National Teen Storyteller Contest
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Fiction, Essays & More
As They Imagine Us on Summer Nights
Kylan Tatum
12th Grade, New JerseyFirst Place — It had the makings of a quiet summer. We strapped pink wings to our shoulders and dove headfirst into blue...
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Fiction, Essays & More
A Letter to Mama
Ciara Balanzá
11th Grade, New YorkSecond Place — Dear Mama, I find it difficult to keep track of the days without my regular routine. I no longer feed pigeons...
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Fiction, Essays & More
Recalcitrance
Saanvi Agwarwal
12th Grade, CaliforniaThird Place — Syla’s palms were sweaty as she stared at the birch door and golden handle. Regardless of how she used the...
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Fiction, Essays & More
Clairvoyance
Tanisha Shende
11th grade, New JerseyFirst Place — The ground is perpetually damp, the buildings creak, and the sun seems more like a hole forced into the sky...
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Fiction, Essays & More
The Thing in the Wall
Ife Olatona
17 years old
Washington D.C./Olun, NigeriaSecond Place — If we whispered the name of a dead person, it winked like a friend. If we suppressed our fright and kept quiet...
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Fiction, Essays & MoreNational Teen Storyteller Contest
The Pumpkin
Lamar Mitchell
9th grade, IllinoisThird Place — It was a dark and stormy October night in the beautiful state of Wyoming and Farmer Tim was about to go to bed...
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Fiction, Essays & More
Floor Meditations
Dominique de Castro, 11th Grade, New YorkFirst Place — Dust clouds hung in the air. Sun rays wove between each particle in an intricate lattice, covering the study...
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Fiction, Essays & More
Skeleton Love
Joseph Caluya, 12th Grade, NevadaSecond Place — The stares of the cruel eyes penetrated through me, transmitting a notion that my body was some sort of anathema...
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Fiction, Essays & More
16 Siroccos
Mary Lawrence Ware, 10th Grade, New YorkThird Place — My mother says menopause is full of pain. Hot flashes, anger, despair, insomnia, a surge of untamable emotions...
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Fiction, Essays & MoreNational Teen Storyteller Contest
The Question of Where We Begin
Kyle Minor
We begin with the trouble, but where does the trouble begin? My uncle takes a pistol and blows his brains out.Now we may proceed to the aftermath