Thus began the nearly six month long writing project. Sasha took the week she preplanned off in the beginning and during that time, she spent some time on herself both emotionally and psychologically. She told her family that once she began writing she wouldn't be sure how often she could visit so she essentially moved back home for that week. Her brothers had no problem giving her, her old room back for the duration.

     As it was November when she started writing, she couldn't be outdoors and write. Therefore most of the time she was either in one of her favorite coffee shops, at home, in the library in midtown, or in the office though the latter was less frequent as it wasn't an easy environment to write something this difficult in. As her job was different then regular 9-5s, she didn't clock in nor need to every day. She had office hours, writing hours, and expedition hours. When she was doing the latter two, as long as she kept track of approximately how many hours she wrote a month, she would get paid handsomely. If she was traveling, expeditions were treated differently and therefore paid as thus.

    She had decided that the issue would have three parts; the main story including Ben's scientific experiments, the paranormal investigators interviews which Ben had already gotten, and everything else they had done. Then she would write the prose poem of the "Room 30 Years in Time" along with the photographs, and lastly would be Vasya's Story. Rahel's photos would have their own section in there somewhere and they would figure out the layout as Sasha moved through writing each section. Ben would also do a piece on just his scientific experiments which neither Sasha nor Rahel understood and teased him about.

   Their company being as large as it was had its own instant messaging system so employees from around the world who worked together on projects could communicate easier. Sasha set up a group chat for the 3 of them to exchange notes, information, and just communicate during this process. She actually went into the office one day and told them that she decided to write the before and after room as a prose poem.

"Really? I didn't know you wrote poetry too. Is there a genre you can't write on?" Rahel asked in the chat, impressed. Sasha smiled to herself.
"Hmm, let me think. Probably horror; I'm not a fan of gore or zombies. Which is ironic.....considering."

    They all knew what she meant by that last phrase. She wasn't a fan of gore but she was about to write one of the goriest horror stories in history. That was different and Ben said as much.

"Can't even compare; some fiction with blood and guts and whatnot with the beyond traumatic experience of a 6 year old little girl."

    They were all silent for a while, than they went back to their respective work. It was in that moment of brief contemplation that the words to the poem started to pour out of Sasha and she let them. When it came to poetry, she just let the words flow the way they wanted to; no need for actual sentence structure or real grammar. So the poem ended up being the first thing written. After she was done with it, she looked it over a couple of times and was satisfied with it.

    The largest piece took the longest time to write and yet she knew she still had to leave plenty of time for Vasya's story. As November turned into December and then into January, Sasha just kept writing. At times it was like she was possessed, she had to remind herself to eat and sleep as well as stretch. Thankfully, because it was the holiday season, she was able to take breaks for Thanksgiving, Chanukah, the Christmas party at work, and New Years that she was able to go back to her family for large, happy meals. For New Years that year, her parents gathered their friends as well and had a large floor party as most of their neighbors were their actual close friends. Sasha enjoyed the time with her family and the much needed break from writing.

    Every time her parents would see her, she looked like there was a battle going on in her brain. Her mother's 6th sense told her that Sasha hadn't told them everything that happened during this trip, that whatever she was holding back was big and probably would come out in the stories she wrote. Never one to push or nag, she just silently prayed for her daughter each night before she went to bed.

    On New Years Eve, just as the clock struck midnight and they counted down while watching the ball drop in Times Square on their tv, Sasha closed her eyes for a brief moment and thought of Vasya, knowing that this year, 2016, his story, his life would finally be known to the whole world. After hugging and kissing her family as well as toasting with champagne, she slipped away for a few moments to make a video call to both Ben and Rahel who she knew would still be up celebrating. When they both connected simultaneously, she laughed.

"Happy New Year!" Sasha exclaimed first as the other two followed suit.
"Happy New Year!"
"Happy New Year!" Than they all laughed, it was like after this trip, they were all mentally connected to each other.
"Wow, Sasha. You must be at home because that sounds like an absolute zoo behind you." Ben said with a large smile.
"Yep, I am. My parents invited the entire apartment building, I think."

   They all laughed again as Ben and Rahel could hear the ruckus in the background. Not like Rahel's location was any better, the pulsating beat from a synthesizer made it clear she was at some club but currently hiding in what appeared to be a coat closet.

"Rahel, are you in a closet?" Sasha asked with amusement.
"For the moment, to take this call, I am, yes." She giggled sheepishly as the other two smiled widely.
"Well that's definitely a new location to celebrate the New Year." Ben teased.
"I said for the moment, sheesh!" They all laughed again.

