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“Outside My Window” Competition
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Current Theme
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Events
Jeffrey Eugenides
Previous Events
Kwame Alexander
Jason Reynolds
Jason Reynolds Resources
Elizabeth Acevedo
Elizabeth Acevedo Resources
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Frances Cha
Angie Thomas
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12th Grade Stories
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"A gentle brush tickled her forearm, jolting her out of her increasingly louder..."
"Syla’s palms were sweaty as she stared at the birch door and golden handle. Regardless of how she used..."
Recalcitrance
Saanvi
Agarwal
Fremont
12th
Grade
"I recall these days like a memory or a dream or else a bullet lodged within a body..."
"It had the makings of a quiet summer— We strapped pink wings to our shoulders and dove headfirst into..."
As they imagine us on summer nights
Kylan
Tatum
Plainsboro
12th
Grade
"There is no mapped world. This truth you hold under your ribs, where most mortals..."
"Children of the borderland, intrepid space travelers, this will not be your last winter. These painful..."
Ulysses Speaks to the Children at the Border
Samuel
Cooper
Santa Fe
12th
Grade
"One day, Jim felt a sharp pain in his chest and was scared he was dying. He was too..."
"Jen and Jim are residents in small town Johnsville. They have known each other for as long as they can..."
Secret Admirers
Reid
Roach
Oxford
12th
Grade
The Dark Beyond
The monster turned the corner to find her. It had been following her scent for hours, but she had been...
Dante Competition: 1st Place
Dawn
M.
Piedmont
12th
Grade
in light of
"you breathe like an accordion, shuddering, your body emptying, because you hate knowing he’s the sun..."
Dante Competition: 2nd Place
Amy
Liu
New York
12th
Grade
"Robert doesn’t have a god delusion, because you can only be deluded when you’re..."
"The Glibman Building takes a long time to burn, but it looks very pretty as it does. Robert quit his job..."
Irony
Sylvi
Stein
New York
12th
Grade
I Am That Book
"I always wished for brothers, companions, guides towards the rest of my life. Hope for the hopeful and..."
Dante Competition: Honorable Mention
Ben
Wilson
Plano
12th
Grade
"After months of self-isolation, the humans rejoined the world once more, but the most..."
"Everyone was seated anxiously around the soundbox to hear how the situation had progressed. The small..."
Tonight’s Episode
Dallas
Speicher-Ramirez
Mechanicsburg
Cumberland Valley High School
12th
Grade
"The long-suffering passengers in front of me finally locate their bags and rush..."
"Waiting in the baggage claim at Copenhagen Airport certainly has its benefits— the benches are fairly..."
Baggage Claim at the Copenhagen Airport
Amaya
Gonzalez-Mollmann
New York City
12th
Grade
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"A gentle brush tickled her forearm, jolting her out of her increasingly louder..."
"Syla’s palms were sweaty as she stared at the birch door and golden handle. Regardless of how she used..."
Recalcitrance
Saanvi
Agarwal
Fremont
12th
Grade
"I recall these days like a memory or a dream or else a bullet lodged within a body..."
"It had the makings of a quiet summer— We strapped pink wings to our shoulders and dove headfirst into..."
As they imagine us on summer nights
Kylan
Tatum
Plainsboro
12th
Grade
"There is no mapped world. This truth you hold under your ribs, where most mortals..."
"Children of the borderland, intrepid space travelers, this will not be your last winter. These painful..."
Ulysses Speaks to the Children at the Border
Samuel
Cooper
Santa Fe
12th
Grade
"One day, Jim felt a sharp pain in his chest and was scared he was dying. He was too..."
"Jen and Jim are residents in small town Johnsville. They have known each other for as long as they can..."
Secret Admirers
Reid
Roach
Oxford
12th
Grade
The Dark Beyond
The monster turned the corner to find her. It had been following her scent for hours, but she had been...
Dante Competition: 1st Place
Dawn
M.
Piedmont
12th
Grade
in light of
"you breathe like an accordion, shuddering, your body emptying, because you hate knowing he’s the sun..."
Dante Competition: 2nd Place
Amy
Liu
New York
12th
Grade
"Robert doesn’t have a god delusion, because you can only be deluded when you’re..."
"The Glibman Building takes a long time to burn, but it looks very pretty as it does. Robert quit his job..."
Irony
Sylvi
Stein
New York
12th
Grade
I Am That Book
"I always wished for brothers, companions, guides towards the rest of my life. Hope for the hopeful and..."
Dante Competition: Honorable Mention
Ben
Wilson
Plano
12th
Grade
"After months of self-isolation, the humans rejoined the world once more, but the most..."
"Everyone was seated anxiously around the soundbox to hear how the situation had progressed. The small..."
Tonight’s Episode
Dallas
Speicher-Ramirez
Mechanicsburg
Cumberland Valley High School
12th
Grade
"The long-suffering passengers in front of me finally locate their bags and rush..."
"Waiting in the baggage claim at Copenhagen Airport certainly has its benefits— the benches are fairly..."
Baggage Claim at the Copenhagen Airport
Amaya
Gonzalez-Mollmann
New York City
12th
Grade
"Everyday. It means, “happening or used every day; daily”. Everyday we watched them."
"Everyday was our darkest day. But the even darkest days were still ahead. Everyday they grew and grew..."
Everyday is the Same
Jensen
Kornfeind
Mechanicsburg
Cumberland Valley High School
12th
Grade
"The nerves in my spine braid themselves, as the needle pricks travel through each of..."
There’s no need for meteorologists when I can just press my fingertips against the crackling black metal...
Between 81st Street
Leonor
Robalino
Jackson Heights
12th
Grade
"Now a small crowd is watching on as he wrestles with the wheel..."
Parking Space
Samuel
Cooper
Santa Fe
12th
Grade
"Masking my insecurities and covering up my self-doubt By showing a face different..."
I prepare to paint To stand out and shine I seize my glue and press it against my thick brown eyebrows I am...
The Painting of Self
Elana
Abrams
New York
Bronx Science
12th
Grade
"I'm too White for the Blacks, too Black for the Whites..."
