emotional depth

Story·Erik Dinardo, age 13 — A grieving man revisits places he shared with a lost child, finding each location abandoned or changed, until a ray of light breaks through.

Story·Isabel Folger — A grieving man revisits places he once shared with a child, finding them empty and changed, until a ray of light breaks through.

Story·Kevin Wang, age 11 — Two boys visit their favorite river where one confronts his pain over his parents' divorce, leading to a dramatic rescue and deepened friendship.

Story·Caitlin Miller, age 13 — Two best friends drift apart when one becomes popular in seventh grade, but reconnect at a summer party where apologies and a leap into the lake restore their bond.

Poetry·Cora W. Bucher, age 13 — A late-night meditation on isolation, watching an empty spotlight on gravel while longing to step into that illuminated space and receive nature's applause.

Story·Bailey Bergmann, age 12 — After being attacked by a dog as a toddler, Asa struggles with her fear until a friend's puppy needs adoption following a tragic accident.

Poetry·Laine Bruzek, age 12 — A child lies in grass watching the sky transform from day to night, observing clouds, sunset, stars, and moon in their eternal dance.

Story·Sage Behr, age 12 — An elderly woman in the 1850s recalls how witnessing a slave auction led her to become a conductor on the Underground Railroad, risking everything to help families escape.

Story·Dressler Parsons, age 11 — A lonely girl rescues a kitten from a rattlesnake in the Arizona desert, and the small act of caring brings her disconnected family together for the first time in years.

Story·Lyla Lawless, age 13 — A twelve-year-old girl devastated by moving from Rockville to Springfield finds hope in a letter left by the previous occupant of her new room.