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Earlier in 2019 there was a lot of femicide uh girls being killed by their boyfriends because they did one or two things there are also cultures of if there is violence in terms of a marital relationship that that is fine if there's a marital rape that that is fine so you find such situations being normalized and it being also a taboo to speak about those issues the 2030 agenda for sustainable development is grounded in respect for human rights and the power of people to change the world every individual on the planet has the right to health and well-being in all aspects of their sexuality their body and their reproductive choices ensuring these rights is integral to addressing poverty education violence against women and gender equality sexual and reproductive health rights are agreed in international law they were fought for by courageous women's rights activists and advocates across a broad range of professional fields and frontline experiences by movements of all ages levels and backgrounds they are still being fought for while progress has been made globally many barriers remain especially for those most marginalized excluded or discriminated against human rights are central to delivering the 17 sustainable development goals in the sustainable development agenda indeed each sdg target is simultaneously a metric and a claim for human rights the interplay between these political commitments and human rights obligations is particularly important when it comes to achieving sexual and reproductive health rights for decades human rights-based tactics have been used to drive progress in this episode of right to a better world experts share challenges they have faced and tactics they have used to address them the challenges they describe occur in settings all around the world the strategies used are ones that they have found to be successful in their own settings viewers are encouraged to learn from these experiences and consider how tactics could be adapted to their own context when sexual and reproductive health begins with equality the discussions decisions programs and policies which follow can build towards a future where every individual is not only born free but lives free and equal in dignity and rights without violence or discrimination the time to take action is now violence against women is any act that results in or is likely to result in physical sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women this includes threats of such acts coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty in public or private life it happens everywhere in every country in the home in communities at work and at school crises including health and humanitarian crises frequently contribute to higher rates of violence against women violence against women is directed at women because of their status as women the consequences are dire jeopardizing women's health including sexual and reproductive health and mental health hampering their ability to participate fully in society causing tremendous physical and psychological suffering for both women and their children the majority of women survivors of violence do not disclose or seek any type of services efforts to address violence against women must recognize the many different contexts in which it occurs and the many different forms it can take the majority of violence against women is committed by an intimate partner her current or previous boyfriend or husband globally around 30 of women have experienced physical and or sexual violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime this increases the risk of acquiring an sti or in some regions hiv by 1.5 fold when a woman is experiencing violence especially from her partner she's really unable to keep safe from hiv men have power to decide how when and where sex should be done and the woman is at risk of being infected because she cannot say no schools are another setting where violence against girls can take place assault and harassment during their commute bullying sexual harassment and mental or physical abuse on school property are all challenges across various country contexts this has a direct impact on girls access to inclusive quality education a target of sdg4 and an indirect impact on many of their other human rights young girls are taking advantage of at a very young age and they do not understand the choices and the avenues whereby they can exercise their rights when it comes to sexual productive health and rights and so you find a lot of dropouts and a lot of girls also going through a lot of traumatic experiences that would be avoided if they had guidance promoting a safe and secure working environment for all is a cornerstone of sdg 8. this includes a workplace free from sexual harassment and violence but for many women especially women migrant workers and others in precarious employment this is far from reality so we went to naivasha which is a flower farm and we've met the informal workers the casual liberals working for the flower farms when for example the sexual violence cases are reported companies don't take them very seriously a wide range of tactics have been used to prevent and address violence against women and girls and to recognize it as a fundamental violation of human rights prevention of intimate partner violence is possible when interventions are informed by evidence of what works we started out by describing the problem we've now moved to research on what works what are the kinds of interventions that are successful both for preventing the problem from happening in the first place and also from interventions to respond the respect women framework on preventing violence against women developed by the who un women ohchr and other international agencies promotes seven strategies which focus on relationship skills strengthening empowerment of women services for health justice police and social sector poverty reduction environments made safer including schools workplaces and public spaces child and adolescence abuse prevented and transformation of gender attitudes beliefs and norms this action-oriented framework can enable policy makers and health implementers to design plan implement monitor and evaluate interventions and programs to prevent violence against women we have come a long way for sure we still have some ways to go and we