I am on my dad’s computer scanning Craigslist and stressing over the purchase of a new bike, as I am adamant about getting one that doesn’t have a sloped bar, which is a trait of stereotypically “girl” bikes, and I don’t want one with a horizontal bar either, a “men’s” bike, so the one I would really like would have a half bar, like my current bike, that sits without curve on a diagonal, and look— here is a red one, with the bar that I want, simple gear shifters, and just my size of 16, and it is listed as a women’s bike, but I will get it anyway, so my dad and I schedule a trip to pick it up, and it takes less time than formerly thought, only thirty minutes with the pandemic and all and— oh right. The pandemic. Cora Burch, 13Van Nuys, CA
Right
When my best friend walks a foot too close I flinch. That doesn’t feel right. Is it possible to walk upon the earth hand in hand, to rise up and touch stars that are just reachable, without touching once? It feels impossible. Cora Burch, 13Van Nuys, CA
Calm
It is 4:00 AM. Not quite, more like 4:02, or 4:05. But it doesn’t matter really, like how the virus will one day leave and we will still wash our hands every time we get home from the store. I am sitting in bed reading a book I love, a story that leaves me at peace every time I read it. It’s calming, in a strange way, even though there is a conflict, like how the sky can still be that beautiful electric indigo of 4:00 AM, or 4:02, and in the back of my mind I know that people are still dying. Cora Burch, 13Van Nuys, CA
Leading Bridge
Nikon D5100 Claire Lu, 13Portola Valley, CA
Hurricane
Irene was a nasty dream. Waking up with colors in my eyes, watching her falling down inside my mouth. I was covering my ears flat as possible. The rusty wagon dripping old and wet, it slowed— stopped. My hurricane is me— I could not know. My flashlight told me that. Fueling myself to push back into normal, I could convince myself that was just a nasty dream Rainer Pasca, 14Bay Shore, NY
Rumi on the Table
I’m thinking of nothing. My head is empty like a garbage can. Oh, I can’t write this poem. Hey, look. Rumi is on the table. Rumi, why don’t we make a poem? He’s purring! Awww, he is purring the poem. I love you, Rumi. You’re the king of gold. Rainer Pasca, 14Bay Shore, NY
Rainer’s Mind
I was in a forest with nothing but my mind. It opened a little bit— lifted its mouth like a shark. Suddenly, a bird. Snap, said my mind. Delicious! I didn’t even say hello. I just walked home. Rainer Pasca, 14Bay Shore, NY
The Road Home
For the first time ever, the author is given permission to go outside alone—in New York City
Wild City
Watercolor and Sharpie Saylor Creswell, 8New York, NY
Editor’s Note
We don’t often talk about politics in the print magazine of Stone Soup. This is in large part because we work so far ahead on each issue that any attempt to speak to current events will inevitably be outdated by the time the magazine arrives at your door. Instead, we publish more timely and topical submissions—about the pandemic, the election, Black Lives Matter, and more—on our blog. However, in this issue, you will read Cora Burch’s poems about her experience of the pandemic as well as one about President Trump, a poem she wrote before the storming of the capitol that now feels eerily prescient. You will also encounter Steven Cavros’s “The Sewer People,” a story about an imaginary society and government that forces us to think about our own—much like George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm. I encourage you to try writing a poem or story that is about politics without being about our current politics. Finally, in these pages, you will find the final installment of Ariana Kralicek’s novella, The Trials and Tribulations of Swifty Appledoe. I hope reading about Swifty has put a smile on your face and maybe even inspired you try something new!
Parachuting in City Lights
Watercolor Sloka Ganne, 10Overland Park, KS
Stone Soup Honor Roll: May 2021
Welcome to the Stone Soup Honor Roll! We receive hundreds of submissions every month by kids from around the world. Unfortunately, we can’t publish all the great work we receive. So we created the Stone Soup Honor Roll. We commend all of these talented writers and artists and encourage them to keep creating. – The Editors Scroll down to see all the names (alphabetical by section), including book reviewers and artists. ART Aya David-Ramati, 10 Cleo Friedman, 8 Hussein Ismail, 11 Leila Keller, 11 Aditi Nair, 12 Uma Nambiar, 13 Rose Scaramuzzi, 12 Liam Tang, 10 STORIES Hanbei Bao, 10 Chance Brainard, 13 Oola Breen-Ryan, 9 Isabella Bull, 11 Amelia Driver, 10 Claire Hansen, 12 POETRY Eli Brosowsky, 12 Raya Ilieva, 11 Pauline McAndrew, 12 Ava Shorten, 11 Emma Telpis, 12 Olivia Vallejo, 8
