I ❤ NY

The room smelled of leftover daily pizza. It was still dark when Aydar shoved his papers to the side and stretched, trying to ignore the familiar discomfort that came with falling asleep on the old couch. He sighed, got up, and rolled up the blinds. The soft autumnal light illuminated his crowded apartment. It seemed as though the bookshelves lining his walls were pushing in every direction. On the bookshelves sat hundreds of books ranging from psychology textbooks to ancient ballads. Despite the ample shelving, numerous file folders, papers, books, and unpacked boxes covered every other possible surface. Aydar glanced at the boxes, which remained unopened: a reminder of his displacement. The apartment had looked like this since Aydar’s arrival; however, the mess was becoming unreasonable. Aydar grabbed his keys and began slicing through the masking tape firmly holding the boxes together. It appeared that he would be spending his first break of the year cleaning.

Slowly, the boxes were unpacked. Books and papers were returned to their proper place. So completely lost was he in thought, that Aydar almost missed it. He was digging through the second to last box, which was filled with photographs of family members. As he lifted out a framed childhood photograph of his younger brother proudly standing next to his brand new bike, he noticed an object wrapped in a towel. Aydar removed the towel to reveal a snow globe. Tall skyscrapers and an incongruous Statue of Liberty sat inside the globe. I ❤  NY was written on the base.

Aydar shook the snow globe, feeling the sudden urge to throw it through a window full force. All those memories he’d been avoiding came rushing back. There was a blur of taxi cabs and daily hospital visits. The snow globe fell to the floor.

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