I’m Dominican But I’m Black
Odilenia
Reyes
Bronx
12th
Grade
"...and I’m forced to choose: avoid me or confront the room."
Write about a window or whether what is outside it. Do you care to know what is behind it? The pressure in...
Room
Ella
White
Lithonia
12th
Grade
"Reality came crashing down on me. I felt a loss for words I didn't know what to say..."
“Hey! Hey! HEY, Amaryllis wake up!” I rubbed my eyes, squinting at the bright light reaching into my...
Fresh Start
Arika
Halliman
New York
12th
Grade
Lost Boy
The wind carried on as it continued to grow violent. Ila strode toward the window. The whistling wind...
Lost Boy
AIM
N/A
New York
12th
Grade
"...I realized that it is because we are unique, that in the end, we are the same."
With all the craziness in our world, especially these days, my corner seems rather benign. I know I’m lucky...
Equinox Blue
Maia
Mencucci
Walden
12th
Grade
"I’d pour fresh-brewed coffee into my mug, no cream or sugar, and sit on my windowsill..."
Life outside my window used to be bland and grim yet somehow exceedingly reminiscent of food. Even on the...
The Significance of One Coffee
Montana
Lee
New York
12th
Grade
"When you’re too sad you close your door, Your window is your only escape..."
My Window When sun is bright or when it rains And when it’s cloudy sky When neighbor’s dog outside plays...
My Window
Viktoriia
D
Garfield
12th
Grade
"People of all different kinds, All doing the same thing Walk past my window and..."
"I sit in the same place every day. Looking out a window, It separates me from society. So alone I sit..."
Life in Color
Brianna
Murch
Oceanside
Oceanside High School
12th
Grade
"In her eyes, it is the night sky, that brings her the utmost joy. A change of terrain..."
"The window that sits on the top floor, in a girl’s room filled with her things, grants her a minute..."
Head in the Stars
Brianna
Davis
St. Louis
Parkway West Highschool
12th
Grade
"The turbulent river begins to roar - and then - The weeping wound is ripped raw..."
"You rise to a beautiful day - Healed, tears put away - A lyric, a smell, a taste - Awakens the gaping..."
MASK
Sawyer Grace
Perkins
Proctor
12th
Grade
"I carved her in ivory, too, painstakingly, no small detail left out. I’d never felt..."
"I’m an architect. It’s what I do. Design. That’s what you start with. I first started designing things..."
Reverse Pygmalion
Amy
Liu
New York
12th
Grade
"i don't need to claim that responsibility, the responsibility of existing."
outside my window, i see many things. trees and grass, sure. lots of houses and decks, naturally. but those...
Looking Outside
Emma
Dione
Williston
12th
Grade
"It's a place of gray, where things aren't as simple as black and white."
What's outside my window? Outside of my window are people struggling to make it in this jungle of gray...
Jungle Of Gray
C.C.
Lalite
New York City
12th
Grade
"Can’t I decide who I want to be? Can’t I live in the intermediary? Girls are..."
"When I was in kindergarten I told my parents I was going to get married to a girl. I carried my love..."
Bi The Way
Silvi
Stein
New York
12th
Grade
"It rushed in a fury, like a twister, releasing its anger into windows and trees until..."
It started in the night, a rustling noise hitting my window like leaves spinning in the fall. Convinced I...
A Midwestern Desert
Ayra
Ali
Chesterfield
Parkway West High School
12th
Grade
"what I’ve seen has stirred me up so deeply inside that it forced me to venture beyond."
Outside of my window what do I see? Unfortunately, that’s a question that I find myself unable to answer...
P.O.P (Pane or Pain)
Ina
L
Los Angeles
12th
Grade
"Walking inside, the heat of the outdoors faded away; I became cold. Her parents had..."
Ten thousand feet up, days from civilization, and ready to jump: I was backpacking the Sierra Nevadas after...
Together, Jumping
Atticus
Hempel
Storrs
12th
Grade
"Brash dragging scraped the limp figure. Grating of teeth sharpening jarred the floor. Fl
"Pitched screams pierced the atmosphere. A tattered leather-bound book rested amidst..."
Hunger
Brian
Zou
South Pasadena
South Pasadena High School
12th
Grade
"Where ships left invisible footprints, I wonder can you still feel and touch him. They sa
"Everyone, everything, speaks the same way. The same voice all over again. I love u..."
I Wonder
Sebastian
Adriano
Cayey
12th
Grade
"As I grab my cart, I look around, noticing all of the masked figures nervously walking th
"The door slides open and I walk inside. It’s been a while since I’ve been here..."
Speechless
Joseph
Mast
Carlisle
Cumberland Valley High School
12th
Grade
"You've cried tears until you couldn't cry anymore, and you think yourself broken, but it
"You think that you deceive me with every fake smile. You say that you're fine but..."
Invisible
Maddie
Mertz
Chesterfield
Parkway West
12th
Grade
"I scavenged her for nature and necessity. I began to see her in bonfires and rain and she
"I was wearing a hand painted jacket that day. The sleeve said “be a light” and little..."
She
Jenna
Flenner
Camp Hill
Cumberland Valley High School
12th
Grade
"Thomasin Wilmot sat beside her window in Bernauer Manor, counting the rock-doves..."
"The foxglove pearl had already begun its work, leeching its poison into the wine..."
From the Ramblings of Thomasin Wilmot
Haley
Dittbrenner
Drexel Hill
Monsignor Bonner Archbishop Prendergast Catholic High School
12th
Grade
"The winter snow drizzles down from the evening sky it seems as if frost is the envy..."
"I have been locked away for about a week and my only source of food is delivered through the window..."
Palindrome
Andrea
Juarez Hernandez
Chicago
12th
Grade
"I thought I was done with feeling. But this is a new pain. Not a tingling in the..."
"I’m trying to remember the last thing my mom said to me. Were we fighting? I wouldn't be surprised..."
Strange Aeons
Aidan
Winn
Ridgewood
Bergen County Academies
12th
Grade
"Sweat danced on his palms as he tried to connect the dots. This continued for two..."
