The lying party

She felt horrible about it but she didn’t know what else to do.

“Yes, mum. I’m going to sleep at Mary’s house, you don’t have to worry. We’ll just go for a coffee and then straight to her house. Her parents will be there so you don’t have to worry about anything. Tomorrow, I will be back around eleven o’clock.”

As she kissed her mother goodbye and turned her back, she felt guilty for lying to her face and she was about to turn and tell her that she would go to a party with Mary. But without realizing it she reached the door and opened it. And then she saw Mary’s car waiting for her and all her doubts about that plan vanished.

She could not characterize her parents as strict, overprotective or narrow-minded but she knew that they would not allow her to go to that party, because it was organized by college students –while she was still in junior high school-. However, she wanted to go, since all of her friends would, and she didn’t want them to think of her as a child who is scared to say no to her parents.

But when she was in her friend’s car with the window open and she could feel the breeze on her face, she wasn’t thinking about all that stuff. The only thing that was on her mind was that she was free to live her life and to have a good time with her close friends.

As they reached the house where the party was at, they were all stunned by the luxury of it. It was a detached house with a gorgeous and colorful garden. It was built with white marble and there was a huge window at the center of the house. In other words, it was the best, the coolest and the most awesome house they had ever seen in their entire lives.

However, the inside could not compare with the outside at all. Although they could understand that it was a spacious house and well-decorated, it was a complete mess. The music was deafening, people were dancing and drinking everywhere. It was difficult to move, as the number of people in the room was extremely big. The floor was sticky, as liquid had been poured, and full of broken glasses.

Despite the difficulties, they managed to take a glass of something -they had no idea what they were drinking- and to go dancing. There they met some guys who were dancing near them.

“I’m Mark. What’s your name?”

“I’m Jess”, she replied.

“You have a really nice name Jess. Would you like to go somewhere quieter?” he asked.

Mark was a really handsome guy and Jessie liked him very much. It was obvious though that he was much older than her. He was probably in college. But she didn’t want to disappoint him or make him think that she wasn't worth of him so she said yes.

Honestly, she was excited that an older and such a pretty boy was interested in her. It’s not that she was not beautiful. She was a pretty girl but she had her flaws and her insecurities. Her major insecurity was that boys didn’t consider her as an attractive girl. She had some experiences, as she had rejected a classmate of hers and she had kissed a guy from her swimming class but with Mark it was different. He was tall with dark, black hair and brown eyes and she could tell that he was working out.

So, they went to one of the bedrooms and they sat on the bed. They started talking about his school life. He was indeed in college and he told her about some of the adventures that he had with his friends but then he asked about her school experience. She panicked, as she didn’t want to let him down by saying that she was much younger or to come up as desperate

“I am senior at high school. I am thrilled for the graduation. My friends and I have arranged to travel to Amsterdam after the graduation. After that I don’t know what I will do. I don’t know yet if I would like to look for colleges. You know, I think that I would prefer to travel. Of course, my parents are cool with that and when we discussed about it they said that they’ll support me no matter what I decide. What do you think?”

All of that was a lie. She knew that she wanted to study to a good university and be the first of her class but she wanted to seem cool to Mark.

So, after they talked for a little while longer, Mark made a move to kiss her. She didn’t move and after a while she returned the kiss.

“How was it?” he asked

“It was nice”, she said shyly.

“You don’t have to worry. I understand that you don’t have much experience. Would you like me to continue?”

Then the panic really kicked in. Mark was a cool and handsome guy but she wasn’t ready to continue with him at all. The kissing was great but he was in college and she knew that when he said “continue” he meant to do something more than kissing. At that moment she wanted to tell him the truth about her age but then he would think of her as a cheap liar, a child and he would laugh at her.

“I would love to but I can’t. The problem is that I am in a relationship with a great guy and I should not do this. I am so sorry. I really don’t know what else to say. I’m really embarrassed.”

“No, it’s okay. I hope all girls were honest like that” he politely answered but a little angrily. 

When she returned to her friends, they danced for an hour or so and then went to Mary’s home. Then, Jess told Mary what happened although she left out the part that she lied to him about her age. She focused on the fact that he was gorgeous and he wanted to move to the next level with her.

The next morning, after she went back home, she sat with her mother at the kitchen table and she came up with a great story about how she spent the night with Mary. She even told her the storyline of the movie that they supposedly watched but she just thought of it at that moment.

After she finished her narration to her mother, she went to her room, she lay at her bed and started thinking of all the lies she told. She had never lied before but she just discovered that she was actually good at it. Everybody believed her. Nobody questioned her. Although there were times that she felt guilty or she panicked, she remained calm and she was always believable without saying exaggerated things. Yes, she knew that lying was a bad thing but she managed to do what pleased her and nothing terrible happened. She felt like she had discovered a hidden talent in her and she could not wait to test its limits. She could not wait for the next party. Or maybe she could arrange a sneak out so that her friends and she could go to the new bar that opened downtown.          

