nature
— Two birds chase through the air, forming a brief circular pattern in their acrobatic flight before landing and returning the world to its usual sounds.
— A girl is swept out to sea at night, sinks to the ocean floor watching bubbles rise from her laughing mouth, then returns to shore with the tide.
— A poem of lost childhood intimacy between cousins or friends, marked by shared memories of orchards, butterfly funerals, and the gulf that opens when one becomes a teenager.
— A girl on a manatee tour in Crystal River struggles with the ethics of wildlife tourism, choosing not to alert her group when she encounters a manatee alone.
— A boy walks through a snow-covered birch forest at dawn, observing animals in perfect harmony, until a bright light returns him to his bedroom and the start of a school...
— On Christmas Day, a girl discovers one of her ducks killed by a weasel, then incubates the duck's last egg to hatch a duckling she names CJ.
— A girl moves from Seattle to rural Idaho, finds a favorite spot under a tree to sketch the landscape, and appreciates the peace of country living.
— An owl hunts through moonlit woods to feed her soon-to-hatch eggs, fights off a raccoon predator, and returns to witness her chicks emerging into the world.
— A boy stands at the edge of a cliff, gathering courage to jump into the river below, then leaps and experiences the exhilarating plunge into cool water.
— A child builds an elaborate fairy house with writing materials for messages, abandons belief when no note appears, missing signs that fairies visited but cannot write.