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100% written and illustrated by kids ages 6-13


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Editor’s Note

In January, the days are already getting longer but it doesn’t feel that way! This issue has some short short fiction—the winners of our 2018 contest—to match the season’s short short days, as well as wintry, dark landscapes in both art and poetry. It also has three longer stories that matched the seasonal mood in a different way; their “darkness” is more metaphorical, but each one still leaves you with a feeling of hope and the presentiment of longer, lighter days ahead. Here’s to some fireside reading!


By

Editor’s Note

In January, the days are already getting longer but it doesn’t feel that way! This issue has some short short fiction—the winners of our 2018 contest—to match the season’s short short days, as well as wintry, dark landscapes in both art and poetry. It also has three longer stories that matched the seasonal mood in a different way; their “darkness” is more metaphorical, but each one still leaves you with a feeling of hope and the presentiment of longer, lighter days ahead. Here’s to some fireside reading!


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Silence/Ages

  Silence shine When the silence goes over the mountains And when it goes down into the sea We never know how far it’s going to go In the sea or in the trees And the silence spreads so far away That no one can say When you look over and around You’ll see a rainbow that shines with silence And you’ll see everywhere this thing wherever you go Then think about it in your mind If you look at the sky in your silence Why does the silence shine all over ’Cause silence is so beautiful and fun And silence goes all over the world where you can see Silence trees Trees have silence in them Trees spread the silence and the wind all over In perfect silence Of the leaves in the trees You know why Well, you’ll see How cool is this world with these trees These trees bring everything to you These trees shed you from the sun If it’s so sunny That’s right Do you want to see more with me? Shining rainbow Rainbows spread across the world Even with a bit of silence And you know that already ’Cause silence is everywhere ’Cause everybody sings songs of silence You already know that Yes, that’s true Would you like to come with me To see a bit more? You would? Then just come with me to see more And more and more and more The leaves and the trees When the leaves go in the trees They make a cradle They make a sound like a lullaby They make the cool wind And the air for us to breathe And they make you sing a song That’s what everybody says And so that’s true While they whisper in the breeze And while they sing songs That’s the truth Oh yes, you say The ages While you grow and grow and grow While you continue growing forever But one day you’ll die Yes, that’s true All of that is true Yes, yes, yes Okay, okay Let’s continue This fabulous day Let’s continue traveling past this song Quietly Like silence You know that already Now that is true Oh yes, oh yes Yes, yes, yes Okay, okay That’s the song That we are done with today Eleonore Lecue, 6Asheville, NC


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The Pendulum

    Most nights, my cat stares at the grandfather clock in the living room. She is a grey tabby with splotches of black and white. Her eyes are golden and edged in greenish blue, like a miniature painting of the sun over a forest, or a mood ring, because you never know when the colors will change. When she is calm, you see more of the gold, flickering. But when she is scared, her pupils are large and black, and you notice more of the green, which is the way she looks before the clock at night—her back arched, her fur raised like small tufts of grass. She stares at the oval shape of the clock as if it is the moon revolving around the earth and the earth around the sun. When the clock sounds on the hour, her ears twitch, but she doesn’t move. She simply resets her eyes, refastening them to the pendulum’s sway. Unlike my cat, I think this time might have been better spent outside in the fresh air like my mother always wants me to do. But for my cat, no second is wasted; she merely sees and does: when she is hungry, she eats, when she is tired, she sleeps, and when she is frisky, she scratches the furniture, no matter how much we scold her. When she is happy, she purrs, or she brushes her side against my leg, nudging her head and nose into my wrist when I reach down to pet her as if she is pleading, but for what I am never sure: more food, a toy, my lap? I never know exactly what she wants except that when I am with her, I am warm and calm, certain there is still enough time for everything. Sabrina Guo, 12Oyster Bay, NYMarco Lu, 12Champaign, IL  


