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Story·Anna Hirtes, age 9 — An orphan girl named Shelly encounters a unicorn in the Magic Forest who saves her from a snake bite, then meets her identical twin Elizabeth.

Poetry·Cora W. Bucher, age 13 — A late-night meditation on isolation, watching an empty spotlight on gravel while longing to step into that illuminated space and receive nature's applause.

Story·Eddie Mansius, age 11 — A boy escapes to his backyard creek where trees arch overhead and sunlight dances through leaves, finding solace in nature's protective embrace.

Story·Emina S. Sonnad, age 12 — A girl takes her dachshund for a run on an unseasonably warm winter day, reveling in the frost-covered grass and their shared joy of movement.

Story·Emily Waxman, age 10 — A girl prepares for prom in 1946, wearing a dress made from her brother's WWII parachute, reflecting on family sacrifice and finding beauty in hardship.

Story·Annakai Hayakawa Geshlider, age 12 — A boy discovers his grandparents' chest of diaries in the attic, reading accounts from a homeless man, a Japanese-American internment camp, and a 90-year-old woman, ultimately deciding to start his...

Story·Casey Tolan, age 13 — During a blizzard, a boy herding sheep on his uncle's poor farm rescues a nobleman trapped under a fallen stone at Stonehenge, potentially saving the family's fortunes.

Story·Erin Cadora, age 10 — A stray cat with a bell that prevents her from hunting gradually learns to trust a grieving woman who feeds her, eventually becoming a beloved family pet.

Story·Jonathan Morris, age 12 — An elf boy searches for rare ashberries to save a dragonfire victim, remembering how the same berries failed to save his father years before.

Story·Halle Kershisnik, age 12 — Two childhood friends are separated when their families move to different states, then reunite by chance years later at college in Chicago.