"Yeah, I’ll be with you soon.' Paul’s text illuminated the screen, averting James’s attention from the..."
The Watch
Subyeta
Chowdhury
Long Island City
12th
Grade
"Then the window shattered and her grip was lost. Just before she hit the back wall..."
"A young girl stood on a train, feeling as though she was late for an important meeting. The higher her..."
In Lieu of You
Amelie
Caceres
Bogata
Bergen County Academies
12th
Grade
"You nervously waited until the truck had rounded the opposing bend of the street..."
"They were late again. Stars blinked in the dark sky, and the United States Postal Service truck slowly..."
Special Delivery
Bryn
Ingram
Wilmington
12th
Grade
“'No, I will go to the forest. We all promise her and I keep my promises and don’t act..."
"A long time goes where technology did not even exist and everything was pulled by a horse and a cart on..."
The Lady in the Tree
Ramona
Patterson
Chicago
Kenwood Academy High School
12th
Grade
"I don’t know how I didn’t notice it first, I must have blocked out the fear in me ..."
"I would always avoid looking into windows as a child, afraid that if I looked out into the dark for long ..."
Seeing What to We Want to See
Natalie
Painter
Ridgewood
Bergen County Academies
12th
Grade
"All Maria’s energy has left her and all she can do is crawl back into bed..."
Mature Content
"In the dead of night there was a loud crash right out outside Maria’s bedroom window. Even though she ..."
Horrors Illuminated By The Moon
Kenya
Green
Chicago
12th
Grade
"It had razor sharp teeth that dug into your neck with the force of a lion’s jaw and..."
Mature Content
"D’marques wakes up anxious before the day has a chance to even start, because he knows what his..."
Learning Death
Lavon
Adams
Chicago
Kenwood Academy High School
12th
Grade
"Though I’m not sure if I ever loved her as much as she loved me. I know I loved her..."
My wife loved me, but not the normal type of love like a wife should. Her love was more like the love that..."
Violet Eyes
Brian
Phillips
Chicago Heights
12th
Grade
"We were heard, and the country is a better place for it."
"Dear Alina, The world is a changed place. I used to say that humanity has a disposition for conflict..."
One Day; A Letter to Myself from a Brighter Future
Alina
Kreynovich
Baltimore
12th
Grade
"Remember that you have the potential to help change the world we live in."
"No one would have expected 2020 to go the way it's going. From raging fires to a renowned athlete's death..."
Speak Up
Nami
Mahajan
Manalapan
12th
Grade
"To me, she was all the beauty of Vermeer, all the softness of Titian"
"On Passover we ask a question of centuries past: why is this night different from all other nights..."
If You Listen Closely, the Moon Will Hum
Danielle
Richard
Tallahassee
12th
Grade
My Hands Have Seen the Earth
"We sit, kneading ourselves, In the amber clay of our being, Memorizing the feeling of wisps of clouds..."
My Hands Have Seen the Earth
Sarah
Chocron
Wichita
12th
Grade
“What if there’s no point to any of this,” He started. “What if we live just to die?”
Mature Content
"There’s an eerie silence that follows someone’s death. People stare out windows for hours at a time, lost..."
Purple Domino
Nelly
Zerbib
Brookline
12th
Grade
"Imagination was my escape from the dull reality of my life."
I looked out into the bleak, moonlit sky while stirring my coffee that had already gone lukewarm, a routine...
Letters From a Familiar Unknown
Joseph
C
Las Vegas
12th
Grade
"We collided at the meeting of the sky and earth, and our bodies flew in opposite..."
My body cracks in two, flesh stuck in between the crevices of a boot, evidence of my life scattered across...
The One
Nazeefa
Ahmed
Calgary, Canada
12th
Grade
Kaylie watched Brandon stumble into the playground, grabbing for the ladder as he struggled not to cry...
Light in the Dark
Shaina
Maitino
Morton Grove
12th
Grade
"He remembered the taste of his mother's fresh bread, the blank taste of weeks of hunger"
Dark, menacing clouds covered the restless sea. The gentle whoosh of the breeze was slowly replaced...
Clouds
Julian
Silva-Forbes
Saratoga Springs
12th
Grade
"Is this what healing is? She asked herself. Recognizing the problem and letting..."
The humidity pressed against the sleeves of her sweatshirt and onto her dark melanin skin as she stepped...
The Waltz of the Healing Rain
Genesis
Magpayo
Western Springs, Illinois
12th
Grade
"If only he had shared his opinion when the time was right."
A man wearing a mud-brown suit and a shiny black top hat lived in a kingdom that sat in a valley...
The Man’s Lost Voice
L. F.
Katz
Tyler, Texas
12th
Grade
"I sat there, stunned, hoping, wishing, praying that this was just a dream."
Mature Content
A dark road. An empty street. A lone man. I could not ask for more perfect conditions...
The Empty Eyes
Robert
Wang
New York, New York
12th
Grade
You will see glimpses of her youth peeking out from where it’s been hiding all these years
My fortune-teller, Nashia, isn’t very good at telling fortunes...
The Teller
Diya
Sabharwal
New Delhi, India
12th
Grade
“I am sick and tired of being sick tired”
I find myself unraveling the ugly truths about America quite often in my 17 years of life.
The Future That We’re Fighting For.
Zachary
Mattis
Bridgeport, Connecticut
12th
Grade
"She’d trusted him well enough to let him into her world, teach him her ways..."
The world was surprisingly in better shape than Rickell Kendricks. 20,000 years into the future...
The Astronomer’s Tragedy Trip
Amanda
Castillo
Bronx, New York
12th
Grade
"The result of that move was not the replacement of a home but the addition of another."
The sound of a baby crying jolted me awake. Slowly the sounds of the other people came into focus...
A Tale of Three Cities
Samson
M
Mountain Lakes, New Jersey
Mountain Lakes High School
12th
Grade
"I jumped when I realized what was happening. He was here. He was finally here."
I woke up with a huge smile on my face. It was finally the day. I sprinted downstairs to see...