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The Greater Good

Lizard Corporation started as a tiny, innocent store in Miss Angelica Plum’s basement when she was only 18 years old. “Want an invention of your very own? A novelty item to show off to your friends? Come on in!” she shouted, in her loud voice with an accent nobody could identify. Those were the first words she mentioned about her company, back when she was young and innocent and didn’t know the horrible things she would go on to do. She stood outside, twirling a bright, colorful sign advertising her products. With her dark hair in a ponytail tied off with a pink ribbon, too much lipstick, and a skirt so short it would earn her a very long lecture from an old lady, she didn’t look like someone who could turn the world into a wasteland in just seven years. Not at all. This was back when the world was sunny and pure. When the world was full of light and hope. When the sun shone bright in the sky and cast black shadows across the ground. When she was just a kid with an impossible dream. “This is never going to happen,” “It’s impossible,” “You’re just a kid,” people said, sometimes with a condescending laugh or a wink. But she didn’t listen. Her first customer was an old man by the name of Frederick Lizardworth. He bought a device she had nicknamed “voiceover.” It was practical, it was useful, it was amusing. He was impressed with her. He told her that when you have a dream, you don’t let anyone stand in your way. Mr. Lizardworth told everyone he knew about the remarkable young lady over on the corner of Starling and 34th, and soon, people were coming in great crowds to get a genuine hoverboard or the 100 percent authentic “glove phone.” She made enough money in just one week to open up a real store in an old garage. People came from miles and miles to see her and buy her products. She hired workers, got clients, and sponsored sports teams. She was a local celebrity. Until one day, she wasn’t just local anymore. Word went overseas, and gossip spread like wildfire. Pretty soon, people were flocking in from other countries just to see her, and soon she opened her first factory and named it “Lizard Corporation,” in honor of Mr. Frederick Lizardworth, the man who got her started. Her dream of a worldwide company was now a reality, and bright-red Lizard Corporation logos began appearing everywhere, plastered across billboards, airplanes, and buses. After a while, other people sponsored Lizard Corporation and made new stores all over the world, and Miss Plum made more and more money. The factories began spewing smoke into the air, and though some people complained, Miss Plum just said it was “for the greater good.” The demand for Lizard products grew so high that they began making factory workers go faster and faster, and paid them less and less, the lowest wages they could get away with. There were casualties, there was pollution. In only a few weeks, the complaints began. They came in the mail, pouring out of mailboxes like flocks of birds. In white envelopes with colorful stamps and Angelica Plum, 9924 Lobster Way, Yellowseed, NX, lot 511 scrawled across all of them in a myriad of different handwritings. They looked like pretty white snow as they were dumped into the recycling bin. And the ones that came in person, from the workers themselves, were not treated with any more thought. When an enraged worker, overworked and underpaid, came up to her and demanded a change, Miss Plum just laughed and told them, “It’s for the greater good!” before tossing them a buck or so, then walking away to go count her money. That’s when billboards started popping up, with the brand-new Lizard Corp slogan: “For the greater good” and Miss Plum’s face showed up in magazines, in newspapers, on TV with the words next to it, reassuring people. The factories went up everywhere, lining every cityscape in the world. The sky turned black, and the oceans turned brown. Sometimes people worried about it. Sometimes they said it was dangerous. Sometimes they questioned it. But then they saw Miss Plum’s face up on a billboard, or in a news report, with her accent, her warm smile, and her eyes sparkling and full of dreams, they reminded themselves that it was for the greater good. After all, nobody that sweet and innocent could cause something so horrible. So people ignored it. After all, she was just a kid. A kid with a dream that maybe wasn’t so impossible anymore. And now, only seven years later, Miss Plum has the world under her illusion. She’s smart. She’s rich. She’s powerful. She’s admired. People want to meet her. People want to be her. People will do anything to defend Lizard Corporation, because without Lizard Corporation,we wouldn’t have glovephones or hoverboards or all these magnificent things. We like to say we’re just buying these things to support Miss Plum, and sometimes it really seems like we’ve even convinced ourselves of that. In fact, every month Lizard Corporation comes out with a new and improved version of an old product and people just have to buy it. Because buying things is fun. Thrilling. Trendy. Every time they launch a shiny new product, the blue plastic trash cans lining every alley in the city are piled high with the old, “inferior” products as the looming Lizard Corporation factories start up for the day, spewing their smoke into the already black sky. Cardboard boxes roll out with the new device, and they’re loaded into trucks and distributed all over the world. Huge mobs of screaming people pour through the gleaming glass doors into the immaculate Lizard Corporation shops, and the telephones in each shop ring furiously with excited consumers on the other side, ordering the new trend. Customers scream, employees scream, and telephones scream, till


