loss

Personal Narrative·Dante Chowla-Song — After his grandfather's death, a boy finds solace bird-watching in Central Park, where observing cardinals and hawks helps him accept his grief and stop running from loss.

Personal Narrative·Aisana Zhumabayeva — After their father fails to pick them up from school, two siblings wait in an empty cafeteria until an ambulance arrives to take them to the hospital where they learn...

Poetry·Julia Xu — A poem observing wildfire from a distance, exploring the paralysis of witnessing destruction while remaining safe on a green mountain.

Story·Mia Atkinson — A widow, paralyzed by grief for ten years, finds her unfinished embroidery of the night sky and completes it, stitching herself back to wholeness.

Story·Camille Scott — A Jewish girl flees Vienna after Kristallnacht, separated from her family and sent alone to Switzerland while her deported brother's fate remains unknown.

Poetry·Sascha Deal-Lessin — A lament for lost beauty — stars replaced by planes, fish by empty oceans, trees by barren ground — asking where the world's wonder has gone.

Story·Ayla Fardin — An eleven-year-old Ukrainian girl navigates daily life during wartime, discovering her family lacks funds to evacuate while finding small ways to bring hope.

Story·Emily Chang — A girl navigates family tensions and grief during a lake outing, culminating in an ice cream mishap that leads to an unexpected swim across the lake with her cousin.

Story·Eliana Vitti — A red hen stops laying eggs to prevent them from being stolen, leading to her selection for the farmer's New Year's Eve dinner.

Story·Natasha Dolinsky — A girl attends therapy sessions for her 'imaginary friend' Emma, who turns out to be the sister who died in the car crash that killed their parents.