~Xenitidou Panagiota

My Fears

The disgusting insects;
they walk all day upon your legs
as fast as the writer changes pens
they are the devil's subjects

The frightening darkeness;
the black light that intimidates the children of all ages
as they hope to survive from its rages
and not to end up heartless

The desperating idea of not being loved;
that awful feeling that you are externally and internally ugly
and you hide it behind a fake smile aptly
loneliness and sadness are deep in your heart shoved

The devastating state of not being happy;
the conflict with your always underperformed self
that can never do something memorable and tell
around other people you consider yourself lucky

~Xenitidou Panagiota

Announcement!

Dear Bridgers,

The following three fairytales are revisions of popular fairytales, which were rewritten with a subversive political twist. They were written within the framework of our course in Critical Writing, which focused on Fiction and they were chosen among more than fifty revisions created by the students of the class!

Snow White and the Queen

Queen was walking up and down in the living room, as she was expecting the doctor to come down from her step-daughter’s room. Snow White, the seed of love of her husband and his first wife, who died at childbirth, had something like a panic attack. She started jumping up and down, she was yelling unintelligible words that sounded more like the vocabulary of a caveman and, at some points, she was even slamming herself. Her father and she tried to make her stop behaving so inappropriately by telling her to calm down and that she should not do things like that, but, of course, these approaches had no effective results, as she was engaged in this activity for a whole hour. As they could not take it any longer, they called the family doctor to calm her down by the help of drugs. 

“How is she doctor?” asked Queen when she saw the doctor coming out of her room.

“My dear Queen, I am afraid that I have no happy news for you,” the doctor responded as he was closing the door behind him and he was descending the stairs.

“What is it doctor? Why is she behaving like this?”

“Tell me first where your husband is?”

“He did not yet returned from the drug store, where you sent him to buy the clozapine you prescribed.”

“Queen, you must understand that Snow White’s disease is really serious and that is why I prescribed such a drug.”

“What is wrong with her?” she asked with a trembling voice.

“My dear, I think we should wait for John to return from the drug store and then inform you about her situation.”

Queen was genuinely worried about her step-daughter’s health, but she politely agreed with the physician and she offered him some liqueur chocolate. 

After ten minutes of small talk, a knock on the door made Queen jump from her seat. Dana, the most recent black servant that the Mackmains acquired, went to open the door immediately and she saw a police officer.

“Hello. Is Mrs Mackmain home?” the police officer asked.

“This is she” said Queen running to the door when she saw the officer. “Is there anything wrong?”

“I am sorry Mrs, but it’s about your husband. He was robbed and murdered. My condolences.”

*

She reluctantly opened her eyes. The light that was coming from the window was not much, but it was extremely bright. It must be early in the morning, she thought. Well, it is fine I will prepare breakfast for my father. At the instant second she had that thought, the smile disappeared from her face and she became sad and desperately gloomy. She heard the voice of her step-mother saying that her father had a terrible accident and that he was no longer with them but he was looking after them from the always peaceful and happy blue sky. She was still remembering the sight of her hands, as a small pool of tears was being formed, since crying was the only thing she could do. However, she was also reminded of an uncanny noise that it looked like it was coming from hell. Now that she was thinking about the worse moment of her life she was sure that the noise it was actually a giggle, which was  produced by her so-called mother, as she was laughing for the brutal passing of her father and her misfortune, since now not only was she an orphan but also she was completely dependent on her. 

The rage she felt at that moment was so intense and so unbearable that she let out a scream that sounded more like a continuous, heartbreaking sob. When that outburst ceased and she looked around her she realized that something was wrong. With a second glance at her surroundings, she understood that she was not in her bedroom but in an unfamiliar room, which resembled a prison cell. 

At the moment of the realization, the door of her cell open and a nurse appeared.

“Good morning, Snow White. I am Nurse Mary and I brought your breakfast.”

“Nurse Mary? Where am I? Who brought me here?” she asked in confusion.

“Don’t you remember? You had a … panic attack yesterday and Doctor Martin and your mother checked you in.”

“Doctor Martin and…”, her voice fainted as she realized how the nurse had called the woman responsible for her ruined life and she screamed: “She is not my mother,” she yelled, “SHE IS NOT MY MOTHER!!!”

*

After the nurse managed to make her patient eat and take her medicine, Snow White was taking a nap when a sudden noise woke her up. As she opened he eyes, she saw a handsome, fit and tall young man with black hair and blue eyes watching her. It was like she saw an angel and she instantly fell in love with him.

“Who are you?” she asked shyly.

“My name is Prince. I know that this is not a good time due to your father’s loss, but there was something that I wanted to ask him and I didn’t get the chance to,” he replied with his deep, masculine but melodic voice.

“What is it?”