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Basil-Asiago-Garlic- Olive Oil Tortillas

Have you heard of the stinking rose? On nearly every dish that comes from our kitchen, the stinking rose is the star. So much are the garlic filled dishes loved, it is common to say wholeheartedly, “Don’t eat it all!”. Once my dad even ate a raw garlic clove, just to see what it tasted like. While I would never do that, I still love garlic. Seven years ago, on April 16th, a cool breeze blew our neighbor’s tree in front of the window that faced the street. I watched each passing car intently, wondering if it would be the one that carried my baby brother. In the wee hours of the morning, he had been born, and I couldn’t wait to see him. My grandparents had bought my sister and me teal jelly beans, so I chewed them nervously as I waited. Just as the clock chimed 11:00, the garage door opened and I heard the small wails of a newborn baby. My sister and I made such a fuss over our new little plaything that we worked up an appetite. After a while of baby tears, my little brother fell asleep and Mama rested with him. Then Daddy cooked his forever-to-be-remembered Basil-Asiago-Garlic-Olive Oil Tortillas. My dad rarely cooks, but when he does, he adds too much cheese or too much garlic, which is awesome. The Italian-style tortillas became legendary. My little baby brother loves these Italian-style tortillas and has grown to cherish the stinking rose, too. He now joins in the chorus of, “Don’t eat it all!” Taken in the Stone Soup Test Kitchen Serves 1 Takes 7-10 minutes Ingredients 2oz / 60g asiago cheese, shredded or thinly sliced (you can substitute with parmesan, pecorino or other hard, melting cheese) 1½ teaspoons olive oil 6 leaves of fresh basil 1 small garlic clove (or half of a medium one) 2 flour tortillas (10-inch / 25.5cm) 1 tomato, diced Method Pour the olive oil onto a nonstick pan. Set the stove to medium heat. Crush the garlic over the pan and sautée. Do not let it brown. When the garlic is sautéed, transfer it to one tortilla. Place the tortilla, garlic side up, in the pan. Sprinkle the cheese over the tortilla. Tear five of the basil leaves and put them on the cheese. Top with the second tortilla. Let it cook for one and a half minutes on each side. Top with freshly diced tomatoes and the last leaf of basil. Enjoy as an afternoon snack, appetizer, or a quick lunch. Catherine Gruen, 11Chino Hills, CA