Remi
Anthony
Piccinno
Mountain Lakes, New Jersey
Mountain Lakes High School
12th
Grade
"It reminded me how important it is to be grateful for the things we have..."
As the end of the school year nears, I never thought I’d want to extend it any longer...
Unexpected Goodbye
Alison
Quade
Boonton, New Jersey
Mountain Lakes High School
12th
Grade
"I think everyday about how that day could have ruined my life because Beau..."
Easter 2015 was the worst Easter of my life...
Beau the Survivor
Mackenzie
Dowling
Boonton, New Jersey
Mountain Lakes High School
12th
Grade
"Whenever I refused to do something, Bella would bring up my past self..."
The sun cast a gleaming reflection on the water under the bridge as we passed over it and into the city...
The Bridge
Daniel
Raser
Mountain Lakes, New Jersey
Mountain Lakes High School
12th
Grade
"Ever since that day I have been training to become a head chef..."
It’s the 16th century in Nagano, feudal Japan. My name is Akamatsu and I am 12 years old...
Mother’s Stew
Ryan
Ferrante
Mountain Lakes, New Jersey
Mountain Lakes High School
12th
Grade
"I now realize how crucial it is to cherish every moment with the people you love."
While driving home from the hospital with my Father's hand in mine, I realized I was never going to be...
There is a Bright Side to Everything
Lea
Ratchford
Mountain Lakes, New Jersey
Mountain Lakes High School
12th
Grade
"Getting snacks together, racing around, building forts, it’s the youths’ prime time."
“God, it’s hot.” Casper dropped down on the pavement beside his friend Alix...
Something About a Meteor
Korene
Tu
Mountain Lakes, New Jersey
Mountain Lakes High School
12th
Grade
"Although I never liked making a big deal out of my birthday, I couldn’t help but feel..."
It was around 8:00 on Friday night. My parents pulled a round chocolate cake out of the fridge...
I Looked Like An Idiot in That Hat
Anonymous
Johnson
12th
Grade
"It was now or never. I opened the email and read the header of the message."
December 15. That was the day where all my work and all my time would be worth it...
College Stress
Ryan
Shanker
Mountain Lakes, New Jersey
Mountain Lakes High School
12th
Grade
"Each speck had an ember inside, a manifestation of love..."
The stares of the cruel eyes penetrated through me, transmitting a notion that my body was some sort of...
Skeleton Love
Joseph
C
Las Vegas, Nevada
12th
Grade
"The “perfect” body does not exist and is all perspective."
I scroll through Instagram and Tik Tok every day and see girls with perfect bodies...
The “Perfect” Body
Rylie
S
Mountain Lakes, New Jersey
Mountain Lakes High School
12th
Grade
"I can’t help but wonder if I’m the angel you always speak of. The one with the broken..."
It was three days before I found out where they’d been...
Three Days Playing Angel
Amanda
Castillo
Bronx, New York
12th
Grade
"The morning light snakes into the walls of the room, illuminating the truth..."
Only three minutes now, three minutes until the rest of the air in his body leaves him...
Night Terrors
Amanda
Castillo
Bronx, New York
12th
Grade
"The library was a charm, each shelf gave its secrets to those who came..."
Ms.Eloise sat in her chair that rocked like the ocean, the bank notices rested in her thin brittle fingers.
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Jocelyn
Horsfall-Arsenault
Penacook, New Hampshire
Merrimack Valley High School
12th
Grade
"I miss his shallow breaths and the soft sounds of his well-worn yellow sneakers"
The sound of my own breathing is unfamiliar to me as the ground blurs beneath my feet;
Alone. Here. Now.
Emily
Philbrook
Penacook, New Hampshire
12th
Grade
"It doesn’t go, it’s not a fucking song. A book teaches you."
Mature Content
The sound of the 6 train always scared those who weren’t paying attention.
Skyline
Anthony
Bonavita
Little Neck, New York
Bronx Science
12th
Grade
"...be the one to tell her that the world is not all good. For I am at a loss of words."
Welcome to hell, where the walls are crafted from the bricks of panic that weigh on my soul...
Welcome to Hell
Addison
Hodge
Loudon, New Hampshire
Merrimack Valley High School
12th
Grade
"I never saw You fill up that ugly “Best Dad” mug. / It was always empty: just like Your chest"
The wind waltzed with every follicle of my hair. / And as I waited for the storm to pass / I thought of my first performance: Chopped, well, “choppy”
“Choppy”
Amber
Azmoudeh
Alexandria, Virginia
Episcopal High School
12th
Grade
"...the only school pictures I have ever kept were the ones they sent us to proof, two pictures of smiling brothers, each proudly wearing a puffy black eye."
My brother’s Senior year, he went to school with a black eye on picture day. I did too...
Love and War
John
Smith
Sewanee, Tennessee
12th
Grade
I want to see who I was— / before the world told me who to be.
I have an obsession. / It's an obsession with the old me
Before They Told You
Claire
Boehm
Cornelius, North Carolina
Episcopal High School
12th
Grade
Fearful black eyes stare back at me, hopeless, as he breathes in his last breath
I scavenge a cupboard dry of food before setting off, three oatcakes left and no water. Cottonmouth. I bundle up for the November night, grab gun, knife and leave unseen.
The Hunt
Bear
Matheson
Charlottesville, Virginia
12th
Grade
"I am courageous despite not leaving my house. And you are too."
"I'm not sure that I am courageous. I am certainly afraid. I'm terrified."
Fighting the Fight? Please.
Nina
D
Easton, Pennsylvania
12th
Grade
"You are stitched by the hands of a broken mother, who is exhausted from her painstaking and meticulous routine in the sweatshops of India."
You lay on a false body–one that is displayed in the center of a decorated window for the purpose of selling you.
One Blouse Can Only Dream
Haley
D.
Atlanta, Georgia
12th
Grade
"The front of the car crashed through a weakened fence, and we plummeted down the side of the road, plunging straight into the inky, black surface of the lake."
I tried to draw in one last breath before we broke the surface, but within a second, we were already submerged. Cold, mucky water burst in through the half open window on the passenger's side, and muffled Marissa's screams...
