Cicada’s Choice – Nitsa Olivadoti
In the aftermath of World War II, sixteen year old Eleni accepts a marriage proposal from a mysterious Greek-American. As she boards the ship alone that will sail from Greece to the United States, her heart is in a state of constant conflict. Should she be anxious or happy? The guilt of hurting Yianni, a young boy who had admitted his love for her openly, makes her feel perhaps she is not worthy of true love at all. This guilt is compounded by leaving her mother and her beloved country behind. Eleni is not the first or the last person to ruin innocent love by making hard choices. Eleni may be naïve but she is also prepared, like a cicada, to continue singing through the hottest and hardest of days. This choice is only the beginning of her story.