, many have doubted Ms. Maria’s taste in aesthetic designs. However, their worries are unnecessary. From the moment she stepped in the door of WeUs magazine club, her eyes never stopped evaluating everything.

Ms. Maria has a serious and responsible working attitude. When it comes to how Ms. Maria worked during WeUs, the first word that comes to my mind is passion, which gradually trans-formed into barbaric. When we were choosing the color style of the first issue, after hearing our opinion, Ms. Maria stood up from chairs and rummaged through desks and shelves. As we were still wondering and trying to help her find whatever she was looking for, she found some colored papers. For the next five minutes, she used continuous and consecutive evidence to state why pink and blue were perfectly matched. Sounds crazy, isn’t it?

Besides her dedicated and earnest attitude, she is also an interesting friend to meet with. Ms. Maria always takes the role of a friendly mental counselor. As students and also teenagers, we all face millions of problems related to everything frequently. However, we all know that there will always be a person in an office right next to stairs down on the first floor, inside the room back to the wall. All of our problems and troublesome issues can be said to someone who

may not understand us but is willing to listen and answer. Although we have different ages and cultural backgrounds, the first sentence from Ms. Maria after listening to all of our problems will always be “I totally understand your feeling.” The warm and pinky vibe happened to be everywhere when she started to talk.

It was another normal afternoon on the day when Ms. Maria left SPAS. After a speech class, the hallway of room 402 was fraught with her students. By the time the bell rings, the door was opened, and countless roaring and yelling came inside the room even before students came. Basically, everyone was saying that it was their honor to be Ms. Maria's student. For those who don't have Ms. Maria's classes, by seeing this scene, they would already understand how favorable Ms. Maria is and how strong the bonding was there between them.

Ms. Maria has a phrase that she always said is “magic is everywhere.” For us, her students, we want to say that meeting you is our magic. Just like what was said in Forrest Gump “Life was like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get.” But in the lane of life, there will be a chocolate named Ms. Maria who is as sweet as a rainbow after the storm.

{ Founding Mothers }

Chief Editor : Fanyu Sun

Fanyu Sun had been one of the founding members of the WeUs Creative Magazine Club and had taken the lead to be the editor-in-chief. Over the course of a year, she transformed us from a group of beginners who knew nothing about creating magazines to experts in our own fields and lead the magazine from a blank sheet of paper to pages covered in wondrous memories.

No one would deny that she’s a true leader, the best kind of leader that one would ever encounter. She had always been the one. In our beginning stages, no one knew where to start, as we were all struggling in a brand new type of field. None of us had any experiences, and neither did she, yet she was the one who figured out a way for all of this to work. With her assistance, we managed to develop a working system that suited everybody, and with her pieces of advice and supervision, our magazine improved issue by issue.

She was the one that had the most responsibility. Her job varied from organizing everyone together to evenly distributing work to each and every one of us, and through those, she displayed

a strong sense of responsibility and extraordinary patience. She seemed to know everything about WeUs , and always have everything under control. She would hold discussions with the different sectors of the club, listen to the issues that we are facing, and provide advice that is precise and helpful.

She was also the one who endured the most pressure. As the editor-inchief, she had high standards not only for us but also for herself. She is currently in 12th grade, a senior, and had already faced tremendous stress from academic work, college applications, and other kinds of work. However, from her, I had never heard a word of complaint. She sees WeUs as a child of her own, raised her with her unceasing hard work, care and tenderness.

It was Ms. Cat and Ms. Maria who founded the club and had also given us tremendous support, yet it was Freya and her dedication that had made all of these amazing issues of magazines come true. WeUs could never have gotten this far without her.

Wentao (Dylan) Deng

Just like how all story goes, after protagonists found the aim, there would always be some obstacles. In this case, WeUs had a lot. None of us had ever produced a magazine, and the only thing we know is that magazine is about designing words and pictures. Based on the roles everyone was applying for, WeUs had been divided into writing committee and art groups. The Writing Committee is responsible for collecting SPAS students’ work, proofreading, and producing original work. The art group uses InDesign to combine words, adjust pictures, draw illustrations, and paint their own styles. However, not everything is perfect.

WeUs Writing Committee

As a group of students who can't even get an A+ on their essays, the amount of analysis and writing can be painful. Additionally, for the ability, skills, and ideas of English writing, students in word group are all novices and beginners. In constant innovation and practice, we are finding our own style. Unfortunately, as a magazine, it is not allowed to have various styles. Therefore, students in

WeUs Art Group

"Changing along designing" is the belief of us. WeUs Art Group is always adjusting the design aesthetic to make our magazine more professional and popular. Everyone is trying their best to inject inspirations on each page of layout or painting to show the texts and pictures in an engaging way. Meanwhile, uniforming diversity styles from different artists is also the idea we persist in creation. After several attempts since we were established

word group also struggle for a long time in unifying writing perspective, word style, and sentence pattern division. As we grow up, the application of college gradually approached. Most students' lives are limited by TOEFL, SAT, and college writing. Every Saturday and Sunday night is our deadline and when most students just start writing. Poor writing and overwhelming pressure followed.

and referencing other magazines, now, the design is still working on the path of an edgy, structured, and minimalist style. With using several attractive elements such as curves and watermarks and using structured layout, we find a balance between content and visual creativity. We have confidence to attract more followers and to continually make WeUs into a more unique and popular magazine and platform.

WeUs is more than a club. WeUs is a platform for students to share ideas, interests, and abilities. WeUs is a booster for teachers and students to build trust and mutual understanding. WeUs is another word for bonding and relationships. It’s been one year since where we started. So many struggles have we been through and so much more in the future. We never want to be a stupendous or a mind-boggling magazine brand, but we still want to try and live well, because “To live is to risk it all. Otherwise, you are just an inert chunk of randomly assembled molecules, drifting wherever the universe blows you.”

WeUs WeUs

Qibo Wang : The Economic Dream Architect

How many of you have put effort and time into something you love dearly and received the product after all your hard work? Then, how did you feel after everything your effort finally became what you dreamt of? Today, I’m going to introduce a person who reached his dream through years of hard work, Qibo (Steven) Wang. Steven is a senior who has been studying at SPAS for more than four years. He is renowned for his positive and friendly characteristics. These characteristics have successfully aided him in building strong relationships with both students and teachers alike. As one of the students who has stayed in SPAS the longest, Steven knows his path clearly, along with what he wants to be in the future. He has successfully combined his determination and relationships to establish the SIBEC. This is the very reason why he founded the club, accepted by the college of Art and Science in New York University (NYU), his dream school.

Zixuan (Chloe) Wang

The Economic Dream Architects

SIBEC Presidential Team吧

SPAS Inflationary Business and Economics Club, also known as SIBEC, has been established for over a year now. The club members are all people who love things related to economics and marketing. With a whopping of six members and growing, they grew up from an unknown group to an official school club. There are a lot of reasons that prompted Steven to form this club, but the most important one is

to fill the flaws in the school courses. Since the only Economic course is only open to 12th-grade students, the SIBEC can help junior students to learn economics and further determine the major of their university. Meanwhile, it is also a cool thing to see students in the SIBEC lead the team to participate in academic competitions all around.

SIBEC club is very outstanding and active in activities outside the school. As the sponsor in 2021, SIBEC held two ECON101 economics competitions nationwide, and even one Monopoly-related challenge inside the school. The main purpose was to invoke students’ interest in the economy. Boy, did it work very well! The club members of SIBEC have already experienced a new term, and it is going to include the members of the third round. Everyone inside the club is quite close to each other due to their constant cooperation and dedication. They are essentially teammates during the competition, while also being close friends out of the meeting room.

There are always some challenges during the creation of a new club. For Steven, he had never thought he could manage a club before, nor did he think it could keep running for so long. “For me, SIBEC Club is like a child born from an accidental pregnancy, and I’m a novice father.” Steven said, “I don’t know how to deal with accidents that happened in SIBEC, just like a novice father doesn’t know how to change baby diapers.” Despite numerous challenges and difficulties while running the club, there has always been happiness and fulfillment in seeing students enjoy the economy.

There are always difficulties when developing oneself, and it is hard overcoming these challenges. However, it is to be regretted that we don’t give it a try, before merely giving up. There are relationships everywhere in our life, and we may casually encounter someone who may change our life someday. The important thing is to always master the present.

Presidential Team:

(From left to right in the picture above)

Yuwen (Penny) Pan

Shuo (Lydia) Tian

Qibo (Steven) Wang

Chuxi (Aurora) Shui

Wenxuan (Yolanda) Meng

Xin (Alisa) He

SPAS Inflationary Business and Economics Club

QingMing

清明

“A drizzling rain falls on the Mourning Day. Pedestrians are broken-hearted on the way. Where can a tavern be found to drown their sorrows? There a cowboy points to a hamlet amid apricot flowers.”

— Mu Du

Originally, “Pure Brightness” was only used as a solar term in the Twenty-four Solar Terms, but now, it has also become a well-known festival——The Qingming Festival. Whenever we mention Qingming Festival, the first thing that comes to our mind must be “sweeping the tomb” or “worshiping ancestors”, that is, to commemorate or to remember the lost relatives, elders or even friends.