What She Didn’t Know
Lucy
C
Sewanee, Tennessee
12th
Grade
"They will never forget their childhoods of unadulterated freedom—the days and nights that instilled in them an appreciation for something bigger."
One by one, they creep through the enveloping darkness into a dusty shed filled with baseball helmets. This posse of seventeen-year-olds slinks through the shadows of the town where there is nothing.
Family of Teenagers
Ward
Cammack
Nashville, Tennessee
12th
Grade
"it becomes difficult for me to formulate the sentences that will allow them to comprehend what it means to be biracial and bicultural..."
Groggy-eyed and stuffy-nosed I set my alarm for 6:00 as I sank into the spongy mattress that I called my bed, the sweat of eight teenage sailing instructors permeating the humid air...
Identity
Sawyer
Cooper
New York, NY
Bronx Science
12th
Grade
“'Ethan, where do you think we go once we die?'”
"Do you believe in God?" / "No."
Conservation of Souls
Karen
Zhang
Pace, Florida
Episcopal High School
12th
Grade
"And no hugs to give when we cry, no hand to hold."
To distance or not to distance -- that’s the question: Whether ‘tis better to endure the quarantine
To Distance or not to Distance (Inspired by Shakespeare’s famous “To be or not to be” soliloquy)
M
S
Pleasantville, New York
12th
Grade
"...tonight I was searching for the notorious large flounder that had been haunting my dreams ever since I saw it engulf my lure and promptly broke my line, some five years ago."
The moonlight danced across the ripples of Bogue Sound. The wind howled out of the south and the windchimes scampered around on their strings.
Dreams
Will
Sternberg
Greenwich, Connecticut
12th
Grade
"I waited for a wave to pass and plopped the fish down into the water. I moved the voluptuous female back and forth in the water until she kicked off back into the deep blue water beneath the watch of a stargazed lover."
My smile crawled across my face as my feet felt the transition of grass to sand and the soft wind whistled through my ears...
Happiness
Will
Sternberg
Greenwich, Connecticut
12th
Grade
"I find so much hardship in the heart of my city"
I sit and watch, under the pool house / As the dock spreads out over the water.
Neighbors
Wyatt
Singletary
Jacksonville, Florida
Episcopal High School
12th
Grade
"In fact, she’s so used to this voice that its screaming is now something she finds calming. Normal is calming, right?"
It’s March. The song “Pictures of You” by The Cure just came on over the house speaker, and her dad says, “Don’t change it. I like this song.”
Normal is Calming, Right?
Jane
Durden
Charlotte, North Carolina
12th
Grade
"In this abyss of bliss I’m floating. / The future is something I wish I had guessed"
Events of my life I’m left here noting, / At home I am happy to be.
Of Good Things I Am a Consumer
Wyatt
Singletary
Jacksonville, Florida
Episcopal High School
12th
Grade
"I looked out at my tribe with pride before I drifted off, nestled against the pearly, soft snow of the tree well."
I awoke with a jolt as the sound of thunder crackled and rolled across the charcoal sky above me.
Perspectives
Will
Sternberg
Greenwich, Connecticut
12th
Grade
"I looked up and saw the tigers' fangs flicker in the light of the setting sun."
The orange glow of the sun brought warmth to my face and body and quickly aroused me from my slumber...
The Day That Changed My Life
Will
Sternberg
Greenwich, Connecticut
12th
Grade
"Forever: / as eternal as my morality or: / lack thereof"
I’m choked with the fear of leaving, / forever, / and beginning anew...
The Inevitability of Growing Up
Amber
Azmoudeh
Alexandria, Virginia
Episcopal High School
12th
Grade
"The crystal clear water allowed us a view into the world untouched by man. I had never seen such beauty: animals so pristine and numerous."
The wind howled across the river throwing my hairs into a tangle of knots and curls. A smile crawled across my face as I gazed upon our vessel.
What’s Really Out There?
Will
Sternberg
Greenwich, Connecticut
12th
Grade
"You're a slave to your own / system: / a mere machine, / but when I see them I can’t help but wonder: / Does it hurt? "
Your eyes, they haunt me...
Windows To The Soul: An Ode to Basquiat
Amber
Azmoudeh
Alexandria, Virginia
12th
Grade
"They would gossip about people they hated in Italian, and would share things that made them happy in Greek."
It was an average day for Angelica. She was awoken by her mother screaming in Greek, telling her to get up for school. It wasn’t always a chore to go, but she felt more tired than usual.
Waste Away
Alex
L Dupont
Boulder, Colorado
Alexander Dawson School
12th
Grade
"At any moment he knows he could either be kidnapped or at the worst be murdered. He works in a dangerous industry and has hopes to get out of it one day."
Mature Content
Adrenaline is a hormone secreted by the adrenal glands, especially in conditions of stress, increasing rates of blood circulation, breathing, and carbohydrate metabolism and preparing muscles for exertion.
Adrenaline
Brandon
Day
Longmont, Colorado
12th
Grade
"The moonlight slowly morphed into a glowing woman who wore a white dress that spanned the ocean breadth..."
She thought that when people died, they were gone, forever. Her mom and grammy turned into dust at the cremation center. She poured their dust into the ocean off the coast of California, the same place where they had lived for so long and died so young...
Freedom
Estasia
McGlothlin
Longmont, Colorado
Dawson School
12th
Grade
"...the potential to help millions of people across the world also instilled a sense of purpose and responsibility in me."
Ever since I have been little, I have always been fascinated by biology and all of its counterparts.
I Love Bio
Ruby
Berger
New York, NY
12th
Grade
"But when I stare into the unblinking eyes of a zebrafish, I only see a human. I can only think about how this tiny animal could represent someone in dire need of help."
At 9 AM on a summer Monday, I opened two stainless steel doors to a room shrouded in white, except for the spots of blue made by discarded shoe covers that littered the mounted shelves.
I Love Bio (pt. 2)
Lola
Berger
New York, NY
12th
Grade
"Peter did not, however, forget that Harry was a wild animal. At times he feared his flashing yellow teeth, the powerful jaw that crunched entire cantaloupes like they were seeds. "
The first time Peter saw the bear, he was tending his garden.
