Friday, June 14, 2024

The winners in the Fond du Lac Public Library's Tiny Writing Contest have been named.

Each entry was inspired by a piece entered into the previous month's Tiny Art contest.

The winners, with their winning entries (and the inspiration for that entry, when available), include:

Kids category:

Judges' pick: Radiant Wings! by Brielle VB  

Dancing magically between the flowers and the sky,
Butterflies spreading wings of radiant rays of color that catches the eye!

An enchanting display in the breeze, 
A sudden splendor, fluttering and swirling, with simple ease. 

Darting and seeking brilliant bright flower petals, 
Searching to perch and to settle.

Taking a soaring fly as they dip,
Taking a sweet taste of sweetness to sip!

What an amazing sight, 
To watch a Butterfly’s flight!

 

Staff pick: Blossoming by Lucy B  

The cat, blossoming
on the tree.
White, shiny,
just enough for me.

        The cat, blossoming
on the grass.
White, shiny,

        The cat blossoming
and looking at

        The moon.
Blossoming.


Teens

Judges' pick: Cherry Blossom Sky by Grace S  

It was a hard climb, but it was worth it. The sun was going down, and I couldn’t wait to spend the beautiful moment with Simba. I’ve been looking forward to this all day, and now it came. Just three more branches and I’ll be there. When I got there, Simba wasn’t there. I waited patiently. That’s what cats do. They’re patient and cause mischief. 
“Hello. You beat me for once.” Simba said as he climbed onto the same branch as me. 
“I know. That never happens.” I laughed. Simba, despite what the lion looks like on the app with the mouse, isn’t yellow. He’s a black cat. 
“How was your day?” I asked, trying to keep the conversation going.
 “Pretty good. Yours?” he asked with a smile. His smile was so cute, it made me want to purr.
“Not too bad,” I said. “My owner was gone almost all day, so you know.”
“No, I don’t. I don’t have an owner.” He said that everytime I brought up my owner, so I knew he was teasing me.
“Yes, I know you don’t have an owner. I was just saying that you know what it feels like to be lonely and bored.” Now it was my turn to tease him.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever. So, besides being like me all day, what else did you do?”
“Nothing, really.”
“Cool. I need to talk to you about something.”
“What?”
“We need to break up. You’re a white cat, I’m a black cat, it’s just not a good mix.”
“Wait! Simba!” Then he left. He left me alone in the tree. With the sun almost all the way down, the sky looked beautiful. All I could think about was that Simba wasn’t here to enjoy it too. His loss.


Staff pick: A lament of metaphors in space by Vanessa R  

Even with how hard they try to change..
Neptune will always be bitter and cold to everyone as they shove them all away, when their only wish is to be loved. But, they are too bitter, it seems.
Uranus, ever since the collision, which made them tilted- will always seem odd for wanting to drift away from the Sun, who was their best friend.
Saturn made so many friends, they don’t know if they’re real or not. At least they’re not lonely anymore.

Jupiter, despite how much it worked for its dream, the tireless hours it spent working- it never had a real chance to be a star.
Mars was once so lively, now they’re so aloof and quick to rage. But as they curl into themselves, they start reminiscing on the many years ago when they were being altered. They can’t trust anyone now.
Earth is said to be loved, but when they finally open up- they are destroyed by those they trust. And slowly, overtime, they will destroy themselves in the end.
“Venus, despite being named after such a beautiful thing- is forever doomed to be harsh, even with its alluring appearance. It’s deadly.”

Mercury can only rely on the sun to help it, since they have nobody else around besides them, and the two are so ‘close’.
The Sun takes so much now, but it will eventually break itself to the point where it only makes everyone leave them. It isn’t intentional. They can’t help it. But they feel that it’s their fault.”
The Moon’s light doesn’t really exist. It’s just the Sun’s reflection. They aren’t as alluring as they appear when all they want is to be noticed for their achievements too.

And these facts will never change. 
It’s Kismet.

Adults

Judges' pick: A Smile by Lizzy S 

I was running late and the line at the checkout was long and the cashier was new. She was having trouble ringing up the bananas that the customer wanted. When she finally got a price, he vehemently shook his head, holding up his phone to show a coupon in the store’s app, and said something in Spanish. The woman in front of me sighed, mumbling, “And now, after the night shift, this,” to herself. I checked my watch.

At the front, confusion  rang out in two languages. A manager was called just as the boy in the cart behind me started whining to his dad that he was hungry. When he asked for the third time if he could have a candy bar, the father grimaced at me. I shrugged back.

By then the manager was arguing with the customer in broken Spanish, and I felt a brief shock of embarrassment that no one else knew the language, either. The man, still shaking his head, began to look defeated, the lines around his eyes more pronounced as he glanced at the line behind him.

At last, the manager, aware of the sighing and grumbling from the rest of the customers, told the cashier to give him the discount. The day continued.

I exchanged a relieved smile with the woman in front of me. Then I looked beyond her to the man packing his bananas in a paper bag. He caught my expression and returned it. A smile costs nothing. Humanity is so amazingly, wondrously diverse–all of us come from different backgrounds, have different upbringings, speak different languages, and hold different beliefs–sometimes I think it’s a miracle we get along at all. Sometimes, all it takes is a smile.

Staff pick: To my body by Madison B  

Many days you've spent hidden under the baggy clothes,
Some days I hated all of you from my head to my toes, 
many days I spent starving you and depriving you of fuel. 
I've told you I loved you, but in reality I didn't. 
I've spoken down to you and said the cruelest and harshest things, 
Just for me to expect you to carry me through every single day.
I've seen you in the mirror and cried at the sight, 
There were times I have hurt you and left many scars at night, 
I've broken every single promise I made to you, 
but here you are supporting me with everything so far. 
You never fail to amaze me with how truly amazing you really are. 
You never hold my faults and flaws against me,
You always seem to forgive me, 
And with that, I will spend the rest of my life in your debt.