the passage of time

Story·Avital Sagan, age 12 — A sentient radio watches helplessly as carnivorous moonflowers take over the island city of Floracion, turning its inhabitants into mindless carriers of the infection.

Story·Michelle Byers, age 13 — During COVID lockdown, a mother and son each make wishes on matching copper bracelets that transport them through time, teaching them what they've taken for granted.

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.

Poetry·Sofie Dardzinski, age 9 — A young philosopher contemplates time's mysterious nature — how it stretches through space, moves at different speeds, and ultimately asks what we do with it.

Poetry·Julia Marcus, age 13 — A clock hanging on the wall in the middle of the night ticks steadily through darkness, lonely without anyone awake to ask the time.

Poetry·Summer Loh, age 8 — A girl captures a single domestic moment: her brother toddling, father playing guitar, mother cooking, while she types and notices summer trees blooming outside.

Personal Narrative·Lara Fraenkel, age 11 — A girl traces her evolving understanding of clouds from childhood fantasies of cotton candy and fairies to learning the water cycle in school, finding wonder in scientific truth.

Poetry·Soheon Rhee, age 12 — A meditation on dishwashing becomes a portal to memory, neighborhood sounds, and the passage of time in a Korean household abroad.

Poetry·Summer Loh, age 8 — A child observes a tree on the lawn, noting the birds, squirrels, rustling leaves, floating bark, and a flower bud waiting to bloom.

Poetry·Enni Harlan, age 13 — A father and daughter discover a dead bird at dusk and create an impromptu funeral with autumn leaves, watching as wind carries both leaves and spirit away.