by Bridget Hayton

Sincerely, Your Best Pal

Life as a dog is full of adventures. Running away from home, iconic. Chicken, heavenly. The park, leisurely. Sometimes I go there with my friend Luna. Last week, the park wasn’t satisfying us, so we ran through town instead! I peed on so many fire hydrants, if I could count, I’d lose track. Then, some cat lover snitched to animal control! But we had fabric leashes. I have teeth. Amateurs. “Luna, run to my backyard! Screen door? What’s that-?” BANG! Basically, I’m home. But the point is, have fun, even when being chased by animal-control.

Tadpole 100 Word Competition

Dreamer

by Alex Coats

I’m a dreamer.

Despite what it sounds like, often it’s a burden.

Being a dreamer means having crystal-clear visions of you being yourself, winning the competition, saving the day, having the world in the palm of your hand.

But as a dreamer, I know all too well that dreams don’t always come true.

Sometimes, you don’t get picked, you don’t get noticed, you don’t feel like you even know yourself, and you watch, powerless, as everything you ever knew is crushed by the great unknown.

But just because dreams don’t always come true, it doesn’t mean they never will.

She Was Crying

by Sumaiya Siddiqui

She was crying in front of

The home

that

once

held her name.

The burnt wood

touching her

handmade journal.

The charred dust

settles on

the broken kitchen counter.

The

stories

of hope

gone

with the flames.

The new,

unfamiliar

house.

The room

with pink curtains.

With a soft, safe bed.

Sunlight

pouring

through the window.

The new,

leather-bound journal,

resting on the desk.

Life

was born

again.

She didn’t know it would be like that.

Whispers of hatred cornered her heart.

She fell into depression.

And something saved her.

Her words, her intentions, story, life.

She saved herself.

Aurora.

A Race Gone Badly

by Natalie McDaniels

Melanie’s foot toed the starting line. She was desperate to win. This was the only thing
important to her...first place, or nothing. The gun popped, and Melanie dashed to the front of the
pack. “This is going well,” Melanie thought to herself as she led proudly by several feet. But, just
as she reached the one-mile mark, things began to change. She was running through a creek
bed, and there was a large stone obstructing her path. She wasn’t paying much attention to her
surroundings, and ran directly into it. Ouch! She collapsed to the ground, bleeding, losing the
race.