Written by Dabin Shin
Illustrated by Seungho Shin
Lewis faced his contemptible self in a mirror. Above abounding things which he failed to obtain,
obstinacy was his strongest suit. Or at least, he thought that. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t conceal the frantic twitching of the lips, the red-stricken eyes that flickered surreptitiously, or the somber smile
that clumsily streaked his feeble face. The texture and the complexion of his skin resembled those of the arid
Sahara Dessert, the place Lewis so wistfully yearned to go despite the adversities all too well known; destitute
hunger, abysmal poverty, and the piercing outcries of the lost. However, a clear difference set those two apart.
For Lewis, even a deluge of tears did not do him any favor. It did not water the suffering grounds like it normally would on an immensely serendipitous day in the Sahara. And it certainly failed to accompany even the
most ephemeral relief to Lewis’s desiccated, irreversible sense of sentimentality.
The recent events that he’s gotten himself into, which is, bluntly put, a total mess, inferred, quite
firmly, that he will soon be losing his mind. Lewis was still befuddled by the abruptness. 3 months was too
short a time to get back on his feet after losing a job, a wife, and most importantly, a daughter who meant everything to him. The condition of his rental apartment provided sufficient information. Pieces of filthy laundry,
looking as though a year old, were hanging from virtually every object with a 90 degrees edge. Hamburger
wrappers or what used be before the barrage of rat bites took place, were laid carelessly on every surface there
is. Amid the squalor which solely was his genuine creation, he sluggishly sat down, his brain without an ounce
of thought. Then, feeling the desperate need to make some use of himself, he stood up, with patent reluctance.
Suddenly, taking notice, he picked up a wooden picture frame, exceptionally bland if not for his daughter’s
picture slid neatly inside. The salient peculiarity was that the frame needed no cleansing. Although the edges
were a bit worn out, the glass glistened at the hazy ray of the morning sun. It has obviously been dealt with
a recent wipe. The attentiveness and care towards the picture were a self-evident proof and a realization of
Lewis’s love for Lora.
When people thought of Lewis, they ѡ