Weekly Flash Contest #13: Some of the earliest novels were written in the form of letters between characters (“epistolary novels”). Try writing a story as a series of text messages, group chats, emails, letters or postcards exchanged between at least two characters. The week commencing June 22nd (Daily Creativity prompt #66) was our thirteenth week of flash contests, with a challenge taking us back to one of the earliest forms of the novel: stories told through letters, or “epistolary novels”. Our entrants had the option to bring the form up to date using today’s equivalent of the letter (text messages, group chats etc.), or to take themselves back in time with more formal writing evocative of a past age. The form was no limitation on the imagination shown in the stories these messages between character told. We loved reading the many entries, that came in, and thank you all for participating. Special congratulations to this week’s Winners and Honorable Mentions. Your work really stood out for its creative response and playfulness! You can read this week’s winners’ work below, and the all winning entries from previous weeks on the Flash Contest Winners Roll page. Winners “Letters to the President” by Prisha Aswal, 7, Portland, OR “Child of Magic” by Amelia Pozzo, 11, Arnold, MO “Apocalypse” by Ian Xie, 12, Weston, MA “Black and White” by Ella Yamamura, 12, Cary, NC “The Excuse” by Michela You, 11, Lexington, MA Honorable Mention “Well that escalated quickly…” by Lucy Berberich, 11, Oxford, OH “Venus and Mars and the search for Pluto” by Sara Shah, 8, Portland, OR “The Banter of the Bathroom Buddies” by Mihika Sakharpe, 11, Frisco, TX “Apple & Banana” by Kevin Zhang, 10, Lexington, MA Prisha Aswal, 7Portland, OR Letters to the President Prisha Aswal, 7 May 24, 2020 Dear Corona Borealis, The first girl President of the United States. My name is Lyra Ara. I am 7 years old. I live in California. My address is 42970 NW Cygnus Lane. I am a second grader in Hydra Apus Elementary. I have been thinking about a few things that I wish my school had and is lacking, and then thought if there is anyone who can help me, it is you. You, because: 1. I read somewhere that you loved going to school, just like me. 2. You and I both want to be the President. (Of course you already are and I will be someday) 3 . You are friendly and you think of good ideas. But that’s not why I am writing this letter. Before I tell you the main reason of writing this letter, let me first tell you what I love about my school and why you should think of my request. Here are some good things I like about my school. 1. All the teachers are friendly. Like one day, my teacher, Miss Leo gave us a 3rd recess! One of my favorite teachers is Mrs Antlia. She teaches magic and is incredibly kind and creative with her spells. 2. We have an amazing playground. We have monkeys on the monkey-bars, and dogs and birds shaped bark chips. 3. The teachers teach Magic. One day, when I was hungry, Mrs Antlia, my magic teacher, snapped her fingers and treated me with the yummiest Macaroni in the world! 4. They do a lot of fun things, like one day we were trying to make animals, and I made a tiny puppy, a Siberian husky! I named her Sagitta. She is my pet now. 5. We do a lot of P.E. to keep us fit. Although sometimes it gets boring to do the same things again and again, I still love dancing on brain boost every day. But also, there are a few things that I don’t like about Hydra Apus Elementary. Maybe when you come visit me, I will tell you about things that I don’t like and you can do something about it. I got to go now. I am going to tell my reason for writing to you in my next letter. Sincerely, Lyra Ara June 9th, 2020 Dear Lyra Ara, Thank you for sending this letter to me. I did not know this about Hydra Apus Elementary. Well, I do like that you have Magic class. Sounds interesting. I like that you exercise a lot. Doing the same things over and over again is really boring, even for a President. Thank you for sharing this with me. I can’t wait to hear your reason. Sincerely, Corona Borealis June 22, 2020 Dear President Corona Borealis, Thank you for writing back to me. I was checking everyday in the mailbox, and you have no idea how happy I am to see your letter. You are right! Doing the same things over and over again is boring, but I think it is important sometimes, so that you get practice. I tried to do handstands, cartwheels, and ride my bike. I was really bad at it first, but then I practiced and practiced and finally got it. I will tell you why I am writing. 9-24-20 is when my teacher Mrs Antlia is going to retire from work. I am so sad because she is a fantastic teacher. We are going to have a great farewell party for her that day. One day, during circle time, when we were talking about our wishes, Mrs Antlia said she always wanted our country to have a girl President and now that there is one, she wishes she could meet her someday. I really want to make her wish come true. Please, will you come? Happy 4th of July! Sincerely, Lyra Ara July 3, 2020 Dear Lyra Ara, Happy 4th of July! Yes I will come. I’m also really happy to see your letter. I’m really sad that Mrs.Antlia is retiring from your school, Hydra Apus Elementary. I will have to fly in an airplane to get to California because I live in the White House and the
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
The Person Who Screamed
Artwork: The Scream by Edvard Munch I penetrated the famous artwork with my gaze as I imagined myself inside the painting–glorious, I thought. The colors swirled around the painting–some wobbly, some wavy. I studied the face of the person who screamed. It was as though the world around you would shake for a moment–to share the horror with you. The Scream was something quite extraordinary, I stated in my mind. It was a little scary, but it somehow expressed sadness, anger, and shock all the same. I continued to scan the painting on my computer screen, searching for a story of the person who screamed. For a moment, I capture the time as the artist, Edvard Munch, channeling all his focus onto and into the canvas. Then I am one of the people in the artwork standing by the side of the painting, watching curiously at the person who screamed. It is a high, but low sound that dragged across the artwork. The person who screamed clutching the sides of its skull-like face, begging so hard for everything to be alright once again. I turned off the computer and settled onto the living room couch, picking up a book to read. Still, I could hear, screaming, low, high, long, dragging, devastating… One stroke of the paintbrush, a moaning begins to develop, another stroke, a low wailing, another, and another slowly builds up the scream. The colors around the person who screamed were vivid, bright, intimidating, and dizzy. I close my eyes–I am the person who screamed–A piercing screech fills the air, I take a second before I realize that my mouth was open. My pupils grew smaller and I wobbled on the bridge, ignoring the onlookers that stared at me. I felt overcoming tragedy sweep over me like a rough old broom over a dusty floor. I felt like giving up, really–it was too much for me, it made me want to turn into a pile of ashes, at least, then I would have peace. Maybe I would turn into a pile of ashes, I thought, unfocused. I was back on the couch of the living room, firmly clutching the poor book in my hand, shaken but awed by the imaginary experience in my head. I felt a pang of pity for the person who screamed–The Scream was a painting that perfectly captured horror. Think of it as a person who would scream soundlessly forever because something, or someone had caused trouble; but then, life is full of stumbling blocks and answers to them. Ella Yamamura, 12, Cary, NC
Daily Creativity #75: Incorporate Your Favorite Things into Surrealist Art
Write down your favorite animal. Your favorite food. An interesting object. A place you have dreamed of going to but have never visited. Now, put them all together to create a surrealist work of art. This might be visual work like a painting or a drawing, or a piece of writing. For an introduction to surrealism, watch the Tate’s short video.
