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This week, we present responses to the challenges: Risk. Have you ever taken a risk and found it paid off? Often, just by trying and not being afraid to try, we find success. Write a story that explores this theme, real or fictional. And general writing.
Prompt: Risk
By Kelly Daigle
Age 16, Bradford, Vt.
Jump in.
I look at the churning water beneath me, the waves cresting just inches below my toes.
Jump in.
My mind yells, but my body ignores it. Fear runs rampant in my veins, rooting me to the spot, to the rock — to safety.
But this isn’t safety.
Speckles of water spray me in the face. My limbs are shaking from the cold, from the adrenaline. I clench my fists and dig my fingernails into my skin. The pain is my anchor, bringing me back to reality.
Jump in.
Taking a deep breath, I fill my lungs with the salty air, hold it, and with the oxygen still trapped inside, I jump. I am suspended in the air, in time, in nothing at all except a state of weightlessness and exhilaration. It’s almost like I’m flying.
I wish I were.
But then gravity pulls me down, pulls my dream from my head and throws it into the air far above me, letting me watch as I hit the waves and sink. Each millimeter of depth brings me closer to the darkness waiting quietly, gently, at the bottom. Again I am suspended, but instead of nothingness between my fingers, it is the blood of the Earth. The shock of cold ebbs away quickly as I open my eyes, despite the salt water sting, and see blue all around. I focus, looking, searching, feeling for…
There. The water is pulling ever so slightly to the right, and that is my path. Kicking my legs and arms, I fly in a different kind of way through the murkiness, swimming until the pressure around me lightens, the water brightens, and I ascend. Breaking the surface, my lungs gasp for air, the sound echoing in the smooth cave around me. The bright blue of the water reflects onto the ceiling, illuminating the cavern to the farthest point. Soaked to the bone, I lift myself out of the water and onto the small overhanging rock. And on the other side of the cave, I find what I’m looking for: a trunk of shining jewels, glittering gold coins, and the greatest treasure of them all — The Guide to Mythical Creatures.
My quest has only just begun.
Prompt: General
By Amica Lansigan
Age 13, Hanover
It reaches up to meet the sky,
bright gold against the black of night.
The Eiffel Tower glows with warmth,
surrounded by yellow lights.
The city of Paris and I.
The clock chimes ring, striking midnight,
and people gather to watch the show.
Cigarettes aglow, they cheer in awe
at the tower, sparkling in white.
The city of lights and I.
A wind rips through the summer air;
a chill escapes into the night.
Red headlights fluoresce in the street
as crowds admire the beautiful sight.
The city of wonder and I.
Intertwining with old and new –
Paris, au revoir to you.
By Thea Choyt
Age 13, Hanover
The wind blows,
a slight breeze fanning you
in the heat under a tree.
You sit among the grass and flowers —
happy, content, reading.
The smell of summer,
the magical story in front of you,
the leaves of the tree swaying,
the bark against your back,
the thought of summer…
You sit near your family,
close enough to see them
but far enough not to disturb them.
The book pulls you in,
envelops you in its story.
It paints a picture of a far-off land,
a place far away from the tree,
from the grass, the wind, the sun,
a place for you to escape to.
When it is time,
you will come back to see your family,
to see the place where you sat
in the wind, in the sun, in the grass
under the tree, reading.