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Story·Brittany Newell, age 10 — A girl finds escape and identity through playing her dusty family piano, culminating in a Christmas Eve performance where she becomes one with the instrument.

Story·Josh Miller, age 10 — A skilled hunter rejected by her village for not conforming to gender roles discovers a cloud city where women hunt and men weave, then returns home to acceptance.

Poetry·Nicole Guenther, age 13 — At dusk, a writer sits on a cold rock sketching the last light while frogs sing, watching her huge shadow wave across the page as darkness falls.

Story·Laura Booth, age 11 — A girl ice-skating encounters a mysterious stag who leads her and her pony on a dangerous journey through frozen streams to discover a secret clearing that becomes hers.

Story·Veronica Engler, age 13 — A girl visiting an island for the first time encounters the legendary Storm Dancer during a fierce storm and learns to dance with the ocean's rhythm.

Poetry·Colin Johnson, age 11 — A golden trout waits beneath tourmaline water for flies to land, then strikes with predatory precision before settling into warm mud to sleep.

Story·Emma King, age 11 — A girl travels from New York to South Africa, experiencing the ocean's power and beauty, finding a magical shell that her young cousin takes, teaching her about letting go.

Story·Emma Kilgore Hine, age 13 — A girl crafts a tiny boat from bark and wildflowers beside a New Mexican mountain stream, then releases it to drift away like a fairy ship.

Story·Emily deLisle, age 10 — An Egyptian servant girl who is secretly the goddess Isis helps a hippo mother killed by hunters become the goddess Tawret, reuniting her with her family in the afterlife.

Poetry·Alyssum Quaglia, age 12 — A landlord tends his garden at dawn, moving through dewy grass to pull weeds and care for lettuce and strawberries in the quiet morning.