weekly

Weekly Flash Contest #2: How has COVID-19 affected your daily life so far? What has changed, and what is still the same? Which changes are positive, and which negative? What makes you most anxious when thinking about it? Most hopeful? Is there a particular experience that represents the change to your life most clearly? Write a 300-500-word blog post exploring these questions and examining your experiences so far. Every week during the COVID-19-related school closures and shelter-in-place arrangements we are running a Flash Contest, based on the first Daily Creativity prompt of the week. The prompt is posted on Monday, and entries are due by Friday. The week commencing April 6th (Daily Creativity prompt #11) was our second week, and we received a huge number of entries from all over the world: from Singapore, India, Poland, Switzerland, Canada and the United States. We are so proud of our international family of young writers, and we congratulate every one of you who wrote so honestly, clearly, and beautifully about your experiences of COVID-19 so far. We enjoyed reading each and every one of the entries, and it was even more difficult than before to choose our top 5 this week–so difficult, in fact, that we chose 6! PLUS, we have decided to publish some of the other entries separately on our COVID-19 Blog, as well! In alphabetical order, our winners this week, whose work you can read on this page, are: Lena Aloise, 10, Harvard, MA Eliana Aschheim, 13, Santa Clara, CA Analise Braddock, 9, Katonah, NY Simar Grewal, 6, Bellevue, WA Lyndon Raymond, 11, Houston, TX Michelle Su, 13, Sudbury, MA Look out on the blog over the next couple of weeks for more writing and art about COVID-19 from these flash contest entrants: Jeongwon Choi, 13 (Mumbai, India); Annabelle Garner-Tamayo, 10 (Omaha, NE); SierraRose Gibson, 12 (Los Angeles, CA); Mehr Grewal, 13 (Belleville, WA); Vivaan Kartik, 11 (Horgen, Switzerland); Alice Pak, 10 (Beaver Creek, OH); Thee Sim Ling, 13 (Singapore); Patrycja Wanat, 13 (Rajsko, Poland). Congratulations to everyone! “How COVID–19 Has Affected My Life” by Lena Aloise, 10 (Harvard, MA) Life often throws surprises at us. We never truly know what will come next. Just when everything is going as planned, something big happens. Something world changing. Something like COVID-19. This new virus has definitely made life a lot more complicated for many people. My kitchen has doubled its purposes, now serving as not only a place to cook meals, but a classroom as well. The once empty table is now abuzz with activity, worksheets and notebooks stacked in piles and children, hard at work, sitting around it. Instead of face to face class time, I speak with my teachers and classmates over virtual meeting apps, such as Zoom. It feels odd, continuing your social life through a screen. What is even more concerning than all this change is the position many workers have been put in. Some are working from home, others are struggling financially due to the shutting down of their businesses. I know many people who own small businesses, my father being one of them. Their businesses could close due to the shut down. Others’ jobs have gotten much more complicated. My mother, who works as a nurse, has to take care of patients with coronavirus frequently. Although she takes extreme precautions and wears an excessive amount of protective gear, it is still a huge risk to be put in that position. She is just one of thousands who do the same thing. Our healthcare workers are making huge sacrifices and what they are doing is very noble, but I can’t help feeling scared for their safety. Then there is the one big question. Will America ever return to the way it was? Our country has changed so much. Never before have we been told to stay inside, have public gatherings been banned. Everyone seems so scared. Every time I turn on the television, people with solemn faces under their masks use large words that I can’t help but feel frightened at. The words ‘coronavirus’, ‘pandemic’ and ‘infected’ flash across the screen. Will we bounce back and will our country return to its original state, or will this scar America forever? There is no definite answer to this question. All we can do is hope for the best and do what we can. Stay home, wash our hands, be cautious. In this time of uncertainty, we need to show kindness and support others. Just the other day, I saw a sign, written in a child’s handwriting. ‘Honk 4 Hope!’ it said boldly in glittery letters. That made me realize something. Hope is the one thing this virus cannot take away from us. It shut down the world, closed our economy, but has not taken our hope. That, it can never take away. “Cancelled for Coronavirus” by Eliana Ascheim, 13 (Santa Clara, CA) The field trip to Yosemite is the highlight of eighth grade at my school. For months, eighth grade teachers painstakingly prepare for a week in Yosemite National Park. A myriad of forms are distributed, signed, and collected; we students purchase needed supplies like hiking boots and rainproof everything; cabins are chosen; hiking groups are assembled. Upon arriving, we’re told, we will stay in wonderful cabins. The following days will be filled with hiking, games, meals, and maybe if we’re lucky, skiing. Pack some games for cabin time, they said. Bring some money for the gift shop. Oh, and don’t forget to take water, they reminded us. Up until the trip, Yosemite preparation is all around us, from the advice that is passed on from previous kids to the shoes we wear: to break them in before the hikes, we wear them at school for a few days. The whole school buzzes with anticipation. A week before our trip, we were assured it was still on. They said that we definitely would go. Doubt crept into the corners of the air–many things were being cancelled left and right–but if the school board said it then it must be true. But that was not the case. Three days until we were scheduled to leave, an email was sent out

