Calling all creative writers! This is a column run by Averie Black to inspire readers to become writers. The column includes writing prompts, pieces written by the coordinators, and occasional submissions from readers.
This month: A short, witchy story by Averie Black, chapter 1 of Star-Bloom by JJ Norton, and a beautiful poem by Aralyah Killian.
Below is a set of prompts for different styles of writing beyond journalism. The idea is that you can create some kind of creative writing piece inspired by one of the prompts, but it doesn't have to be. You can submit any piece of writing you would like to share! All submissions should be school-appropriate. You can also suggest prompts to be featured in the next issue.
Here are some prompts to get you started. You can follow a prompt or submit a unique piece of work. The prompts can be used for anything, though some specify poetry or short stories. This month, the prompts are:
Describe an experience reconnecting with nature.
What do you think would happen if one of the elements (fire, water, air, earth) did not exist?
Write about a childhood memory from the perspective of a childhood toy.
Write about how it feels to look at the stars.
How would your guardian see you from their perspective?
If you have any prompt ideas in mind that you haven't seen on here yet or would like to see someone else respond to, then drop them in the Google Form below and I'll try to get them in the next issue! I sometimes don't see the response until after the issue is published, so I'm sorry if it takes a couple of months.
Faith peeked over the bubbling cauldron, a greenish-foamy substance threatening to glug over the edge.
"My stars!" Faith yelped, quickly reaching around the counter to find the right ingredient.
Her hand found the small jar of rosemary bumping against the mess of wax and spices. Quickly taking the cap off with her teeth, she dropped a pinch in the cauldron, keeping the liquid at bay. Faith let out a sigh of relief. She had been practicing for nearly thirty years, yet, she still always forgot the rosemary.
The toasty room had racks of spices lining the counters, and candles drooping their heads down like ashamed ghosts. The bright morning rays reflected through open kitchen windows, casting rainbows off of her sun catchers throughout the room. Faith picked up the jar of rosemary and tucked it carefully between the bottles of sunflower seeds and dried lemon peels. Her cotton slippers shuffled across the dark oak floor that was beginning to strip on the sides, revealing the tender, white heartwood. The house had been in her family for generations and replacing anything in it seemed foreign to her.
A sudden, small pressure wove itself around her ankles in a purring vibration. The black kitten, Lucky, jumped onto the counter, swishing his tail back and forth in a flicker. His big, yellow eyes shifting between snake-like slits to adoring saucers. It was half past 8 and, soon enough, he would get more aggressive with his breakfast demands.
If all went well, Lucky would never have to eat kibble again, but that was just hopeful thinking. Magic was a wild little creature, and Faith had never known a witch to fully tame it. It was her fourth attempt at this particularly tricky spell, but she would try as long as she had to.
Faith had spent so many sleepless nights contemplating whether or not she should even attempt the spell. Once she decided she would— her heart couldn’t handle failing. Faith took a wooden spoon and carefully poured some of the green liquid into her palm. It solidified into a gelatinous jelly within the second, and the texture made Faith want to scream.
"Psst, psst. Lucky, come here baby," Faith chirped in a tone reserved only for the cutest of animals.
She held out her palm as the kitten stumbled over to smell her offering. It took some convincing, but Lucky eventually succumbed to choking down the substance. He was far braver than her. Faith felt unethical for even offering it to the poor critter.
The witch took a few steps back, nervously awaiting the results. None of the failed attempts had ever done anything bad to him. They mostly just turned him pink for a couple of days, but there was always the possibility of something going terribly wrong. It was a small possibility but occupied the majority of her mind. After a few minutes, Lucky began hiccupping and looking around quite confused. Faith’s heart rate rose, but she tried not to get her hopes up. She plucked the kitten off the counter and released him to the floor. Faith tried to take a few steps back, but Lucky bounded after her feet.
It didn’t even take a blink of an eye before it was done. There was no poof of magic smog or a painful transformation process. It was quite simple, really. One moment, she had a kitten chasing after her feet, and the next, a young boy sitting on her kitchen floor. He couldn't have been older than 6. His black hair was in a tangle and bright, yellow eyes glowed like honey. Faith choked back tears. It worked. It finally worked. She kneeled to the ground, meeting his gaze, and smiling softly. Lucky's brow unfurrowed with a soft familiarity.
"Hi, Lucky. I'm Faith. Don't worry. I'm going to take care of you."
By Aralyah Killian
they say beauty is in the eyes of the beholder
but when your eyes are filled with tears
the picture becomes dim and foggy
and with every glance
her beauty fades
while suddenly you can see her clearer than ever before.