Peter and the Bear: Based on a true story
Deana
Stysis
Brooklyn, New York
12th
Grade
"While I wait for my mom to open the door, I pace around the room, marveling at the clicking noise that my dirty paws make when I walk across the floor."
It is 10:00 AM. I just woke up from a late Saturday night and I let out a yawn as I began to get dressed.
The Transformation
Lucas
Koenig
New York, NY
12th
Grade
"The two friends slowly entered the house. Hand in hand. Sam could feel Anna shaking with fear..."
Sam, Timmy, and Anna always did dumb stuff. They were just regular teenagers messing around and letting their curiosity take them places. They loved to get together and play games, stay out late, and go on adventures. One of their favorite games was truth or dare...
Truth Or Dare
Brandon
Day
Longmont, Colorado
Dawson School
12th
Grade
"I hate to traumatize her, but I have to stay alive for her..."
“Mom are you okay,” she asked in a voice so loving and gentle. I could hear the concern, the fear, the worry...
Courage
Aaliyah
Thomas
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania
12th
Grade
"'Emilia, it’s time to go to the bathroom' my teacher would announce in front of the entire class..."
I believe in not holding your pee. When I was in the first grade, I had a wild imagination. So wild that my biggest fear was going to the bathroom...
Don’t Hold Your Pee
Emilia
B
Washington D.C.
12th
Grade
"I dont know why God decided to bless me and curse me with the presence / of a possessed angel..."
listening to steve lacy i get the same feeling i had when i last saw your face / Mine lit up as bright as egyptian cities in the summer...
The Evening
Nova
Cane
New York, New York
12th
Grade
"Ali instructed her to sit in his lap..."
Mature Content
As Raina was listening to music she couldn’t stop herself from thinking about the past that haunts her in her dream...
Just Needed a Little Bravery
Samiha
C
Brooklyn, New York
John Adams High School
12th
Grade
"I felt like an explorer embarking on a brave journey to some strange and foreign land. A land in which the subway is aboveground..."
As a little kid, I remember watching a 1953 classic, The Little Fugitive, and being so uncontrollably jealous of the main character, a kid who gets to live in Coney Island for a day.
How Do You Get to Coney Island?
Owen
Jones
New York City
12th
Grade
"The smoke cleared out and finally, I could see his evanescence; how it always lingered behind all of his inimitable whim-whams and seemingly candid words."
Mature Content
I think admiration is dangerous. The thought first came to life on a bench in Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn. My lips on a cigarette that I had no use for anymore.
Hoarding Hurt
Angelina
Zaphyria
New York, New York
12th
Grade
"A gentle brush tickled her forearm, jolting her out of her increasingly louder..."
"Syla’s palms were sweaty as she stared at the birch door and golden handle. Regardless of how she used..."
Recalcitrance
Saanvi
Agarwal
Fremont
12th
Grade
"I recall these days like a memory or a dream or else a bullet lodged within a body..."
"It had the makings of a quiet summer— We strapped pink wings to our shoulders and dove headfirst into..."
As they imagine us on summer nights
Kylan
Tatum
Plainsboro
12th
Grade
"There is no mapped world. This truth you hold under your ribs, where most mortals..."
"Children of the borderland, intrepid space travelers, this will not be your last winter. These painful..."
Ulysses Speaks to the Children at the Border
Samuel
Cooper
Santa Fe
12th
Grade
"One day, Jim felt a sharp pain in his chest and was scared he was dying. He was too..."
"Jen and Jim are residents in small town Johnsville. They have known each other for as long as they can..."
Secret Admirers
Reid
Roach
Oxford
12th
Grade
I Am That Book
"I always wished for brothers, companions, guides towards the rest of my life. Hope for the hopeful and..."
Dante Competition: Honorable Mention
Ben
Wilson
Plano
12th
Grade
The Dark Beyond
The monster turned the corner to find her. It had been following her scent for hours, but she had been...
Dante Competition: 1st Place
Dawn
M.
Piedmont
12th
Grade
"Robert doesn’t have a god delusion, because you can only be deluded when you’re..."
"The Glibman Building takes a long time to burn, but it looks very pretty as it does. Robert quit his job..."
Irony
Sylvi
Stein
New York
12th
Grade
in light of
"you breathe like an accordion, shuddering, your body emptying, because you hate knowing he’s the sun..."
Dante Competition: 2nd Place
Amy
Liu
New York
12th
Grade
"After months of self-isolation, the humans rejoined the world once more, but the most..."
"Everyone was seated anxiously around the soundbox to hear how the situation had progressed. The small..."
Tonight’s Episode
Dallas
Speicher-Ramirez
Mechanicsburg
Cumberland Valley High School
12th
Grade
"The long-suffering passengers in front of me finally locate their bags and rush..."
"Waiting in the baggage claim at Copenhagen Airport certainly has its benefits— the benches are fairly..."
Baggage Claim at the Copenhagen Airport
Amaya
Gonzalez-Mollmann
New York City
12th
Grade
"Everyday. It means, “happening or used every day; daily”. Everyday we watched them."
"Everyday was our darkest day. But the even darkest days were still ahead. Everyday they grew and grew..."
Everyday is the Same
Jensen
Kornfeind
Mechanicsburg
Cumberland Valley High School
12th
Grade
"The nerves in my spine braid themselves, as the needle pricks travel through each of..."
There’s no need for meteorologists when I can just press my fingertips against the crackling black metal...
Between 81st Street
Leonor
Robalino
Jackson Heights
12th
Grade
"Now a small crowd is watching on as he wrestles with the wheel..."
Parking Space
Samuel
Cooper
Santa Fe
12th
Grade
"Masking my insecurities and covering up my self-doubt By showing a face different..."
I prepare to paint To stand out and shine I seize my glue and press it against my thick brown eyebrows I am...
The Painting of Self
Elana
Abrams
New York
Bronx Science
12th
Grade
"I'm too White for the Blacks, too Black for the Whites..."
