Young Bloggers

Something Smells Fishy, a short story by Daniella Horna-Baxter, 13

Daniella Horna-Baxter, 13Oak Park, IL Something Smells Fishy Daniella Horna-Baxter, 13 I was tired of being stuck inside with only my parents. I was itching for sunlight, and barely any clouds littered the sky. So, I decided to go to the backyard to do my e-learning. I was doing my math when I noticed how pretty the pond water was as it reflected the clear blue sky. I decided it was time for a break. I got my camera and started taking pictures. I was marveling at the pictures when I took a closer look and noticed that there were only 10 of my 30 or so fish there. Interesting . . . I got some fish food and flew outside. I counted again. 11. Hmmmm. I threw the specks of food all across the pond hoping some would come out. Nothing. If the food was in the pond, why weren’t fish coming out? I called my best friend that I had lived next to for over 8 years. Joel answered right away. “Hey Hannah what’s up?” “I think a raccoon is eating my fish.” “Really? Try setting up a camera.” I did, but I forgot to get a light and all the footage was pitch black. 9 fish. So, the next night I got my flashlight and aimed it at the pond. I was sure to catch the animal. The next morning I woke up and immediately checked the footage, the video had gone dark at 10 o’clock. I checked the flashlight, dead. 6 fish. I called Joel, yet again he answered immediately “Have you caught it?” “No, I don’t know what to do.” “Why don’t you stay up tonight? I’ll check on you each hour.” I woke up at 7. 4 fish. I called up Joel. “Joel! Why didn’t you wake me up last night?!” “I was trying to! But you sleep like a baby! I tried waking you up with a megaphone, but Old Greta across the street yelled at me for being too loud. So I tried to go wake you up but then I remembered the 6 foot rule.” “Well what am I going to do now?” “I have some motion activated lasers that send a notification to your phone when something moves.” “How do you have that? “My dad worked night security at the Art Museum” There was no movement, and now I had no fish. I Face Timed Joel. “Joel! There’s no more fish left!” “Oh no!” Then I noticed something behind him. A fish tank. With my fish.

Re-Looking at a Masterpiece

You can’t love a piece of art and not look at it just one time. It is impossible and it shows you really have no care for the art. “Garden at Giverny” by Claude Monet (shown above) is a beautiful painting of a garden but if you look at its beautiful garden a few times then you see much more than what you saw the first time. The first time you may have seen some flowers, a few trees, and a small pond in the background but the second time you notice the small details that make the art much more interesting. Maybe you see details in the flowers, or a peculiar object in the pond, or you could see an animal basking in the light. Perhaps, you searched up the story of “Garden at Giverny” and you now know the backstory and you see it differently than you did before. You may now notice that those flowers you saw were Iris’, or you now realize the trees were willow trees and you now have a fascination for them, or perhaps now you know that the garden was noticeable from Monet’s bedroom window. Or possibly, you could see a completely different story. You may have once seen the artwork as just artwork or a simple story but now you could have seen the artwork as a much bigger story, or a story at all. When I see this artwork again and again, I see different perspectives and different stories to the artwork. It is not just artwork; it is a story. Next time, read your book again, or look at the artwork again and think and see it differently. Maybe even someone else will see it the same way. So try and Re-look the masterpiece.

The Reason for our Smiles, the Amazing NHS, a poem by Cali Davis, 9

Cali Davis, 9Manchester, UK The Reason for our Smiles, the Amazing NHS Cali Davis, 9 To all our heroes helping out during this illness, Your bravery and selflessness deserves our respect, For all you have done and all you will do, We have been brought together and that’s thanks to you. The stars are shining brighter with every waking hour, You’re saving lives, risking your own and for that you have the power, Words can’t express the gratitude we feel, You’re the sun in our eyes and you make our sadness heal. We all await the day for our lives to go back to how they were, But for now let’s appreciate each other and be grateful for what we share, Soon enough this will be a faded memory and the hardships will be less and less, One thing that will never be forgotten is our unsung heroes, the NHS! Editor’s note: For readers not based in Britain, NHS = National Health Service