Stone Soup Magazine
— A girl who resents her difficult grandfather discovers her love for him only when he's hospitalized with a heart attack and gives her a locket containing a photo of them...
— A young woman becomes the first female bull rider to attempt the Championships, facing down Widow Maker, a bull unridden for seven years.
— When knights leave for battle, a noble girl who dreams of heroism must defend her castle from enemy attack, proving herself as the warrior she longs to be.
— An actor playing Romeo navigates pre-show tension with her Juliet, finding reconciliation and deeper understanding of her character through performance.
— Two sisters create a secret midnight world for their stuffed animals in the woods, rebuild it after destruction, and return twenty years later with their own daughters.
— A girl at summer camp bonds with a barn kitten named Oreo, plans to adopt him, but he runs away before she can return from vacation.
— A girl who believes she's bad at everything discovers kayaking, overcomes her fear after tipping over, and places second in a race.
— A boy and his grandmother sit outside a dingy trailer, their bright smiles transforming the worn surroundings into something luminous.
— A night in a vibrant city comes alive through sensory details — dancing on cobblestones, lights on water, sleeping on doorsteps under a diamond-filled sky.
— A teenage girl recounts the day her family's beloved pond became the site of tragedy when a six-year-old Amish boy drowned during a gathering.