need to do more to stop this violence from happening in the first place this involves addressing the social norms that still prevail in many settings that make this form of violence acceptable women are not exposed to gender-based violence by accident all because of an inbuilt vulnerability violence against women is rooted in discriminatory social norms and power dynamics dismantling these underlying causes of violence against women and girls is at the heart of achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls as set out in the targets and indicators of sdg 5 ensuring healthy lives in sdg3 and reducing inequalities in sdg 10. women and men are valued differently society has heap privileges on the men while the women are looked at as subordinate power is not only the problem but also the solution to preventing violence against women we are making it personal everyone connects with power every day people living with power or grappling with power they find themselves within this whole conversation if you're working to create gnome change there has to be change at all levels strategies to raise awareness in communities about violence against women and girls are critical as there is still a lot of stigma and shame which inhibits many women and girls from talking about it intervention is like a big complicated word sometimes it's just about talking about dialogue i mean the fact that we went into schools and just began a conversation with parents um bringing them together in the school along with the school personnel and then having the conversation start from there and we also sort of train providers within schools to appropriately refer children to health facilities for care what we found was that this dialogue began to spark other conversations in the community and i guess they just felt that oh it's actually okay to talk about this openly rather than pretend that nothing is going on sassa is a community mobilization approach to prevent violence against women and hiv and aids it is activist led it's not workshop heavy based it comes away from the traditional programming of organizations going to do things themselves instead they support activists who do the activities with their friends and neighbors health systems play a critical role in responding to violence wherever it occurs supporting health workers to respond appropriately to violence as well as ensuring their work environment enables them to provide safe effective and quality survivor centred care are important strategies for better addressing violence against women and girls um we came to learn not to ask direct questions not to give our opinion or our judgment on them and let her speak and once with that flow starts once that connection is established that doctor-patient relationship emotionally is established she will actually tell you the whole history legal frameworks to promote enforce and monitor equality and non-discrimination on the basis of sex are an important sdg 5 indicator but putting laws in place does not automatically make them effective there are existing protections for women in the workplace or for individuals in the workplace in relation to harassment but we know from our call for evidence that they are not actually addressing the problem the recommendations that we developed included government implementing a mandatory duty for employers to take preventative steps to address harassment in the workplace so what we would like to see is government implement a much stronger legislative duty it has taken decades of struggle by the women's rights movement to persuade the international community to view violence against women as a human rights concern and a sustainable development priority not a private matter governments have obligations to respect protect and fulfill the right to a life free of violence and to provide for sanctions when they fail when seeking accountability the priority consideration must always be the safety and well-being of survivors respecting their wishes and autonomy and supporting them to make informed choices about the type of justice they want context is vitally important there are many strategies to hold perpetrators accountable including strategic litigation and public campaigns when the teachers impregnate the girls that means the system has failed and okay what they do is they blacklist the teachers and they are always removed from the payroll but we think that is not enough the case that was quite interesting is where one of the judges she did find a ruling against the teacher service commission the commission that is responsible for hiring teachers asking them that they must take responsibility and they were ordered to pay compensation to the girls who had gotten pregnant while in school the justice police issue came about a few years back when a young girl was raped and the punishment for her being ripped was that harappa she was gang-ripped and therapists were told to slash grass feminist organizations and young women organizations came back to the police and the police commissioner to ask and request that the people who are found to be perpetrators should be punished according to our constitution and according to the laws of the land and those are very big campaigns to get better justice so consequently they were jailed but also it was a sign that the system the police system had to be checked in terms of when someone reports a case any case of violence what happens and how is it followed through the maria pedra is another example of litigation that became a political mobilizer so this was a case from the inter-american commission that really galvanized a change in public policy a huge change because it was a case that addressed gender-based violence intimate partner violence it called on responsibility of brazil also for not having prevented this kind of violence the reality of a case that says you have the right to not be bruised you have the right to be free of physical psychological violence it's powerful it can change women's lives investing in autonomous women's movements has been one of the most important drivers of changes in laws and policies to address violence against women over the past 40 years according to data from over 70 countries women organizing to advance women's status define the very concept of violence against women raised awareness of the issue and put it on national and global