If Lantern Festival refers to the gathering of a group of living family members, then Qingming Festival is a gathering of our dead family members to some extent. Some people may be afraid of dead people or dead souls, but for others, it’s someone they think about and miss every day... As a traditional festival custom, sweeping tombs has influenced the people from generation to generation. This activity provides an opportunity for us to increase our thoughts and respect for those we lost, while also giving us a

pause in our busy lives to reflect on the meaning of life.

Another thing we might think of is “Taqing”, which is going out for a walk at the beginning of the spring. The activity of “Taqing” actually existed for a really long period. In ancient times, people would weave and brought wickers or willow branches with them, because they believed that it could dispel evil spirits. At the same time, the Qingming Festival is just at the transition of winter and spring, when everything in nature is revived, and it is just a great time for people to go out and play.

The two activities mentioned above are known to most people, but the most interesting thing that you may have never heard about Chinese festivals is the “Cold Food Festival”. Actually, to talk about the Qingming Festival, we must first clarify the relationship between the Qingming Festival and the Cold Food Festival.

Yixiao (Coco) Xu

According to records, during the Chunqiu Period, Li Ji intended to make her own son become a successor, the son who inherited the property after the death of Duke Xian of Jin (Jin Xian Gong), by framing Shen Sheng, who was supposed to be a successor. Li Ji made Shen Sheng commit suicide. After this, Li Ji wanted to frame another son of Duke Xian of Jin, Chong’er. In order to escape from political persecution, Chong’er fled with some of his trusted subordinates. Jie Zitui is a loyal loyalist who accompanied Chong’er all the time.

Unfortunately, due to the lack of food, Chong’er fainted from hunger during the way

of escape one day. He was in critical condition and other subordinates were worried about him, but there was nothing they could do. At this moment, Jie Zitui brought a bowl of hot broth to Chong’er. After drinking the broth, Chong’er slowly recovered his energy and spirits and opened his eyes. While everyone was celebrating Chong’er’s survival, Jie Zitui sat on the side watching them, silently.

Chong’er noticed that the blood was oozing from the clothes of Jie Zitui. Chong’er then realized that the hot broth that saved him from the abyss of suffering was the part of Jie Zitui’s leg. Chong’er then recalled the hardships and difficulties all along the

way — they walk through the dangerous forests, climbed numerous steep mountains, and hidden from the chase of their enemies — he was very touched about what Jie Zitui did.

Many years later, Chong’er returned to Jin and became the monarch, which is known as the Duke of Jin. After he took the throne, he rewarded all loyal officials who once stood on his side and supported him, except Jie Zitui. Undeniably, Jie Zitui is not the kind of person who cares about rights and rewards. He took his mother to Mianshan in seclusion.

When Chong’er finally realized that he ignored his savor and loyalist, Jie Zitui,

he wanted to express his apology and gratitude to Jie Zitui. Chong’er took a group of people to Mianshan, but Mianshan was too big to find Jie Zitui and his mother. At this time, one told Chong’er that “if we set fire on three sides of the mountain, Jie Zitui would certainly escape from the side without fire.” Therefore, in order to force Jie Zitui out of the Mianshan, Chong’er ordered people to set fire to the mountain. But when the fire finally went out, Chong’er didn’t see either Jie Zitui or his mother. Chong’er was confused and decided to go up the mountain and found where Jie Zitui was.

Unfortunately, the body of Jie Zitui and his mother were

found under a withered willow tree. At the same time, there is a letter under the tree. The letter wrote that: “Cutting off the flesh and offering to the Lord to show my loyalty, hoping the Lord maintains being honest and clean.” The sorrow for losing the “friend” made him depressed, so he set up the day as Cold Food Festival in order to commemorate Jie Zitui. On this day, every family cannot use fire and can only eat cold things.

Next year, Chong’er returned to the Mianshan to commemorate Jie Zitui. He found that the withered willow tree had miraculously revived. Momentarily, a breeze caresses his cheek; the willow branches had a spiritual floating with

the wind. At this moment, Chong’er felt that Jie Zitui was there again, standing in front of him, smiling at him, and there is a stream of warm currents flowing in his heart. He then named the tree “Qingming Willow”, and also set the day after the Cold Food Festival as the Qingming Festival. Finally, as time goes, since Qingming Festival is right after the Cold Food Festival and they have similar activities, which, during the Cold Food Festival, the fire was prohibited and, during Qingming, new fire would be set, and both of the festivals is about commemorating the dead, so that people gradually regard these two festivals as one, or combine them.

After reading the story between Chong’er and Jie Zitui, how do you feel? Did you feel impressed by the loyalty of Jie Zitui to Chong’er? Do you feel pity for the death of Jie Zitui? Do you have a new understanding about the Qingming Festival?

Although Chong’er led to the death of Jie Zitui inadvertently, according to what he did, setting up a festival specifically for Jie Zitui and applying it to the whole country and even last such long period, he regretted his actions, and he also hoped to mourn his loyal follower, Jie Zitui, through this festival. The Qingming Festival seems to forge the relationship between Chong’er and Jie Zitui. Every year when the Qingming Festival comes, Chong’er would think of a person, who ignored pain and danger; who brought a bowl of hot broth; who silently helped him even without any reward; who is Jie Zitui. Similarly, for you, do you have any relatives or anyone close to you who has passed away? Would you recall the memorable times you were together? Would you wish them a better life in the

“other world”? Every year at Qingming Festival, do you go to their tombstones to commemorate them? Has the relationship between you strengthened on the day of Qingming Festival?

Analogically, do you have any relatives or old friends who passed away? Do you miss them when you recall the memorable times with them? Will you pray for them to live well in “another world”? Did you ever go to their tomb to commemorate them every Qingming Festival? Did the relationship among you enhance during the Qingming Festival?

Perhaps, you won’t see them again; Perhaps, you can never feel their warmth again; Perhaps...they are no longer in this world again. But, as long as you remember them, preserving them in your memory, then, the relationship between you would never fade away. They will always be there——in the deepest of your heart, forever.

They will always be there——in the deepest of your heart, forever.

Winter Olympics

In ancient Greek mythology, Zeus, the legendary Lord God, had a story. Once upon a time, when Zeus was born, his father, Kronos, worried that his son would overthrow him when he grew up. Then, Kronos decided to kill Zeus, while Zeus's mother, Rhea, brought baby Zeus fled to mount Idi, in Crete. She asked and pleased the Idaean Dactyls here to take care of baby Zeus. Therefore, baby Zeus spent most of his childhood here.

One day, in order to please baby Zeus, Idaean dactyls organized a competition in ancient Olympia. They have formulated such competition systems as the location and the dimensions of the racing stadium. Not only that, they decided that the winner was going to put on an olive wreath at the end of the competition. Later, when Zeus became the king of the gods, the sports meeting became an activity to commemorate Zeus; The olive wreath also became a symbol of peace. Fascinating, right? The story above is

one of the origins of the Olympic Games. However, the legend of the Olympic Game is far more than this one story. You may also have heard the story of Hercules or the story of Pelops. But all of these stories were myths. To explore the significance of holding the Olympic Games, we still need to understand the historical facts of Greece at that time.

The emergence of the ancient Olympic Games was closely related to the politics, economy, culture, and religion of Greek society at that time. Around 770 B.C, Greece was a slavery society, and war was almost commonplace for people. Winning victory and honor by training strong soldiers is the goal that every citystate intends to achieve. In this case, various sports activities have gradually developed. Soldiers will hold sports competitions to exercise their abilities and achieve better results in the war.

Sihan (Aaron) Chen & Yixiao (Coco) Xu

As we all know, the Olympic Games include summer and winter. Due to different seasons, the events of the competition are also different. The sports of the summer Olympic Games include track-and-field, football, weightlifting, swimming, skating, table tennis, tennis, basketball, wrestling, archery, baseball, horse racing, and so forth; The Winter Olympic Games, as its name implies, include some suitable sports in winter, such as skating, skiing, sledding, curling, etc.

On July 31, 2015, the day was destined to be extraordinary. President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach announced in Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia that Beijing and Zhangjiakou will jointly become the host city of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Having a flashback to Moscow 14 years ago, as then IOC President Samaranch announced that Beijing would become the host city of the 2008 Olympic Games, Chinese people were so proud and excited. If Beijing successfully holds the Winter Olympic Games in 2022, it would become the world's first city that holds the Olympics twice. After the successful bid for the Olympic Games, President Xi, the president of the People's Republic of China (PRC), put forward the concept of "Green, Inclusive, Open, and Clean" for the preparation of the Olympic

Games, which pointed out the direction and laid the foundation for the construction work in the next six years. As one of the largest international sports activities, the Olympic Games not only created a platform for fair competition for all countries but also promoted the positive development of relations between different nationalities.

In the previously mentioned China's concept of hosting the Winter Olympic Games, the "green" in the first place is the biggest focus and core of China's preparation and hosting. The term "green" means environmentalfriendly and sustainable, which reflects that China attaches great importance to a positive and sustainable relationship between human beings and the ecological environment in the preparation processes. In preparation for this Winter Olympic Games, China has achieved using 100% renewable energy power supply for the first time in the world, by paying more attention to water conservation in snow venues and electric energy recycling in ice venues.

