forest

Poetry·Ethan Issadore — A camping scene unfolds through rhyming verse as the speaker reflects on fire, forest, and the cyclical nature of outdoor experience from night to dawn.

Story·Callia Rodgers — After her mother dies in childbirth, a girl defies orders to stay out of the forest and discovers she's inherited magical powers to protect it from shadow creatures.

Poetry·Lily Kasius, age 10 — A poem guides readers through a forest meditation where soil grasps, moss chains, and nature's spirits reveal themselves through sensory immersion.

Story·Scarlet He, age 10 — A child races through a darkening Ontario forest, heart pounding with fear, until their sister jumps out playing peekaboo and the world returns to normal.

Poetry·Rainer Pasca, age 14 — A surreal moment in a forest where the speaker's mind becomes a predatory creature that devours a bird without greeting or ceremony.

Story·Clare McDermott, age 12 — A forest walk becomes a moment of wonder when a hummingbird appears, transforming the atmosphere with its iridescent presence before vanishing.

Poetry·Katie Turk, age 11 — A wolf moves through a moonlit forest after rain, howls to awaken the night creatures, then watches as the forest comes alive around him.

Story·Natalie McGee, age 13 — An emperor seeking to build a palace in a birch forest must solve a riddle from the mysterious Dea, leading to his transformation from tyrant to protector of the animals.

Poetry·Mark Roberts, age 11 — A morning forest walk becomes a meditation on interconnection as the speaker observes woodpeckers, geese, manzanita trees, and realizes 'I am the tree, soil and sun.'

Story·Emory MacLaughlin, age 13 — A girl accompanies her stubborn friend into a forbidden forest to prove his bravery, only to encounter Shape Stealers—creatures that mimic humans—and flee when she can't distinguish friend from monster.