IOAKIM IOAKIM
The North London flat was a sanctuary of hard-earned peace, its walls whispering stories of survival as the March 2029 evening settled in, the clock ticking to 4:29 PM EEST on Wednesday, May 28, 2025-four years ahead in the narrative. Ellie Harper stood by the kitchen counter, her auburn hair streaked with gray, her green eyes softer but still sharp at forty-two. Her seashell pendant, a gift from Nikos, rested against her chest, a reminder of the love that had fueled her fight. The flat was alive with the family she’d fought for: Akis, twenty-four, cleaned his knife at the table, his dark eyes scanning the street outside, his shoulder scar a faded testament to battles past. Paul, twenty-two, sketched at the window, his pencil capturing the dusk’s glow, while Sofia, thirty-four, set out plates for dinner, her dark eyes brighter as she hummed a Cypriot tune, Nikos’s letters tucked safely in a drawer.