Other concepts have achieved innovation in different aspects. Inclusiveness has turned winter sports from such expensive activities into people's sports. The preparation for the Winter Olympic Games has promoted the development of Chinese winter sports, driven the construction

of transportation facilities among cities, and boosted the growth of employment in the local areas. The idea of inclusiveness successfully got 300 million people involved in winter sports in China. Moreover, under the concept of openness, China will face the world, the future, and modernization, promoting the opening-up process at the same time, including exchanges of ideas in sports, culture, and education. Last but not least, is the concept of clean, or in other words, transparency, or holding a huge sports competition under fairness and equality. China rejects all forms of doping and highly prohibits corruption and bribery in terms of ranking, scoring, and adjudication.

According to all the ideas mentioned in preparing for the Winter Olympic Games, we have learned that China has paid great attention to the relationship between humans and the environment, the relationship between the people and athletes, and the relationship between nations and nations; Eventually, this leads to the concept of international relations and a community of common destiny for all mankind. In the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, we constantly stressed the Olympic motto "Faster, higher, stronger - together". At the same time, we also repeated our slogan "Together for a shared future". Based on the four concepts of hosting the Olympic Games and the Olympic motto, China conveyed the belief of "Together for a shared future" and strengthen international cooperation and the multilateral trading system.

According to all the ideas mentioned in preparing for the Winter Olympic Games, we have learned that China has paid great attention to the relationship between humans and the environment, the relationship between the people and athletes, and the relationship between nations and nations; Eventually, this leads to the concept of international relations and a community of common destiny for all mankind.

In the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, we constantly stressed the Olympic motto "Faster, higher, stronger - together". At the same time, we also repeated our slogan "Together for a shared future". Based on the four concepts of hosting the Olympic Games and the Olympic motto, China conveyed the belief of "Together for a shared future" and strengthen international cooperation and the multilateral trading system. In the past five years, humans have faced so many challenges: The epidemic of COVIDs; Volcanic eruptions; Earthquakes; Food shortages; Resource outages; Economic imbalance; Expanding gap between the rich and the poor; Warfares; Nuclear pollution; etc. Human beings need a stable relationship among all, not only to be peaceful but also to be cooperative. The Winter Olympic Games have promoted the process of mankind moving towards greater unity and made progress in the relationship between individuals, races, countries, and even all humans.

Dissolution of the Soviet Union

In 1991, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, one of the world's two largest political, economic, and ideological entities, collapsed, which led to great changes in the world pattern. This disintegration has led to the emergence of many countries on the Eurasia continent, which includes Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine's geographical location

determines its importance: The thirdlargest country of food exportation in the world making a decisive in the recovery of the global food crisis caused by the COVID-19 epidemic. On the other hand, as the permanent member state of the UN Security Council, which inherited the main heritage of the former Soviet Union, Russia stays in an important position in the global economy, aerospace technology, finance, resource exportation, and political balance.

NATO

Preface

When it comes to the term "Relationship", it can be discussed on various scales, from basically interpersonal to significantly international. As SPAS students approach adulthood, it has become a necessity for them to fully understand and analyze international relations. International relation is the summarized term of all the relationships among countries, including commercial, political, and cultural. International relations are decisive because they determine the world order, global economic stability, and the speed of scientific and technological development; A positive international relation will bring cooperation in many fields including finance, science and technology, and resource allocation; A negative and tense international relation, however, will lead to uneven allocation of resources, economic and trade confrontation, and even lead to terrible consequences such as war. A positive international relationship is based on the development of trade reciprocity, mutual trust, and no infringement of interests and national security, but when these basic needs are not met, any of the international relations would start to go downhill.

Ukraine Crisis of 2014 & The Minsk Agreement

In 2014, the crisis broke out in Ukraine due to the division within its government. The incumbent president was removed from his presidency by their parliament, which triggered the Crimean crisis and the Donbas war. Soon, Donetsk and Lugansk states in eastern Ukraine announced their independence and called themselves the "Lugansk People's Republic (LPR)" and the "Donetsk People's Republic (DPR)". The Normandy Quartet in 2015 represented the end of the war. Ukrainian civilian armed forces and Ukrainian government forces reached an agreement in Minsk. Belarus subsequently announced that the conflicting sides planned to cease fire, resulting in a withdrawal of troops. This agreement was named The Minsk agreement.

The Establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Back to 1949, the United States of America (USA), the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (GBR), the French Republic (FRA), the kingdom of the Netherlands (NED), the kingdom of Belgium (BEL), the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (LUX), Canada (CAN), the kingdom of Denmark (DEN),

the kingdom of Norway (NOR), the Republic of Iceland (ISL), the Republic of Portugal (POL), and the Republic of Italy (ITA) signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, established the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). According to the treaty, an armed attack on either Contracting State shall be regarded as an attack on all Contracting States. Then, in the past five decades, the NATO has expanded towards the east, adding new members including Germany, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, etc.

Sihan (Aaron) Chen & Fanyu (Freya) Sun

A Diary from a Chinese student in the United States

March.9th

This morning was a mess. It was like a magic wind suddenly came from nowhere, dragging Boston back to the winter scene. The wind is roaring outside. Gladly, I already picked up my hoodies yesterday. Otherwise, I would possibly be naked for tomorrow’s class.

I don’t know why, when it comes to wind, I’ve always wanted to cuddle myself in my cozy quilt and watch a good TV series. I actually just finished watching this amazing HBO series named Chernobyl. It was both fantastic and based on a real, depressing event. It was about the Chernobyl nuclear power plant near the town of Pripyat, where Ukraine suffered a serious explosion. A distinguished Soviet nuclear physicist, Valery Legasov, became a member of the emergency team that dealt with the accident.

The real event was that on April 26, 1986, at 1:23 a.m., the Chernobyl nuclear power plant set off a series of explosions that ignited a fire and sent large amounts of high-energy radiation into the atmosphere over a large area. I just asked my World History teacher for clarification. She told me that the radiation released by this disaster was 400 times greater than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima during World War II. 31 people died instantly from the massive radiation exposure, and 170,000 of the 3.2 million people exposed to the excess died in the decade after the accident. However, those who survived were suffered from all kinds of cancers and diseases. None of them could ever face life with a healthy body.

Theories about the cause of the disaster vary. An explanation, published in August 1986, placed full blame for the accident on the plant operator. Another explanation, published in 1991, attributed the accident to a design flaw in one of the reactors. However, recent news just pop up on my phone:

UKRAINE AUTHORITIES SAY POWER KNOCKED OUT TO CHERNOBYL

NUCLEAR SITE AMID RUSSIA INVASION, EMERGENCY GENERATORS TURNED ON.

I asked my classmates about what does it means, since I never paid any attention to international affairs. They said this basically means that if the power plant for maintaining Chernobyl doesn’t retire in 48 hours, it will explode again. I was like…

I open my Twitter. I saw Kuleba, the Foreign Minister of Ukraine, said “The only electrical grid supplying the Chernobyl NPP and all its nuclear facilities occupied by Russian army is damaged. CNPP lost all electric supply. I call on the international community to urgently demand Russia to cease fire and allow repair units to restore power.” Some people comment that this was a fake threat to Russia.

No one knows what will happen if Chernobyl is not restored in 48 hours. I don’t even know how many citizens have suicide with this 10 seconds when I was just recovering from this tragic news. Although many journalists claimed that this was fake news to threaten the Russian army retreat from Ukraine country, the knife hanging above all citizens’ heads seems could be fallen at any second.

I open my WeChat with my mom. No matter how deep she slept, I woke her up with Facetime. We talked a lot, about TV series, about this news, about life. My mom said that this event reminds her favorite quote from Yoko Ono that “world peace is one project that we have to do together.” I didn't sleep today, neither did all of my Ukrainian classmates. I was never born in the era of peace, but a country.

February.26th

This afternoon, mom and grandma were watching the news on the sofa downstairs. Just two days ago, the news was full of news about the beginning of a war; Although they didn't call it a war, I guess "military action" meant a war. My father is one of the best entrepreneurs in this area, and he's a sophisticate at international business. He came home yesterday and told us that everything would be much more difficult in the coming year, although I didn't understand why.

In fact, as early as only one month ago, adults at home were discussing what happened in the West. There were too many things that happened in the past month before the 24th. Every day, as the TV is turned on, we could see the news about the president of that country far across the Atlantic warning the Ukrainian government that our country was planning aggression to subvert the country. For such news, they often say, "This is making nonsense!"; "Their president is so whimsical..."; or "Do they want us to do such things? Ridiculous.", but I don't think so. The news, indeed, was not just about that president's announcements; The news, on the other hand, also reported affairs such as western countries transporting weapons to Ukraine, Ukraine hoping to join NATO, and my country carrying out military exercises in the Western areas. The adults were not shocked, and my dad said, "2014 was much tenser than how it is now."

As I said, two days ago, President Putin announced the upcoming military operation in Ukraine; It shocked everyone because none has ever thought that our country would really start a war. Although this incident is shocking, I also understand its significance; This war is not without reason, nor is it inevitable. Our country must do it.

