{"id":125323,"date":"2021-04-12T17:37:18","date_gmt":"2021-04-12T15:37:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=125323"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:25:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:25:32","slug":"the-walk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2021\/04\/12\/the-walk\/","title":{"rendered":"The Walk"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Social Inclusion Committee of ESN and Erasmus Magazine have chosen a winner of the shortform story contest. Out of ten candidates the jury chose the short story\u00a0The Walk<\/em> by Forest Loh Hong Sen. The contest was organised to give students a platform to express their feelings and thoughts about these trying times through words.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEsther Dijkstra<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Thea bit on her lip, hoping someone would stay and chat. Her classmates seemed fun. In class, laughter followed the jokes they cracked. Mostly inside jokes with giggles shared, just not with her. One by one they left. The chain of exiting two-tone beeps concluded with Thea\u2019s sigh. It was probably easier breaking into Area 51 than one of the cliques. It was hard making friends when everyone was already tight with someone else.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey.\u201d Imiry perked up from her slumber on the couch. \u201cI\u2019m here, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thea smiled. Imiry could read her like a book. She did read a lot, mostly self-help. It was funny how Imiry never needed help with anything while she, on the other hand, could benefit from a book on mindfulness. A whirlwind was ripping in her mind. The initial gust was her recent exam result\u2014the third one in a row that she had barely passed. What was up with her?<\/p>\n

\u201cThea, snap out of it.\u201d Imiry tugged on her arm. \u201cYou need a walk. Let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thea shrugged her off. \u201cWalks won\u2019t get me any eights and nines.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNeither will studying in this state. Come on, let\u2019s get some fresh air.\u201d<\/p>\n

If only she could be as carefree as Imiry was. She sighed and rubbed her bleary eyes before opening a literature. Her eyes were miners with blunt pickaxes, slugging at the wall of text.<\/p>\n

Imiry thew her hands up, exasperated. She went to the window, letting the sun\u2019s rays warm her face. This wasn\u2019t how the first year of school was supposed to go. Instead of making new friends, visiting wacky museums and joining parties, most of their time had been spent cooped up in this tiny apartment.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t all gloomy though. Imiry was enjoying the bubble they were in, just the two of them.<\/p>\n

She liked it when they went through dozens of movie trailers saying, \u201cwe should watch this\u201d but never watching any. When they did, it was always a campy, clich\u00e9 horror flick that scared the crap out of them. Thea\u2019s goofy, frightened squeals always amused her.<\/p>\n\n\t

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See also<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t