The Mav Mind Nueva's Middle School Magazine



2022 // VOLUME 1 // ISSUE 3

The Mav Mind

The Magazine The Nueva Middle School Volume I 2021

-website coming soon6565 CA-35 Hillsborough, CA 94010

Contents

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Editor's Note Raya I., 6

7 Spring Spot-The-Difference Christina H., 6

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Cherry Blossom Maya S., 6

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Camping Urania S., 6

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Hello From The Other Side Ayaan D., 6

Cereal Ayda D., 6

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A Single Whisper Urania S., 6 & Anonymous

Spring Landscape Christina H., 6

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Mona Lisa Ayaan D., 6

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The Sneeze Ayda D., 6

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Spot-The-Difference: Key Christina H., 6

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A Ghost In The Dark: Prologue Maya S., 6

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Hummingbird Raya I., 6

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Contributors

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Letter from the Editor Dear Middle School, The third issue of the magazine is here! As the weather warms, the winds die down, and the birds start to grace us with their songs once again, we felt it apt that this issue be springthemed. Within these pages, you can find many poems, ranging from the comedic to the serious, a handful of lovely spring art pieces, and some short fiction as well. I want to highlight a call for contributors. The magazine has been flourishing this year, but we would love your help in ensuring that we can continue to display Nueva's creative talent. Any and all creative submissions are accepted: photography, writing, puzzles, recipes, drawings––if you can think of it, you can do it. Please email me at [email protected] or Cliff at [email protected] if you are interested or have questions. Digital designers for the magazine and website are also much needed and appreciated! Sincerely, Raya I., Editor (she/her) [email protected]

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Cherry Blossoms MAYA S., 6

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Spring Spot-The-Difference CHRISTINA H., 6

key on p. 22

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Camping URANIA S., 6 We are talking about eye colors, until Rae tells us to turn the lights off. We start to whisper. Suddenly, Cici shrieks, and her eyes widen in fear. I find a spider scuttling between our identical yellow-silver camping mattresses. Grace hands me a napkin, which lands on my sleeping bag as I fail to catch it. "Your turn," she says. Averie giggles. "I'm not killing it, but you can do it," she says, calmly opening her flashlight to assist me in the murdering of the poor little spider. I tremble but put on a fake smile as a spider comes crawling towards me. I feel the apprehensive eyes of everyone in the green canvas tent, watching. I laugh, trying to soothe my fears. "Let's name him Little Jimmy," I joke. The others add on, laughing. I confidently snatch a napkin from the ground of our tent, illuminated by the soft glow of my lantern, half-closed. In a sudden movement, I close the tissue over the average brown spider and watch as it squirms. I pinch my fingers together and it dies. It’s quite scary and I look at it for a second, but there’s nothing I can do to quench my fears. Then I throw it out of the tent. It scares me, quite badly, but a show of confidence has helped. Then I hear a scream. "MOSQUITO!" Averie shouts. I wonder, for a split second, why she can kill mountains of spiders but runs away from mosquitoes. I turn over to Cici, who is scared of spiders but not mosquitos. "Your turn," I say, grinning evilly.

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Hello From The Other Side AYAAN D., 6 History spotlights events That are epic and supreme But darkness may outline the blinding white And sometimes all dark clouds have a lining that is silver Two sides of a coin, two sides to the story Christopher Columbus discovered the New World Was named a hero, an explorer to praise But slaughtering Native Indians A spotlight never shined on this ‘little’ episode The Taj Mahal, a “tombstone of love” for a loving empress Ordered to be built by her emperor larger than life A monument this magnanimous to never be constructed again Cut the workers’ hands off Heroes, lovers, villains? Revelation and hindsight – there is such a thing Galileo Galilei, a science rebel no doubt Punished for his actions, for his opinion which was right In hindsight He is a hero now, a felon before Countless more examples Countless more opinions Sometimes a spotlight with darkness surrounding– –Sometimes darkness with a silver lining

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Cereal AYDA D., 6

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A Single Whisper URANIA S., 6 & ANONYMOUS

Whispers flutter on the wind Prickles race across my skin Lies, insults are all I hear Laughter echoes in my ears Jealousy and rage hit me Like a thousand tsunamis Mixed with sadness and despair How can life be this unfair? I wish they would disappear To stop my self-doubt and the fear Of what people think of me I’m not who I used to be

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Spring Landscape CHRISTINA H., 6

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Mona Lisa AYAAN D., 6 The Mona Lisa At the turn of the century So perfect… …yet a few flaws No eyebrows on the alluring temptress But still it calls to millions The Venus de Milo -That detail, the eyes, the whole lot is marveled A heavenly sculpture, but with no arms Who’s to say If something’s perfect or flawed? A question worth pondering The opinion is the perspective There is always beauty in the eyes of the beholder Nothing may be perfect or flawed It’s what we make of it The good, the bad, and the ugly Some diamonds in the rough are underrated Yet some legends are overrated Goldilocks -- no such a thing

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A Ghost In The Dark: Prologue MAYA S., 6