policy agendas often we thought that it takes generations or centuries to change working intensely with the communities we can actually see change coming violence against women and girls is a violation of fundamental human rights to life and to physical and psychological integrity not to be tortured or treated in an inhuman and degrading way to respect for private and family life and the right not to be discriminated against this understanding is more than theoretical human rights-based tactics can offer a practical route to addressing systemic challenges across all the circumstances where violence against women and girls occurs including but not limited to at the hands of their partners at school and in the workplace by using evidence-informed prevention strategies addressing power relations and social norms community mobilizing and dialogue supporting health systems and professionals putting in place strong legal frameworks accessing justice and ending impunity feminist organizing and mobilizing every individual can help to deliver the 2030 agenda for sustainable development building a world in which women and girls are free from all forms of violence and discrimination [Music] youCommas Directions: Correct the sentences by adding commas where needed. 1. After the sound of the bell we realized it was a false alarm. 2. Mr. Yoshino the head of the department resigned yesterday. 3. The gentleman with the black umbrella who is an ambassador to the United States said hello to us as we were entering the hotel. 4. Even though we won the game the players unfortunately did not play their best. 5. Heather walked quickly up to the door and knocked hoping that someone would answer. Authorâs Purpose 6. An author writes a story about a boy who saves his town from a flood by using his quick thinking. The author includes exciting descriptions of the boy's bravery. What is the authorâs most likely purpose for writing this story? A. To inform readers about the dangers of floods B. To entertain readers with a heroic tale C. To explain how to prevent floods D. To persuade readers to prepare for emergencies 7. Which of the following is an example of an author writing to persuade? A. A science textbook chapter explaining the water cycle B. A commercial encouraging people to adopt shelter pets C. A short story about a girl who finds a magical necklace D. A recipe for making chocolate chip cookies 8. Read the following sentence: "Studies show that students who read for 20 minutes a day score higher on tests. Reading is one of the best habits you can develop for success in school and life." What is the authorâs purpose in this passage? A. To entertain readers with a fun story B. To persuade readers to read more often C. To inform readers about how books are written D. To explain how to find books to read 9. An author writes a how-to guide titled 10 Easy Steps to Plant a Garden. What is the authorâs primary purpose? A. To persuade readers to grow their own vegetables B. To inform readers how to plant a garden C. To entertain readers with funny garden tips 10. Read the excerpt: "Long ago, in a village surrounded by mountains, the people discovered a secret about their water well. Every full moon, the well water turned to gold for just one night. But no one knew why. This mystery brought travelers from far and wide, hoping to uncover the truth." What is the authorâs purpose in this excerpt? A. To persuade readers to visit the village B. To inform readers about a historical event C. To entertain readers with a mysterious tale D. To explain the science behind the water Main Idea When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home. I was wishing I looked like Paul Newman--- he looks tough and I don't--- but I guess my own looks aren't so bad. I have light-brown, almost-red hair and greenish-gray eyes. I wish they were more gray because I hate most guys that have green eyes, but I have to be content with what I have. My hair is longer than a lot of boys wear theirs, squared off in back and long at the front and sides, but I am a greaser and most of my neighborhood rarely bothers to get a haircut. Besides, I look better with long hair. 11. What is the main idea? The narrator likes movies. The narrator wishes he was Paul Newman. The narrator is content with his appearance. The narrator looks better with long hair. 12. The narrator believes. . . looks are important. he should get a haircut. green eyes are bad. that he has red hair. Once there were four girls who shared a pair of pants. The girls were all different sizes and shapes, and yet the pants fit each of them. You may think this is a suburban myth. But I know it's true, because I am one of them, one of the sisters of the Traveling Pants. We discovered their magic last summer, purely by accident. The four of us were splitting up for the first time in our lives. Carmen had gotten them from a secondhand place without even bothering to try them on. She was going to throw them away, but by chance, Tibby spotted them. First Tibby tried them; then me, Lena; then Bridget; then Carmen. By the time Carmen pulled them on, we knew something extraordinary was happening. If the same pants fit and I mean really fit the four of us, they aren't ordinary. They don't belong completely to the world of things you can see and touch. My sister, Effie, claims I don't believe in magic, and maybe I didn't then. But after the first summer of the Traveling Pants, I do. 13. What is the main idea? Four friends were connected through a special pair of pants. A pair of pants called the Traveling Pants. Carmen finding a pair of pants from a second-hand shop. The girls believing in magic. 14. The narrator included that the pants fit all of them to emphasize how the girls become friends. the girls are different sizes. why the pants are special. where the pants came from. If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book. In this book, not only is there no happy ending, there is no happy beginning and very few happy things in the middle. This is because not very many happy things happened in the lives of the three Baudelaire youngsters. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire were intelligent children, and they were charming, and resourceful, and had pleasant facial features, but they were extremely unlucky, and most everything that happened to them was rife with misfortune, misery, and despair. I'm sorry to tell you this, but that is how the story goes. 15. What is the main idea? description about the story to come. A warning about the story and its sad content. A declaration about the Baudelaire family. A beginning for the end of the story. 