We have had our Write Stuff contest for a number of years now and it just keeps growing. This year we had over 150 entries! This year's prompt, "I peeled back the paper and there you were" allowed for some very diverse interpretations. While we love reading the contest entries, choosing our favorite is so difficult.
Here are the first and second place winners for each age group:
AGES 8-10
1st Place--Natalie F. (age 8) "Pigs in Space"
2nd Place--Riya A. (age 10) "Fairy Tale"
AGES 11-14
1st Place--Shruthika K. (age 12) "A Special Can of Pringles"
2nd Place--Charles D. (age 13) "The Concert"
AGES 15-18
1st Place--Isabelle Z. (age 15) "Not Done Yet"
2nd Place--Abigail A. (age 17) "In the Depths of May"
The First Place entries for Ages 8-10 and Ages 11-14 are below. Visit our TEEN BLOG to see the winning entry for the Ages 15-18.
Thank you to all who entered and we can't wait to see what you come up with next year!
AGES 8-10
"Pigs in Space" by Natalie F.
“I can’t believe our owner is going to space!” squealed Gracie.
“It would be cool to study Mars,” said Gerty.
“What do they eat?” asked Fred.
“Kids, we are not going to space,” said Mr. Pig.
“We are just plain, old guinea pigs,” said Mrs. Pig.
“But, said Gerty.
“NO BUTS,” yelled Mr. Pig, “WE ARE NOT ASTRONAUTS! NOW GO TO BED!”
The pigs scrambled to their favorite pile of wood shavings and fell asleep very fast. But when
the cage was very quiet they leaped out and tumbled into their owner’s lunchbox.
“It smells like a tuna sandwich,” said Gracie holding her nose.
Gerty and Gracie went to sleep by an apple, but Fred had other plans. He bounced onto a bag of
potato chips. He tried to open the bag 17 times! Finally he belly flopped on the bag and POP! Potato
chips flew everywhere. It was so loud his sisters woke up. AAAHH! Said gerty and graice.
“WHAT ON EARTH?” asked the owner.
“Mr. Burny,” said the owner’s partner, Mr. Kean, “we aren’t on earth anymore.”
“FRED!” said Gerty.
“Mmmmhhh!” said Fred
“He’s in the bag!” said Gracie.
RRRRIIIPP! Went the bag.
“How did you find me with your tiny paws?” asked Fred.
“Well, I peeled back the paper and there you were,” said Gerty.
ZIIIIPP!
“The lunchbox is opening!” yelled Gracie.
“AHHHHH!” said Fred and Gerty.
The pigs raced to the apple and hid. The owner picked up the big potato chip mess. Then he spotted
the apple. He picked up it up and looked on all sides to check for bruises. Then he spotted the pigs.
“OH DEAR!” said the owner.
“WHAT ARE YOU OH DEARING ABOUT? GET TO WORK!” yelled Mr. Bark.
Mr. Bark is the owner’s boss. The owner hid the pigs in his lunchbox again.
“I…I will sir!” Then he whispered, “I’ll take you to the moon without my boss knowing,” said the
owner.
“Ya, hear that?” said Gerty “we are going to the moon!”
AGES 11-14
"A Special Can of Pringles" by Shruthika K.
Dear Turtle,
I was a kid who wanted a snack, not an adventure, so when I opened my can of
Pringles, I was surprised. I peeled back the paper and there you were, sitting there,
finishing off the last crumbs. I asked why you were so small, thinking I was hallucinating.
You told me your name was Turtle, and you were the result of an experiment. You had
snuck into the jar of Pringles because you liked them. Less scared, I introduced myself
as Cassie and asked exactly what experiment would reduce someone to mere inches.
You shuddered at the thought and explained that there was a company called
BioGenetic Visionaries, who had this crazy idea that people need to be the same height
to ensure equality. They created a serum to change everyone to 5 feet, 10 inches, but
ended up reducing all the people they tested on to 5 centimeters, 10 millimeters. I
recognized the company, since both my parents work there, and you simply grinned at
me, saying tomorrow was “take your child to work day”.
I doubted my parents knew about the experimentation, since they would’ve
already quit their job if they had. This was confirmed when they turned down a hallway,
and you led me down another after I told them I needed to use the restroom. I walked
into a room, awestruck by the test tubes filled with a translucent orange liquid, the
miniature people trapped inside birdcages, the scientists milling around, not caring
about the protests. There was one person, probably the supervisor, sitting there,
watching all of it.
He saw me and told me to leave. I refused and questioned him about the
experiment. He wouldn’t explain until you jumped out of my pocket, saying that you
escaped and told me about it. The supervisor then tried to convince me they were the
good guys, claiming that they were visionaries of the future; bringing equality to all
humans by making everyone the same size so no one would be better or stronger than
others. This angered me, and I said that people who weren’t strong were good at other
things, and the world was already balanced.
You whispered a plan to me, and I agreed. You jumped on the supervisor,
distracting him, as I grabbed all the test tubes, ran to the nearest toilet, and flushed it all
down the drain. I came back in, just in time to watch the supervisor crush you in his
hand. Screaming, I ran to the supercomputer with all the information, and smashed it
with a nearby birdcage, yelling at all the scientists about how they weren’t visionaries,
they were futuristic Hitlers. All the work was destroyed. I ran out of the room and into my
parents’ workplace, explaining.
A month later, BioGenetics Visionaries was sued and demolished. I sat down
writing this obituary for you, Turtle, and your sacrifice. And as I went to get a snack, I
put aside some Pringles in your memory.
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