“I saw you a few days ago at the market place with your father and I thought that you were the most beautiful girl on earth. To be honest, I felt like the god of love had thrown one of his magic arrows at me and the desire for you made my heart ache. At that moment, the only thing that I could think about was you. Nothing else could stay on my mind but your lovely looking eyes. What I am here to ask from you, as I can’t ask your father, is if you would do me the extremely great honor of becoming my wife.”

Snow White was astonished by the statement of the young man but she was also blissful, because it was a love from the first sight that brought the happiness back to her life.

“Oh my God! Yes, my beautiful Prince, I will proudly be your wife,” she responded not believing the surprising turn that her life had taken. “But my Prince I would like to ask you something and I want your answer to be truthful without worrying that I may change my mind,” she resolutely said.

“Anything, my soon to be faithful wife.”

“Who do you truly believe that is the fairest of them all?”

“Snow White,” he immediately responded and by kissing her hand he continued “you, my princess, are the fairest of them all.”

*

“I would like to see Dr. Martin immediately please,” said Queen abruptly to the first nurse she saw in front of her.

“His office is the last one in the corridor right,” the nurse replied politely.

“Hello,” Queen said as she went in the office and greeted the doctor.

“Hello, Queen. I’m glad you made it. We have to talk about Snow White,” he said as more officially as he could.

“Of course, doctor. I have to tell you that I am really concerned about her. As I went to visit her before coming to your office, I quietly opened her door, because I thought that she might be sleeping and I saw her talking lively and kissing a mirror. Tell me the truth doctor what is wrong with her?” said Queen desperately.

“Snow White has schizophrenia. That is a mental disorder and some of its main symptoms are hallucinations, delusions and disorganized speech—” he paused so that to provide a little time for Queen to absorb the tragic news and continued in a less doctor-like way: 

“When you called me before John’s death to come and examine her, after I calmed her down she told me that she was screaming and hurting herself because a huge spider was wondering all over her body. I knew that that was just a hallucination, as it would be impossible for the rest of us not to be able to see as well such a big and awful creature as a spider.”

Queen started sobbing in her seat while listening to the unfortunate health state of the girl that she thought of being her own child.

“Can that disease be cured?” she asked in great agony.

“The medication that we give her can dramatically affect her situation but just that is not enough. She will need somebody to take care of her so that she can be brought to the hospital whenever it is needed and also to make sure that she joins some support groups in order to continue to be a member of the civilized society.”

“I will look after her and I will try to make her life as easy and enjoyable as I can, just like her father would do,” Queen said without a shadow of a doubt. 

*

The two women returned home and Queen did everything she could so that Snow White can have a normal life despite of her disorder. They were going for a walk every day, they attended most of the culture relating events of their town and Queen learned Snow White how to play piano. However, there were times that Queen thought that she could not keep helping Snow White, as some of her outbursts were becoming dangerous and detrimental not only for herself, but also for the people around her. It was the servants who always facilitated her whenever she thought that she could not make it on her own any longer and they encouraged her to continue the good work. The people in the house were now a big family all together with no distinctions of ladies and servants.

Queen wanting to transform Snow White from a sick little girl to an independent young woman persuaded the owner of the haberdashery, in which she was the best customer, to hire her as his assistant. Snow White was always punctual, sociable and polite with the customers and because the owner understood that she was clever and good at mathematics he assigned her the job of the cashier. 

There she met Peter, a young man with black hair and brown eyes, who was working at a factory. He was not the most beautiful man on earth due to his weirdly shaped nose and the injury that he had at his feet, which caused him to walk with a limp but he had a gentle heart and great sense of humor.  They had seen each other a couple times at the street and when one day Peter came at the haberdashery they introduced and they decided to go out. It was not love at first sight, but after getting to know each other they soon fell in love.

After one year of dating, they married and Snow White gave birth to a beautiful little baby girl. She decided to give her the name Queen. And they lived happily ever after. 

~The End~

By Panagiota X.

One of the three officially selected fairytales during our Workshop in Critical Writing: Fiction (group b).

The Awakening

The Queen gazed gracefully at the angel-white snow falling peacefully in front of her stone window. Nothing, she thought, in every realm of this world can surpass snow in beauty. And, indeed, a while later when her first daughter was born, she affirmed this view of hers by naming the baby, with the light, almost transparent, pale skin, Snow-White.

Defeated by illness, as she frequently had been throughout her life, the Queen passed away, leaving the King to succumb to his old favourite weaknesses, gambling and alcohol. In a feeble, yet somewhat successful effort to recover both himself and his falling kingdom, he decided to marry a Queen of a distant land, who was notorious for being strict and firm on every subject her people dared to bring to her feet.

It was not long after, that the King confirmed one of the sayings of his people by delving deeper into his old habits, from which he could not escape. Snow-White, who had grown into a child by that time and was beginning to sense her father’s case, would often hide fearfully in the basement after being protectively told to do so by her step-mother, whose brave face could be found in her husband’s palm every dark night.