16. The narrator believes the reader does not like sad stories. likes stories with happy endings. canât enjoy the story. will find the story unhappy. 17. Read the following sentence: Of course you can exaggerate your story, but what you say must be based on truth. Which word means the same as exaggerate? repeat reveal overstate increase 18. What is the meaning of the word inaugurated, used in the following sentence: Less than two months after Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated President in 1861, he encountered one of the most difficult tasks ever experienced by a United States leader: civil war. elected by a vote brought into office identified by name viewed as an authority 19. What does the phrase âpractice your presentation so much that you could do it in your sleepâ suggest in the following sentence: The best advice is to practice your presentation so much that you could do it in your sleep. get plenty of sleep the night before giving a presentation give their presentations in front of a small audience first take advice from their teachers on how to write a presentation memorize their presentations before they give them 20. Read the following sentence: The Phoenix Mars Lander is a NASA spacecraft that landed on the Red Planet in May 2009 to study the history of water and potential for life on the planet. What is another word for potential? existence situation possibility qualification Recognizing and Identifying Sounds Familiar Sounds: Bells ringing, dogs barking, cars honking. Letters from Words: Sound out letters in simple words like cat (C-A-T) or dog (D-O-G). Activity: Play "Guess the Sound" (e.g., imitate a dog bark or a clock ticking). Game: Match letters to words (e.g., "What word starts with B?").Element Definition Example from Text Theme Main message or lesson Be yourself; self-acceptance Tone Authorâs attitude toward the subject Encouraging, humorous Diction Word choice Weird, perfect, brave Denotation Literal meaning of a word Weird = unusual Connotation Emotional meaning of a word Weird = negative or unique Allusion Reference to another literary or cultural work Harry Potter, The Last Battle Genre Type of writing Letter Writer Author Letter writer to her teen self Title Name of the text Just Be Yourself Dear Teen Me, Psst! Hey! You in the corner of the library with your nose stuck in a book. Yes, you. Donât recognize me without that awful perm, do you? (Remind me again why you thought that was a good idea?) Anyway, I hope you donât mind if I sit with you for a minute, but we need to talk. Donât worry about the âno talking in the libraryâ rule. Iâm sure weâll be fine. Librarians arenât as bad as they seem. Judging from the hair and braces Iâd have to guess youâre in your junior year. Yes? Thought so. Iâd forgotten how many lonely lunch hours you spent in the school library. You have some friends in the cafeteria that you could sit with, but you donât feel like you really fit in, do you? Thatâs why you joined every school club you could. I just counted and youâre in eighteen, not to mention the numerous after-school activities youâre involved in. I mean honestly, you joined the ROTC.1 You donât even like ROTC! And I wonât even bother bringing up that time you tried ballet. Iâm still having nightmares about the fifth position! Let me ask you, howâs it all working out? Not very well, am I right? By spending so much time trying to find yourself, youâre slowly losing yourself. We donât all have one single rock-star talent, and honestly, I think those of us who donât are the lucky ones. Life isnât about finding the one thing youâre good at and never doing anything else; itâs about exploring yourself and finding out who you really are on your own terms and in your own way. You donât have to exhaust yourself to do that. Oh, donât be so down in the dumps about it. Youâll eventually find something youâre good at, I promise. Itâs a long, winding road to get there, but youâll find it. Being able to spend all day doing what you love (or one of the things that you love) is the most amazing feeling in the world. And no, I wonât tell you what it is, so donât even ask me. Just remember to always be yourself, because thereâs nobody else who can do it for you. I think E. E. Cummings put it best when he said, âIt takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.â Looks like the bell is about to ring so Iâll leave you to your book. What are you reading, anyway? Oh, The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis. I should have guessed. You should give those Harry Potter books a try. I saw you roll your eyes! I know they seem like just another fad, but trust me, theyâre better than you think. Theyâve got a real future! finding out who you really are on your own terms and in your own way. You donât have to exhaust yourself to do that. Oh, donât be so down in the dumps about it. Youâll eventually find something youâre good at, I promise. Itâs a long, winding road to get there, but youâll find it. Being able to spend all day doing what you love (or one of the things that you love) is the most amazing feeling in the world. And no, I wonât tell you what it is, so donât even ask me. Just remember to always be yourself, because thereâs nobody else who can do it for you. I think E. E. Cummings put it best when he said, âIt takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.