    After a few minutes of chatting they wished each other well and the other two gave Sasha their blessing when it came to writing about 'him' and they all disconnected. At that exact moment, Ekaterina exited the bathroom and on her way back to the party overheard that last portion of the conversation and it stopped her dead in her tracks. Before she could gather her thoughts, the door opened and Sasha practically walked into her mother.

"Oops, sorry mama. Didn't see you there. I need to watch where I'm going." Sasha said with a giggle.
"It's alright, darling. I was just coming out of the bathroom. Was that Benjamin on the phone?" Sasha nodded happily.
"And Rahel too. We did a quick video call; she was hiding in a closet at a club and Ben said this place sounded like a zoo."

     Ekaterina smiled happily despite herself. She tucked what she heard away into a different part of her brain to discuss with Feodor when everyone else left or were asleep. The look in Sasha's eyes when she first opened the door was in sharp contrast to her lightening speed recovery when she ran smack into her mom. Her daughter had learned to hide things very well, a lot better then Ekaterina had ever anticipated. Nevertheless, she put her arm around Sasha and together they made their way back to the party. They ate, drank, and were merry until 4am, when everyone else finally left after a round of well wishes and hugs and after opening their presents that were under the New Years Tree, Sasha went to her old room and the boys went to theirs. They decided to clean up the mess when everyone woke up sometime the following afternoon. Everyone was very satisfied with their gifts and the party overall.

   Once there was no more noise coming from any of the rooms, Ekaterina broached the topic with her husband. She told him what she had heard, Sasha's overall look and reaction, and was very concerned. Her husband was as well but other then confirming to each other that they would have to wait until the issue came out because it was obvious Sasha wasn't going to tell them anything on her own. Whoever this mysterious man was, they had a hunch he didn't just appear on this trip. It seems they had more questions now then ever before and only through their daughter's work would they ever be able to get the answers.

   January flew by quick as all three worked hard putting the biggest piece of the pie together from their different perspectives. Ben's scientific piece had both Sasha and Vasily's inputs and was shaping out to be very interesting even to those who knew little to nothing about science. Sasha wrote like a dervish as she put her own words, those of the paranormal investigators, Ben and Vasily's as well as bits from Rahel together. By February, it was clear that NatGeo wanted to do a documentary alongside the issue and this is where most of Rahel and Alexei's work would be used as well as Sasha's 'Room 30 Years in Time' as that was filmed and not just photographed. The paranormal investigators agreed to hand over their own investigation film. Thankfully, this project Sasha didn't have to fully participate in and was very glad considering how much she still had to do.

    She had to send in all of the parts by March 20th at the latest. She managed with speed and efficiency to finish the largest portion at the end of February and the day after her 36th birthday which was on March 8th, also known as International Women's Day, she finally sat down to write Vasya's story. She told her parents and everyone around that she was going on 'radio silence' until she was done; it was something she did though very rarely.

    She wanted to send everything in before March 20th but she knew it had to meet her standards of perfection first, especially that last story. She decided she would stay in her apartment for the duration of writing that, with the blue journal laying by her side on the desk next to her laptop. She would absentmindedly stroke it while she typed away feverishly on her laptop. The entire piece came together in just 3 short days; that and she maybe slept a total of 8 hours during those days.

     She wrote it using the first person and properly introduced herself to her readers for the first time. She decided to call it 'Witness: The Liquidator & The 6 Year Old; The Story of Vasya.' The story included everything from how they met, to the name of the hospital, how far away she lived and where her school was as well as its name or number rather, his name, the journal and its name. For the most part she wrote in explanation form and then she literally translated and copied whole sections from the journal with each date into the story. She had written about her trip to America and her own health issues as well as those of her brothers, explaining the whole Chernobylite nomenclature and the like. She also wrote about how no one knew about Vasya in her life until the expedition and how that changed her life and her decision to make his story public and bring him to life for the rest of the world. She had the window open for fresh air and each time she mentioned Vasya's name or would put an entry down, the wind would blow hard and move the blinds and curtains in her living room. The first few times it happened she would stop typing and look up but the more it happened, it just made her smile as she understood. Vasya was there, giving her encouragement.

    And just like that, on March 12th she finished it. Her entire portion of the April issue was done. But most importantly, there on her computer, was Vasya. No longer just a ghost in her soul and the blue journal and then later also capturing Ben and Rahel's hearts bringing this epic story forward. As she thought about it, she smiled because she was ready to introduce her closest childhood friend to the world. He was really that important. With her writing, she gave him life again.