Stone Soup Magazine
— A girl meets a stranger in a McDonald's parking lot who shows her a photo of his deceased dog that looks exactly like hers, creating an unexpected moment of connection.
— A Native American boy witnesses his father's murder by settlers and is captured, then helped to escape by the warden's son who recognizes the injustice.
— A girl frozen with fear on the high dive gets pushed by her best friend, then finds comfort with a new friend who shares her own story of loneliness.
— A child drifts to sleep in a hammock, moving from stillness through sunset to starlight, cradled by gentle swinging and soft sounds.
— A boy meets a strange girl on the beach who believes her mother is a mermaid and nearly leads him to his death trying to join her, but saves him...
— A teenager finds solitude at abandoned railroad tracks, contemplating how nature reclaims human progress and feeling the ghost of trains that once passed.
— A reincarnated blue jay, now human, returns to a fountain where they once drank as a bird, mourning lost flight until moonlight brings new hope.
— A meditation on leaving paradise, watching cars diverge on a canyon highway while coyotes howl and a finch lifts off into morning light.
— A city boy reluctantly spends summer on his grandfather's Montana farm, initially resenting the work but gradually discovering satisfaction in farm life and connection with nature.
— Blackbird Fly, by Erin Entrada Kelly; Greenwillow Press: New York, 2015; $16.99 Have you ever longed and hoped for something you never had? Like blue eyes, or soft yellow hair?...