â Looks like the bell is about to ring so Iâll leave you to your book. What are you reading, anyway? Oh, The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis. I should have guessed. You should give those Harry Potter books a try. I saw you roll your eyes! I know they seem like just another fad, but trust me, theyâre better than you think. Theyâve got a real future! i need you to tell me how can i start this text and i need you to add these essential questions: What are some milestones on the path to gr owing up?, What makes an experience memorable? What makes it life changing? and then Denotation, Connotation, Allusions, Diction, Tone, Genre, Writer, Title, Theme in a table and i need u to add definitions for each one and extract examples from the text Learning is brain change (1) Everybody has a brain, but not many people know how the brain works. Some people believe that the brain is like the hard disk of a computer. We use it to store files-images, language (words, texts, sounds) and other data. Others compare the brain to a huge container or cupboard with lots of little drawers, shelves and boxes in it. We put information into these boxes and hope to find it again later. (2) The brain is not a computer disk, and it isn't a container. Look at the picture here. It looks a bit like weeds in a garden, doesn't it? The picture actually shows a child's neocortex - a part of the brain. You can guess what happens â more 'weeds" grow as the child gets older. Scientists call these neuronal networks. The networks grow around our neurons, or nerve cells. What makes them grow? Learning! Learning is brain change, says Professor James Zull from Case Western University in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. "Without learning, nothing changes in the brain. For every new word you learn in your English lesson, every puzzle you solve in maths, every new song you learn to sing, a neuronal network grows in your brain and the brain changes. (3) The more neuronal networks we grow, the better we can think and the better we remember. You may wonder if there is anything you can do to make the networks in your brain grow better. Professor Zull says yes, there is. He says that brain change is strongest when a) you are interested in and like what you are learning, b) you are in control of what you learn and c) you get challenging tasks that make you think hard and concentrate. Understanding a challenging task makes you feel good and develops your brain! âOn this night, we share a roof protecting us from fleets of inequity. Our unification promises a better tomorrow. Those larger than myself, sitting on their marble thrones, sipping blood from cups composed of human skin and singing songs of so-called virtue, grow weaker each moment. Their caravans are revolting. There is hope yet. There is progress! Though tonight may mark a countdown, it is still a celebration. Look at all we have done, not just for Trials but for Palatium Infra as a whole. In four years, when Iâm no longer Sovereignty, the Spoiled Purity and his people will continue to strive. So drink! Smoke! Crush up those exotic plants and snort them! We will not falter, weaken, or wane. Our influence is expanding, and somebody new opens their eyes every day. Even the Silbys of Aculeus have reached alarming potentials despite their embittered minds. So long as you relish in tonight, dance, and pray to your âdeadâ Gods, our revolution shall rise beyond the bounds of class, and when Iâm only a commoner, we shall rise again beyond our brainwashed adversaries! Cheers, my people. Cheers!â Followers raised their cups. Some clinked theirs together. Others stood still and screamed breathlessly in agreement. I smiled with courtesy, then stepped off my platform. My voice still rang across the cellar. Speeches before were grander. Those displays were supposed to be emptying, and yet this one left me bloated, swollen tight. I watched as they popped the corks of their bottles and chanted in the name of Purity. Maybe the quality of my words wasnât what mattered to them anyway, so long as I screamed loud enough. Thereâs no merit in attacking your people, a voice corrected me. âThatâs right,â I said aloud. âKnox, my-my Sovereign!â squealed a nearby devotee, jittering as he stuffed his face with catered pastries. He was one Iâd never seen before or had failed to remember. âLook what Iâve found! Itâs wine, and not the shoddy Infran kind, either. Earth-made with good fruit! I donât know how anyone managed to get their hands on this. Maybe some space travel mischief.â He giggled and held up a small glass bottle. âHow neat.â âI want you to have it, Sir.â I nodded my head. âYes, of course. Thank you.â Backing off into the midst of rowdy disciples, I clutched the bottle. What a waste of grapes. It could have been jam instead. Earthly food had a superior taste, ripe with delicate intricacies and nostalgia, but Palatium Infra had mastered the art of alcohol. Why waste your time with a drunkenness so sad and sickening? The booze of trash. Not many more followers approached me. The barren peroration must have upset them. My hands itched to submerge into my suit pockets, and my legs stood suddenly numb, wobbling. Four more years until Iâm nothing. But tonight, you are nothing. âShut up,â I told myself. Tightly packed together in the corner of the dwelling sat the Sibyls. A mound of writhing fabric and tones of skin made up their unified silhouette. I snapped the strap of the nearest gown, balancing on my hands and knees, waving the bottle before them. In their almost rodent nature, narrow noses prodded my way. Their dresses wrinkled and fell to their ankles. Knees dropped, and eyes widened. Many grumbled at me like hungry she-beasts. Those newer ones with faded curtains for hair, sunken eyes, and dirtied nails looked, hid their face, then sobbed. I imagined them in a pack together, fighting wildly against the Spoiled Purity in their rat decorumâbiting down with square teeth laced with rabies. âIâve got you all something,â I said. âGo back off to your pedestal and yap some more. We donât want it.â A woman rose from the pile and spat. âYou donât even know what it is yet. It's Earth hooch, or more likely a near-flawless replica. I figured you girls would also like a chance to enjoy yourselves tonight.â âYour playmates have been harassing us since the moment you hung the banners and opened the cellar door.â The youngest, with a striking cyan mop upon her head, uncoiled from the mass. What was she now? 20, 21? We celebrated a birthday recently, I thought as she spun around me. âI remember something about a promise. Multiple promises, actually. Are you trying to bribe us into just shutting up and taking it? Because if another sticky, 40-year-old, Earth-born virgin gropes my shoulder, Iâm going to have an aneurysm!â the girl continued. âWhy not an Infran follower? Do you like it when they touch you?â I returned her accusing tone. âIâm sorry, sweet prophets, that you feel Iâve neglected my duties. Iâll keep a better eye out. Remember, you can always just holler if somebody is bothering you. And Anwen, friend, if Iâve ever tried to bribe you with anything, it was certainly the hair dye. I mean, look at you! Such handsomeness!