facing fear
— A young writer describes the frustration of writer's block like drowning in lava and the relief of finding words like sleeping on a smooth waterfall.
— A boy's stream of anxious questions about loneliness, belonging, and fear spirals into a plea for connection and normalcy.
— A young writer describes the physical and emotional sensations of writing, from smoothness to nervousness to the monstrous feeling of being stuck.
— A grieving girl flees a school field trip on horseback, convinced that reaching a distant tree line will restore her dead father and lost life.
— A boy terrified of heights must overcome his fear when his cat gets trapped on a crumbling 20th-floor balcony that locks behind him.
— A dog named Hua Hua remembers playing in the park with Sarah before her illness, now keeping watch as she lies in bed, no longer able to go outside.
— After cruelly rejecting her younger brother's attempts to draw in her sketchbook, a girl learns he's been in a car accident and rushes to the hospital with her sketchbook.
— An eight-year-old boy faces his fear when his father dares him to go outside during Hurricane Matthew, discovering both the storm's power and his father's protective nature.
— A nervous softball player battles anxiety at bat, gets walked, then hits the pitching machine and slides safely into second base.
— A girl conquers her terror on a Paris rollercoaster, discovering that facing fears can transform dread into exhilaration and pride.