Today may or may not be my birthday, and I may or may not be turning sixteen. I know, I know — the big one-six, …
Never Lose That Starry-Eyed Wonder by Emily Fong
Let’s flash back to elementary school, where the sky truly was the limit. If you had asked me what I’d wanted to be when I …
A Prayer for My Imaginary Little Sister by Shannon J. Curtin
Congratulations, Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas, little sister, here’s my wish list. My litany of lessons, my book of prayers, the incantations I say in your …
An Ocean View by Hallie Stark
I have desired to go where the waves crash and the sand meets the sea The birds take flight and shadows dance And I have …
Wandering to Kanoa and Plesse
I was wandering with one of my best friends even before I read the book. That’s the reason why we didn’t take something with us …
Morena
“You’d be pretty if only you had pale skin.” “Aach. You’re so dark.” ”We’ll probably lose you in the dark.” I heard those comments frequently enough from a lot of people that I started to get used to them before I even reached my teenage years. My parents and siblings called me negra or Kirara, based on a character with dark skin and curly hair from a Philippine TV show that was apparently aired before I was even born. Growing up, I felt like everyone and everything treated my color as something to be frowned upon instead …
To the Twelve-year-old Me by Lisa Zou
You have not yet seen leaves swiftly fall to the ground, traveling from the abstract to the concrete, the way air and beliefs solidify while …
Dear 15-Year-Old Psych Ward Me
Dear 15-Year-Old Psych Ward Me, I’m the person you’ve been imagining. I’m the one you write about in your journal, the one you think …
Her Smile by Jana Mommaerts
“Her Smile” is one of the July Writing Challenge entries that was chosen to be a featured story. I felt the hay against my feet …