Stone Soup began running a weekly Flash Contest in March 2020, based on our first Daily Creativity prompt of the week, which ran until the end of August 2020. What started as just one of our new projects to support our readers and contributors caught up in lock down and in quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic, turned into a popular weekly tradition where hundreds of young people picked up the prompt on a Monday, responded to it during the week, and sent us their work by Friday. The following weekend we published 5 of our favourites, and congratulated a few Honorable Mentions. Every contest has its own winners’ page, where you can read all the winning entries for the week. You can link to all of them from the list below. Congratulations to everyone who took part–especially our winners–and thank you for sending us your work! Flash Contest #22: Write a Story About a Unifying Place–Our Winners and Their Work! Flash Contest #22: Write a Story About a Unifying Place Maybe this is a coffee shop where a regular group of writers share their work, or a church where folks go to practice their religion. Simply explore how these people are unified, and why. For our last in the current series of weekly flash contests, entrants were inspired by another terrific prompt by Stone Soup reader and contributor Liam Hancock, 13. Liam asked you to write about a unifying place–and it was fascinating so see how you interpreted this. Perhaps not surprisingly, many of you thoughts of bookshops, libraries and favourite reading corners as your place of unity, comfort and companionship; others came up with a stunning range of locations they love for the people and the activities that take place in them. We read some beautiful writing this week, and are delighted to share the work of our winners with you on this page. Congratulations to all of them, and to our Honorable Mentions. Winners I walk the path I have walked many times by Morgan Dodd, 13, Portland, Oregon Waiting For Camp by Selina Lai, 10, Dublin, CA The Warehouse by Daniel Wei, 13, Weddington, NC Hope by April Yu, 12, East Brunswick, NJ Cinema by Annie Yu, 11, Great Neck, NY Honorable Mention Ireland by Stella Mae Cobb, 11, Norfolk, CT There are many like you! by Aashitha Jeyaganesh, 10, Edison, NJ The Library by Jason Liu, 11, Sharon, MA The Whales in the Metro Station by Kyler Min, 9, Vienna, VA …Read More Flash contest #21: Write a poem about your favorite place to be: Our Winners and their Work! Flash contest #21: Write a poem about your favorite place to be The week commencing August 17th (Daily Creativity Prompt #106) was our twenty-first week of Flash Contests. The prompt asked our entrants to write a poem about their favorite place to be. The over-fifty entries we received ranged from poetry about the comfort of one’s own room, to vacation spots in Hawaii, to family homes, to the peacefulness of nature, and much more! We greatly enjoyed reading all of the entries we received, as well as the happy feeling that accompanied them. Well done to all of our entrants; and a special congratulations to our Winners and Honorable Mentions, listed below. Read on past the list of winners to experience the Winners’ work for yourself! Winners Hawaii by Analise Braddock, 9 (Katonah, NY) My Favorite Place To Be by Georgia Marshall, 11 (Marblehead, MA) Cherish the Temporary by Reagan Ricker, 13 (Coto de Caza, CA) My Favorite People by Chloe Song, 12 (Lexington, MA) A Place Yet To Be by Anushka Trivedi, 10 (Silver Spring, MD) Honorable Mentions In the Mountains by Quinn Peacock Brush, 10 (Denver, CO) The Observation Deck by Nicholas Buckley, 13 (Wilmington, MA) Winter in my Bed Nova Macknik-Conde, 8 (Brooklyn, NY) My Room by Julia Marcus, 13 (Culver City, CA) Perfect For Me by April Yu, 12 (East Brunswick, NJ) Hawaii Analise Braddock, 9 Where sunscreen is your friend, Smells of salt and coconut invade your nose, Crish, crash goes the waves as you …Read More Flash Contest #20: Write a Poem Inspired by a Song: Our Winners and Their Work! Flash Contest #20: Write a poem inspired by a song. The week commencing August 10th (Daily Creativity Prompt #101) was our twentieth week of Flash Contests. The prompt asked our entrants to write a poem inspired by a song they’ve been listening to a lot. The entries we received ranged from poetry set to the tune of a certain song, poetry inspired by a theme of a song, poetry inspired by classical music, contemporary music, musicals, and even our entrants’ own musical compositions. We greatly enjoyed reading the many entries we received; well done to everyone who submitted to this prompt, and a special congratulations to our Winners and Honorable Mentions, listed below. Read on past the list of placed entries to experience the Winners’ work for yourselves! Winners Satisfied by Savannah Black, 9 (Yuba City, CA) First Flight by Fern Hadley, 12 (Cary, NC) Requiem by Joyce Hong, 10 (Oakville, ON) Mendelssohn’s Voices by Eric Liang, 13 (Sherborn, MA) Last Night by Daniel Wei, 13 (Weddington, NC) Honorable Mentions The Lovely Birds by Nova Macknik-Conde, 8 (Brooklyn, NY) Christmas Carols by Ashvant Daniel, 11 (Portland, OR) Mad World 2020 by Emma Hoff, 8 (Bronx, NY) The King of the Snow by Kyler Min, 9 (Vienna, VA) Dance Monkey by Sophie Yu, 12 (Houston, TX) Satisfied Savannah Black, 9 I am never satisfied There is always another step to climb Another home run to hit Another goal to score Another painting to paint Another checkmate to you Another chore to do Another essay to write And …Read More Flash Contest #19: Write a backwards story: Our Winners and their Work! Flash contest #19: Write a backwards story The week commencing August 3 (Daily Creativity Prompt #96) was our nineteenth week of flash contests, with a prompt that asked our entrants to write a story that goes backwards. The entries
Weekly Writing Workshop #1, Friday April 3, 2020: Inspiration From Random Words
