nature

Story·Hannah Ferreira, age 11 — A girl escapes her stifling bedroom on a summer night to lie in the grass under moonlight, until her mother gently brings her back inside.

Poetry·Abigail Rose Cargo, age 13 — A boat being pulled from water becomes a meditation on the narrow margins between opposing forces—connection and separation, life and death.

Poetry·Celie Kreilkamp, age 12 — Rain transforms a small city into a sanctuary, wrapping it in gray blankets of mist while revealing simple beauties in puddles and lightning.

Story·Brooke Hemingway, age 13 — A lonely Indian boy finds friendship and belonging when a girl from his school discovers him at his secret pond refuge, and they dance together in the frozen forest.

Story·Luke Zellman — A five-year-old girl contemplates the nature of waiting after missing a horseback ride, discovering through conversation with her father that waiting gives life meaning.

Story·Annie Strother, age 12 — A five-year-old girl sits by a lake at sunset, contemplating why everything in life requires waiting, until her father helps her understand its purpose.

Poetry·Morgan Harris Green, age 8 — Night sounds — crickets chirping, owls hooting, wind whispering — create a sensory portrait of darkness falling, mixing beauty with an undertone of cold unease.

Story·Rosalie Schulick, age 13 — A six-year-old girl hatches a duckling from an abandoned egg, raises it as her best friend, then learns to let it return to its wild family at the pond.

Story·Rachel Schneck, age 10 — A wild African horse is captured, shipped to America, and passed between owners until she escapes during a film shoot and returns to freedom on the African plains.

Story·Emma A. Lunbeck, age 12 — A city girl discovers freedom and friendship with wild-haired Robbie during a brief stay in the country, then must leave him behind.