“Akami, what did you get for question ten?” Elvira asked. “Um, I’m not there yet,” Akami replied. He was just trying to get his homework done, why did she have to ask for the answers? Of course, he could give her the answers like usual, but it was annoying. “Come on, I know you’re there. You just gave me the answer to a question twelve five minutes ago!” Elvira grinned, knowing that she just caught Akami in a loophole. Akami rolled his eyes, and then passed his paper to Elvira. He turned to Mirko, who was trying not to laugh. “Do you want the answers too?” He asked, tilting his head to the side. He really shouldn’t let his friends cheat on their homework, but come on, it's only one more time, right? Mirko grinned, nodding. Mirko preferred to do his homework on his own, but he really didn’t like trigonometry. Well, he just didn’t like math in general. He could ace every other academic class, but math was the only one he struggled with.

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Elvira, on the other hand, could ace any class that required physical activity, but really hated anything academic. Akami would do well in every class, and usually scored 2nd or 3rd place on every test and quiz. The three of them were the “popular” kids, and most kids either bowed at their feet or hated them. Akami stood up. “Come on, let's go take a break. I’ll pay for ice cream!” Elvira and Mirko cheered, and the three of them walked down to the corner store. There were quite a few kids running around on the sidewalk playing soccer, so they made sure to steer clear of them. Akami ordered chocolate, while Mirko and Elvira got vanilla. “Thanks so much!” Elvira and Mirko said to Akami. Akami just smiled and nodded, trying to eat his ice cream. They went and stood at the crosswalk, waiting for there to be no cars so that they could cross. Just then, the soccer ball hit Akami in the back of the head, sending him stumbling forward. He could see a car about to hit him, and the world shut down.

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The Sneeze AYDA D., 6

It was quite a quiet day Until the dreaded sneeze The children were outside to play Amidst the grass and trees Yes, it was quite a lovely day One wouldn’t think it possible to sway In any way The peace that day Until the dreaded sneeze. If you were there, you could hear Many a sweet sound. Chirps of birds, squeals of kids Perhaps a cheer Were sounding far and near Resounding loud and clear Into the bright blue dome of day But never may You guess what lay

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Just a moment later. Now, don’t call me a hater, But if I find what made her Make that horrendous noise, I’ll destroy it with my fist. I could write a list Going to the moon and back Of all of those who rue The… Do you need a clue? It starts with S It rhymes with knees However much I begged her, “Please!” “I have to let it out”, she said Even though it broke my head Her enormous sneeze. The trees all shook, The kids yelled, “Look!” Because, believe me when I say, All the birds within a mile Flapped their wings and flew away. No one there could smile

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From the sheer pain in their ears Everyone was screaming Like they’d just seen their worst fears Most ran home in tears. After a few minutes, most recovered well. The ringing in my ears wasn’t that much like hell. We thought it was over, but we were wrong, The almost equally awful echo came along. Every person fell to their knees, Heads were squeezed, Ears seized, Brains diseased, By the power, The undeniable power The undeniable, terrible power Of that one resounding sneeze. “Bless you.”

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Hummingbird RAYA I., 6 a flash of ruby throat on painted scales blurs my vision as i watch the hummingbird green feathers layered carefully by the touch of nature's hand i see once again its iridescent, blood-colored throat and i am reminded that across the beguiling waters of the sea a small country sits alone. alone because we are too afraid to help it to sacrifice our own dignity too afraid to step in and defend the little kid from the bully armies that are trampling its surface scarring its people; wounding its pride tanks rumbling like earthquakes air raid sirens sounding like death knells warning.

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warning of the misery and anger that is to come of the kick that is about to strike of the arm that is about to swing. of the terror and the dehumanizing that is already there because one man one maniac one psychopath decided that a country is his that a people are his only. only he doesn't know that the people will not be taken that the bystanders will not just stand by he doesn't know that we will forget our fear and he doesn't know that the people will rise up he doesn't know that they will keep writing, painting, singing because that is the only way to save themselves he doesn't know that the rest of the world will step in defend the little kid take some punches and give some punches rising. rising above their stations in their own countries the petty notions in their heads the shame and the timidity that comes with knowing something is wrong but not being able to stop it; not being brave enough to help and the man doesn't know that we

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daughters; sons; fathers; mothers; uncles; aunts; cousins; humans; and the world; we will unite and we will prevail. prevail because like hummingbirds our lives are fleeting; they are ephemeral but we have a chance to make them iridescent to make them sparkle to fly across the ocean; make the journey; take the step to help our neighbors, our brothers and sisters to do our duty as humans.

#prayforukraine

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Spring Spot-The-Difference: Key CHRISTINA H., 6

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Contributors Avery C. Digital Designer

Anvi M. Digital Designer

Ayaan D. Poet

Ayda D. Artist

Christina H. Artist

Maya S. Writer

Raya I. Editor & Writer

Rose M. Digital Designer

Urania S. Writer



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Happy Early Spring from the Magazine

Team!