At breakfast today, my father mentioned business troubles again. I asked him if it was because of the things happening in Ukraine, and he said yes. Our country has taken the first step, which will undoubtedly lead to various sanctions from western countries. Yet, my father repeated "We're just civilians. We can't do anything." What is happening now in Ukraine makes me realize that peace is always the relationship people pursue, but it is also difficult to achieve in the face of inequality.

A Diary from a girl living on the Outskirts of

A Diary from a middle school student in Kyiv, Ukraine

February.27th

It is so upset that I haven't gone to school again for three days. Father and mother look anxiously at their mobile phones these days. Although they were just whispering, I heard two words: "troops" and "coming". Every night, the common news about foreign countries on TV is canceled; Instead, these programs are changed to a series of government notices, warnings, and suggestions. They said Kyiv is under threat.

Many of my classmates have left Kyiv since the school closed. My parents also told me that they are going to take me West to a "safer place". The luggage has been loaded into the car, and they are still carrying out the final inspection. I don't know how long I will go out this time, I don't know if we will come back, and I don't know if I will see my classmates again. I hope...they will be all right.

I like my bedroom very much because my bed, my toys and the familiar scenery outside the window are here; I like this house, as I am familiar with the streets here, and I also remember the touch of each wall here; I like Kyiv, this is the city where I grew up. Only this city, this house, this room make me feel not like a traveler. I don't want to leave here, but I have to leave. I can't understand why Russia invaded our country. I thought it was an era of peace... I

want to know the reason why they invaded us... I really hope that when I grow up, I can be a politician to avoid war and maintain peace.

I always thought our country was protected by the west, at least that's what the news and videos on my phone say. In his speech, our president also expressed the expectation for our country to join NATO soon, so as to ensure national and economic security. The media said that if we joined NATO, Russia would not dare to invade our country. In fact, several districts in the East are having conflicts all year round; I feel that my country is no longer a cohesive entity.

I think I have to end it here. Dad is calling me...

Oh my God, just as I was about to put this diary in my bag I heard an explosion outside; Four explosions, continuous, very loud. Through the window, I saw the black night sky in the distance, which was red at the junction of the horizon. Are they really here? There may be a traffic jam. I must hurry, I must say goodbye now...

Please, one day, I hope I can go back to my home. Now, I pray that people will not be hurting or dying. Please, I love my country, and I don't want to lose it...

This world is big, and everyone's life is different. We may not experience the war around us in our life; Analogically, we may never understand what is the demise of a country, what is guarding our own country by subverting another, or what is leaving your home and never going back.

As the author, it is the first time that a war happening so close to me. My dear friend, who is from Ukraine, is experiencing everything about this. Nobody knows what will happen tomorrow... I wish all the luck and safety for her and her country.

Spring in SPAS

Festival of Nations

The festival of nations has been an annual holiday for SPAS students. By assigning a country to each homeroom, students will be learning the local culture and information. Making performances, presentations, souvenirs, indigenous activities, and so on, students are visitors and also presenters of those countries. No matter if it is a country with abundant culture or the one you can barely point on the map, students will treat all countries with equal respect and understanding. The Festival of Nations is an opportunity for free geography lessons and spiritual enrichment.

House Game

House game is a new biweekly activity that just began this semester. By relating different students in each house, they will support each other to overcome various difficult games and challenges. Students will reflect on themselves at the end of this game, realizing that the meaning of this activity is to arouse students’ enthusiasm for companionship and cooperation.

Talent Show

This is the first talent show of this semester. The melody of songs and excellent dance moves have been etched into our minds. It was a completely stupendous performance that the dance club had its first collaboration with the SPAS band. Before that, the dance club was a quintessential "solo dancer". The relationship between dancing postures and jumping notes composed a harmonious performance.

Do you know who’s sitting in your room, in front of, or next to you every day? I don't mean you know their names or anything like that when I say "knowing." Do you really know them is what I'm saying. Do you actually know their personalities, what type of people they are, or what your mutual hobbies are? I'm guessing you would say no.3

FON is just one of these opportunities for you to know them. And it was right here, at SPAS…

The Festival of Nations, or FON, is a long-standing tradition at SPAS. All students can get away from their schoolwork and do something meaningful and fun on FON days.

Festival of Nations

Each homeroom was given a country, which the students were required to learn about. Later on, these students came to create all of the activities on their own in order to introduce their country to the other students. The countries selected this year were some of the tiniest or least well-known, making the FON experience even more exciting and educational for the students.

It took a lot of imagination and creativity to organize on-stage performances. From designing a spectacular and unique performance among dozens of others to merging everyone's talents, to executing everything flawlessly. It is difficult for someone to complete all of their tasks on their own. And FON has given us chances to learn to cooperate as well as to build a deep relationship with those around us.

Yihan (Flora) Wang

Friends of mine told me about this person they thought was extremely unfriendly. However, she soon discovered that this is not the case. She became more interested in that individual as she got to know them more.

I've known students who have spoken to a "complete stranger" in their class. After the chat began, they discovered that they shared some common interests and quickly became friends.

I also know someone who discovered something very remarkable in someone else, someone he had previously overlooked. He might never have seen the bright side of that person if it hadn't been for this event.

Sometimes, for those we have never known well, the only way to break the ice is an event that ties you together. FON is an event like this, and it fulfilled its mission. The students became closer to each other, and the relationship grew stronger. Perhaps that is the true meaning of school events.

MovieMood

Fanyu (Freya) Sun

The Sun

“The fairest thing in the world is the sun, which, regardless of its dimensions, spends half of the year in daylight and half in darkness.” However, you may also realize that the more sunlight is, the darker the shadow is. When two words come together, sunlight and dark, the relationship is highly opposite but meanwhile causal. The movie “A Sun” used a tragic story to explain this philosophical debate. The opening scene opens with upbeat folk music as the main character He goes to a diner with his friend Cai and cuts off a man's hand. Then He, acts as an accomplice and shifts all the blame. This lands Cai in jail and He in a caretaker's cell. Other characters slowly emerge. He's father can be described as a decent and straightforward man, and he puts his son in jail with his own hands. The other main character is the brother, bland but warm. But the opening line was spoken by him. Later He's brother also told the story of Sima Guang to everyone.

"Sima Guang smashes the tank" is a Chinese fable. One afternoon, Guang was playing hideand-seek with his friends, but in the end, one of them was missing. When everyone was ready to give up, Guang remembered that there was still a jar that had not been found. He used a

boulder to smash the tank and save the story of his companion who fell in the big tank. But He's brother said that after Guang smashed the vat open, he saw himself hiding in the tank, huddled in a dark corner. Later, He's brother jumped off the building. He's a gentle, kind, and capable person who is expected by his family. Unfortunately, no one ever thought about what he really wanted. In the big city, the sun shines in all the corners, not a shadow to He's brother used to breathe. He is such a person who only gives sunlight to others, but the more sunlight he gives, the more shadows he has.

The English translation of this movie is A Sun, which has a similar tone as A Son. In fact, He's brother is given a lot of high expectations, too much pressure, no water tank no shadows, 24 hours of sun pressure can not breathe. So He and his brother are symbolizing extreme love and extreme lack of love. When Guang couldn't find himself at first, he longed for himself to be found by others, but unfortunately, no one came to him

The later movie happens around He's life after his release from prison. He has been living under the halo of his brother and has been left out of the family's life. But after losing a son, He's father's attitude changes. A shift from the blackness of no sunlight to leaving a gap for the sun to beckon in. The shooting technique has been done perfectly. Long shadows and empty compositions with lots of harsh lighting make viewers feel dead inside. Each character was carefully planned out in terms of who was allowed to stand in the shadows and who was in the sun. Seriously if there were some shots where the characters could be in the lower-middle zone it could be more depressing, but it's good enough for now.

The father only acknowledges that he had a son from the beginning to the end, although nature did change in the middle. In more subtle places, such as when He came out of the prison, the father does not look at him, but rather stares at the TV. The TV is showing Animal Atlas. This feeling brings out the kind of compassionate and stern fatherly love of the family of origin. The two extremes of the son's character are actually a mapping of the deteriorating father's love. So all in all, A Sun, using colors, editing, light, structures, and unrevealing lines with potential meaning, creates a subtle and introverted but also powerful atmosphere.

Color ratios in this film can be regarded as very sophisticated. Let's take the opening scene as an example. The environment, the street, neon lights in the rain reflection are unusually conspicuous, and the bright yellow raincoat immediately pulled the focus of the person, and everything that happens afterward is also premeditated. All the darkness of the film is very much like the movie "Moonlight". Dark, dim, but hopeful, because compared to the harshness of the day, the night is more peaceful. The final point of the film falls into the family relationship. The reason why He likes to ride his bike is that there is sunlight and shade at the same time, which corresponds to the need for communication and understanding in the family.

Hiphopology

Hip-hop is an art form to present, vocalize and elaborate your feeling.

And Relationships can bring all kinds of emotions to all human beings.

Love, hate, discrimination, self-doubt. Different kinds of relationships are vividly displayed in hip-hop works.

In this issue of Hiphopology, we will appreciate three different hip-hop singles that describe different kinds of relationships with various methods. And here we go.

