Pandora's Ink Digital Magazine

Painting by Sen Ming Hu from Eaglebrook School, Massachusetts, USA Painting by Sen Ming Hu from Eaglebrook School, Massachusetts, USA Artist Statement: My artwork explores the essence of peace through the profound interconnectedness between humanity and the natural world. Inspired by the visual language of traditional indigenous dot painting, the piece captures a serene twilight where three figures sit in quiet contemplation, gazing at a setting sun. Below the surface, an in

Written by Yuze Zhu from St. George's School, Rhode Island, USA In 2022, the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine War marked the start of a new era of warfare technology. The term “drone warfare” was suddenly seen in headlines about this conflict in publications across the world. Inexpensive small drones went from being used by civilians for taking pictures and bringing pleasure to being transformed into mass-produced killing machines. Yet new technology brings new pollution and w

Written by Yao Wang from Union County Magnet High School, New Jersey, USA The Harlem Hellfighters, designated the 369th Infantry Regiment, were a unit composed entirely of Black troops that fought in World War I. After spending more days in combat than any other American regiment, they would return home to a segregated and hateful America, and it was only decades later (well after their deaths) that their heroism was finally recognized. The title of this story comes from the

Written by Xiangxuan Wang from the International Department of Chengdu Shude High School, China The world remembers people in quiet, strange ways. Some by photographs pressed between old books. Some by voices sealed in forgotten recordings. I remember my mother by a scent that lingered long after she left the room. It clung to sun-warmed cotton swaying on the line, lavender and old soap still holding the warmth of her hands. Every evening she washed away more than dust. The k

Written by Sara Feng from Bethpage High School, New York, USA Lina had always believed the sky was honest. Planes, clouds, sunlight – those were predictable things. Solid things. Things that stayed in their place. That was why, when the impossible appeared outside her airplane window, her reality didn’t just bend. It shattered. Lina’s forehead rested lightly against the window, the faint hum of the plane vibrating through her bones. The sky outside stretched wide and bright,

Written by Liu Yiduo from Fengtan Middle School, Hangzhou, China The smoke of gunpowder has long dissolved into the mountain air, yet the wind that drifts across the ridge line still carries the cold, metallic tang of rust. The bodies of American soldiers lie strewn across the earth at every unnatural angle. Their fading moans weave through the gusts, rising and falling like the last withered leaves clinging to autumn branches—trembling, yet never quite falling to rest. On th

Written by Joy Zhang from Iolani School, Honolulu, Hawaii I step onto the prairie. The air is fresh. A wandering wind sweeps my hair across my face, hiding me momentarily. Before me, a field of dandelions blooms, rising from rich soil. I reach for one. Stubbornly, it resists– rooted as if it knows what I have done. If even a dandelion refuses me, what hope do I have— of release? of forgiveness? At last, risen, plucked, I gently blow upon the flower. The white pappi drift far,

Written by Cindy Miao from Holton Arms School in Maryland, USA punctuated french transcends the language barrier through universal claps and body rolls, echoing a resonant pulse through the humid basement pocketed dirhams riffle through Mohammed VI’s stare in kaleidoscopic colors seeing double, glinting reflections dance in the wall-mounted mirror twist limbs to the music’s demanding beat spill laug

Written by Ian Zou from Ranny School in NJ, USA First week of world peace, people ponder Who are the ones to redeem Why did we go through all the torture All because of an unraveled dream Beyond the time, things shall alter Second week of world peace, people rebuild Urban revive, skyscrapers erected Not a single drop of cement spilt Happy are the families to connect Cities lay flourished like a quilt Third week of world peace, people delete None suffer from poverty People des

Written by Cici Cui from Bellevue Christian School in Washington, USA “To make sacrifices to a ghost that is not one’s own is toadying.” Confucius (551-479 BCE) March 2021, Atlanta: Six Asian women shot dead by a white male. February 2022, Los Angeles: 17 Chinese elders massacred while celebrating Lunar New Year. New York City: “You don’t belong here, you Asian,” said an American before knocking down a Filipino elder. Since 2020, hate crimes directed at Asian Americans have