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Matcha Crepe Cake

When I think of a crepe cake, I think of the dainty mounds of crepes stealing the spotlight in a bakery window, the creamy sensation that explodes in my mouth after I take a bite. My family and I often go to a little bakery by my home to buy a slice of matcha crepe cake. One day, I thought, why not make one in my own kitchen? I decided to try with my friend Olivia. It seemed a bit intimidating, but how hard could it be? On Saturday, we met at my house. We blended the crepe ingredients together to make a liquid green mixture, and then put it in the fridge to settle. When mixing the cream to go between the layers of crepes, we accidentally flung heavy cream everywhere. That attracted my dog, Archie. He made a beeline for any cream he saw, and we laughed as he smudged cream all over his snout. After three minutes, the cream hardened into an airy, white fluff, stiff enough to form firm peaks as we pulled the mixer out of the bowl. Two hours later, we oiled the pan to cook a crepe. It wasn’t until we spread the batter that we realized neither of us knew how to flip it. In the end, we managed a maneuver with forks and a spatula, and ended up flipping, but also ripping, the crepe. We called it our “tester”, gobbled it up, and then made another one using that spatula operation. Our crepes looked better and better, and in the end, we had a beautiful stack of 20 matcha crepes. We spread the cream with a knife and layered them one by one. Finally, we sprinkled matcha powder on top with a sieve, and then gathered some mint leaves from outside to position on the cake. The end product looked surprisingly like a store-bought crepe cake. As we were devouring our masterpiece, the combination of the delicate crepes and the sweet cream made every bite melt on my tongue and ooze with flavor. I was surprised that it was such a success, and I learned never to underestimate the power of a good recipe, quality ingredients, and some determination. Taken by the author Ingredients For the crepe batter: 1 ½ cups / 350ml milk 3 eggs 1 tsp sugar 1 tbsp matcha powder 1 cup  / 130g all-purpose flour 2 tbsp  / 30g melted butter 1 tsp baking powder For the cream: 2¼ cup / 540ml heavy whipping cream 2 tsp sugar Method Mix all the crepe batter ingredients together. You should have a liquid green mixture with a consistency similar to a thoroughly blended smoothie. Put the batter through a sieve, pushing through any lumps, and let it sit in the refrigerator for two hours. In a separate bowl, add the sugar to the heavy whipping cream, and whisk it until it is thick, but easily spreadable. Put it in the refrigerator. Butter a 10” / 25cm pan lightly and pour enough batter in the pan to thinly cover the bottom of the pan. Cook both sides of the crepe. To do this effectively, let the first side cook for a little while and then when the center is firm and the edges are starting to look cooked, try scooping up the edges of the crepe with a thin, metal spatula. Then shake the pan a little to free the rest, and flip the crepe with the help of some utensils. You may need to practice a few times! Do this with the rest of the batter, ending up with 20-25 crepes. Let your crepes cool down, then stack them one on top of the other spreading a thin layer of cream in between each layer. You may want to sprinkle some matcha powder on top of the cake, but this is optional. To make it look more professional, try sprinkling it with your sieve. I put mint leaves on my cake, but feel free to put what you want on yours, such as raspberries or strawberries. Enjoy! Alicia Xin, 13Scardsale, NY


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Apple Rose Tarts

When I think of fall, I feel leaves crunching under my boots, globules of rain sliding down the window, and our big tall apple tree. It stands proudly in our yard, brown bark slick with rain. By the time school starts, the tree is drooping under the weight of sweet red apples. We pick hundreds of apples, giving away loads to neighbors and friends. My mom cooks applesauce in the big red pot, and I help my dad juice some to make cider. I think food should look, as well as taste, amazing. But applesauce and cider don’t showcase the beautiful crimson of apples. So I decided to make these delicate apple rose tarts. Since apples are a universal fruit, I think that everyone will enjoy this recipe. The roses are actually fairly easy to make, just make sure to slice the apples thinly. These make a perfect sweet snack or dessert. Enjoy! Taken by the author Makes about 14 apple tarts Ingredients 1 sheet thawed puff pastry (if using ready-rolled, enough to make a total size of 14 x 10” / 35 x 25.5cm) 2 Gala, McIntosh, Fuji, Red delicious, or other red variety apples ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg ⅛  tsp. ground cardamom ¼ tsp. ground cloves 1½  tsp. lemon juice 2 tablespoons brown sugar Method Slice the apples thinly, about 1/16 of an inch / 2mm. If they are a little thicker, that’s alright.  Toss sliced apples in big non-metallic bowl and add in cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, lemon juice, and brown sugar. Roll the puff pastry into a 14 x 10” / 35 x 25.5 cm rectangle. Then, cut it into 1 x 10” / 2.5 x 25.5cm strips. Microwave the apple slices for 35 seconds, so they are flexible enough to roll. Lay the apple slices on top of the dough strips, overlapping the edges. Carefully roll up the strips. Lay the tarts rose side up–the prettiest cut edge up–in a buttered muffin tin. Bake at 350℉ / 180℃ for about 40 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown. Remove from the oven, allow to cool slightly, and carefully remove from the pan. I like to serve these warm with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top. You could also try them with honey or powdered sugar. Mia Widrow, 11Olympia, WA