connection to nature

Poetry·Eden Amital, age 13 — Gulls fly between mountain peaks while the immobile rocks' shadows dance below, exploring the contrast between movement and stillness in a landscape.

Story·Emma T. Capps, age 12 — A girl hides in her favorite tree before a dreaded doctor's visit, finding solace in the branches and sharing a poem that no one else appreciated.

Story·Katie Mercer-Taylor, age 13 — Two girls meet at a mountain overlook on Anne's last day before moving to California, sharing a moment of understanding about their respective losses and transitions.

Story·Kia Okuma, age 12 — A young opera-goer finds transcendence not in the spectacle but in the music itself, which becomes a force that balances and sustains her between performances.

Story·Daniel KulahliOglu, age 12 — A fourth-grader arrives at school excited to perform in a play, only to learn his beloved science teacher has died. He finds solace feeding the classroom lizards one last time.

Poetry·Eliza Putnam, age 13 — A reader abandons her book to follow the calls of wood frogs and peepers through her window onto the porch roof, where their chorus declares 'We are alive.'

Poetry·Laura Dzubay, age 11 — A father and daughter play frisbee at sunset, their throws and catches becoming a wordless conversation of connection and understanding.

Story·Hugh Cole, age 12 — A girl in coastal Maine discovers a ferret she names Rumor at an abandoned lighthouse and saves it from a hawk, forming a brief connection before it disappears.

Story·Kaija Warner, age 13 — A boy travels back to 1908 where a mysterious girl helps him return to his own time, only to discover she died the day after they met.

Poetry·Levi Crossley, age 12 — A morning farm routine becomes a meditation on familiar rituals, from feeding cattle to picking the season's first buttercup.