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Rose’s Tree

“Cora! Cora, lookit! Lookit me!” “Hey! Hey Cora! Look at me!” I looked up from my paperback. Somehow, Rose had hoisted herself up and into a little red wagon that stood by the fence. The little girl stood there, precarious but triumphant, her small arms stuck out to the sides for balance. I laughed inwardly […]

Maddy’s Last Beach Visit

For the rest of time itself, the spirit of Maddy will always live on here at Fort Funston Beach Our sleek black Highlander pulls up into the parking lot atop the steep cliff. I open the door and jump out, my feet landing on hard gravel with a soft crunch. The salty ocean air fills […]

Icarus Falling

I awake early in our small, candlelit prison a stone tower high above the sands of Crete. Father melts hot wax from his thick candle dripping it on my shoulders his gentle hands press something into place. Wings! Giant, feathery white wings unfolding from my bronze shoulders I stand in awe. Suddenly guards pound on […]

Diablo’s Apology

The sun enhanced his golden coat, making it shine like a diamond The smell of baking bread filled my nostrils as I walked into the house, carrying my basket of eggs. “Carrie! Did you bring in the eggs?” Mama called from the kitchen. “Yes, Mama.” I set the basket on the table, where Mama was […]

Look

An unseen hand painstakingly covers the bare trees with white snow An unseen hand painstakingly covers the bare trees with white snow. It doesn’t leave a square inch of land untouched, filling the brown earth with clean white. The snow forms a blanket, worn like a comfortable sweater by every tree and every foot of […]

Go Back to Asia

“Go back to Asia!” He says and sneers and snarls. He lacks imagination. He is so predictable. Sometimes he spreads his pain and says, “Go back to Egypt!” “Go back to Mexico!” “Go back to Africa!” He must be a travel agent Waiting to book a flight. Maybe he’s right. Maybe we should all go […]

The Bright Star

“Where were you all that time, Sereto, hmm?” This story takes place in 1976, in South Africa. At this time in its history, the country was in the middle of apartheid, a governmental policy that discriminated against non-whites and gave authorities nearly unlimited power to arrest and kill civilians. By 1976, students in the Soweto […]

Forge

Forge, by Laurie Halse Anderson; Atheneum: New York, 2010; $16.99 Picture this: you are ordered to build a shelter in the icy, cold snow wearing an old, worn shirt and torn pants. You haven’t eaten since yesterday, and even that was just flour and water. Occasionally, you have water flavored with your friend’s old shoe, […]

Slipping on Raindrops

It was a funny, sunny afternoon when Something hit my cheek A cloud of a loud boom Came from above Then dark splattered all over the park Like black paint hitting white paper I ran as fast as I could, slipping on raindrops Zinnia Schwartz, 10Evanston, Illinois

Jess and Lizzy

  Jess sat dejectedly on the playground swing. She kicked the sand around her feet as if personally punishing it for her lack of friends. It wasn’t fair that she should have to sit here on this swing, lonely and bored, while the other kids had a great time. Her eyes flickered restlessly from face […]

Music

I finger the valves. They are cold and uninviting to the touch. I take a breath. My lips form an embouchure. I blow. At first there is noise, Much noise, Then the music starts. It flows through my veins, Coursing through my body. I play from the heart. I love it, No, Need it. Music […]

The Gap and the Gift

Her family had done nothing wrong, why was she so angry? Sherry had not returned to her home country in years. In a way, it was no longer her home country. What had been home is now the past. Father was the one who had insisted on the trip. She had been indifferent at first, […]