At just twenty-five years old, Lil uzi vert is one of the most famous rappers alive, with millions of fans that adores his tippy, psychedelic beats, emo lyrics, and once-in-a-generation rocky star personality. I keep the same love towards him and his most viral song: XO TOUR LIF3: He released the song with his EP "Luv is Rage 1.5" ( Luv here has two different meanings, it is the abbreviation for both love and Lil uzi vert, we can call it a wordplay here) which came out while he was in tier with The Weeknd. The project was praised for its interesting sounds, and at the same time, the EP further defined UziUzi as an emo rapper. Due to the lyrics relating to heartbreak and depression, especially on the EP's almost mythical hit "XO TOUR LIF3" it goes on later to become a career and culture-defining song for Lil Uzi. The title of the song comes from The Weeknd star boy 2017 world tour, where UziUzi is the opening performer. The song reached number seven on Billboard's hot one hundred. It is Uzi'sUzi's highest-charting song as a solo artist. It explores his breakup with long term girlfriend Brittany Byrd, and the substance of UziUzi went through after that. The song encapsulates dulled nailing post heartbreak sadness with hits minor-key melody teased out by spacey textures and psychedelic accents. That gives the song a dream-like, another world atmosphere. The second part of the song talks about his relationship with money and fame. Friends are leaving, Lil uzi vert and the world: and it creates the most renowned lyrics "all my friends are dead, push me to the edge, "which is one of the representations of Lil uzi vert. The song also started the market of emo-rap, later rappers like XXX TENTACION, juice wrld, and Triple Redd were influenced by the music in a big way.

It is a heating, emotional, and influential song that is worth being on your playlist. The reflection about his previous relation and fame is empathetic.

Zihan (Samuel) Liu

Lil Uzi Vert – “XO TOUR LIF3”

Kanye West"Lost In The World"

Lost in the world - The penultimate song on the album is considered the outro of the whole album. It is a song specially written for Kim Kardashian, which he once said in a radio interview the lyrics came from a poem he wrote for Kim. The lyrics are the best part of the song with no doubt :

You're my devil. You're my angel

You're my heaven. You're my hell

You're my now. You're my forever

You're my freedom. You're my jail

You're my lies. You're my truth

You're my war. You're my truce

You're my questions. You're my proof

You're my stress. You're my masseuse

Lost In The World

Lost In The World

The above paragraph uses comparisons to present Kim's importance to Kanye. It is full of poetic romance. If you ever fall in love, this song is a must to be played to your partner. In addition to the lyrics, this song's melody and production are also prominent features.

This song samples Bon Iver, the music wood of an American folk singer, as the classical background, with Bon Iver, distorted autotune sound effects. Kanye began his poetic justice. The ending of this song uses chorus by female voices, which successfully sublimated the end of the song to the same height as the intro song: "dark fantasy."

It is another extremely innovative and influential song in the first decades in 21 century, it's romance is so so touching, the sweet and pure love is explicitly written in the song, unfortunately, since 2016, Kanye was diagnosed with bipolar, which is a severe mental disease, and his relationship got worse as his disease. Kim proposed divorce in February 2022, and on March 3rd, 2022, Kanye and his ex-lover ended their 7 - years relationship in endless pity. I hope every couple who loves each other deeply can be immortal, just like the song "lost in the world."

Zhere

She was there, sitting on the edge of her bed, holding his hand. “I’m sorry,” she said, "sorry to make you play Romeo. Romeo without Juliet.”

"I don’t mind." he paused. “If only it were all a dream.” But it was not. The doctors said she wouldn’t make it to tomorrow, perhaps not the next instant. But none of that seemed to matter anymore.

"Quit smoking, will you?” She said, “and stop getting into fights. Only rascals and punks would get themselves involved in this kind of mess. Be the boss behind the scenes."

He nodded.

A hint of joy added to her smile.

Wentao (Dylan) Deng

Zhere

In his class, he used to be a terrorist, a gangster, a brawler. No one, not even the teachers dared to look him in the eye. Apart from during the fights, he seldom talked to anyone.

That is why, when a message was sent to her phone, she fancied herself in trouble. It turned out great trouble indeed.

"Sup, are you there?”

"Yes…I…I am."

And so it all began, with dramatic drums; and it would soon come to an end, with falling curtains.

"Oh, and don’t forget, the water card is kept under the tea table. Remember to put it back when you are done using it."

He nodded. Not a word, not a drop of tear.

She coughed, and he looked up and took her hand in his, like a child grasping the thread of a kite, reluctant to let go.

But the string was long broken.

The girl put her other hand on his.

"Mimi died the other day. She’s old, and needs someone to take care of her on the other side. Guess you’ll be attending two funerals, after all. "

"Ominous. Can’t the damn cat leave by itself?”

Her smile was as sweet as ever.

"You really hated her, don’t you?"

He kept silent, more like acquiescence. The feline was indeed disturbing, yet he remembered every afternoon they spent together. He would lean back in the recliner, and the stupid cat would sit on his lap, her fur warm from the beams of the sun. Every once in a while, he would lift his hands and stroke her smooth hair, sensing the warmth in his palm. Trivial it seemed, it was one of the few best moments in his life.

He was stubborn, and had a hard time admitting that he liked the feline. All he said was, one can hardly enjoy life without a warm cat.

But there he was, placing her on his lap for one last time as she closed her eyes. The afternoon sun was as bright as the day they had picked her up. Bright, but warm.

Mimi died, but her body wasn’t cold. He sat through the afternoon and then the whole night, holding the cat that he had

once resented. She said he was kind. He denied it, and said he would soon find another cat to replace her, yet from that day on, he never sat in the sun again. The recliner that no longer served any use was hidden inside the storage room. Every time he cleaned it, he had the image of a boy and a cat, sitting in absolute tranquility.

As much as he denied it, he liked the cat very much. But he liked her better than anything. This she knew, along with everything that he hadn’t the chance to express. Gently, she rested her head on his shoulder, a revelation of the elusive sentiment that she regarded as “trust”.

" You need to…move on. Life is a journey of endless sufferings, but I like seeing you suffer. I however, can no longer take it, and bought the

ticket to escape. I’m outta here tomorrow, leaving you behind.” she paused for a second, and added with a wink.

"Fine."

He answered with one word, voice steady without a hint of quiver. It was a promise, a promise that he would keep going, no matter what would happen. It was such a promise that he couldn’t allow his voice to tremble, not even a bit.

The girl heard his heart beat. She took him in her arms, their chests pressed hard together, blood rushing to both hearts.

“Hey…”

"Are you there?”

“Yes, as always.”

He held her tight and called her name. She replied.

“I'm here, I'm here. Do you hear me? I'm here..."

Her voice gradually weakened. Her last words along with her feeble breaths faded from his ears, scattered into the vast sky. The broken kite flew out of his sight.

Two hearts pressed hard against each other, one dead, one alive.

The world fell in silence. He had held the old cat a few days ago, and this time he held her the same way, whispering the words that had longe been engraved into his soul.

"I'm here, I'm here... I’m Zhere…" "Do you hear me? I’m Zhere…”

"

WeUs |55

The Newcomer

Shuo (Lydia) Tian

“Hell! It's totally speechless. All those school leaders, everything they say is utter nonsense…” Leona complained. Although her attitude is a big problem, I do agree with her.

The school leaders are so rigid that they treat us like those of the mwonkeys in the zoo. So students always try to do something that touches school’s last straw. I never did that kind of stuff before, because I don't want to cause too much troubles. But my roommates Leona and Eda are different.

“Why does skirt have to cover the knees? It’s already the 21st century! Is this old woman still in Chinese feudal society?" Eda said. She was scolded by the Dean Mrs. Martha because of the dress code. Mrs. Martha is known by her goddam double standards. She doesn’t care, or

I can say she doesn’t even dare to talk about some of the girls in school, because she knows that those girls with bad temper would do some crazy sh** to let the school dismiss her. While, she knew that Eda would not do anything to her, so she would yelled at her fiercely every time. This freaky old woman seemed to have nothing else to do other than cursing.

"Maybe her calves are too fat so she's just jealous of you. You look good with that skirt, sis.” Leona said.

"That's a must. I have to show Kingsley my prettiest side." Eda put down the makeup remover in her hand, turned to me and said,

"Ash, do you think he's been paying more attention to me in PE class recently?”

“Maybe? I don't know.”

I never paid much attention to Kingsley, and I don’t even had any interest in those arrogant boys at school. I'm really sick of their confidence sometimes. They can't be more ordinary, but acting like they were the most popular in school, and chased by many girls. I have to mention their walking postures. It’s so hilarious that they all walk bumpily, as if they are good at basketball. A bunch of dumbass.

“Oh no, honey! You still don’t know that? Kingsley seems to have taken the initiative to add a little chick’s WeChat. I think she’s Tina. ” Leona said. Tina was a new student at our school, and she seemed to be a very silent girl. If Leona hadn't told me, I might never have known the existence of such a person. Her short, rough hair often covers her face, so I still don't know what this girl looks like. When such an ordinary girl was thrown into our school all of a sudden, the group of those horny boys went crazy, and they started to show their WeChat QR codes in front of this girl. Wish these guys can still act the same as they show their payment code to the cashier when they are dating with other girls in restaurants. I really don't know why those guys aren't interested in other more attractive girls like Eda or Leona. Maybe because their make-up is too thick. I actually told them many times they look good when they remove their makeup, but they never believe me.