Weekly Flash Contest #1: Write a story told completely through dialogue. How do you communicate the differences between characters? How can you make sure that the reader knows what is going on? Can you make action part of natural-sounding speech? Every week during the COVID-19-related school closures and shelter-in-place arrangements we are running a Flash Contest, based on the first Daily Creativity prompt of the week. The prompt is posted on Monday, and entries are due by Friday. The week commencing March 30th was our first week, and we were delighted by how many of you sent us your work–congratulations to every single one of you for responding so creatively, and for sending us your dialogues. We enjoyed reading each and every one of the entries, and it wasn’t easy to pick a selection of 5 as this week’s winners. But we did it! And they are (in alphabetical order): Eliana Aschheim, 13, Santa Clara, CA Liam Hancock, 12, Danville, CA Gabe Horowitz, 10, Bethesda, MD Matthew-Seungho Jeong, 13, Houston, TX Kat Werth, 10, Bethesda, MD Congratulations to all of them! Visit this page to refer back to the contest prompt, and read on to see what our winners wrote. “Barsem’s Pigeons” by Eliana Aschheim, 13, Santa Clara, CA “Ooh, that looks cool. Natalie, can we go over to that cute temple over there?” “Sure, Eleanor, but no one’s inside. I don’t think it’s open.” “We can check.” “I don’t think it’s closed. I mean, the lights are on and the door is propped open.” “Why are there pigeons in neat rows on the floor?” “Beats me. They’re alive, just really calm. The only pigeons I’ve seen are jittery and stupid and always fluttering around. Really annoying.” “I see a man in the back. We can ask him!” “Whatever.” “Welcome. I am Barsem, Master Meditator.” “Hello, Barsem. I’m Eleanor and this is my friend Natalie. We just wanted to ask you about those pigeons.” “Ah! You have found the crux of the problem, the bane of my existence!” “What is it, Barsem?” “Ah, Eleanor, the pigeons. These street birds invaded my humble temple one week ago. They refused to leave, no matter how much I pleaded. All of my regular visitors left for the Hip and Cool Enlightenment Temple. One woman even had the nerve to say, ‘At least they don’t have pigeons.’” “Barsem, I’m so sorry. Can we help you?” “Yes! Fabulous! My pigeon problems are over!” “What can we do to help you?” “Thank you, Eleanor, for asking. It is simple. You must make them leave.” “You mean by scaring them away?” “You are correct.” “Couldn’t you have done that yourself? It’s literally super easy. Why do you need us?” “Natalie, I am Barsem, Master Meditator. I do not intentionally instill fear in small animals.” “You do you. I’m ready to kick some pigeon butt!” “Natalie! Be kind. We can be nice to the pigeons.” “And politely ask them to leave? No way. Pigeons are dumb and rude.” “Okay, Barsem, we’ll do it.” “Thank you girls! I will be able to keep my karma clean. I am just going to go outside, where I can’t watch.” “All right.” “Selfish dude. Out of his mind. He’s basically saying his karma is better than ours.” “Natalie, I feel bad for him. Losing all his visitors because of some headstrong birds.” “Sure. To not ruin his karma.” “Pigeons! Um, excuse me. Could you please go now?” “Oh, Eleanor, I’ll show you how it’s done. PIGEONS, GET OUT OF HERE NOW. GET! OUT! OF! HERE! NOW! THAT’S RIGHT! TAKE YOUR LITTLE BIRD BODIES OUTSIDE! GO! GOOD! OUT THE DOOR! THERE! “ “None left. That’s how it’s done. “ “That certainly worked. “ “Told you. Gotta have that element of fear.” “Um. Thanks, Natalie.” “All cool, Eleanor.” “I’m going to tell Barsem he can come back inside.” “I already heard. Thank you girls, for saving my temple and afterlife.” “No problem, Barsem.” “I would like to offer you gifts of gratitude. In true simplistic fashion, I offer you negative possessions.” “Negative possessions? Uh, I don’t think that’s a thing.” “No, Natalie, it is. Instead of giving you objects to clutter up your house, I offer you empty space. So it is a negative possession, because you could have gained something.” “So you’re saying you have nothing? We don’t have a present?” “Natalie!” “It is fine, Eleanor. And not quite, Natalie. Your present is nothing.” “So we get nothing as a gift?” “Exactly!” “Thank you, Barsem, for your thoughtful kind present.” “You’re welcome. Thank you for your noble deeds.” “Yeah, um. We have to go.” “Goodbye, Barsem!” “Farewell, Eleanor and Natalie!” “Bye, dude.” “One Boy for Another: A Story Through Dialogue” by Liam Hancock, 12, Danville, CA “Listen…” “I don’t need to listen to a word you say.” “Please.” “You dug a hole for yourself. Why don’t you go lay in it?” “Okay, okay. I deserved that. And I’m sorry. Please… just give me a minute.” “Thirty seconds.” “Forty-five.” “The time’s ticking. Spit it out.” “Okay… by the way you’re talking, I’ll bet you know that… that I used to bully him.” “My brother? Yes, yes I knew.” “And I know it was wrong. And I never got to apologize, you know. For everything I did. He… it happened so fast.” “I know.” “So now that he’s gone, I just have to get things off of my shoulders, you know?” “You think saying you’re sorry to me is going to fix anything?” “No. I think saying sorry will help me sleep at night.” “Well… I just… to be honest, I don’t know what to think. I don’t.” “Then here’s what we’ll do. I say what I need to say, and you can hate me for it, but at least you’ll never have to see me again.” “Sounds like a win-win to me.” “Your brother was a good kid, Elizabeth.” “Don’t call me by my name.” “Fine, fine. Your brother was good was all