As she looked up at the sky from her window, Sasha couldn't believe she was finished. She quickly checked her watch and did the time zone calculations in her head and swiftly walked back to her laptop and messaged both Ben and Rahel in their group chat with a quick,

"I finished everything! Would you guys like to read them?"

It didn't take long for both to respond first with shock emojis and then with emphatic yes's. Sasha smiled in excitement as she sent all three documents over in Word files via email. She knew it would take several hours for them to get through it all. So after she was done, she made herself dinner and poured herself a glass of wine. Hell, she deserved an entire bottle not just a glass! Which is exactly what she did as she watched the sun set right in front of her window and she reveled in its magical glow. The stars were out by the time the beeping of her computer got her attention. She was just sitting in a comfortable lazy chair by the window and drinking her wine as she got lost in thought. She got up and walked over to the laptop where she saw video call messages from both and grabbing the thing, she went back to the chair, got comfortable and hit connect.

"Oh my God, Sasha. I have no words." Ben's voice cracked as he spoke with overwhelming emotions at the same time as Rahel blew her nose. Sasha just smiled.
"That had to be the most powerful story I have ever read in my entire life. Not to take away from the main story nor the poem. But 'Witness' takes the cake." He continued, while genuinely wiping his eyes of the tears cascading down his cheeks.
"I never thought you would let us read that part, honestly." Rahel said softly, shaken by the entire experience.
"How could I not? We had already shared so much together." Sasha said. She had always been planning to let them read Vasya's story now called 'Witness'.
"Well, I think I speak on behalf of Rahel too when I say this...that was a real honor, a true blessing." Ben said as Rahel nodded emphatically and blew her nose again for an added effect which made Sasha chuckle. Their reactions made her even more secure in her decision to write it.
"I know I'm young and inexperienced in many things, but that truly blew me away. I have never read anything that made my goosebumps have goosebumps before." Rahel explained candidly.

She didn't put on fake airs with them anymore and had grown a lot from their trip and since then. If before she thought working with and in a team was a headache, now she viewed it as a gift. Being able to work with Sasha and Ben had humbled her a lot and she understood that in their business, she had really been working with the best of the best. Rahel wasn't completely reformed as she was still quite arrogant when it came to her own craft, but she had definitely toned down a lot now and paid greater attention to what those around her said.

After chatting for a while, they decided that in a couple of days Sasha would go into the office and book a small conference room so that they could do a large video conference with the editors in DC. They wanted to lay out every inch of the issue together especially when there were so many photos and whatnot to go through. In the meantime, Sasha had the email address of one of the senior editor's in DC that she would send the three parts to, so he could read and give any feedback if necessary. The three of them agreed on a time that would work for them all as NYC and DC were in the same time zone while London was five hours ahead and Tel Aviv seven.

With that, they disconnected and Sasha began to draft the email to Joe the editor when she suddenly stopped. She clicked on the 'Witness' story and after scrolling all the way to the bottom, added a special thank you credit to both Benjamin Clark and Rahel Davidz; for understanding what the universe was trying to tell them and for being the most important catalysts for the dam breaking and this story to finally seeing the light of day. She also thanked them that after 29 years, allowing her to understand that she had to mourn properly. She knew they wouldn't see it until the issue was published and she wanted it to be a nice surprise for them both because of how much they truly helped her. With their support before they even knew they were supporting her, they had essentially changed her life and for the better. She then continued to draft the email and after checking it properly and attaching the three parts, she clicked send. It was just before 9pm that evening.

Meanwhile, in DC, Joe Smith was reviewing the photos and videos from Rahel and Alexei for the April issue when his computer pinged with an incoming email. He was already home and drinking scotch after a long day at work. He clicked on the email and saw that it was from Alexandra Morozova which meant everything else could wait and he contemplated whether to let it wait until morning so he could get some shut eye or quickly check what she had sent him now. If she sent him an email, it meant she was finished with everything, which made him extremely glad. He had met Sasha only once in person but he loved her passion and professionalism. Sure enough, when the email opened, it revealed three written parts and a quick message saying that she and her two colleagues wanted to schedule a video conference with him and any other editors for the day after tomorrow to discuss photo layouts and she was always open to any and all feedback. He smiled; she had gotten everything in with a little over 7 days to spare. Sleep would have to wait.