It is difficult for such new student, especially a girl who is generally quiet and normal in appearance, to keep a good social circle in school forever. Although she can only be the focus in the eyes of those boys for no more than three weeks because of the novelty, the girls around me are all jealous. In order to observe her life, Molly from the next class added Tina as her friend on WeChat, and then she shared the contact card with us. Eda and Leona added her, but I didn't. I don't think their purpose is appropriate, and I don't want to waste time with such useless people in my friends list. But I could feel that Tina was a little scared of us.

A few days later, Molly posted a screenshot in the group chat, about her WeChat being deleted by Tina.

“What a nasty sonuvabi***!” Leona screamed, and I immediately woke up while dozing off. “Who the hell is she talking about in WeChat moment!” I admit that she has a really loud voice.

“What did she post? I got deleted too.” Eda said, swiping on her phone.

This story is about relationship between teenage girls just like me on campus, and relationship between us and others. I want to say that everybody's every move changes the world, minute by minute. I hope we will all be kind to each other.

"Lemme read this bullsh**." I could tell from Leona’s tone that she was going extremely angry.

THERE ARE REALLY TOO MANY ROWDIES IN MY NEW SCHOOL. GOD KNOWS WHAT THEY WERE DOING AND CHATTING ALL DAY. I JUST CAN’T GET USED TO IT, SO I DELETED THEM. MAYBE THERE ARE A FEW PEOPLE LEFT, JUST BECAUSE I FORGOT TO DO THAT. YOU GUYS, DON’T THINK TOO MUCH. IF I FIND YOU, I WILL DELETE YOU SOMEDAY.

“What? I’m done with this sonuvabi***! ” Leona yelled. That gwt her really mad. Fortunately, I didn't get involved in this kind of kindergarten-level-fight. I don’t even understand what they were fighting about.

“For God’s sake, ignore her! She’s just a newcomer.”

Once Tina came to the school, she started to receive all kinds of negative comments, which let me had sort of pity on this poor girl at the beginning. Until I saw her damn behaviors towards the boys, it really made me sick to the core. Once I was coming out from the class, I heard her talking about Eda with Kingsley in the hall. She pressed her breast against Kingsley's arm, padded her feet, and spoke close to his ear as she was trying to whisper something. But her voice was far louder than a whisper. Everyone who passed the hall can hear her goddam words. God, I hate that.

“Some of the girls at school have been so harsh on me. I'm a little scared. " She said, and looked at Kingsley with her damn innocent eyes. This just worked so well for Kingsley. Ridiculous, simple-minded man.

"Eda has a crush on you, right? I think she really cares about you. If that's the case, I won't bother you. I don’t wanna bring more trouble to you."

I have to say, her voice sounds very cute with her goddam dialect. But she really made me puke out. She was such a phony, pretending to be a poor girl to gain Kingsley’s

sympathy and provoke those dumb boy's desire for protection. Really cunning.

“No, no. Eda and I are just classmates. I don't like her." Kingsley responded quickly. I knew he’s a jerk. A week ago, he dated with Eda and watched movie together, but now he has denied all his previous feelings for Eda because of this pretentious little sonuvabi***. Can this school have even more hypocrites?

Few days after, we met Tina and her friend in the cafeteria in lunch time, and they seem to sit beside us on purpose. Leona was tense the whole time, and no one said a damn word. I glanced that Tina was looking at the three of us, from hairs to toes. I was very upset at the time, but I didn't say much. I could see Leona should have run out of her patience.

"What the hellya doing?” Leona pushed away the chair and stood directly in front of Tina.

“He…hello?” Tina obviously was frightened by her. She stumbled.

"What did you mean by the WeChat post on Tuesday? Who are you? Do you know who I am?"

For the five seconds after, the entire cafeteria was silent. You could even hear a needle drop. Then she continued without gasping, “Listen. You can curse whoever you want, but you can't mess with my sis. You'd better do things upright or keep your yap shut. Ya hear me?”

I know Leona so well. She almost got into a fight with a bunch of guys last year, just because a guy from a lower grade accidentally bumped me and didn’t apologize. It’s great to be her friend, but I’m worried about the problem that she always causes herself into some troubles.

“So sorry. I didn’t, didn’t mean you and your

friends. I’m… I’m sorry. I’m really sorry." See. Tina pretended to be innocent again. Gross! I just couldn’t finish this meal at all.

“Don’t lemme see this kind of damn thing happen again." Leona said. She pointed to Tina's nose. Tina's friend tugged at her, probably wanting to run away. Indeed, if I were her friend, I would just slip away. Oh no. I'm not going to be friends with this kind of person, ever.

A while later in the afternoon, Mrs. Martha walked into the class and called Leona and Eda. The moment she walked in, I knew that little b**** must have told Mrs. Martha about the case happened during lunch time. They went out for about an hour or so, and when they came back, I saw Eda's makeup covered in tears.

“Jesus! Does she even have a brain? Ash, don't even give a damn to those sonuvabi*****." Leona said. It seems like they were scolded by Mrs. Martha again.

"Have you been punished?" I said. I really wanna see how serious this small problem could get.

“She gave us detentions. But this is not the main case.” Eda said with tears, “She said that’s goddam bullying, and I was forced to apologize to that—”

"Why do we have to apologize to that little sonuvabi***?” Leona said, “For Chrissake! It was obviously her to do those damn things first. Besides, what the hell did we do? Was that bullying? Ridiculous! What a just witch! Anyway, I would never, ever, say the word 'sorry' to that goddam sonuvabi***.”

“Indeed." I said.

There are a lot of sh** like this going on in this school, and things are been said differently by everyone. You might think someone is kind and friendly, but he could be pretending. So I don't choose to believe what anyone says, unless I actually hear or see the truth.

A little while later, I saw Tina sitting in the corner of the classroom. I still couldn’t recognize her look. But I could see her snickering.

About...him

Jiaen (Kiki) Dong

Night falls and the lights flicker. It seems like the wind is dancing lightly around me, giving me joy and merriment. The bleak winter has gone quietly with the spring sun. I do not know exactly when. Unexpected but surprisingly, there was a person besides me. Then I realize that campus life was warm and sweet. Is the trembling hand that stops unconsciously during class; is the never satisfied glances every time passing through the door; Is unwilling to go back to the dormitory after school; Is the phone that rings involuntarily in every study hall…

We've known each other since the spring of 2019. Only then we didn't talk, not to mention being just friends. Just pure strangers with the same geography class.

Grade 10, 2020, global pandemic outbreak. All schools have to stop teaching offline and go online instead. I vaguely remember that we had one or two same classes. But I do remember the time when the teacher asked me to turn on the camera. What’s followed is his message"you have gained weight". Indeed, half a year of online courses, a decadent half a year.

around, I will always find you. There are so many quick relationships in this era, including mine. Let's try something different this time. Your life will be gentle, romantic, and fun. Three meals a day, four seasons, don't hurry, because you have me. All the time. Forever.

I want to leave an impress upon this school before I graduate. The romance of words is the most direct way to mark the depths of the heart. I wanted to respond to his love in my own way.

It was 11th grade, I presume, when we first know each other. There is only one physics class we shared. Someone slept every day in class but got the top student at the end of the semester. I still remember several exams. Since I don’t know the answer, until the end of the exam, he also came to help me out with some questions. But we are still not familiar, but when I saw him in the corridor, I would say hello.

“What bad luck to run into you!”

The story really begins in 12th grade. The year we started talking a lot, the year we hung out, the year we fought, the year we spoke our minds, the year we got together.

I always thought that love was filled with too many impurities: jealousy, control, material pursuit, lies. Every time when my love exposed some flaws, I chose to run away. But this time, the purity of love, enchanted me countless times.

The cake you took a detour to buy because I was in a bad mood; the rose you brought every time we meet; The wind you blocked in front of me; the “I’m sorry” every time when we had a fight; all the surprises; all the patient accompany; reluctant to let go every time we were apart. So many things are running through my mind. In this short time, I have experienced happiness I never had.

Just like a few articles I wrote for him. People who are meant to be together will be together. It's like the earth is round. No matter how far we run in the opposite direction. Passed by the corridor, turned

The Letter

Wentao (Dylan) Deng

To my dearest son,

"You might not know, farewells had always been the hardest moments of my life. You might not realize how tragic it is, for you are callow, and yet to experience the pains of life. You ought to know that there are certain matters in this world that cannot be said or taught, but to be felt by one’s heart. Farewell is one of them, so is love.

Your arrival was so sudden, it had messed up all of our plans. We even had to cancel the emigration. Your mother often teased me, saying that if it weren’t for you, we’d be living in a huge villa in Northern Australia, which was my dream when I was eighteen. I would always laugh and agree with her. However, I never regretted the decision, because from what I’ve learnt in my forty-five years of life, family is greater than dreams.

