Issue 36

Lemon Trio

By Logan Weghorst

Logan A. Weghorst enjoys drawing and painting, as well as working with wood, clay, and metals. His colorful “CAT” painting was featured on the cover of Parakeet Magazine’s debut issue. His monochromatic sketch, “Filling the Void,” appeared on Cicada Society’s blog. “Smile,” one of Logan’s pencil drawings made it to the semi-finalist round of Art of Unity’s 2022 Creative Award, putting the piece in the top 15% of 279 submissions from 52 countries. More recently, Logan’s pencil sketch “Intertwined” appeared in Blue Marble Review.

Forrest

By Veronica Wang

Veronica is a senior at Poolesville High School in Poolesville, Maryland. Her art has been recognized by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers and by the Oil Painters of America. Her work has been published in other magazines such as the National Celebrating Art Magazine and has been displayed in traveling shows through the National Junior Duck Stamp Competition. Veronica runs the organization American Young Art Circles (AYAC) which is dedicated to increasing art accessibility by posting tutorials and combatting societal issues by fundraising through hosting art competitions.

Candy Aisle

By Sonja Xie

Sonja is a junior at Scarsdale High School in New York. Her art has been published in various literary and art magazines, such as Celebrating Art and Teen Ink, and showcased for sale at her town’s local art gallery, The Dark Horse. She is the creative director for The Encephalon, editor for her school’s science magazine, and a passionate hospital volunteer and student researcher. Besides art, she enjoys listening to music, drinking coffee, and watching horror movies.

Neon Paradise

By Laura Anna Balla

This picture was taken in Hersonissos, Crete. To be more precise, it was taken in the heart of the party district. Some may think observing life in such a loud and busy environment can be overwhelming but for me, it’s relaxing. Standing in one place while watching the world pass. In Greek, there’s even a word for this: peratzatha.

Laura Anna Balla is eighteen years old and currently living in Budapest, Hungary. Laura loves criminal law but at the same time, she adores art and creativity. If she’s not busy with schoolwork you can find her either creating some form of art or preparing for a competition.

Stained Glass

By Alina Sidorova

In our one-digit years, we’d gallop around the house. We’d fly down the stairs and swing around the end of the banister to hear it wheeze, and the mirrors would witness our pigtailed head cackling with joy. Occasionally, I would look at you and you’d look at me, eye to eye, and we’d beam at each other, crooked baby teeth and all. We knew and loved each other then, and we were only saddened by the sheet of glass separating your left hand from my right.

The dawn of two-digit years brought attentiveness. Suddenly, frog-hopping and sock-sliding weren’t our preferred methods of transportation. We noticed other people, first how not everyone was an easy friend, then their distinctivenesses, their features. High contrast mode highlighted our pores, grandma pointed out our tummy, hormones made it all worse. It was exposure, visibility, a sudden nakedness.

The years ticked upwards. You became a tool for popping pimples and a shadow to hide from. I would bow my head over the sink to cry, and you would cry with me, but when we looked up, we’d both be met with disgust. Some nights, we’d curl up in our bed, and feverishly beg the universe for an answer; why was that in the mirror every time we walked into the bathroom? No amount of concealer and sexy pouting made you better.

But life sped past, and eventually the grooves of our face were familiar. There came days where we couldn’t tear our eyes off ourselves and days where we wallowed in the muck of self-pity. I’m not sure if we ever fell back into not knowing and not caring. But there is a net positivity now, resignation coupled with respect.

Alina Sidorova is a student by day and a writer by night. She likes to hang up fairy lights and squish her fat cat.

What I’ve Lost, What I’ve Gained

By Nathan Sorrentino

I count all else as loss- Philippians 3:8

Lost: A Lego ARC Trooper, 3rd grade, to a friend who knew how rare Legos could get.

Lost: A Lego Ewok Tree Fort, 4th grade, because I moved a lot, and the Legos didn’t survive.

Lost: My dumb chihuahua, Chewbacca, 4th grade, because she didn’t trust my uncle.

Gained: A Lego Slave One; the guy with the ARC trooper wishes he had Boba’s ship.

Gained: A Lego Millenium Falcon, 12th grade, let’s see how rare that one gets.

Gained: An old dog named Penny, 5th grade, who was way better than Chewbacca

Lost: My saved data on my Wii, 3rd or 4th grade. I say it got a virus.

Lost: My Wii for good, 6th grade; it just went right into the trash. Nothing else to be done with it.

Gained: A WiiU, the super-charged version of the Wii, regardless of what Nolan Bushnell says.

Gained: A love of video games, books, and movies, i.e. storytelling regardless of its medium.

Lost: My grandpa, 5th grade. Sudden lack of blood sugar, though maybe a stroke.

Lost: My other grandpa, 9th grade, kidney failure and sepsis.

Gained: My Dad, 5th grade, in the break room of a school, then on three separate Christmases.

Gained:An assortment of Boomer friends that would have gotten along with my grandpas.

Lost: Time: a lot of time of my life waisted without realizing it because I didn’t like to read.

Gained: A desire to write for the glory of God, 19 or 20, realizing my life is writing.

Lost: My pride (that’s a good thing), through love and discipline of my mind.

Gained: Jesus, around 12, though I’ve known Him my whole life.

Lost: A chance of working my way to Heaven, the moment I was born.

Gained: Forgiveness, undeserved, gained continually, always and forever.

Nathan Sorrentino is an undergraduate at the University of Central Florida where he is working towards a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing. He has been writing since high school and, like cheese, has gotten better with time. He lives in the Armpit of America locally known as Central Florida.