the passage of time

Poetry·Rhiannon Grodnik, age 11 — A young observer watches sunset over San Francisco Bay, experiencing a moment of cosmic solitude before the city lights pull her back to the present.

Story·Halle Kershisnik, age 12 — Two childhood friends are separated when their families move to different states, then reunite by chance years later at college in Chicago.

Story·William Gwaltney, age 13 — In 1947 Roswell, a rancher finds mysterious metal debris and strange beings in his pasture, leading to government intervention and lifelong consequences for those who touched the fragments.

Poetry·Kelly Dai, age 12 — Thirteen sensory vignettes capture autumn through taste, sound, sight, and feeling, from gingersnaps to geese flying south to the mountain's sigh.

Poetry·Rhiannon Grodnik, age 12 — A twelve-year-old slips outside at night to lie in wet grass, listening to her watch tick and feeling the wind carry away time's demands.

Story·Aviva Leshaw, age 13 — A girl arrives home from school to an empty house and contemplates how the world continues moving while she stands still in her quiet kitchen.

Story·William Gwaltney, age 13 — During WWI's Christmas truce of 1914, a young soldier gives his aunt's ugly sweater to a sick German soldier who returns it decades later on a lonely Christmas Eve.

Story·Cassie Armon, age 11 — An 11-year-old recalls visiting her mother's cousin Marie on an Irish farm, witnessing her sudden illness, and learning of her death two weeks later on St. Patrick's Day.

Poetry·Eden A. Marish Roehr, age 9 — A child's ocean memories with parents transform into longing as music triggers dreams of returning to those carefree moments of jumping waves together.

Story·Rebecca Vanneman, age 11 — A girl savors her last day at a beloved Massachusetts beach before moving away, swimming in cold waves and watching sunset with her younger brother.