â I exclaimed. The other Siblys began to encircle her, uttering compliments or even announcements of their envy. Anwen disappeared in a wink with flushed cheeks back into the mound. âIâll just leave this here.â Smiling, I set down the bottle. ** â141, 143. . .â I counted each step as I trekked the staircase. There was no doubt I lost track somewhere. The ledges kept spawning under my feet, infinitely multiplying until I wasnât moving at allâswallowing me up in a whirlpool of stone. My tie still hung around my neck, and my blazer remained tied around my hips as a skirt. Streaks of red dribbled off from the cavity in my chest. It was a gorgeous marking, sensual to my fingertips as I traced its edges. Purity, oh, Purity. Purity and his wings of burnt skin. Purity and his many faces. Purity the spoiled. Purity the mutilated. The Silbys did not bother waiting for me. On bare feet, they stormed up the stairs to their room. A trail of red, though in paint unlike mine, streamed after them. None looked remotely near me as they squeaked and gossiped intangibly. I saved them, those Infran broads, enlightened them. As much as they liked to deny it, spit at me, and bask in the thought of their victimhood, in this home, they stood empowered. Youâve done well, my thoughts affirmed, though in the manner of an insincere commentator rather than a hype man. Teeth grace in tile violin goes laundry paper when. It dissolved into an intruding drivel. I rubbed my head and sniveled. âDo you need help, Knox?â called a Silby. Fattened by my coddling, her shadow fell upon me from the doorway steps ahead. I attempted counting again. There mustâve been at least another hundred between me and her. âIâm hallucinating some,â I said, breathing deeply to suppress a burp as I struggled to recall her name. Two syllables. Typically Latin, though sometimes English. Drops of slobber leaked from my mouth. âIâm hallucinating some, Tybal. Do you like your name, Tybal? I would have named you something better. Ty-Tyballinia. No, weâd have to eliminate the âballâ aspect. It sounds too crude.â âOne foot in front of the other,â she said. So I walked. Mess greeted me at the doorway. Dirtied culinary obscured the dark wooden countertops, and the sink lay running. I approached the kitchen table, sat, and set my face down upon its cool wooden surface. Assaulting my nose was the smell of neglected flowers, like soil mixed with the kind of sweet cough medicine that would have left me gagging as a child. Open windows whispered songs of the twilight hour through the vessels of busy trolleys and shooting guns. My mouth strained to vomit, but there was nothing in my stomach to regurgitate except the petals of Stultoâs bloom, which came out effortlessly in little sputters. Teetering, I stood up and brushed disgorged plant parts off the tabletop. âLove,â I said as I slogged up yet another staircase. âAre you awake?â She said sheâd wait. Somebodyâs gotten her. No, she always misses movie night. That sleepyhead, I assured myself. There was a stirring amidst the manorâs cloak of dusk. Portraits of myself, my wife, and my daughter turned to face me as the hallway lights flickered, escaping their quartz frames to penetrate my ears with nonsense. The taxidermied heads of Infran creatures bared their teeth. I stopped to stare at my favorite, an adabactor with daunting spiked tusks poking out from its forehead. Its nose remained black and sharp, and its eyes wide with malice. âWhere is my Spes, Adaba-boy? Is she sleepy?â Thereâs someone in the house. The sounds of the stirring rose along with my blood pressure. Footsteps orbited around me, drawing near and far and then near again, little dancers in the dark. The carpet immersed me in its mass of purples and blues, leaving my skin stained indigo and my vision abstracted. I toiled to reach the master bedroom across the aisle as it stretched out to me with bright lights and celestial howling, like a dove struggling in a pool of oil. Never again with Stultoâs bloom. Never again on what was already a bad night. My hand brushed the doorknob, and the high abruptly faded into only a persistent hum-buzz twirling around my brain. The portraits returned to their typical depressionâSpes posing with her ax, Ariâs school photo, and myself in the cap I wore when addressing the military with the Verbis emblem embroidered in its center. All lifeless shots. Who were they for when they captured not the subjectâs essence but only some fragment of their identity? They used to feel personal, not advertisements of some supposed characters. Servants, babysitters, and likewise civilian guests, I reminded myself, mustnât forget whose home theyâre in. Yet my body moved independently, taking Ariâs from its hook and laying it backward against the wall to hide her distant grin and tamed posture. It was time for new pictures. Sweet ones, real ones; time was ticking. I approached my own when the stirring began again. Groans and squeals erupted from the vents as if someone had set a pen of pigs loose in my crawlspace. No, not the crawlspace, my bedroom door. I turned the ruby knob. Underneath a blanket wrestled my two squealing piglets, their skins melting together beneath the layer of duvet. Fishnet leggings and manicured nails outstretched and scraped at the sheet beneath them. One raised its head, a salmon-colored man with sweat running down his forehead. Through the crack in the door, we met eyes, his Infran Dr. Sesuss nose flaring its narrow nostrils. No mark of the Spoiled Purity existed carved onto his naked body. My chest felt tight. I stepped back. I was suffocating. Spes emerged from the linens, her hair flowing down her back and her dark skin glistening in front of the bedroom window. She giggled and held the man, the blanket falling and revealing inches of her body I had not seen in months. âDarling,â whispered the rosy-faced man, âlook.â He was unfathomably ugly and grotesquely young, with beady, lifeless pupils that dilated when he faced me. The excess flesh on his face sagged while he bit down on his thin lips. My wife faced me, gasped, and strained to cover herself. Suddenly, I was a stranger. A small child who had walked into his parents having sex. I unfurled the door completely. âGet out of my house,â I said. The man stayed in place. âGet out of my house,â I repeated. âKnox,â Spes began. Tears ran down her round cheeks. âShut up!