Author Archives: theatala

My mother always checks on her orchids,yet dozens have died by her hand.She blames the negative energy blanketing the house,the orchids breathe it in, thoseasphyxiating arguments, anddie the cruelest deaths.A collection of orchids all barren and stooped,from every corner of the world, share our space.She absentmindedly waters them anyway,leaves them outside to bake in theContinue reading “Orchids”

His eyes, her eyes,His lips, her lips,Meet mine, and I die;Die from the battle,The battle between my heart and mind,Of which I can’t decide,Who’s side shall I take?The pressure to do what is “right”,I just might-Let the heart win? No.Yes.The heart should win.The mind is weak,Easily influenced by the pressure.The heart chooses between,His eyes, herContinue reading “Heart or Mind”

Fiona Findley is a student artist finishing up her junior year at Pembroke Pines Charter High School. This piece is about rebirth. To create a feeling of renewal, she created out of clay an infant face that looks like the bud of a flower.

Fiona Findley is a currently finishing her junior year at Pembroke Pines Charter Highschool. She has hopes of becoming a physician assistant in the future and will to continue make 3D art pieces in her spare time. Fiona aims to become an active traveler and explorer.

Sarah Martinez, who is completing her sophomore year at Pembroke Pines Charter High School, enjoys creating both art and literature. This piece in particular is about the struggles associated with self-loathing and identity.

(Click below to view short film/animatic) Sophia Rizzo is a graduating senior from Pembroke Pines Charter High School. Both a writer and an artist, Sophia wrote the script for Leaves in the Wind as part of a solo creative writing project and then animated it herself. Sophia’s short story “Flight” is also featured in thisContinue reading “Leaves in the Wind”

The only person I’ve ever lost in my life was my great grandmother. Lost is a complicated word though. You can’t lose something without having it to begin with. She was the first and only family member of mine to have passed away in my lifetime, but that’s all she was to me, someone IContinue reading “Could’ve, Should’ve, Didn’t”

I wake up to the sound of bees, or the feeling rather, of their fluttering wings and stabbing tails tearing my stomach and jostling my insides. I’ve never needed an alarm; I’ve always trusted the inner workings of my body to wake me before sunrise. It’s the outer parts that make it hard to getContinue reading “Manifest”

Click here to view cover art by Andria Subhit Please click on thumbnails below to view full content of each work Our Spring 2023 issue of the atala was designed, curated, and edited by Editor in Chief Emma Schenker, Editor Natalia Montgomery, and NEHS Advisor Ms. Sarah Phelps.

In her poem “There came a Wind like a Bugle — ,”Emily Dickinson explores how nature, at the hand of God, maintains the power to test or subdue humanity at any given moment and how humanity is incapable of comprehending or quantifying such power but through abstract language.  Dickinson utilizes synesthesia and symbolism to emphasizeContinue reading “The Beckoning of Judgement Day in “There came a Wind like a Bugle —””