Blinded by his addictions, the King turned hopelessly to an item he had not used since the days he was young and he would be sent by his father to conquer nearby defenseless kingdoms. When he opened the door of the castle’s old cellar his deadly mirror has hanging triumphantly, at least to his own eyes, on the dusty grey brick wall.

“Looking-glass upon the wall, tell me who should die and fall”, he said.

And the glass answered, “The laziest of your men shall see no light again”.

Years and years went by, until Snow-White became a young woman, full of dreams and aspirations, always thinking of her fearless step-mother as an excellent example to follow.

One cold January night, as the wolfs were howling hungrily and owls hooting hauntingly in every corner of the nearby forest,

“Looking-glass upon the wall, tell me who should die and fall”, the drunken King asked his golden mirror.

“Snow-White with her pale skin, shall no longer be your kin”, the glass uttered back, offering him shivers down his spine, but, above all, early satisfaction, for each fulfilled commandment of the mirror elongated his already long reign.

The Queen, who had been following every one of his step, in order to protect Snow-White and herself, run with all her strength to warn the girl, upon hearing the words of the glass.

Snow-White, who had barely managed to escape the huntsman that her father had furiously sent after her, found herself in a peculiar part of the forest, knocking on the door of an equally peculiar and rather small house, while burdened by the weight of some provisions that her step-mother had carefully prepared for her.

“Hello there”, said a dwarf, who had just appeared on the door.

“Hello little dwarf”, answered Snow-White hoping she wouldn’t be seen as an intruder.

After talking with the dwarf and discovering there were six more dwarfs in the house, its owners let her stay on the condition that she would clean and cook for them as long as she was part of the household.

As spring was showering with life every creature of the forest, Snow-White grew more and more disgusted with her situation. Was this why her step-mother risked her life to save her? She was destined to dwell forever in the house of seven dwarfs, cleaning and cooking for them, while they peeped more and more frequently through the keyhole of her room to watch her undress every night before bursting violently in to force her on one of their tiny beds? She felt every drop of blood in her drained body boil at the reality of her situation. Suddenly, her mind entered the dream she had a few nights before, about her step-mother yelling at her to awake and take hold of her life before vanishing in the thickest kind of fog. And armed with her anger, as well as an axe she managed to find in a cupboard, Snow-White begun to slice every inch of the three dwarfs, who had just entered the house demanding warm roast chicken, their usual meal for a sunny Thursday.

Having carved “I had to. You forced me to.” on the back of the front door with the help of a knife, she turned her attention to the scorching oven and opened it. After eating her delicious roast dwarfs, Snow-White packed what was left of her belongings, grabbed firmly the doorknob, and with her feet not trembling but steady, not hesitant, but determined, she walked out of her hell into the heaven of spring-stricken Mother Nature.

Following a path, one of the innumerable in the vast forest, she realized, with satisfaction, that she had already crossed half of the woods. However, despite the carefulness she placed in each of her steps, she tripped over something that looked like a rope waiting to trick the unsuspecting creatures of the forest. Immediately forcing herself up, she beheld the figure of a mysterious man, who was approaching quickly with his horse.

“Right I was to plant my rope here, then”, the man exclaimed, rather victoriously. “I am the son of a glorious King, and you are the fairest thing I’ve ever seen. May I offer you my help? In your state you look like you need it.”, he added shortly, before Snow-White could utter a word.

Everything she had accomplished thus far was due to her own strength and ability. And for no reason would she be willing to accept the assistance of someone else, however kindly handed, unless that someone was herself.

“Excuse me”, Snow-White said courageously, “but I need to proceed with my journey. And as the man, rather offended, opened his mouth to reply, “I have a kingdom to claim and a life to save”, she hurried to add robustly, while fixing her eyes to the path ahead of her, endlessly hoping that she wouldn’t be too late.

By Anastasia M.

One of the three officially selected fairytales during our Workshop in Critical Writing: Fiction (group b).

Untamed

Inspired by the classic tale of Rapunzel

   It is a misty night in the middle of November and there is not a single soul walking in the streets. Atop of the village, the same old crying is heard. They all know who it is, but nobody wants to do something about it; maybe it’s out of fear or indifference, but the outcome is the same. Rapunzel is helpless once again in the hands of her gruesome father. In the corner of the dark basement, in which she is locked, she is left blemished by the utmost obscene of all actions. The alcohol in his breath makes her shiver. He’s lost control again. No witch and no magic spell needed when the nightmare takes the form of flesh and bones and harsh hands. The mother enters the basement, throws some bread at the tarnished girl and with the same drunken glance as the father exits the basement and locks her in all alone. Alone and burning in her hell on earth. It’s been this way since she was twelve. That’s when things started getting out of control with her parents’ drinking habits. Now, at 18, she’s all broken; a soulless figure unable to feel or dream.

