acceptance

Story·Renee Wang, age 13 — A dying man in a retirement home reflects on his life's losses—a friend's death, a failed marriage, and the changing nature of chess—while watching a cherry tree bloom.

Art

Poetry·Sim Ling Thee, age 13 — A spilled mug of milk becomes a meditation on how accidents and disasters might transform into art when viewed from a different perspective.

Poetry·Sim Ling Thee, age 13 — A thirteen-year-old discovers her first white hair and spirals through denial, envy, and fear before finding acceptance and a renewed sense of purpose.

Story·Ariana Kralicek, age 12 — A girl navigates the birth of her baby brother, student council elections, and self-discovery while trying to become popular by imitating her perfect classmate.

Poetry·Cora Burch, age 13 — At 4 AM, a girl reads a beloved book while reflecting on how beauty and peace persist alongside the pandemic's ongoing tragedy.

Story·Ananya Nigam, age 13 — A leaf contemplates the community rule that all leaves must eventually fall, resisting until witnessing a tree being cut down transforms fear into understanding.

Story·Allison Sargent, age 11 — A Black girl struggles with accepting her natural hair as beautiful while navigating classmates who treat it as exotic and touchable.

Story·Ella Kate Starzyk, age 11 — A girl wakes to find everything turned yellow, discovers she's colorblind, falls into despair, then inexplicably floats into the sky before landing in her mother's arms.

Story·Isabelle Chapman, age 13 — A girl's obsessive attachment to a blue cookie jar leads to its loss at the beach during quarantine, forcing her to confront her dependence on the object.

Story·Raya Ilieva, age 10 — When her parents announce their divorce, twelve-year-old Kate runs away to the beach but realizes she needs her family—even if it's changing.