Apparently your grandfather was never aware of that, and ran away with an easy lope, along with him the responsibilities of a husband and a father. The day he went, your grandmother said something to me that I remembered for a lifetime. “Family is of paramount importance,”

she said, “don’t ever let it down.” For my whole life, I’ve kept it as my rule, my motto, my attitude towards life, avoiding to become a precedent like your grandfather. I did it, and now, I wish that you take it as yours. I understand that, though as family members, they might seem unbearable at times, and would even provoke antipathy. It is natural, for love and hate are indigenous and cardinal to humanity. Nonetheless, you ought to know that such antipathy is merely an outlet of emotions, and would be effaced by time. Blood ties are bonds so impregnable that shall not be retracted my mere annoyance and apathy. Family after all, is a place you call home.

You can never imagine what it felt like to witness your growth, not before you have children of your own. It was like observing my life once again, from an infant, to a child, to a fully grown man. It is a true wonder of the nature. You were born a clever kid, never obtuse and clumsy. When you were five, your uncle had given you the Anthology of Shakespeare’s Literature. Since then, you wouldn’t stop

reading it. The obsession lasted for months, there was even a time when we had to confiscate the book for you to eat a proper meal. Your mother was furious, yet deep in her eyes, I saw a hint of encomium. Then, you grew older, and wanted to learn biking. When I saw you ran into a tree because of a brake defunct, I felt as if the pain was in my heart. I wanted to catch you, but the accident precipitated, and it was futile. You fell off the bike, face landing hard on the ground. I ran up to check on your wound’s, hoping that you were fine. Instead, I saw your eyes full of tears, yet reluctant to capitulate. The next instant, you beamed. I have to say, you didn’t look too good with tears and dirts mixing on your face, yet it was the brightest smile I have ever seen. Finally, it came to the date of the inauguration of your graduation ceremony. You stood on stage, looking sharp, waving and smiling at us, your face emblazoned with the spirit of youth. At that very moment, a flood of pride overwhelmed me. You are my son, and I’m proud of you.

Do forgive me for my voluminous speech, for when people get older, they tend to become loquacious. Just know that every word I’ve written in this letter, along with those that I didn’t get a chance to write, was all for your sake, for your life, and for your wellbeing. For us, to witness you happiness is our ultimate desire. Your mother and I believed in giving you full freedom over your life. You had just turned eighteen, and we think that it is only fair for you to make your own choices. Whether wealthy of indigent, canonical or indolent, it is your choice of life, and I respect it. We don’t expect you to achieve great successes in the future, to earn billions of dollars, or to be revered by hundreds and thousands of people. We just want you to be happy. However, the only thing that your mother and I would hate to see, is you regretting. If there would be a day when you embroiled yourself into trouble, or lolled against an armchair, blaming your failures to misfortune and haplessness, would you ever recall my words, recall the decisions you’ve made in your life? Leave no remorse, that is all we wish of you."

Loved, Father

This is a letter from a father to his son, regarding some of his life advices and expectations to his son. It reminds me of the relationship between my father and I at the time we spent together and all those things that he said to me but I don’t understand.

Writing on theWall

When the first rays of the morning sun shone into the darkling room, a man opened his eyes and stood up from the bed. He rejected the indolence of most people, but started his day simply and decisively. Washing up, getting dressed, having breakfast, followed by a little daze in front of the antediluvian calendar. When all this was done, he came to a room with traditional chandeliers and played with various small items on the table. These boring actions are repeated by men every morning. His actions are also as simple as a robot. In fact, the man was a professional killer, and the items on the table were “souvenirs” that the man brought back from the dead.

Although the man had earned a lot of money from his profession, he was still confused about the real meaning of life. His antipathy for life seemed to be innate. When the man was a child, he hated his selfish parents who brought him to this suffering world without asking for his opinion. In a dispute, anger precipitated the birth of tragedy. Blood splattered on the cheeks of the man when he was still a child. Right, he committed the most unforgivable crime in the world.

The orphan has become a feared professional killer since he was bathed in blood. Since then, he has committed himself to restarting his life if he still cannot find the truth before the age of 30. Today was the penultimate day from the age of 30, and it was also the last task he had undertaken. The target was a leader of the opposition to the government. After the man reviewed the target's information in detail again, he took out his weapon from the secret door and set out on the final road.

The streets are filled with harmony and warmth. The hottest topic is discussing the upcoming new president, and most people also express their trust and support for the mysterious new dominator. Seeing this scene, the man spontaneously cursed the stupidity and ignorance of these lugubrious people. Working in a gray area, he naturally knows more about the government. The man was also disgusted with those “Tartuffe” who always keep saying their probity over and over, after the slayer helped them to decapitate their rival. But the bloodthirsty man didn't want to reveal the truth to those callow common. In his words, these obtuse mortals who can be easily deceived by cant deserve to live under a false rule. They lose the ability and innateness to make their own judgements and options as individuals, and they just go with the stream. On the other hand, the man

did not think that what the politicians did was necessarily wrong, because he also did not have the paramount powers and functions to define canonical right and wrong.

The shadows constantly shuttled through the tall buildings in the dark night, and the man arrived at the destination, a slum where only the indigent live. He deftly moved down the exposed pipes and eventually came to his target's window without making any sound. Opening the window and getting in, the man seemed to be like a ghost traveling through the dark night. Immediately afterwards, he came behind the target and effaced life simply and decisively. After doing these musclememory assassinations, he lolled on the target's chair. After some fiddling around, he found what appeared to be valuable souvenirs, a detailed assassination plan –the opposition faction would assassinate the new crown when awll of the people

Chao (Roschach)Yue

inaugurated the latter.

Afte r cleaning up the scene, the killer returned home smoothly. He sat in the dark room thinking about the little future he had left. After some time, he picked up the assassination plan. Without purpose and purpose, he decided to find meaning in life by fulfilling the wishes of others. This was definitely not for people's future, nor was it for justice. If the final plan was to destroy the world, he still would sacrifice his life recklessly.

On the way to the ceremony, the man made a rare laugh at himself, saying that if he could retire, he might also be called an emeritus in the killer industry. That kind of boasting is true. If the man held killer training, the audience below would absolutely revere him. Looking back on his life, his career was indeed legendary. Despite sitting in the soundproofed car, the man still could hear the endless stream of encomium for the government from outside the car. The obsequious words made the man mutter in a low voice, "The gods you believe in will eventually be defunct.”

Arriving at the central square of the city, the man came to the back door according to the plan. He gained the retinue's trust by taking the patois from the previous target. According to the map prepared in advance, he started from the ventilation duct of the toilet and came to the President's lounge in an orderly manner. The capacious room was resplendent. The current president was wearing a voluminous robe like an ancient emperor lying in a sealed capsule. Not far away, there was also a person lying in another sealed cabin. He was naked, but his body was

glowing regularly. The killer realized that the naked man was the heir to the throne, and all he needed to do was blow up the power grid in the room to destroy the decadent dynasty.

But what puzzled him was that the new leader seemed to have an unspeakable secret with the current leader. When he climbed out of the pipe and came to the capsule as usual, he was found. The robe-clad emperor woke up from his slumber and stared at the man calmly. This is also the first time a man has been discovered in an assassination attempt. The president ignored him.

Instead, he walked out of the cabin to the table and drank wine. Then he said, "It's all futile."

Th e man immediately asked, "Who the hell is this naked guy?"

The leader did not answer him directly, but said, " You can't decimate us. Because we are immortal."

The man said loudly: "Tell me, or I will kill him now." After speaking, he raised his gun and pointed at the sleeping new crown.

The president took a sip of wine

and said, "As you can see, that one is just a clone of me. No, I'm just a clone of someone else. Since the establishment of this government, the president has only been one person from beginning to end, and that is that one. A founder. Every once in a while, we will create a new body and pass on the consciousness. So instead of calling me president, everyone should call me an emperor, because we are eternal."

The man not only laughed loudly when he heard this. He said: "While I can't judge you for right and wrong, what you have done is really annoying. You hypocrites always talk about democracy and service to the people, but what you did was the most outrageous thing."

The president was not angry when he heard this, but was very decorous. He smiled and nodded, and said abnormally sorry. But as soon as the words fell, he came to the front of the man like lightning and kicked the latter away.

Although the man has been through many battles, he is still no match for the president. This anomaly is so dreamy yet realistic.

After knocking on the man incapacitated, the president paused and said, "I'm sorry for embroiling you, that's what the rebel should have done. You don't need to be surprised by the powerlessness, because I was It is no longer human. As machines, that’s why we can pass our consciousness. Now you've come to a precipice. Put away your antagonism and capitulate to me, you have no chance.”

The man did not give up, but stood up against the wall. He staggered toward the grid. Seeing this scene, the president shook his head, and he was also ready to give the stubborn man the final blow.

When the president came to the man, the man activated the tiny device hidden in his sleeve. A powerful electromagnetic pulse crippled all the electronics in the room. Even the president was stagnant for a few seconds. Seeing this, the man quickly came to the grid and detonated the power system in the room. A powerful current suddenly flooded the entire room. Before dying, he still hadn't found the meaning of life, but it was the first time he thought of being so satisfied today. Or maybe people live to find the meaning of life.

WRITING ON THE WALL WALL

In this short story, I created a protagonist who is different from the mainstream. Looking at it, the whole story is negative and pessimistic. In this way, I hope to express a little of my own different views on the world.