â I turned to the man, picking up a marble trophy from on top of my dresser. âGet out of my house! Iâll kill you!â âKnox!â Spes sobbed. âGod damn it! I hate you! You barely look at me. Every day, thereâs less passion. God, God, God, I donât want to fuck a dead man!â she screamed, âYou get out! Get! Get!â My hands wrapped tighter around the statue. That pig of a man was attached to her at the side, his face equipped with a scowl that challenged mine. He thought I was weak; frail like a decaying dementia-ridden senior. I imagined his skull bashed in, his scowl gone, and the feist and confidence in his face beaten into numbness. A new portrait was in order of such brutality, him as a splintered slab of wood, rashed and beaten, a carcass licking my boot. The churning in my brain had come back. Every wall shook. Clock faces came to life and rang in alarm. Indescribable noises caressed my eardrum before breaking into sorrowful weeps. Was it my own? I stared at Spes in motionless frenzy, clenched my teeth, and screamed like a siren. Passionless. What a lie! An excuse, more like. One that erased all my ventures, reducing me to a nobody. But I was not a nobody. I thought of my sect, my campaigns, my endurance through the political brutality of my empty hive-mind worldâeven my collection of literature, maps, and artifacts. I thought of daring nights alone with Spes when we were young, ravaging each other, two sardonic eggheads suddenly overcome with desire. The veins in my neck throbbed as I gasped for air. It was all I had. I threw the figurine at the manâs head. Eye shut, I heard the thud. A million singing voices of victory flooded out of the cracks in the floorboard. Proving myself a man to the woman I loved in a display of fervent violence was passion. I strained my ears for his cries, though I did not look yet. There had to be a pause, a moment of relief, where I stood tall as a skyscraper and seemingly fought to stay contained in front of my wife and her wounded, quivering paramour. Frantic footsteps rushed off the bed and past my side. I turned and grappled against myself to seize my wifeâs shoulder. âSpes!â My eyelids lifted. Escaping was the man with that same numb expression in which I had imagined him. âYouâre insane,â he said. I swiveled back towards the bed. With her curly locks flowing over her breasts and her limbs bent at her sides, Spes sat limp pressed against the headboard, her forehead bludgeoned and the statue resting on her stomach. Lips pursed and sweet, my Renaissance beauty reclined there in the guise of a squashed bug. But she was not dead. The desk ornament I flung was only the size of my shoe. Spes, that dramatist, may have been slightly hurt but was far from dead. She only wanted me to think she was to observe me at my most distraught, like a leech feeding on misery. âGet up.â Staggering toward the bed, I said. âYou wanted passion? I showed you passion. âShoved it right into your head. Of course, we both know who that gesture was meant for. . .â I fumbled to find my wit. Cold skin met my hands as I stroked her face, unable to resist checking her pulse, even though she was not dead. âI love you, Spes,â I said. Rain pelted against a nearby window. âSpes, please. Please.â No vibration answered my plea. I lifted my hand, sitting next to her now. Tears did not come. There was not any blood on the trophy, but when I picked it up, it felt to be now only a cruel instrument. It depicted a younger me in white marble, with my glasses and collared shirt being the only things painted. Both were in pink. It was a favorable color. I scrambled from the bed to vomit pure digestive bile on the rug. My stomach heaved. I ran my nails along every piece of myself I saw, a dog chasing my tail. As I slammed myself against walls and convulsed, my own heart grew ever louder in my chest. âDad? I heardââ Ariâs slippered feet hammered across the floor. âMom? Mom?â I kept my eyes on the storm. Silence fell. âShe-She isnâtâyourâ.â Gasps interrupted every syllable she spoke. âYouâre a murderer. Bad. Like they said,â she breathed, â You beat her!â The words became mush, alphabet soup. Ari ran back down the hall. âMy-My mom is dead. . . .Yes. . . Manor of the Trials Sovereignty. . .Ari Sorkin. . . Iâm afraid heâs going to hurt me,â she said, presumably over the phone. It was all too fast. I crawled onto the windowsill, opened the glass, and let myself plummet into the alley below. Gusts of wind howled. The lack of motion or sensation informed me I had passed and again lived. Another Palatium Infra, another strange planet in which the celestial endowed rotting men with the opportunity to inhabit. Was this it? Was it all just an impossible limbo of galactic traveling? My surroundings were overwhelmingly gray, an abyss of clouds. Perhaps I had now met the real coming world, and my family and old friends lived here, ready to rush to my sides, lift me up, and jump for joy. Spes would be there. She would be enraged, but at least sheâd be there. You are a bad man. You are a bad man. My eyelashes fluttered. There was a tugging sensation in my leg. The fog was wavering along with my ascendance. âNo,â I yearned, trying to grip the clouds and stick them in place. âStay with me.â But the peace was fleeting. I felt the cement under me and the moist garments clinging to my figure. My leg burned. Carefully, I craned my neck, only to observe the promenade as my surroundings. The most underwhelming of filth and danger, individually Infran. Forever my coming world. What a fool I was, having forgotten my blessing. Those idiot Gods could not tell the difference between assassination and self-infliction; a faulty insurance plan. The urge to cry at last set over me, and so I sat and wailed hot salvia into my palm, shielding my mouth to muffle the noise. Thunder echoed my hushed howling. Raindrops turned to pebbles. Under the ambiance of the stormy night, I could have sworn I heard troops stomping, guns cocking, and the chanting of my name. They had all been waiting for this. Billboards came to life, and I could only sit and spectate as the scenery flashed red. I inhaled fear and sobriety through runny nostrils. âTrials Sovereign Vsevolod âKnoxâ Sorkin is currently at large for the suspected homicide of Spes Sorkin, breaking the first term of the Sovereignty Charter. We now instruct you to report any sightings of the Earth-born, caucasian, roughly 195 centimeters tall, brown-haired, and brown-eyed man to your local Guard post. One can identify the suspected convict specifically by an occult tattoo of Purityâs Coronet on his lower back. No attempted execution or elongated punishment will take place until our Guards conduct an autopsy proving his guilt, per Lifeâs 1238 commandment. We cannot be sure when or if the Gods will revoke his blessing. Remember, when Gods frown upon strife, opt for a peaceful life. We permit all grieving festivities until Cagidus 4th. Good year!