WRiting Contest #3

Junior Category Winning SUbmissions

Hear a Caged Bird Song
By Selina Wang
First Place, Intermediate Category

What will a life without the bars be like?
What will freedom be like?

I struggle to see through the bars of my cage. The chain that ties my feet to the
cage clinks as I stalk around, trying to get a view of the wide landscape beyond my world of a jail cell.

Finally, I find a position that is comparatively comfortable and peer out at the beautiful rolling hills, bathed in the orange dawn light. Nearby, a creek runs gently over smooth pebbles, its water glittering softly. The symphony of leaves rustling, water splashing, and the wind’s lovely whispers tugs at my heartstrings, arousing an ancient instinct inside me. Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes and sing.

What will a life without the bars be like?
What will freedom be like?

I sing of how I desire to glide in the gentle breeze, to dip my wings in the cool water of the stream. I sing of the feeling of tender leaves on the tips of my wings, and how I would like to watch the sun rise on the hill, coating everything in its brilliant golden glow. I sing of the excitement of being outside, I sing of freedom.
My heart soars along with my voice, sweetly sad, floating up towards the distant hills. My wings flutter, a hopeful metronome to my song. I can almost feel my weight, lifting off, away from the dreadful cage, and then I’ll be free, free at last—
A tear slides down my cheek as I sing of my dream, of wonder, of hope, of freedom.

What will a life without the bars be like?
What will freedom be like?

Moving Houses
By Kaitlin Chen
Second Place, Intermediate Category

hand out, open the smooth bronze-coloured car door.
easy.
right?

i reach out my shaking hand,
afraid to say goodbye to a house
i’ve known for more than half my life.

i know every paint-chipped corner
every crack in every door
every lock on every handle.

i remember picking at the paint
tracing the cracks that would give me splinters
trying to open each lock.

after years of walking home from school,
skipping down its hallways,
and falling off the staircases.

Falling Colours
By Isabella Shen
Third Place, Intermediate Category

In the afterlife of summer,
Let’s say in the life of a farmer,
After the scorching mid-year sun,
With the blast of a bullet from the end of a gun,
The switch flips,
To welcome the wind that whips,
Blowing a message over the land,
From the dry trees to the sun-baked sand,
Summer is over.

The message reaches the farmer first,
Who harvests his crops to avoid the worst,
And then spreads to the animals of the air,
Who will lift off without lifting a hair,
Next will come the earnest salmon,
They will make sure the bears survive a famine,
Talking about the hungry animals of the land,
Who will sleep through months as they planned,
Must eat their fill,
Much bigger than a pill,
And then the trees and plants,
Some larger than skis and pants,
Will feel it in their veins
And as if they had brains,
The message will spread to leaves
And replacing it with the colors of a sunset
All shimmering in the fading sun without a sweat
And then they will fall
But unlike noisy children down a hall,
These leaves fall gracefully,
And rather not hastily,
These leaves fall quietly,
And without anxiety,
Together, movements of the birds, the animals, Mother Nature,
Might not seem exactly major,
But look more closely,
And you’ll see the autumn composer,
In all of the things,
Connected like strings,
Like a sunset’s last reflection on the ocean,
Making the world a new potion.
A world of falling colors.

THE END

Change
By Sharon Chen
Honourable Mention, Intermediate Category

Change, such a wonderful word
A word that is hungry for growth
A word that keeps an open mind
A word that I hate…

Change, such a beautiful word
A word so curious you can’t express with words
A word so confident it is not afraid of anything
A word so crazy I feel like I'm going to explode!

Change, such a superior word
A word that learns
A word that makes futures more bright
A word that makes me nervous

Change, a better self
A self that evolves
A self that changes…
So maybe I should give it a try?

Daylight Saving Time
By Emma Shen
Honourable Mention, Intimidate Category

We twist the clocks one hour back,
And watch the day fade to black.
When the moon is still out,
The sun rises up and we all shout,
We shout for everything we care about.

During the winter we can sleep one more hour
But in the summer you wake up with a mood so sour.
You stay in the bed cramped up because of how you feel,
It will definitely take more than 2 days to heal,
But you can take a day off, and call your friends, so that’s the deal.

Acer
By Catherine Zhu
Honourable Mention, Intermediate Category

The withering moments
…before I fall
Far down onto the ground

I remember
…how the wind blew
… and the rain fell
I remember
… the glistening light of the sun
… falling upon us
I remember
… I was only a little sprout one of many thousands
I remember
… The crisp Autumn air
…The cold winter snow
Each of us every single one ready to take off to explore the world

I remember
…falling
to
the
ground
ready
to
begin a new life