There is a space in the closet, filled with pillows, blankets, a flashlight or two. It is decorated with glowing stick-on planets and a handful of cookie crumbs. Can you still see the darkness? Perhaps, it was an old cardboard box, with cut out holes and Crayola etched engines. Do you remember the sound it made during take-off? Maybe it was under the overgrown willow in the backyard, hidden from the sky by drooping green arms. Did it pull you to the top? Cradle you until the sun and the moon traded places?
The pieces in this issue both come from these spaces and reside within them. Their characters have learned from them. They blur the line between what is real and what is imagined. George Lucas once said, “You can’t do it unless you can imagine it.” These voices have imagined their strength, they have practiced their words, they have come to the surface ready to face the real.
This issue is filled with voices who found themselves in hidden places, in imagined circumstances. They have been rehearsed, repeated with vehemence in the bathroom mirrors, in dark closets. These are the voices of what you wished you had said. They have strength, both shaky and solid. They have fought creatures only they could see and people no one else would stand up to. They are determined. They are ruthless. They are beautiful.
Jesse and I could not be more proud to share this issue with you. Let it show you how to be brave. How to be persistent. How to persevere. Let it take you somewhere new.
With strength,
Hannah Newman & Jesse Ewing-Frable
Sweet Tree Review