Pandora's Ink Digital Magazine

Written by Catherine Wang from Boston University Academy, Massachusetts, USA With your Cheeto-dusted fingers gripping your phone, you shift your weight to the other side of the bed. You scroll past two TikToks; you have not left your bed since the last time you ate. When was that? Your stomach rumbles as you sigh and open the DoorDash app. It goes blank for a second—as if blinking—and then shows you an ad. You groan and roll your eyes. A female AI-generated voice speaks:

Written by Angela Zhou from Lakeview, Louisiana, USA The Aurora Conservatory of Art & Dance End-of-Year STUDENT REPORT CARD Academic Year: 1980 Student Name: Maria Bronte Year Level: 11 Student ID: ACD-24-7831 Core Dance Subjects Classical Ballet: High Achievement Contemporary Dance: High Achievement Jazz Technique: Outstanding Conditioning: Developing Performance & Production Attendance: Excellent Performance Quality: Strong Professional Development Work Ethic & D

Written by Liesl Ma from Massachusetts, USA One night quite recently, I scrolled through Snapchat, layering filter after filter onto my face. My nose looked smaller, my skin impossibly smooth, my lips fuller. When I finally posted the picture, I realized something unsettling—I had shared a photo of a girl who didn’t even exist. It hit me then just how deeply beauty standards had wormed their way into my mind, making me feel like my real face needed embellishing in order to be

Written by Kay Budka-Fox from London, UK hey kid, I'm sorry you're confused I'm sorry your heart was torn up and it was used I really never meant for us to be abused or stuck in a game where we had no choice but to lose I'm sorry your skies could never stay blue, and that your eyes were exposed too early to the truth, but kid, what I know now is that it's possible to get through, the pain never goes away but what grows around it is up to you, so now I'll nurture better th