  This night, though, is different from the others. Rapunzel can hear some steps outside her door. She immediately shudders at the thought of her father’s second invasion in the basement. But it’s not her father. It is Erica, the village’s thief. She had heard Rapunzel’s screams that night and wanted to rescue her. To her, opening doors without having the key was as easy as stealing candy from a baby, but the creature she witnessed when she opened the basement door was unprecedented; a wild beast in the shape of a young girl, eyes wild like a wolf’s and hair as long as a python. 

“I don’t want to hurt you. I want to take you away from here. Come, take my hand, I’ll get us both out of here.”

Rapunzel was in a daze, but couldn’t resist the opportunity of a so far unimaginable concept to her; freedom. Therefore, she took Erica’s hand and mimicked her mastery in maneuvering without making noise. The two girls ran away into the woods and stayed the night in Erica’s small hut, which would become Rapunzel’s new home.

  The next few months were not easy for the two girls. Erica would go out in the village and steal in order to bring some food home, but Rapunzel didn’t really mind. She was in her own journey of finding peace within herself. It wasn’t easy. The nightmares were very often and she was a living juxtaposition; so untamed and wild yet so fragile and vulnerable. Erica tried her hardest to help her; even though she wasn’t well-educated she knew much more about life and people than one would expect a 20 year old to know. She treated Rapunzel with tenderness and affection; she took her out for long walks in the meadows when the weather was hot, she prepared hot baths for her when the weather was cold and read to her from some old literature books she had once stolen and every night she played the guitar for her before going to bed because it kept away the nightmares. After a while, Rapunzel’s mentality became more and more noble and she became inseparable with Erica. They even sealed their mutual love by developing a sensual relationship which helped Rapunzel set herself free; at first she would flinch at the intimate touch of Erica, as it reminded her of the lewd touch of her father, but hers was soft, warm, full of affection and trust, which made her redefine her view on sensual pleasure. 

  One day, Rapunzel found a few crayons in the hut and started drawing on rocks. When Erica saw the drawings she thought Rapunzel was very talented and decided to bring her a canvas and some crayons from the village as a gift. Thus, Rapunzel indulged in drawing what was in her; her drawings all had the same particularity, they were all very beautiful but very dark. Rapunzel used dark colors and her drawings depicted the same dark female figure with very long hair just like hers. This was her catharsis. Some of the pictures she drew were actual representations of her experiences, some were imaginary, but all of them were equally bittersweet and awe-inspiring. Erica thought that these drawings deserved recognition, so she took a few with her during her next visit to the village. The drawings immediately fascinated not only artists but also random passerby and, thus, became the young ladies’ means of making a living. 

  Rapunzel was saved. She didn’t need a knight in shining armor to save her. She needed a caring and affectionate soul to illuminate her own, so that she could stand on her own feet and save her own self. And in her case, she expressed and manifested her redemption splendidly; through the art of painting and loving.

By Magda Mparouta

One of the three officially selected fairytales during our Workshop in Critical Writing: Fiction (group b).

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful kingdom with a handsome, young, and rich prince who finally found his young, pretty, pour princess and lived happily ever after. If this is what you want to read, please, throw these pages away, because they did not live happily ever after and there is no pour princess, or handsome prince and as a result, you have to destroy your beautiful kingdom. And now, let the story begin…

Once upon a time, 68% of sexual assaults were not reported to police and 98% of rapists never spend a day in jail. I know that in your mind, right now, you have imagined a raped girl and a male rapist. Forget stereotypes and try again.

Once upon a time, 68% of sexual assaults were not reported to police and 98% of rapists never spend a day in jail. Victor was 1 year old when his parents decided to use him as sex-toy for the first time. After 17 years, Victor continues to be used as sex-toy for them and still, nobody has understood it, because Victor is a very clever, humorous, and social person. He never had a girlfriend, although he always was much in request. Today, is his last day of school and they have arranged a party for their graduation, where he is going to meet Save. I know that I made the end of my story very predictable for you and I can see a smile on your face when you read about the party and the girl, but give me the chance to impress you.

Save enters the school yard wearing a pink T-shirt and jeans. She has light brown curly hair and big brown eyes. Save is a good student, as well, a shy and simultaneously, social girl. Save and Victor happen to have mutual friends and right now, they say “Nice to meet you” to each other. They are right; it is very nice meeting each other, because since that day they became inseparable, but you have to wait until their falling in love. They spent all their summer together, they went for coffee, movies, food and they were laughing all the time. Even though they were spending all day together, Save did not know his secret life at home. She did not know where he was living, he was never speaking about his parents, he had no photos of them, but the time was passing and Save started to want answers.

