Flash contest #19: Write a backwards story The week commencing August 3 (Daily Creativity Prompt #96) was our nineteenth week of flash contests, with a prompt that asked our entrants to write a story that goes backwards. The entries we received covered a broad range of topics, from family to animals to weather to space travel to time travel to friendship, and much more, even including a few poems. We greatly enjoyed reading all of the entries we received, and loved how the plots of the stories were slowly revealed as they traveled backwards. Well done to all of our entrants for taking on the difficult task of telling a story backwards, and particular congratulations to our Winners and Honorable Mentions, listed below. Read on past the list of winners to experience the Winners’ work for yourselves. Winners The Project by Katie Bergsieker, 12 (Denver, CO) Surprise by Scarlet He, 9 (Scarsdale, NY) Once and For All by Joyce Hong, 10 (Oakville, ON) This Day Has Come Too Soon by Ella Pierce, 12 (Hudson, WI) Sea of Souls by Daniel Wei, 13 (Weddington, NC) Honorable Mentions Jewish Friend, Backwards End by Becca Jacobson, 11 (Montclair, NJ) Falling by Vaishnavi Kumbala, 12 (Metairie, LA) The Irrefusable Offer by Kyler Min, 9 (Vienna, VA) On Top of the World by Mihika Sakharpe, 11 (Frisco, TX) Last Thoughts by Ismini Vasiloglou, 11 (Atlanta, GA/Athens, Greece) Katie Bergsieker, 12Denver, CO The Project Katie Bergsieker, 12 “Sophie! Thank goodness you’re here! Look!” my best friend Kylie cries, pointing. I follow her finger. She is pointing to a boy that has my hair color, eyes, skin tone, and more. He looks almost identical to me. “Stephen?” I breathe, unbelieving. “I’m told that I belong to the McGrafty family? I was taken by a van while playing with my sister, you see…” His voice is deeper than I expected. “Stephen,” I say as he pauses for breath. “I am your sister.” My eyes, and his, fill with tears. I should start from the beginning. And my beginning actually starts with a very perturbed me. No. “I’m not going to the carnival, Mom,” I say, exasperated. “I know, but honey, can’t you take a break?” Mom says. “You know that you don’t have to be working on your… ahem… project every second of the day, right?” “I do, actually,” I mumble. “I can’t go to the carnival because… oh, Kylie invited me to come over to her house.” That wasn’t true, but Mom couldn’t have guessed. I spend a ton of time with my BFF, Kylie. At least I did, before I got sucked into my important project. Mom raises one eyebrow. “Fine. I’ll go to the carnival with George, then. Have fun with Kylie. Do you need me to drive you?” “No, I can walk,” I reply. “Kylie lives a block away, so what’s the point of driving, anyway?” “Okay,” Mom says, turning to pick up my baby brother George. “Be back by six. And what is your “project”, again?” Mom always asks about the project. Now it’s my turn to raise my eyebrow. “Mom, I told you already. I’m not going to tell you!” I swore to secrecy that I wouldn’t tell anyone. I’m not about to break that promise now. Mom, as usual, takes forever to pack all of George’s things before finally heading out the garage door. “Bye, Sophie!” she calls over an upset, screaming George who doesn’t want to go into his stroller. Instead of going to Kylie’s house right away (I didn’t say that I was going to, did I?), I plop down in front of our computer. I open up a new browser and type: Sophie McGrafty. My name. The internet gives me many articles that I can type on. They’re all the same as usual though. Sophie McGrafty looking for missing twin. Twin missing. Where is Sophie McGrafty’s twin? Explorers search for thirteen year old girl’s twin. No twin found for Sophie McGrafty, 13. I should explain. Five years ago, when searching in my mom and dad’s closet, I found a shoebox. There was a birth certificate inside. Stephen King McGrafty, it said. Born February 2. My birthday. Digging around in the shoebox some more, I had found a faded newspaper article. Stephen McGrafty, 2, reported missing, it said. I scanned the article. ‘Two year old Stephen McGrafty was playing with his twin sister, Sophie, when a van drove up to their house. Sophie ran into the house, but Stephen stayed, hypnotized by the beautiful dog in the van’s window. By the time Sophie’s parents realized Stephen wasn’t home for dinner, the van, and Stephen, were gone. The search continues, and if you see this van, please call 123-HELP.’ Of course, I didn’t remember any of this happening. I don’t even remember Stephen. Mom and Dad never talk about him. When I looked at this article, I made it my vow to try to find Stephen. After all, it was totally my fault. What kind of twin leaves their sibling behind when a creepy van pulls up in front of their house? I’m getting close. The other day, I found an article saying that a couple in Utah, only a few hours away from our house in Colorado, have a kid that they found on the side of the street. They picked him up and named him Bob. And another article said that someone named Bob Dah could be the Stephen McGrafty that we had been looking for this whole time. So I am on my search for Bob Dah. But first I have to walk over to Kylie’s house. For real. I need to ask her for a favor. I lace up my sneakers and head out. When I get to Kylie’s house, I see paparazzi, police cars, vans, and more parked outside. I push my way through and see my best friend sitting in the back corner. I look and see a boy identical to me.