â towering buildings sang out in broadcast, repeating that same convoluted message quicker the instant it ended. Sometimes, the announcer spoke in Latin for the Infran children, other times in Chinese, Hindi, or Spanish to cater to those of irrelevant tongues. You arenât a bad man. You are a stupid boy. Puddles sloshed. Somebody was approaching. I didnât dare waste any remaining energy avoiding the Guards and their prodding blades. How did that phrase go? You dug your grave. Now lie in it. And so I embraced the cement. âKnox?â said the Guard. No, her tone was too sincere, and no authority would proceed in such a manner. There wasnât confirmation on whether or not I was armed, and it wasnât as if she could shoot me first. She was a partygoer, having just left from the cellarâs backdoor. I shooed her away with my hand. She hovered, and I discerned her shadow hesitating over my body. A man could not rot in peace. âCome on, get up! Theyâre after you!â Hands reached around my torso, struggling to handle my weight as they urged me onto my feet. That leg, the burning one, my right, trembled and bent unnaturally upon impact with the ground. The partygoer slung my arm over her shoulder, balancing me. My eyes caught a glimpse of a cyan mop. âAnwen?â I rasped, âhu-who let you out?â Keys jangled in her handsâmy keys. âI escaped,â she said casually, coercing me to walk beside her. âQuicken your pace. I just heard somebody on your front porch. âYou see that compost bin down the alley? Weâre gonna burrow right down into the depth of that. If they open it and uncover us, Iâll be on top, and I can hide you and act like Iâm just a homeless amica trying to take a nap.â With a tightening grip, she led me like livestock to the stinking crate. âI donât understand, Anwen,â I said. âTheyâre going to torture and kill you, stupid. You know theyâve been wanting to, and you just handed the opportunity to them!â âI understand that.â It was becoming increasingly challenging to hide the fragility emerging in my voice. âYou said you were escaping. Why stop and help your captor?â âWhat else could I do? Leave you there?â Attempts to shove my wounded body inside its mass of discarded fruits and vegetables began. She yanked down upon my head and submerged me in the fertilizer sea. The evidence grows indisputable, I thought as I stared at the abruptly humane Infran girl, diving in after me, that I belong here. âDamn me to hell! Iâve killed her! My love is dead!â an uncontrollable cry leaped from my mouth. âShut up! Soon youâll be, too, if you donât quiet down.â The actual noise of the Guards darted past us: disorientated marching, guns clanking against each other, cluttered belts rattling, the Latin squawking. One paused to open the binâs lid, though only rummaged through the surface layer of peat before carrying on. âWhat are they talking about? I struggle with my Latin,â I whispered. âThe search, mainly.â Aggression remained firey in Anwenâs clenched jaw. Though she sat on top of me, there was a monumental distance between our rain-soaked forms. I curled up into a ball, ducked my head between my knees, and dreamt of Spes, ignoring the stench of spoiled food rising from every crevice of my dwelling. The next coming world was due to adopt me again as I forced sleep. I prayed for a canyon of fluffy haze, where I waltzed with pale memories but found nothing but the petrifying stillness of my mind. Killed and ran. Violent as a Guard just to prove a point and watch it backfire. Why would any heaven want to welcome me? I clung to the picture of Spes in my head like it was the last ember of an extinguished flame. âDid you mean to kill her?â Anwen interrogated. âSomeone like you would immutably believe yes.â âAnd who is someone like me? You canât even treat me like a person for a moment, can you?â grating drama decorated her words. âYou know my opinions. I have not seen much of your or your breedâs faces besides that of cruelty and ignorance.â I retorted. âI just saved you! Does that make me cruel and ignorant?â âIt makes you an idiot, which is another word for somebody ignorant.â âAnd why am I an idiot?â She asked. âBecause you helping me does no good. Thank you anyhow. Now, do yourself a favor and scram.â As she bent her leg in anticipation, preparing to strike me on the forehead, I sensed an invisible withdrawal widening the gap between us. âYou never answered my question,â Anwen took me by the end of my tattered tie suddenly and started her game of shepherd and sheep over again, pulling me back up to the crateâs exit. It appeared as a shining light at the end of a maze of rubbish and mold. âNo. Of course not. Spes was my everything,â I sniffled. âI knew it. You couldnât even bring yourself to hit us, let alone murder your wife. The girls and I always figured you were sensitive.â My heart rate quickened. Today was one of humbling and miseryâone to pray a hail spike would fall from the sky as sharp as a needle, pierce into my eyelid, and lobotomize me. I wished I could have merely died or hit my head hard enough not to have to deal with it all. No, I wished I was Anwen with her snarky, careless glow and lack of depth in her eyes. As we emerged from the compost bin together, I fantasized about strangling her until her face turned purple, her weakening spirit no longer categorizing me as âsensitiveâ, but the thought could only remind me of wielding that trophy and the microscopic traces of my wifeâs tender skin tainting it, which turned my guts inside out. âThatâs why I think you could use a little help,â Anwen said, âIt seems like you canât walk, either. Your leg is all twisted up.â She undid one of her trim pigtails and handed me the band. âTake off your tie and put up your hair. âWill make you less recognizable. Then swallow your pride and stick with me.âGUESS THE WORD! Guess the word