An idyllic evening on a lake sparks newfound clarity in the narrator Grass enclosed my feet with every step I took. The sky was pigmented blue, newer than my eyes had ever seen before. The paddleboard meandered with me to the sweet, blue lake, so unblemished that, for moments at a time, I could catch sight of my future in it. The sun glistened on my back. The humid summer air engulfed my being with its touch. Life was leading me to the dream world, decamping all my stress. The snow-white and crystal-blue inflatable raft I held felt weightless on my shoulders. I was free, acquitted from all conflict. Nature turned from crows to hummingbirds, gale to sunshine, just because of my presence. The second I docked my raft, a sense of relief passed me, unaware of the relief’s purpose. I can’t help but think I just wanted to feel accomplished. Elevating my legs up on the raft, I felt it depart from the land. It was like I was flying. I conceptualized all the possible creatures that could be splashing about, in awe at all the beautiful fish and tadpoles that slipped out from under me. My milky-white shoes drifted out of my peripheral. Then the jagged rocks, tracing the shoreline. I swayed the night-black oar through the lake. Everything felt natural. The final pieces of shore swam away from me as I lay down, exonerated from all previous stress. I admired the atmosphere above me, not a silk cloud to be seen throughout the sapphire sky. The sun was covering me in a blanket of warmth. I felt like a cub with its mother. Sunset Waves Skimming my index finger on the face of the water and feeling the humidity, I recalled the beautiful, warm apple cider my mother would make me during wintertime. The shimmering water, no turbidity, the warmth of the lake—it all welcomed me with open arms. Standing up, I felt like a preacher to the fish. My knees came to my chest as I cannonballed off the edge of the teetering raft into the open water. I could only imagine the fish and what they were thinking—I imagined they felt like dinosaurs when the meteor came down. Nostalgia flooded my head. The delicate smell of the unblemished reservoir brought me back to California: the beautiful beaches, the humidity on my back, it all welcomed me to the water, welcomed me to the dream world. My mouth sealed shut, eyes clenched, my hair soared around me like an aura. The water collapsed with my body, propelling the remaining water into the sky. I’m flying, I thought. I’m free. The water swam back together above me. I didn’t open my eyes, I couldn’t open my eyes. Yet I could still discern the creatures around me; the fish were like snowflakes, no two the same. Still shaking like a dog coming inside from rain, I recognized the auburn red peering over the horizon line. I dropped down on the raft as the sun lay down on the array of trees from across the lake. “My eyes . . . they’re lying,” I felt myself speak before my mind could think. “It’s beautiful.” As the lake’s essence dripped off of my body, I lay in disbelief. The sunset displayed the truth: I couldn’t just focus on the small bad things in life when I could just open my eyes and see all the true beauty of the world.
September 2022
Frozen in the Aisle
from Remember the Flowers Winner (Poetry) of the 2021 Stone Soup Book Contest All I knew of the cold was the grocery store— the frozen food aisle where we shivered in our T-shirts while Umma piled gluten-free pizza into our cart, the cardboard covered in frost, disguising the image of promised tomatoes that would thaw and bake in the oven, their warmth exploding in your mouth on a lazy Saturday afternoon. Window of Color We felt we were frozen, you and I, as we passed packaged peas and hardened mango chunks. We huddled beneath our shopping bags, wore them like capes, ignoring the amused smiles of warm, sweatered customers. We distracted our shivering minds with images of chocolate and vanilla ice cream shining from the tops of lids, an image denying reality. We begged Umma to pick one up. The scoops seemed to smile at me. She passed right by the ice cream section— it was cold again. Remember the Flowers was released on September 1, 2022. You can order the book at Barnes & Noble or through our Amazon store: Amazon.com/stonesoup.
Highlight from Stonesoup.com
From the Stone Soup Blog Smartphone Addiction: One Middle Schooler’s Perspective When I look at my classmates’ faces, absorbed in their smartphones, they look eerily expressionless, even hollow. Their eyes look tired and droopy; their faces look drained and sulking. They look like they have no choice. It is almost as if they are compelled by some unseen force to use every second of the time limit their parents have set on their devices. I cannot help but think of them as stuck in quicksand. They are not even trying to get out of it! I think my fellow classmates, and most middle school students and teens, are addicted to smartphones. Smartphones have taken over our society. According to 2019 data, 53% of American children own a smartphone by the time they are eleven. Eighty-four percent of teenagers own a smartphone. I have read many news reports in which researchers claim that smartphones can be fun and educational for children and teens and help them socialize with others. As a middle school student who sees the negative impacts of excessive smartphone usage in school, I strongly disagree with these claims. Parents must take the responsibility because they are the ones who choose to give their children smartphones. Some parents think that by setting time limits and parental controls they can control their child(ren)’s phone use. I think this just makes things worse. Students in my school use all the time they have on their smartphones until their time limit goes off. They seem to be waiting for that time in the day when they can use their smartphones; they are the first thing they reach for at lunchtime. This machine seems to immerse them. Sometimes I imagine them turning into machines. Why do parents give their children smartphones? This question has been haunting me, and I think I finally know the answer now. Parents want to have a good relationship with their children, so they give them everything they want to make them happy. Parents may also think that their child is growing up and they deserve to have a smartphone. It is possible that their child is nagging them to have a smartphone because their friends have one. Some parents want their children to be able to communicate with them or contact them. Some others may think that there are many advantages to using smartphones, including playing games, socializing, having fun, and learning. Yet others may think their children are not susceptible to these kinds of behaviors. Others might think the disadvantages are minor. I do not think any of these are good enough reasons to give your child a smartphone because of all the severely negative impacts it can have on a child. It breaks my heart to see children not being children, and students not being students. Children are missing social and academic experiences in school. They are getting into patterns of behavior that are hurting them now and will hurt them in the future. I urge parents not to give their children smartphones at such a young age. Give children their childhood back. This is an abridged version of the original article. To read the full piece, go to Stonesoup.com/young-bloggers/. About the Stone Soup Blog We publish original work—writing, art, book reviews, multimedia projects, and more—by young people on the Stone Soup Blog. You can read more posts by young bloggers, and find out more about submitting a blog post, here: https://stonesoup.com/stone-soup-blog/.