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Book Club Report: Paint the Wind, by Pam Muñoz Ryan
An update from our sixteenth and seventeenth Book Club meetings! Over the past two weeks, the Stone Soup Book Club has been reading Paint the Wind by Pam Muñoz Ryan. The novel is about a girl, Maya, who has lived a very sheltered life with her grandmother after her parents’ death–that is, until she goes to live with her mother’s family in Wyoming, people who love horses and the great outdoors. Both of our sessions started with a “social breakout room,” inspired by the ARTT room in one of our previous books, Harbor Me. Since we have very fascinating discussions in Book Club, we figured that it would be nice if we could get to know each other better. In these breakout rooms, participants are in groups of 2 or 3, and are welcome to just talk to each other for 5-7 minutes. Most everyone seems to enjoy these social breakout rooms. Our first week of discussions included breakout rooms in which we talked about character and setting in Paint the Wind, both what we think about them and what role they play in the plot. We decided that the characters seemed to mirror the setting they were in, and that the settings provided a strong contrast between a sheltered life and an open life. Next, we talked a bit about the role of wild horses in the book. The horses play important roles, as they are something that connects Maya to the mother she never really knew. We also talked about how the horses, who live in the wild, relate to the fact that Maya wants to live a more open, less rigid, life. In our second week of discussions, we first split into two breakout rooms to discuss the end of the book. There are several dramatic situations near the end of Paint the Wind, and we talked about how they caused Maya to grow as a character, as well whether we found those situations plausible. Furthermore, we brainstormed about themes for the book, which we shared out in our whole group. We came up with: family, freedom, and change. Next, we read sections of an interview with Pam Muñoz Ryan about Paint the Wind. It was fascinating to hear the author’s thought process. Finally, since the idea of change, and of expanding our horizons, is so important in Paint the Wind, we all thought about times when we had tried something new and expanded our horizons, and then shared out. It was cool to hear what everyone had to say! We will begin discussing our next book (see below) on August 19. Our Next Book (To be discussed on August 19 and August 26): The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley The Stone Soup Book Club is open to all Stone Soup contributors and subscribers, age 9-13. We meet every Wednesday at 1 p.m. PST (4 p.m. EST) for one hour via Zoom to discuss our chosen book. Join us!
No Time To Go On Walks, a reflection by Sophi Reynolds, 12
Sophi Reynolds, 12Lexington, KT No Time To Go On Walks Sophi Reynolds, 12 There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. With everything going on, I had not one moment to spare. If I did, it would have been used to do something other than taking a walk to clear my mind. I always had something to do. Cheer practice, voice lessons, dentist appointment, homework, tumble class, my brother’s practices, musical rehearsal, and so much more. It seemed I would never have a free moment, because every second of my time was always filled. That day I had school, a voice lesson, musical rehearsal, and then cheer practice. I didn’t even know if I would have time for dinner until after 9 o’clock! I barely got to see my family that day, or the next day. Or the next. I was so tired, tired of doing homework in the car, eating more meals in my car than at the table, and tired because of lack of sleep. It seemed I would never again get to go on a peaceful walk in the park with my family, until the Coronavirus struck. At first, I was sad to leave school and all the activities that went with it behind. But soon I realized that this break was just what I needed. Once again, I was eating dinner with my family at the table and going on peaceful walks with my dogs. I realize more than ever, now that school and activities are starting up again, that I need to make more time for dinner at the table with my family, time to relax and read a book, time to hang out with my friends, and I need to make more time for going on walks.