A Red Line

Boston was cold anomaly in the winter of 1998, and a old furrier, Mr.Frank was lolled back in his chair by the fire. As a cantankerous man, no one in the village wants to talk to him A humble grass house made him look more indigent. Sitting on a small bench alone, he precipitately repaired the emblazon with special patterns of his clothes. Many of the indigenous rich people live around his house and always looked him up and down. Furrier doesn't want to capitulate to such a life. In fact, when he was young, he was a decorous gentleman with a reviewable doctor's job. For a long time, people in Frank's hometown thought that the land was paramount, so sacrificial ceremonies were often held. In an accidental activity, he met the only prima doona Maria in his life at a voluminous ball. Maria's appearance made Frank feel the feeling of heart for the first time. Frank has become an obsession with this special girl. But fate doesn't seem to want to maintain the anthology of love for them. Their village believes that two people that love each other in different villages will be decapitating due to the antediluvian belief left by their ancestors. Between the two villages, countless people who once loved each other had the ending of lugubrious. But in the face of these precedents, frank and Maria don't want to stop the two hearts who like each other because of the old rules. They secretly meet in the sunset, in the field, loped happy. They can't understand why there was a big red line of capacious road between villages, and people quarreled with each other by using the obtuse patois In an accidental stroll, they vaguely walked to a precipice, and the dark sky was about to devour the last glimmer of light. And a disaster is about to fulminate them. The old woman in Maria village saw the scene of frank and Maria's love. As a canonical and loquacious villager, she immediately told the village head about it. At night, an emergency meeting was held in Maria's village. They decided to imprison Maria.Agroup of rude villagers came to Maria's house with torches like run wild horses. They bound Maria's hands with chains. No matter how Maria resisted, it was still futile things. The evil side of people's hearts are constantly amplified by the ironic rules in the legend. Maria's home was set on fire. The dazzling fire attracted the people of Frank's village. At this time, Frank seemed to feel the suffering on the other side. He put down everything in his

hands and ran to Maria's direction. Among the crowd, he saw Maria, who was locked, fall weakly to the ground. At this moment, he reached the peak of antipathy between villages. He put down his decorous figure which doctor must had and robbed his beloved girl from a group of strong men. They were surrounded at the edge of the precipice, and the once romantic precipice became an endless abyss into hell. At this time, they have no choice. Jumping off the cliff became the only chance to survive. When they took each other's hand, turned and jumped, a loud noise ended everything. Under the cliff, the bullet passed through Maria's chest, opening the countdown to her death. In the last few minutes of her life, she held Frank's hand tightly and tried again to touched his face.

Frank wailed in pain and begged God not to take the girl he loved. " Hold on, I'll take you to the hospital. " Frank prayed for the final miracle, "you will marry me and accompany me until emeritus and we can emigrate to US and live a free life."

Fate is so risible that two people who love each other are not together in the end. From then on, Frank was the only one left wandering the world. His soul is no longer complete. In order to get rid of the nightmare, he came to a village in Boston with Maria's dream. Now people may only see his sad side, but they never know the long buried memory and their indomitable love.

It's 2020, the 41st year after Frank lost Maria. He stumbled back to the hometown he hat. Today's villages have long been covered by tall buildings. The crimson line that once blocked the two villages was also covered by traces of people’s steps. Frank's whole life seems to be bound by this red line and unforgettable girl. He couldn't walk any more and sat on the ground panting. In the blurred vision, he saw two lovers holding hands, running, dancing and kissing in the sunset. No one cares about the red line under his feet. There is no public apathy among the people, only endless love and expression in the air.

In the fog, he saw Maria's hand reaching out to him. He rose to greet with a smile. Frank waited for this figure for nearly 40 years. Finally, they met again. Frank slept peacefully with tears in his eyes.

This story is based on words learned in literature class.The word "Furrier" reminded me of the sad hero in the TV drama, so I created the content about “falling in love but not being together due to feudal reasons”. The story is pure fiction, and I sincerely wish everyone in reality can be free to love.

Xiyue (Betty) Zhang

A Ghost of Fern Sea

Can you imagine the earth 300 million years ago? saw the number 300 million years on a sheet given by Mr. Ferguson in the Environmental Science class. “Coal is a solid fuel formed primarily from the remains of trees, ferns, and other

CHEERING FOR LIFE VIVA LA VIDA

plant materials that were preserved 280-360 million years ago”, the sheet says. As I read that, my mind began to wander, wandering to 300 million years ago. The sound of Mr. Ferguson gradually became dimmer, and the classroom started to disappear, a sea of fern trees replacing them gradually. It is an age that is far away from us and it’s almost too far away to imagine.

Dinosaurs would not appear for another 100 million years. Vertebrate animals had just gone ashore and turned from fish to amphibians, marching to the inner land. The arthropods (or

bugs, as we prefer to call them) that had ruled the ocean for 200 million years are still thriving on land.

Ancient dragonflies with a length of human legs ruled the sky, and 2-meters-long giant millipedes wandered in the forest.

The most unique things in that age were definitely the forest with the forests of unprecedented proportions. Even though the weather at that age is relatively cool, the scale of the forests was amazing. At one point, the earth's oxygen content reached a staggering 40 percent, while it nowadays is about 21%. Swamp and forests covered almost all land in middle and low latitudes.

One major reason why there were so many trees is the lack of terrestrial herbivores. Another reason is that the Intermittent glacier formation and retreat in polar areas, which are caused by the special glacial climate, would form an intermittent increase and decrease of sea level, which would lead to formations of large scales of swamp and wetland. Those wetlands brought massive amounts of habitats for tropical fern trees. Most trees we see today are hard to find in that age. When we talk about ferns, we often think of weak, backward tiny plants. In fact, many ferns 300 million years ago were towering trees tenths of meters high,

erecting in groups in the endless swamp, all with wired shapes and appearances, like something out of the sky. Those fern trees would be defeated in the competition with modern plants, but they were thriving then.

Nevertheless, the age is also an age that is very close to us.

As it says on Mr. Ferguson’s sheet, those fern trees turned to forms of coal. All those fern trees haven’t been forgotten by our world. They are still thriving in the forms of fossil fuels, bringing our civilization lights in the night. They are still

shining under the silent starry sky, using the energy they obtained from sunlight 300 million years ago. Human uses those ghosts from 300 million years ago to overcome the dark night, defeat horrible weather, and create miracles and the future. Without them, the industrial revolution would not even begin.

In the night, see the light of the city, and I see the ghost, a ghost of the fern sea.

All pictures and passages in this section are made by Zihao (Cloud) Dong

Bo (Vincent) Qian: "The first one was taken in June 2018. When I was traveling in Santorini, Greece, saw a mother and daughter illuminated by the sun and water. The second one was taken on Valentine's Day 2017 in Hokkaido. With the two swans form the Swarovski logo, it embodies a peaceful beauty."

Onion vs. Mouth

Zhengda (Eric) Lv

Onion vs. Mouth

Oil painting, canvas, nails, and hands

"This painting has no special meaning because only focused on learning drawing skills from experience while painting this one since this is my first time painting oil."

Wang Angela Lu: "This picture is one of the best memories of my 2022. With my beloved friends and delicious barbecue, the darkness of night seems to be lightened up by us."

A Passerby of the History

Zihao (Cloud) Dong

A Passer - by the History

Oil painting, pencil sketch, propylene, glue, and a heart full of sincerity and romance

"I came. I witnesseed. I remembered. Will I be remembered by rocks? I started drawing with the lobe-finned fish, which represents the transition from fish to terrestrial animals. Then it goes to the skeleton of Diplodocus Carnegiei, human with weapons and civilization. All those things revolved around me, and my skull with my love of paleoart."

Zhengdao (Arthur) Lv

Self - Portrait

Oil painting

"My original intention was simply to improve my skills and enjoy the process of painting. In this painting, I depict myself in life and me at school. To be honest, I didn't want to express anything through this painting. This painting is just a self-portrait for me."

Treasure Is Buried Deep

Even If the Treasure Is Buried Deep Procreate

"I think I’m a treasure myself and those chains symbolize the pressures and challenges that await me. The heart is my ponding passion and determination to overcome difficulties."

painting

"This oil painting focuses on the contradiction between people’s notions in different stages. The three figures around the table depict me in primary school, middle school and high school, which are the three stages of a huge change in my thinking."

Shuo (Lydia) Tian

Jiaheng (Alex) Li Me Oil

Hi, Me

Manci

(Mandy) Sun Hi, Me

Paper, pencil, and watercolor

"This painting depicts “multiple” me. In the middle of the drawing, I create a portrait in a normal state. On the top, there are nine characters that all represent myself. They all have the same face, but they represent different personalities and different emotions of me. All the emotions help to enrich the life of me or the character in the center."

Shuangru (Aurora)

Auroras

Wei

Marker pen, flower-babysbreath, and diamond stickers

"I draw three myself on the canvas, to show my confusion, anxiety, and mess to change in many stages. The solid dried flowers in the picture are babysbreath, and they are like pimples on my forehead. The flower has dried up, just like the pimple marks that have left scars on my face. The pimples once also bloomed, but now they are dried up, and they won't go away."

Gatefold Printing Effect of P70-P73

70-73页的拉页打印效果