night

Poetry·Genna Carroll, age 13 — After a week of camping, a girl appreciates indoor comforts — shower, pillows, warmth — until she realizes she misses the stars that were her companions outdoors.

Story·Amanda Kneppel, age 13 — A girl reluctantly follows her friend out her bedroom window at midnight to explore a moonlit field, discovering freedom and wonder in the darkness she once feared.

Fog

Poetry·Robin Sandell, age 11 — Evening fog cascades over mountains like a waterfall, settles in the valley through sunset, then retreats at dawn back to the sea.

Story·Ella Jane Lombard, age 13 — In 1976 apartheid South Africa, a boy secretly joins student uprisings until police arrest his mother, forcing him to send his siblings to safety and flee to join guerrilla fighters.

Story·Brooke Antoine, age 13 — A girl sneaks out at night to the boardwalk, discovers a manatee tangled in a net, rescues it with her parents' help, and later travels to Florida to release it.

Poetry·Elizabeth R. Herndon, age 10 — A child lies in cold grass on an autumn night, imagining herself as a falling leaf among bare trees and scattered leaves.

Story·Arden Bastia, age 13 — A girl named Adrin strikes a dangerous bargain with Beta, a wolf who killed her father, agreeing to retrieve a magical owl diadem within eight days or forfeit her life.

Poetry·Tanay Kumta, age 12 — A student escapes a bad school day through a nighttime walk, finding solace in crickets, crunching leaves, and cool air that transforms frustration into peace.

Poetry·Jeremy Long, age 13 — A homeless speaker finds beauty in rain-soaked streets while others hurry inside, seeing Picasso in puddles and mythological figures in storm clouds.

Poetry·Stella White, age 11 — A girl lies in her father's childhood bed in London, watching trains pass and imagining his life decades earlier in the same room.