Victor believed that he was protecting her and at the same time, he was trying to create for him a second happy life. Save fell in love with his humor, his habits, his smile, his mind, and eventually, his body. She tried many times to seduce him, in a sense, whereas he did not notice. Victor was in love with her from the first time he saw her. He fell in love with her curls, her annoying giggling, her shyness, her way of viewing the world. Every night he returned home in order to play his other role, be manipulated, raped, and make people have fun. The worst of all these, was the fact that, he was feeling guilty for loving and caring about Save, because his parents always, after their ‘play’, they were telling him that “the world, my son, is cruel. Humans are the worst creatures of God and only your parents want your good and care for you. Everybody will leave you one day, except for your parents. You should never leave your family alone; no one else will ever love you like they do. You should not tell our secret. People will not understand and everything they do not understand, they become disgusted by it”.

If he revealed to Save his secret, she would be disgusted by him and leave him. For his relief, his parents died from Huntington’s disease, and for his bad luck, he would learn that he has inherited the disease. After his parents’ death, he decided to tell Save that his parents were ill with this dreadful disease and that was the reason why she could not meet them or why he did not want to talk about this sad part of his life. Save supported him, as no one else had. For some reason, he never cried or grieved about their death. However, he was dreaming of their nights, every night, and every morning he was afraid of being alone for ever. Save was pushing him hard so as to go and test himself for the disease. He was 25 and if he had inherited it, he would be dead in his 50s, as Save had read on Google. One night, he heard Save crying about his future and his health and she said she had a bad feeling. Next morning, they went to the doctor, as he had promised to her the previous night, and after a month they learned the bad news. 

Yes, my dear reader, Victor will die today. He is in hospital with Save by his side and they are in their late 60s. They are not married; they never had sex or kids or even kissed on the lips.  Save remained at his side until the last minute and she was proud for it. She is not a Cinderella but she was loved by a prince with a beautiful heart and not a kingdom. He was not a man with a bunch of money, but feelings and maybe they did not have a happily ever after, but they had a happy middle, a realistic end, and wonderful memories. In case you want to know, and you have not stopped reading my story, you deserve to know that Save learned his past and they cried together for it. Last night Victor whispered to her that “you saved me and I’m not a victim anymore”. His parents never paid for their deeds if we want to speak about laws. There is no bad or happy ending and there are no fairytales, there is only a narrator who decides where to begin and where to stop…

By Maria Karlovasili

Dusty Heirlooms

Dusty heirlooms

In the green room 

And light and darkness

Together

Whatever

You choose will be yours

My grandmother instructs the woman to open up

The boxes in the dark

Without any light to

Give purpose to the past.

By Sini

ΕΦΥΓΕΣ·

Γεμάτο το τασάκι αποτσίγαρα

Και το μπουκάλι κονιάκ άδειο

Δεν κάπνιζα, μα τώρα καπνίζω

Για να ’χω κάτι από τη γεύση των φιλιών σου.

Δεν έπινα, μα τώρα πίνω

Για να ‘χω κάτι από τη γεύση των χειλιών σου.

Έφυγες·

Σαν απ’ το πιάνο μια μελωδία

Που ‘χες συνθέσει το εννέα

Και που την έλεγες «αμαρτία»

Και τραγουδούσαμε παρέα!

                                                                     Παδιού Ιωάννα 

ΑΣΤΕΡΙΑ

Τώρα ο ήλιος έχει πια αποσυρθεί

Και το φεγγάρι κυβερνάει τη γη

Της νύχτας την απόλυτη σιωπή

Σπάνε των αστεριών οι στεναγμοί

Τ’αστέρια λάμπουν μ’ ένα φως που χρυσαφίζει

Και τ’ αεράκι φρεσκάδα μυρίζει

Τ’ αστέρια φωτίζουν, και στου φωτός τους τα δίχτυα

έχει πιαστεί σα γοργόνα η νύχτα

Καθώς το φως τους πάει στ’ ακρογιάλι

Έχουνε πάει για ύπνο κι οι γλάροι

Και στα βουνά περήφανος ο αετός

Παραδίδεται στων αστεριών το φως

Και το ίδιο φως γλυκά μας χαϊδεύει,

 μας μπερδεύει, μας σαγηνεύει

Και καθώς πάνω μου φωτίζει

 μια ελπίδα με κατακλύζει

Τ’ αστέρια είναι το σημάδι

 πως δεν θα νικήσει το σκοτάδι

Ο ήλιος αρχίζει να λάμπει και πάλι

Κι η νέα μέρα ευθύς προβάλει

Το κάθε αστέρι χάνεται, σβήνει

 μα θέλω τόσο πολύ να μείνει

Η μέρα φόβους με γεμίζει,

 όμως η νύχτα τους γκρεμίζει

Μα δεν πτοούμαι, δεν με ψαρώνει

γιατί το ταξίδι ποτέ δεν τελειώνει

…η νύχτα πάντα θα ζυγώνει…

     Παδιού Ιωάννα

Next to All the Dead People

I.

