“Hold on tight.”
That’s all you had told me before we set off.
I hadn’t known what to expect. Perhaps the winding roads of my childhood neighborhood, or the bustling familiarity of an airport across town, or the warm greetings of old friends. All I had known was that we were going home, and there was a soaring feeling in my heart that could not compare to anything else.
What a strange word. Home. Had I really ever left home, I wondered as you brought me back to an old house I used to call home. Being away, I had not felt the homesickness that so many others experienced.
We trekked up mountains and crossed over bridges, and as I took the last few steps towards where you had brought me I turned to look back.
My past home of tension; my present home of continuity; my future home always perfect. It is time to go home.
—the Editors, Winter 2019
Table of Contents
Poetry
Grace Huang: point five
Ria C: air purifier
William Zong: daybreak and again: a seven part play on words
Krisalyn Satriya: Beyond
Elizabeth Cheng: the first hit of sunlight in my eyes
Pranav Mishra: the void between my curtains
Lillian Fu: Summer Writing Camp: An (Imaginary) Phonecall
Prose
William Huang: The Sounds Back Home
Suphala Nibhanupudi: Her Wolf in the Doghouse
Helina Li: a girl with straight black hair and almond-shaped eyes
Akshara Taraniganty: bowling again
Alisa Lu: Ever Rest
Alisha Bose: daisied days
Ethan Lin: Sentry
Michelle Zhu: Hotel Clair de Lune
Frank Zuo: Nahada
Matthew Lu: Mom, do you remember me?
Renee Ge: No-Face
Sophie Guan: Zest
Melissa Chen: The Woman, Jane, The Sister
Kaylia Mai: Ascended as an Angel
Flora Huang: anam cara
Lauren Ho: Legume