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. FICTION Anish Alur, 12 Beatrice Cappuccio, 9 Kayla Coulombe, 7 Levi Powell, 13 Olivia Song, 11 Bo-Violet Vig, 13 POETRY Arlo Atkinson, 8 Zina DeVoe, 13 Aadhya Garg, 8 Celia Mill, 13 Jason Shen, 8 Noelle Torgerson, 7 ART Marco Lu, 13 Savannah Murray, 13 Seish Norte, 13
January 2020
A World Without Color
In a colorless world full of trash, the writer dreams of a lush, vivid rainforest Dear Diary, I woke up again yesterday and saw the hammering rain pouring harshly down on my small little house. It was the worst sight I had seen in years! It was quite a boring sight, though I’m used to it, so I wasn’t that surprised. I had another amazing dream. I dreamt that I was in a forest with tropical trees and exotic flowers. There was spikey grass and even tigers! I guess it didn’t come true. I had to try to tidy the rubbish by sifting and sorting, burning and burying, but it didn’t work. However, while I was sorting the rubbish, something caught my eye. It was a tiny tin flower! Suddenly an idea planted itself in my head. The idea sprouted and grew roots. Day after day, the idea got bigger. While I was feeding on the rubbish, a forest emerged under my hand. It was not the forest of my dreams, but it was a forest just the same. In the forest, there were tigers, toucans, tree frogs, and even butterflies! I was still a bit disappointed because it was a very dull forest with no color at all. As I walked through the forest, my heart was aching with emptiness. Elyse Bambrough, 7Bristol, UK Sage Millen, 11Vancouver, Canada
I Would Like to Speak to the Manager
Overture: “Happy Go Lively” by Laurie Johnson. On the left half of the stage is a pristine white office room. On the right half, we see the burned down remains of a living room, with only a small side table still standing. On the table sits an old rotary phone. The OPERATOR sits in the office, and the CUSTOMER sits on a burnt stool in the living room. CUSTOMER angrily dials the phone. There is a pause, before the OPERATOR’S phone rings. The OPERATOR picks up the phone with a fake smile. OPERATOR Hello. This is customer service. How may I help you today? CUSTOMER Hello. Yes, I would like to file a complaint. The toaster I ordered exploded and burned down my house. OPERATOR Oh no! That’s terrible. First, you will need to give me the 16-digit personal identification code, your four-digit product verification code on the certificate of authenticity that you received with your product, and the official purchase edition number written on your product. CUSTOMER What? What are those!? OPERATOR You will need to take all of those things and fax them to the number listed on our website. CUSTOMER I don’t have a fax machine. I don’t think anyone does. Also, my house burned down. OPERATOR Yes. We will wait for your fax. Thank you. CUSTOMER Well, can I file a complaint through your website? OPERATOR Yes, we have a website. Please go there. CUSTOMER Can I please just file a complaint with you? OPERATOR Do you have your 16-digit personal identification code? CUSTOMER I already told you I don’t! OPERATOR Then no. CUSTOMER: AAAAAAAGHHHH! OPERATOR Transferring to AAAAAAAGHHHH department. Please hold. “Happy H. Christmas” by Maniacs of Noise begins to play. OPERATOR (As the music stops) Welcome to the AAAAAAAGHHHH department. Unfortunately, there has been a mistake. Please select a new department. For billing, press 1. For sales, press 2. For tech support, press 3. For a hilarious and amusing story, press 4. A very long time passes. For the complete soundtrack of both the movie and the Broadway production of Sweeney Todd, press 13,216. For the nearest free trade door knocker manufacturer, press 13,217. For complaints department, press 13,218. CUSTOMER sighs very loudly and violently spins the dial on the rotary phone. OPERATOR Okay, please hold. Thank you. “Happy H. Christmas” by Maniacs of Noise begins to play once more. OPERATOR Hello! This is the complaints department. What can I do for you today, valued customer? CUSTOMER I have a complaint regarding terrible customer service. Also, are you the same person? Because this sounds like the same person. OPERATOR (Suddenly speaking in a German accent) No. I am not the same person. Why would you think that? CUSTOMER Are you sure? Because you sound like the same person I was just talking to, only with a German accent. And I still have a complaint. OPERATOR (Still speaking with a German accent) Shall I transfer you to my superior? CUSTOMER Okay. Fine. Whatever. A different terrible, obnoxious song begins to play. OPERATOR (Russian accent) Hello, this is management! Management is testing out a new robotic help cyber-bot. It is still in the learning phase. Please be patient. CUSTOMER I don’t think I’ve got much patience left. And you are definitely still the same person. OPERATOR (French accent) Non. What is it with you and your false accusations? I’m a different person! CUSTOMER Well for starters, you keep changing your accent. OPERATOR (Southern accent) I do not. CUSTOMER Can I just talk to the robot? Please? OPERATOR Fine. Whatever. There is a long pause. CUSTOMER sighs heavily. OPERATOR exits stage left and is replaced with an advanced-looking ROBOT, played by someone wearing a plain, white mask that features a blank expression. ROBOT Hello! This is the management support robot! What can I help you with? CUSTOMER Customer service. ROBOT Could you repeat that, please? CUSTOMER Tech support. ROBOT I think you said, “Deck fork.” If this is correct, press any diagonal sequence of numbers. If this is incorrect, press the function key. CUSTOMER What?! What’s a function key?! I don’t have a function key! ROBOT I think you said, “I don’t have a function key.” If this is correct, press the function key. CUSTOMER This is insane! Why don’t you just have normal customer service?! ROBOT Uh-oh! What can we do to make your experience better? CUSTOMER I don’t know! ROBOT I am still in the learning phase. Please be patient. CUSTOMER They should have waited until you were done with the learning phase to let you take calls! (Beat) This ought to be against the law! ROBOT I think you said, “I shot my grandma.” Shall I call 911? CUSTOMER No! No! Don’t call 911! This is a disaster! ROBOT What can we do to make your experience better? CUSTOMER I haven’t got a clue. ROBOT I think you said, “My baby’s in the barbecue.” If this is correct— CUSTOMER No! No! Just shut up! I just want to talk to the complaints department! ROBOT Okay, redirecting to the complaints department. CUSTOMER (Relieved) Yes! Finally! ROBOT Uh-oh. There’s been a glitch. Restarting. Shutting down. ROBOT exits and is replaced by OPERATOR. OPERATOR Hello. This is customer service. How may I help you today? CUSTOMER slams the phone down and storms off stage right. OPERATOR sets down its phone, turns to face the audience, and shrugs. CURTAIN CALL. Music: “Window Gazing” by Ivor Slaney.