I’m Dominican But I’m Black
Odilenia
Reyes
Bronx
12th
Grade
"...and I’m forced to choose: avoid me or confront the room."
Write about a window or whether what is outside it. Do you care to know what is behind it? The pressure in...
Room
Ella
White
Lithonia
12th
Grade
"Reality came crashing down on me. I felt a loss for words I didn't know what to say..."
“Hey! Hey! HEY, Amaryllis wake up!” I rubbed my eyes, squinting at the bright light reaching into my...
Fresh Start
Arika
Halliman
New York
12th
Grade
Lost Boy
The wind carried on as it continued to grow violent. Ila strode toward the window. The whistling wind...
Lost Boy
AIM
N/A
New York
12th
Grade
"...I realized that it is because we are unique, that in the end, we are the same."
With all the craziness in our world, especially these days, my corner seems rather benign. I know I’m lucky...
Equinox Blue
Maia
Mencucci
Walden
12th
Grade
"I’d pour fresh-brewed coffee into my mug, no cream or sugar, and sit on my windowsill..."
Life outside my window used to be bland and grim yet somehow exceedingly reminiscent of food. Even on the...
The Significance of One Coffee
Montana
Lee
New York
12th
Grade
"When you’re too sad you close your door, Your window is your only escape..."
My Window When sun is bright or when it rains And when it’s cloudy sky When neighbor’s dog outside plays...
My Window
Viktoriia
D
Garfield
12th
Grade
"People of all different kinds, All doing the same thing Walk past my window and..."
"I sit in the same place every day. Looking out a window, It separates me from society. So alone I sit..."
Life in Color
Brianna
Murch
Oceanside
Oceanside High School
12th
Grade
"In her eyes, it is the night sky, that brings her the utmost joy. A change of terrain..."
"The window that sits on the top floor, in a girl’s room filled with her things, grants her a minute..."
Head in the Stars
Brianna
Davis
St. Louis
Parkway West Highschool
12th
Grade
"The turbulent river begins to roar - and then - The weeping wound is ripped raw..."
"You rise to a beautiful day - Healed, tears put away - A lyric, a smell, a taste - Awakens the gaping..."
MASK
Sawyer Grace
Perkins
Proctor
12th
Grade
"I carved her in ivory, too, painstakingly, no small detail left out. I’d never felt..."
"I’m an architect. It’s what I do. Design. That’s what you start with. I first started designing things..."
Reverse Pygmalion
Amy
Liu
New York
12th
Grade
"i don't need to claim that responsibility, the responsibility of existing."
outside my window, i see many things. trees and grass, sure. lots of houses and decks, naturally. but those...
Looking Outside
Emma
Dione
Williston
12th
Grade
"Can’t I decide who I want to be? Can’t I live in the intermediary? Girls are..."
"When I was in kindergarten I told my parents I was going to get married to a girl. I carried my love..."
Bi The Way
Silvi
Stein
New York
12th
Grade
"It's a place of gray, where things aren't as simple as black and white."
What's outside my window? Outside of my window are people struggling to make it in this jungle of gray...
Jungle Of Gray
C.C.
Lalite
New York City
12th
Grade
"It rushed in a fury, like a twister, releasing its anger into windows and trees until..."
It started in the night, a rustling noise hitting my window like leaves spinning in the fall. Convinced I...
A Midwestern Desert
Ayra
Ali
Chesterfield
Parkway West High School
12th
Grade
"what I’ve seen has stirred me up so deeply inside that it forced me to venture beyond."
Outside of my window what do I see? Unfortunately, that’s a question that I find myself unable to answer...
P.O.P (Pane or Pain)
Ina
L
Los Angeles
12th
Grade
"Walking inside, the heat of the outdoors faded away; I became cold. Her parents had..."
Ten thousand feet up, days from civilization, and ready to jump: I was backpacking the Sierra Nevadas after...
Together, Jumping
Atticus
Hempel
Storrs
12th
Grade
"Brash dragging scraped the limp figure. Grating of teeth sharpening jarred the floor. Fl
"Pitched screams pierced the atmosphere. A tattered leather-bound book rested amidst..."
Hunger
Brian
Zou
South Pasadena
South Pasadena High School
12th
Grade
"Where ships left invisible footprints, I wonder can you still feel and touch him. They sa
"Everyone, everything, speaks the same way. The same voice all over again. I love u..."
I Wonder
Sebastian
Adriano
Cayey
12th
Grade
"As I grab my cart, I look around, noticing all of the masked figures nervously walking th
"The door slides open and I walk inside. It’s been a while since I’ve been here..."
Speechless
Joseph
Mast
Carlisle
Cumberland Valley High School
12th
Grade
"You've cried tears until you couldn't cry anymore, and you think yourself broken, but it
"You think that you deceive me with every fake smile. You say that you're fine but..."
Invisible
Maddie
Mertz
Chesterfield
Parkway West
12th
Grade
"I scavenged her for nature and necessity. I began to see her in bonfires and rain and she
"I was wearing a hand painted jacket that day. The sleeve said “be a light” and little..."
She
Jenna
Flenner
Camp Hill
Cumberland Valley High School
12th
Grade
"Thomasin Wilmot sat beside her window in Bernauer Manor, counting the rock-doves..."
"The foxglove pearl had already begun its work, leeching its poison into the wine..."
From the Ramblings of Thomasin Wilmot
Haley
Dittbrenner
Drexel Hill
Monsignor Bonner Archbishop Prendergast Catholic High School
12th
Grade
"The winter snow drizzles down from the evening sky it seems as if frost is the envy..."
"I have been locked away for about a week and my only source of food is delivered through the window..."
Palindrome
Andrea
Juarez Hernandez
Chicago
12th
Grade
"I thought I was done with feeling. But this is a new pain. Not a tingling in the..."
"I’m trying to remember the last thing my mom said to me. Were we fighting? I wouldn't be surprised..."
Strange Aeons
Aidan
Winn
Ridgewood
Bergen County Academies
12th
Grade
"Sweat danced on his palms as he tried to connect the dots. This continued for two..."