       I was to hang garlands from the lanterns and the walls in order to make the place look more lively. Mike had told me to do so. He was in the kitchen, talking to the chef. “No mistakes tonight, guys.”, I heard him say through the glass window. One of the features of our restaurant was a huge glass window looking into the kitchen from the dining hall. Our customers liked it. The chef not so much. If you could call a “chef” someone who spent most of his time being high from snorting coke. I wondered why Mike let a guy like him around knives. He never told me, even if we were a couple at the time.

        Mike was such an angry person. Angry all the time. About the bad food, the lazy waiters and pretty much everything else. He was passionate, though, and that was what saved our relationship for almost a year. I was the maitre d', if you could say that a place like Mike's Burgers really needed a maitre d'. Truth be told, I went to the interview to be a waitress, but the positions had already been filled. Mike didn't want to turn me away, -something tells me he had other plans for me on his mind- so he invented that position for his small-time restaurant. So I greeted the customers and showed them to their tables, really polite, being the best hostess I could be, and not a month later, I was sleeping with Mike. That's my story, but it's not what’s interesting for you.

Now, I know that saying these things will probably get me killed, but not telling you what I know is equally as bad as the alternative. As I was hanging the garlands, the first customers walked through the door and I rushed to greet them. The place looked really nice, classy and elegant and I was proud of myself. I'd made that happen.

-Good evening, everybody! Let me show you to your table.

A party of four had walked through the door. All men. All dressed kind of weird, now that I think about it. Suits, I think. But then again, if I was the maitre d' at Mike's Burgers, why wouldn't there be suited customers?

Mike usually expedited and was rarely out of the kitchen. But that night was different. “Linda fell sick”, Mike had told me when I arrived earlier that day. “What's wrong with her?” I asked partly fearing her husband had hit her again. “It's not what you think.” he reassured me. “She called and said she had the flu. That's all.” he said and kissed me on the forehead, as if he wanted to make me believe that things like domestic violence are far, far away and never happen to people like us.

Since Linda was sick, Mike decided to take her place as a waiter and something told me he wanted to keep an eye on the tables anyway. The suits ordered our specialite, the New Yorker, times four and sparkling water for the three of them. Only one ordered a beer and I realised that was unusual from the look he got from the other suits. Normally, at this point, more people would be coming in, but the minutes were ticking away in that big clock next to the “American Gothic” painting, and no one seemed to come through the door. As if Mike's Burgers were the gates of hell and only four brave heroes had dared to enter. But the suits were neither brave nor heroes. They were mercenaries.

“You got a minute?” Mike whispered. He did not want to be heard by the suits. I followed him into the pantry, thinking maybe he wanted to make out. How foolishly in love I was at the time... “Anyway, be careful tonight.”, he said in that deep, husky voice of his. “That's it? People might be coming in right now and there's no one out there to greet them!”, I protested. “They're not.” He sounded so sure of himself. “Just be careful, okay?” And again, that kiss on the forehead, making me think he was my father and I once again was scared from the monster under my bed.

But this time, the monster was not under my bed. It was just entering the restaurant. He came alone, as monsters often do. He had a kind of rugged look upon him and one of his eyes was red. Not very tall and not very muscular either. A lean figure, if anything. A big scar on his left hand, where he also missed a nail. Short white hair, almost bald, but didn't look old. I would say thirty-five to fourty but could as easily be fifty. Couldn't exactly put my finger to it.

“I want a table overlooking the street.”

“This way, sir. Follow me, if you will, please.

I wished my voice wasn't trembling and he couldn't smell the fear in the back of my neck. I showed him to his table and supplied him with a menu. I told him the waiter would be with him shortly and I walked away quickly, wanting to forget his haunting face. But I couldn't.

The bell rung again, putting me out of my disturbing thoughts. A woman around fifty-five walked in, short with long dark hair, along with a taller man in his thirties. Could have been her son, could have been her lover. Hard to tell. I could hear Mike's voice in my mind, judging her: “Another cougar with her boy toy.” Didn't agree, but I didn't voice my disagreement, either. I showed them to the table near the glass window. I found that women were more interested in seeing their food being prepared than men. Although I could be wrong, because the monster was looking a lot towards the kitchen, with his scary, red eye. He ordered a salad, two cheeseburgers, a hamburger, three sides of fries, two large cokes and our sweet of the day, a chocolate souffle. It made me wonder whether he was expecting company or he hadn't eaten for over a week. With someone like him, it wouldn't surprise me either way.

While he carefully started eating the souffle, and I say carefully meaning really slowly, the brunette and her “boy toy” ordered a salad and two glasses of red wine. They completely ignored the salad and dived right into the wine. The expensive kind, too. That really made me wonder. Expensive wine, suits and a monster had replaced our usual crowd of middle-class families and teenagers. What was going on to-

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!”

Blood splatter all over the glass window from the kitchen side and the chef's deafening scream woke me up once again.

“The f*cking idiot cut his finger!” Mike said furiously. “I told him I didn't want any mistakes tonight!”

