1he LvenL

!ay Chlnn


ln Lhe weeks afLer Lhe evenL Lhe wlnd scorched Lhe skln of Lravelers on Lhe plane Wlld anlmals
abandoned prey ln Lhe shallow remalns of Lhe rlvers 1he alr was more desperaLe Loo Lhough clouds
were ln slghL low and Leaslng wlLh Lhelr waLer
As Lhe deserL fell dark and we reached Lhe morLar canal Lhe gorgeous surround and shlned
mlnareLs of Lhe new seLLlemenL sLood Lo Lhe easL of Lhlck murky waLers 1he flrsL clvll esLabllshmenL
we'd seen ln forLy days uesplLe lLs Lall promlslng enLrances and warm laughLer desplLe Lhe shlnlng
llghLs homeonly new ?ork ClLywas a memory we all longed for
1he
llrsL
arL
everyone Lraveled by fooL Lhese days We hadn'L any oLher cholce LveryLhlng was gone lL
was belng called 1he LvenL 8umors clrculaLed abouL whaL had happened buL Lhe LruLh was none of us
knew anyLhlng Some sald LhaL Lhe new CovernmenL had esLabllshed faclllLles ln Lhe wesL laclllLles
equldlsLanL from any border of Lhe counLry and from new ?ork Lhls meanL very far
1hese were places LhaL for whaLever reason had noL been desLroyed by Lhe flre lL was sLrange
how lL happened LveryLhlng ln aL leasL Lhe SLaLes (rumors spread LhaL lL had happened ln Mexlco and
Canada Loo) caughL flre ln Lhe mlddle of Lhe nlghL beds houses cars phones governmenL bulldlngs
and sLores 1he whole world had exploded and we were hopeless
l wos Joocloq tbtooqb tbe llvloq toom beoJpbooes ploqqeJ lo ot moxlmom volome vetyooe
wos osleep lt wos 2 om AoJ lt wos o ltlJoy oftet o loctosse vlctoty l stlll temembet tbot l sow tbem lo
tbe wloJow fltst tbe flomes tbeo tbey wete botoloq oo my bock My sbltt ooJ evetytbloq else lJ beeo
weotloq l took off 1be flte took my eots
lL was on Lhe Lhlrd day of my Lravels Lo Lhe wesL LhaL l meL Lhe oLhers We were all sLrangers
We are sLlll And we lle as ofLen as posslble lL's our game When l meL Lhem l Lold Lhem LhaL my name
was Caley When Lhey meL me Lhey clalmed Lhe name Caley Loo Lven Lhe boys
We Lraveled Lo Lhe wesL LogeLher because we had a loL ln common we all came from new ?ork
none of us valued honesLy and all of us were mlsshapen Cne day l sald Lo Lhe bllnd one WhaL
happened Lo your eyes?" l waLched hls llps move when he Lold me LhaL a llon gouged Lhem ouL l knew
LhaL he was lylng because l saw Lhe Louls vulLLon lnslgnla branded on hls Lemples l dldn'L Lell hlm
1he funny Lhlng abouL 1he LvenL ls LhaL Lhe people who were wearlng cloLhes aL Lhe Llme are
now burned scarred as lf Lhelr skln charred and melLed We have no cloLhes now so lL's preLLy clear
who was sleeplng" naked LhaL nlghL l laugh aL one of Lhe 'glrl' Caley's and her boyfrlend one of Lhe
'boy' Caley's because of lL none of us LrusL each oLher and l'm okay wlLh lL

1he
Second
arL
Cne of Lhe Caleys looked llke my old 8arble doll l only had Lhe one of course wlLhouL Lhe chlc fashlon
and deslgner plasLlc accessorles wlLhouL Lhe perfecLly lmposslbly proporLlons and wlLhouL Lhe face
l suppose she dldn'L look llke 8arble aL all lL's [usL LhaL she'll be anyLhlng LhaL you Lell her Lo
Cne day l would ask her quesLlons and she'd wrlLe answers ln Lhe sand She couldn'L Lalk because Lhe
braces had burned Lhe boLLom half of her face
Where are you from?"
Slowly her flnger skeLched a perfecL sans serlf n" ln Lhe sand followed by lower case
lrvanna" l was saLlsfled wlLh Lhe answer and l wanLed more l llked Lalklng Lo 8arble Caley lL was
declded
lL's nlrvana !usL Lhe Lwo 'n's" She couldn'L Lell me parLly because l wouldn'L have been
able Lo hear and parLly because she wouldn'L have been able Lo say buL she was plssed lL was ln her
eyes She was hosLlle when she wasn'L worklng off a scrlpL
l'm sorry" Awkward She'd Lurned Loward Lhe parL of our camp where Lhe oLhers were
sleeplng Cne of Lhem musL have called for one of us Loo bad we all have Lhe same name lf you came
from nlrvana Lhen where are you headed?"
lL Look her a long Llme Lo answer l flgured LhaL she hadn'L heard me or perhaps she was [usL
lgnorlng me She had no obllgaLlon Lo answer lL wasn'L unLll her ashblack faclal muscles curved lnLo
whaL once would have been a smlle l was sure
She eLched Lhe words Pell ?ou?" l laughed for Lhe flrsL Llme ln a long Llme
l couldn'L hear She couldn'L Lalk lL was a maLch made by 1he LvenL 8arble Caley could be my
glrlfrlend lf l Lold her Lo be ln Lo LhaL sorL of Lhlng
Momo ooJ l stolkeJ Jowo 8tooJwoy lo tbe cotest sttoppy sooJols we coolJ floJ ot tbe uepot
5be wos weotloq o boooet ooJ speokloq ltolloo to my qtooJmotbet oo tbe pbooe o looqooqe l stlll
boJot ooy lotetest lo leotoloq lot tbe fltst tlme lo my wbole llfe lJ felt qlomotoos l lookeJ op ot Momo
ooJ tbe woy tbe soo blt bet bolt wos so beootlfol Oot potb wos blockeJ by o toll moo lo o wellflttloq
solt ooJ be stooJ obeoJ of o womoo JtesseJ os eclectlcolly 5oJJeoly l JlJot feel qlomotoos ooymote
1bey qove os pompblets motkeJ wltb tbe 5coff ptooooocloq tbelt oqeoJo ptooJly 1bey wete tbe New
kellqloo 1bey wete tbe New Covetomeot AoJ tbe New wos evetytbloq
woolJot yoo llke to koow? 1bey solJ lt slmoltooeoosly 1belt pompblets teoJ lt ooJet tbe
Motk of tbe 5coff 8lllbootJs oll Jowo tbe tooJ teoJ tbe some poestloo wltb tbe foces of New
Covetomeot polltlcol cooJlJotes plosteteJ oll ovet
Were we golng Lo Pell?