Our first Weekly Writing Workshop! The Stone Soup Weekly Writing Workshop is open to all Stone Soup contributors and subscribers during the COVID-19-related school closures and shelter-in-place arrangements. Every Friday, we meet for one hour via Zoom to respond to a new writing challenge, write together in our virtual room, and then share what we have written with one another. At our first session on Friday April 3, we introduced ourselves, broke the ice by naming our favourite animal (if we had one!), and then got to work on a word challenge. Everyone in the room came up with a random favourite word, which we captured on our whiteboard, and then we got down to half an hour of serious writing. The Writing Challenge: Write a story, poem, or other prose, using at least 5 of the words on the list! The Words: orange, trustworthy, glass, scrapbook, future, luscious, garden, biography, grandfather, run, gallop, sniff, canter The Participants: Lena (10), Anya (13), Liam (12), Eli (7), Jay (9), Abhi (11), Vivian (11), Anna (15), Lucy (12), Ma’ayan (11), Ever (10), Mico (13), Silas (10), Catherine (13), Stella (13) We were so impressed by the writing the participants produced. From haunting poems and reflective prose to outer space adventure, free verse, and a tale of a fruit’s imaginary life, it was just amazing what the workshop inspired, and incredible to see what polished work could emerge in such a short time. Read on for the great pleasure of reading some of our writers’ work. The Storyteller by Lena Aloise, 10 I descend the narrow staircase of my thoughts, Slice the lock from the pirate’s chest of my mind, But the treasure that lies amongst the settling dust, Is not buttery golden coins, Nor rough slices of glistening jade. But the firm feeling against my palms, The satisfaction pouring into my soul is but the same. I pull a story from its cage, Wrestle it under a thin coating of dreams. Sprinkle gently with a handful of wishes, Then part the mist surrounding and reveal a truth. As I jump from the shores of the world I have crafted, I dive into those perilous waters, And return to the banks with something all new. The Garden through the Mirror by Lena Aloise, 10 I stare back at an unfamiliar soul, Through the portal of crystal glass. Eyes two inky pools of brown, Staring back into mine, Swirling clouds of emotion, My past, my future, My fate. Cover the room in a thick fog, And from the misty tendrils, I emerge, Pushing through the uncertainty. I wander through those narrow corridors, Until I enter a world, One of color, Vibrant reds and oranges, One of light, Lucious rays that fill me with warmth. A garden. Spilling off their narrow stems, Are the fruits of memory. And the green shoots that sprout, From the soil of knowledge, Are those of triumph, Those of success. I run through the waving grasses of sorrow, Nipping at my ankles, The crimson droplets forming on my skin, Are those of tearful memories. And the soft breeze, Gently tugging at my shoulder, Whisking away the sharp pain. Is that of stories. This garden of my mind, A scrapbook of my past, My biography, Not yet written. A chamber of possibility, Containing the keys to the doors, Of who I can become. Untitled, by Anya G., 13 It was a dark and cold night, a night when all wild things are best left to their sulking devices. It was the type of night where it might as well rain; it might as well pour, just to fill the vacancy of life and soul in the world. However, the night had no effect on the young girl. At half-past ten, by the toll of the old grandfather clock in the parlor, which stood gathering dust in an untouched corner, she rose from bed, pushing her silk curtains open to admit the silver, luscious moonlight into her room, spilling across the floor; light; the opposite of a shadow. And so she tiptoed down the great hall, past the looming oak doors that guarded her family from the menacing shadows of night. She slipped downstairs, just a flicker of light across the black shapes of furniture silhouetted in the night. She could only contain her excitement for so long though, and upon reaching the great glass doors that led to the terrace, flung them open and flew into the night like a bird getting its first taste of fresh air. It didn’t matter that the air was heavy with malice or that chilling whispers of the wind caused the hair on the end of her neck to stand up. It didn’t matter that the stone on the terrace was cold on her bare feet, cracked and invaded by damp moss. She ran, her blue nightgown trailing behind her. If she were a horse, her mane waving in her wake, the expanse of the front yard was her pasture, the promise of fresh green grass stretching on forever. She reached the end of the yard, and paused, her breath coming in long gasps. Her cheeks were flushed from the run, her fingers tingling from the clawing cold of the night, but she had not accomplished her mission yet. She jumped over the hedge that bordered the lawn, and winded her way through thorny bushes that snagged her gown, and ensnared her blond hair that flowed like a waterfall. And then she reached it, a small clearing in the bramble. She sat on the cold, firm soil, inhaling the sweet aroma of fresh earth. She bent over into the bushes, moonlight splashing her face with an all-knowing light, and retrieved a lantern. Reaching over again, she produced a box of matches, and struck one. Once she had lit the lantern, it filled the space with a warm, orange light. It was a light that was like a piece of sweet candy melting on your
A COVID-19 Poem by Cali Bennett, 11
A COVID-19 POEM by Cali Bennett, 11 I hate COVID-19 It is bad, bad, bad It will not leave It is as intense as the cold water in the ocean, like when you are trying to get out of the water, but you can’t Like a river rushing all around you, then it’s all gone “I chose to write a poem instead of a story because I like how it tells how you are feeling inside.” Cali Bennett, 11 Santa Cruz, CA