Everyone's heads turned to the kitchen and some customers even stood up to see what was happening and why there were people in the kitchen screaming and interrupting their quiet dinners. Not even the suits remained calm. The one with the beer stood up extremely fast and I think I saw him looking first to the monster and then towards the kitchen. I am not sure, however, because my attention was turned to the chef, too.

A few moments later, Mike came out of the kitchen and said with a kind of grave and taut voice: “There has been an accident in the kitchen. Our chef has been hurt. However, there is no reason to worry. An ambulance will be here any minute. You can continue your meal for free, or if you prefer, we are more than happy to reimburse you for the evening's unfortunate... um... incident.” I could hear the tremble in his voice. Ηe looked more afraid telling these people it's his fault their dinner was ruined than for his chef's luck.

I, on the other hand, turned out to be the lucky one of the night. Being the nearest to the exit, I could have escaped rather quickly when the shootings begun. Only I didn't.

As soon as Mike finished his speech, a gun appeared in the monster's hand, aiming at the kitchen. The bloody glass shattered into a million pieces, hurting the brunette that was sitting in front of it. Her younger companion took out two guns almost at the same time the suits took out theirs. The woman took cover under her table and Mike ran to the exit, completely forgetting about me, but didn't make it. A stray bullet hit him in the leg, right under his left knee. I was too shocked to move at the time. From what I could gather, the monster really wanted to kill the brunette, but her friend was doing a really good job at protecting her. The suits were a completely different story. In the beginning, they appeared to be helping the monster, but as soon as he signaled back-up from the street, they turned against him. One of them died from the young man's bullets and another one from the monster's. From now on, it was every man for himself.

The kitchen staff was desperately trying to hide, but the bullets caught up with them. Christie, Hank and Andy all died along with their chef. So much blood that day... I'll never forget it. Almost as bad as when I had my baby in a dirty basement. But that's another story.

A few moments later, the younger man took one to the head and fell over the mixture of broken glass, blood and uneaten salad. Red and green and his face, all smashed into one. The woman screamed in fear as the monster approached her as carefully as he had his chocolate souffle. She must have known her end was near. By that time, the suits had killed the monster's back-up and vice versa. Everybody had died but for the monster, the brunette, me and Mike, who was lying down in front of me, bleeding, but not yet dead. But the monster wasn't paying any attention to us. He was fixed on the woman's eyes that were pleading him to let her live. He didn't seem to cave in to her wishes though. With one hand he pushed violently the table that was protecting her and it smashed into the wall with one big crack that terrified me.

I suddenly realised what was happening. The monster wasn't looking at me. I could escape. Leave and never look back. Then I thought of Mike. Could I leave him there, wounded? But how could I save him, though? Impossible, I thought. And then the door opened wide with a loud bang. I hoped it was the police. That someone had called them. A bystander, perhaps. But it was not. It was Linda.

Blood was seeping from between her legs. One of her eyes was closed and swollen. She was bruised all over and her left shoulder was definitely out of place. “Help” she tried to say. “He's coming after me” but then she saw all the blood, and all the bodies and all the chaos and screamed. A single bullet to the head. That's what ended Linda's piercing scream forever.

Now I bet the monster regretted it. While he turned to the brunette once more, Linda's husband walked in. He saw her body and with a steel determination that any soldier would admire, he silently walked towards the monster. He picked up a chair and brought it down to his head. “No one hurts my Linda.” he uttered while the monster fell and never came back up again.

“But you”, I added.

He didn't say anything. He kissed Linda and was ready to move her. But no, I wasn't gonna let her rapist take her body and keep her at a pantry somewhere to rot.

“Leave her!” I yelled but he didn't even flinch. So I took the gun that was lying on the floor next to all the dead people and aimed it at him.

“I said, leave her!”

He glared at me, with the look of a person depraved enough to hurt me too, but I didn't care.

“Go away, little girl, or you'll end up dead, just like everyone else in here.”

But I wasn't a little girl anymore. I wasn't scared of the monster under my bed anymore. So I pulled the trigger. I pulled the f*cking trigger and nothing happened. No more bullets in the gun, apparently.

Did I mention that Mike was an angry guy? Angry as hell. He was bleeding and hurting a great deal, but that didn't stop him from stabbing Linda's rapist with one of the broken tables' legs. They both screamed in agony as the wooden leg pierced his heart from the back.

I looked the other way because I simply didn't want to see all of the blood in front of me. That's when I realised that the brunette was gone. I don't know how, she probably left from the back door which doesn't really make sense, considering the real danger for her was over.

Mike and I were the only ones still alive, I think, when the cops arrived a few minutes later. He ended up losing his leg and I ended up here, giving a statement to the police, physically unharmed, but emotionally damaged. I still remember today with every excruciatingly painful detail that made this the second worst day of my life.

Now could you please tell me why all these people decided to shoot each other in such a place like Mike's Burgers? Because I'm dying to know.

(The police officers looked at each other and said nothing).

By Sini