"Yeah, I’ll be with you soon.' Paul’s text illuminated the screen, averting James’s attention from the..."
The Watch
Subyeta
Chowdhury
Long Island City
12th
Grade
"Then the window shattered and her grip was lost. Just before she hit the back wall..."
"A young girl stood on a train, feeling as though she was late for an important meeting. The higher her..."
In Lieu of You
Amelie
Caceres
Bogata
Bergen County Academies
12th
Grade
"You nervously waited until the truck had rounded the opposing bend of the street..."
"They were late again. Stars blinked in the dark sky, and the United States Postal Service truck slowly..."
Special Delivery
Bryn
Ingram
Wilmington
12th
Grade
“'No, I will go to the forest. We all promise her and I keep my promises and don’t act..."
"A long time goes where technology did not even exist and everything was pulled by a horse and a cart on..."
The Lady in the Tree
Ramona
Patterson
Chicago
Kenwood Academy High School
12th
Grade
"I don’t know how I didn’t notice it first, I must have blocked out the fear in me ..."
"I would always avoid looking into windows as a child, afraid that if I looked out into the dark for long ..."
Seeing What to We Want to See
Natalie
Painter
Ridgewood
Bergen County Academies
12th
Grade
"All Maria’s energy has left her and all she can do is crawl back into bed..."
Mature Content
"In the dead of night there was a loud crash right out outside Maria’s bedroom window. Even though she ..."
Horrors Illuminated By The Moon
Kenya
Green
Chicago
12th
Grade
"It had razor sharp teeth that dug into your neck with the force of a lion’s jaw and..."
Mature Content
"D’marques wakes up anxious before the day has a chance to even start, because he knows what his..."
Learning Death
Lavon
Adams
Chicago
Kenwood Academy High School
12th
Grade
"Though I’m not sure if I ever loved her as much as she loved me. I know I loved her..."
My wife loved me, but not the normal type of love like a wife should. Her love was more like the love that..."
Violet Eyes
Brian
Phillips
Chicago Heights
12th
Grade
"We were heard, and the country is a better place for it."
"Dear Alina, The world is a changed place. I used to say that humanity has a disposition for conflict..."
One Day; A Letter to Myself from a Brighter Future
Alina
Kreynovich
Baltimore
12th
Grade
"Remember that you have the potential to help change the world we live in."
"No one would have expected 2020 to go the way it's going. From raging fires to a renowned athlete's death..."
Speak Up
Nami
Mahajan
Manalapan
12th
Grade
“What if there’s no point to any of this,” He started. “What if we live just to die?”
Mature Content
"There’s an eerie silence that follows someone’s death. People stare out windows for hours at a time, lost..."
Purple Domino
Nelly
Zerbib
Brookline
12th
Grade
"To me, she was all the beauty of Vermeer, all the softness of Titian"
"On Passover we ask a question of centuries past: why is this night different from all other nights..."
If You Listen Closely, the Moon Will Hum
Danielle
Richard
Tallahassee
12th
Grade
My Hands Have Seen the Earth
"We sit, kneading ourselves, In the amber clay of our being, Memorizing the feeling of wisps of clouds..."
My Hands Have Seen the Earth
Sarah
Chocron
Wichita
12th
Grade
Kaylie watched Brandon stumble into the playground, grabbing for the ladder as he struggled not to cry...
Light in the Dark
Shaina
Maitino
Morton Grove
12th
Grade
"Imagination was my escape from the dull reality of my life."
I looked out into the bleak, moonlit sky while stirring my coffee that had already gone lukewarm, a routine...
Letters From a Familiar Unknown
Joseph
C
Las Vegas
12th
Grade
"He remembered the taste of his mother's fresh bread, the blank taste of weeks of hunger"
Dark, menacing clouds covered the restless sea. The gentle whoosh of the breeze was slowly replaced...
Clouds
Julian
Silva-Forbes
Saratoga Springs
12th
Grade
"Is this what healing is? She asked herself. Recognizing the problem and letting..."
The humidity pressed against the sleeves of her sweatshirt and onto her dark melanin skin as she stepped...
The Waltz of the Healing Rain
Genesis
Magpayo
Western Springs, Illinois
12th
Grade
"If only he had shared his opinion when the time was right."
A man wearing a mud-brown suit and a shiny black top hat lived in a kingdom that sat in a valley...
The Man’s Lost Voice
L. F.
Katz
Tyler, Texas
12th
Grade
"We collided at the meeting of the sky and earth, and our bodies flew in opposite..."
My body cracks in two, flesh stuck in between the crevices of a boot, evidence of my life scattered across...
The One
Nazeefa
Ahmed
Calgary, Canada
12th
Grade
"I sat there, stunned, hoping, wishing, praying that this was just a dream."
Mature Content
A dark road. An empty street. A lone man. I could not ask for more perfect conditions...
The Empty Eyes
Robert
Wang
New York, New York
12th
Grade
“I am sick and tired of being sick tired”
I find myself unraveling the ugly truths about America quite often in my 17 years of life.
The Future That We’re Fighting For.
Zachary
Mattis
Bridgeport, Connecticut
12th
Grade
"She’d trusted him well enough to let him into her world, teach him her ways..."
The world was surprisingly in better shape than Rickell Kendricks. 20,000 years into the future...
The Astronomer’s Tragedy Trip
Amanda
Castillo
Bronx, New York
12th
Grade
"The result of that move was not the replacement of a home but the addition of another."
The sound of a baby crying jolted me awake. Slowly the sounds of the other people came into focus...
A Tale of Three Cities
Samson
M
Mountain Lakes, New Jersey
Mountain Lakes High School
12th
Grade
"I jumped when I realized what was happening. He was here. He was finally here."
I woke up with a huge smile on my face. It was finally the day. I sprinted downstairs to see...
Remi
Anthony
Piccinno
Mountain Lakes, New Jersey
Mountain Lakes High School
12th
Grade
"It reminded me how important it is to be grateful for the things we have..."
As the end of the school year nears, I never thought I’d want to extend it any longer...
