The infinite has come to an end. No more happily ever afters, no more symphonies of childhood dreams. As kids, we followed the endless sidewalk: the path to a world of imagination that seemed to yearn for our exploring touch. And we yearned in return.
As we grow older, we eventually, inevitably reach the end of the sidewalk. Looking back at the powdered landscapes and colorful character sketches we are to leave behind, we realize that perhaps the time to embrace endings has come. In carefully penning the denouement, we offer an acceptance for yet another journey as writers – a salute to the chalk prints on the sidewalks of our minds.
We’ve invited you first to the end, the path that we’ll now retrace to discover what has been found before. On the concrete, a realization scattered with mint wrappers from decades ago. A glass slipper on the wrong foot. An obsidian blade, dealing death. Ending after ending, but there’s gratification in the bittersweet taste of a story’s last word. Infinity has come to an end; only the finite remains.
Join us, dear reader, as we flip back to the beginning to walk once again. Let us take you to where the sidewalk ends.
—the Editors, Spring 2014
Table of Contents
Poetry
Emily Su: Boy Who Cried
Jefferine Li: Broken Cobwebs
Marian Park: Cinis
Emily Chen: ephemeral infinity
Emily Chen: Good Morning, Good Bye
Marian Park: Only a Fairy Tale
Amy Huang: Smoke
Aileen Lu: The Tragedy of Storytelling
Emily Liu: this is how we loved
Drew To: War Rose
Prose
Irene Han: An Ephemeral Infinity
Jeffrey Yang: Crooks
Nikita Gourishetty: Forgotten
Esther Kao: If the Shoe Fits
Levant Mute: Kevin Chang
William Shan: Me, Myself, I, and Frank
Vidya Palepu: My Mama Swore
Marilyn Zhang: One-Way Train
Bobby Ma: Persevere to the End
Darya Charkashyna: Pulling It Back
Asma Mammootty: Ranc[hero]
Jefferine Li: Remember to Breathe
Jenny Lu: Scoops of the Sky
Emily Liu: Sleep Talking
Julia Jin: Two Hues of Tea
Claire Li: Until Death Do Us Part
Tiffany Tzeng: Vintage