finding one's voice

Story·Hadley Taylor — A curious girl defies warnings about a grumpy man's forbidden book collection, only to be seized by magical vines that emerge from an enchanted volume.

Personal Narrative·Noah Xia — A young artist celebrates their messy desk, inherited from their father, as a companion through creative adventures and a witness to growing up.

Poetry·Shivanshi Dutt — A speaker describes dropping their cheerful public persona when alone, as sunset colors paint the sky and their 'armor' melts away.

Personal Narrative·Georgia Marshall — A granddaughter interviews her grandfather about his 44-year career at a college, discovering how he embodied the parable of the third stonemason who built cathedrals.

Poetry·Daniel Shorten — A clock contemplates its endless mechanical existence, questioning why humans created it to mark time in perpetual, lonely repetition.

Personal Narrative·Mengxin Sun — Seven-year-old stuck on a water slide at Great Wolf Lodge faces her fear of darkness and devises a solution to get the raft moving again.

Story·Lila Mackenzie — A girl discovers that a strange hotel transforms based on whether you wear special glasses, revealing hidden realities including her trapped mother.

Story·Olivia Lee — A girl who visits a special tree daily finds a mysterious note warning that hunters are attacking animals in Croygami Woods.

Story·Phoebe Donovan — A man traveling with his critical mother to his grandfather's funeral confronts their conflicting views on success and happiness when a flight delay forces them to share a hotel room.

Poetry·Enni Harlan — A kindergartner with selective mutism finds her voice when seated next to a girl with a butterfly-decorated lunchbox, capturing the moment connection breaks through silence.