Joe opened the big section first though he saw that it was clearly marked as the second to go, all those little details could be ironed out in the video conference. He was a really fast reader so got through the large portion fairly quickly; he liked the title she gave it and thought it was catchy "Concrete Jungle: The 30th Anniversary of the Chernobyl Disaster." He thought it would look really great on the cover once they've decided which photo to match it with. Next he read the prose poem and that really struck him as a phenomenal idea and he knew they had video of it too. The poem was like the reader was there during the entire process and had real power and charisma of its own. Very rarely did they publish poetry in their issues but this one made the right kind of sense.

It was just after midnight when he clicked on 'Witness' and nothing on earth prepared him for what he read. In fact, he had to read it three times before the magnitude, the sheer scale, and importance of it hit him like a locomotive. After he finished reading for the last time, he realized his face was wet. When he touched his cheeks, he was astounded to realize he was crying. The last time he recalled crying was on 9/11. By then it was nearly 5am and he didn't even remember that he had to sleep. He was wired as he walked around his house blinking wildly. He picked up his cellphone and called and left messages on the answering machines of every senior editor and both CEOs of the company, saying they had to have a meeting at noon the following day. He also told them to check their emails as soon as they woke up that morning, after which he forwarded Sasha's email to them all in a global. He also explained that though the first two parts were great, to please pay special attention to the last. He then got himself a sandwich and coffee and sat on the couch in a stupor.

By noon, the DC office was buzzing with activity and anticipation. All of the senior editors and both CEO's arrived and were waiting for Joe in the conference room that was booked for them. Once Joe entered, they closed the door and everyone grew silent. Finally the eldest CEO managed to stutter out:

"That can't possibly be real."
"Of course, it's real. She's one of our top journalists and the one who spearheaded this entire project. Why on earth would she make any of it up?" Joe asked confused though he understood their shock.
"My God, that story made me drop my coffee this morning. Do you all realize what this means?" One of the senior editors spoke up.
"It means, that story alone will most likely be the most groundbreaking and important one that has been published in this magazine's 127 year history!" Someone else finished as everyone else agreed.
"I want as many of you on that video conference with them tomorrow as possible. This has to be a double issue. It just can't be any smaller; we've got to pull out all of the stops. This literally has Pulitzer written all over it!" The other CEO said.

Once everything was agreed upon, the meeting ended though everyone looked slightly shell-shocked. They all went to their respective offices though no one could concentrate much for the rest of the day. The following morning at 9am, Sasha had the conference room all set to go as she had her notes all arranged and Ben and Rahel connected simultaneously and the three of them giggled that they now shared a brain as they waited for the senior editor to connect. What none of them expected was that all five would show up, including Joe. As everyone introduced themselves and just before they got down to business, Joe had just one question for Sasha:

"Is that story real?" They were still in complete shock but Sasha had anticipated that. Without any hesitation, she reached into her bag and pulled out Vasya's blue journal and showed it to everyone as the five editors gasped.
"Yes, it's very real."

Afterwords, it was time to outline the parts and add photos appropriately. They first waded into 'Concrete Jungle'; they all agreed that the name was very appropriate and Sasha smiled. Using a PowerPoint type of software and with feedback from all three, the editors made quick work of properly aligning whichever section of the story with photos and charts. That took the longest amount of time and they took a quick break for lunch or dinner. Afterwards, the prose poem took less then an hour. It was 'Witness' that was given the white glove treatment and photos were decided by Sasha and Rahel. The main picture in the beginning was of Sasha crouched down next to the journal and flowers on the lead plate staring off into the distance. Rahel made everything black and white except Sasha, the journal, and the flowers. The contrast was striking and was just perfect. The rest of the photos were mostly Sasha's own that she took those two days and from her childhood.

Finally, when it was 6pm in NYC/DC, 11pm in London, and 1am in Tel Aviv, they were finished. The massive double issue would hit stands/publish online right before the 30th anniversary so readers will have an extra week to read it beforehand and then the day of, the documentary would be released as well. The rest was up to the folks in DC and the print shops and website internationally to put together as well as translate into all 90 languages but Joe wanted the green light from Sasha as this essentially was her baby. She glanced over absolutely everything one last time, closed her eyes, and realized the issue would hit in just 3 short weeks and this mega-rocket would blast into the stratosphere. Nodding finally with a relieved and tired smile, she said:

"Go for launch."