water

Poetry·Gabrielle Mott, age 8 — Peace arrives like moonlight through a window, then expands into visions of mountain streams, glass-still pools, and fields where doves coo sweetly.

Story·Samantha Cecil, age 12 — A first-year camper faces her fears during a freezing lake swim test, battling panic and cold water to earn her swimming privileges at camp.

Poetry·Dylan Geiger, age 11 — A winter walk with a dog reveals a landscape of leafless trees, frosted cows, squirrels with stored acorns, and snow drifts punctuated by passing trucks.

Poetry·Lauren MacGuidwin, age 12 — A night at a lake where moonlight transforms water into something magical, from skipping stones to being splashed with captured moonbeams.

Story·Katie Sinclair, age 13 — During a storm at an inn, a traveling storyteller tells of a mysterious Fisherwoman who died saving her child, whose return will bring rain back to drought-stricken Searain.

Story·Sean Fay, age 11 — A boy goes skating alone on a winter lake, ventures too far out in worsening weather, falls through thin ice, and barely makes it home alive.

Poetry·Claudia Celovsky, age 13 — A young sailor steers a boat with her grandmother, finding joy in both the physical sensations of sailing and the warmth of their connection.

Poetry·Wujun Ke, age 13 — Standing on glossy rocks, a young observer contemplates the boundary-less unity of sea and sky, where murky greens and shadows merge into one living whole.

Story·Annakai Hayakawa Geshlider, age 11 — A Japanese boy falls into a creek chasing his lost shoe and discovers from a wise turtle that he has the magical ability to breathe underwater.

Poetry·Anna Preston, age 12 — A frog on a lily pad becomes a graceful dancer, tensing and leaping through rain to catch her dinner with a flick of her tongue.