By JJ Norton
“Jasmine?” I jump up out of my seat and look at the woman at the door.
“Yes?” I smile and pick up my interview paper.
“Hato will see you now, Miss Jasmine.”
I smile and follow her into the business room. I see a man and am surprised. I thought Hato was a girl’s name.
“I see you think the same of my name,” I hear him say in a gentle tone and smile at me.
“W-what?” I was shocked.
“Many people who come in here expect a woman to be the CEO of my company because it's a female-like name and I haven't been shown to the public yet.” He walks towards me and pulls out a seat while talking, “but I changed my name since my parents ruined my real one.” He sits and leans towards me, grinning. “I am strong and can pull all those lies away though.”
I blush but walk over and take a seat across from him at the table. “T-that sounds reasonable and I understand but I wasn't judging. In fact, I think it's cool.” I set my papers down and push them over to Hato.
He takes them and his fingers brush mine. I jump and look away, but he does not notice. He reads my information. I look at the room and see that there is a closed door leading to another room. “Tell me, Jasmine.” I look back to his green, soft eyes. “Why do you want to work at my design company?”
I brush my blond hair out of my eyes. “I have always wanted to paint and get it looked at, but I never had money to start that way and become famous and wanted to start here.”
He messes with his short, chocolate-brown hair and seems to think for a minute.
Finally, he looks up and smiles. “Welcome to the team, Miss Jasmine. I hope you can handle hard work.”
I stand up and grin. “I can handle anything you want to throw at me, Hato.”
I set my box of things on my desk and smile. A new start after him and what he did to my life. It's time to forget the things that happened and start new. I am 19 years old and this is the age to find my way on my own. A hand taps my shoulder and I snap back to the present. I turn and see a man smiling.
“Hey! I’m Dan,” he says and hands me a cookie.
“Oh, hello Dan. I'm Jasmine.” I say and take the cookie a bit suspiciously.
He nods and goes to the desk next to me and sits down. The desk has pictures of his family. He seems like a nice man. I sit down and take things out of the box I had brought with me. First, I have my sketch pad, pencils, and other art supplies I might need and set them around. Due to starting so late into a project, the company is already working on I seem to have nothing to do. A lot of people might not trust me to help their projects. Maybe it's because I am new here. I don’t get the rules of how the project is supposed to be and they don't want me to make their job worse.
I walk onto the street and sigh. The past few days have been boring without being able to help out. I decide to just fill their coffee and get them snacks. My hours have just finished and I need to get home and feed my pets. My Uber reaches me and I wave. I open the door to get in and sit down.
“Where to, Miss?” A young guy says to me and glances back from the driver seat.
“Just drop me off at Oxton Park.” I glance out the window and watch us enter the road full of traffic. I feel a buzz in my pocket. Kara is texting me again. Same old drama about her boyfriend.
Texting Kara at 6:34 pm 09/09/24:
Kara: Guess what Gabe did this time!
Jasmine: What happened Kara?
Kara: He got drunk at a bar and took a girl home! It wasn’t me and he said he thought it was!
Jasmine: We have talked about those red flags. Just dump him.
Kara: What about Clara..?
I forgot to mention that she did, in fact, have a child of his, but he would take her away with his money if she broke up with him. Kara couldn’t leave her child behind.
We get to the park and hop out to pay the Uber. I walk past a few buildings and get to an apartment building with a few floors. I walk in and check my mailbox. My small neighbor's cat, named Little Moe, walks up to me and meows.
I smile and reach down and pet him. “Hey, Moe.” I walk up a staircase with Moe behind me. We reach my door and Moe gets one more pet in before he goes across the hallway to his house which has a small cat door built in.
The water boils and I add the pasta and stir it up. As that sits, I get some cheese and add it to make cheesy pasta. I pinch a few spices and basil leaves from my neighbor's home-owned plants. I finish up and get a bowl to put a small dish into. I find some plastic wrap to cover it up. I go across the hall and knock on the door.
The old lady (Mary) opens it a second later and smiles. “Got me some more homemade food for me, Dear?”
I nod. “Yes, cheesy pasta with basil on top.” I hand it over and Moe comes out and meows.
The lady laughs. “Little Moe says food time, as well.” She smiles at me. “Well, eat up, you old folks, and go to bed.”
I laugh. “Have a good night, Mary.” She smiles and says thanks as I head over to my apartment.
I finish dinner and go to my living room to check on my pet: a small snake, but I am getting a small kitten soon, so that's good. I head over to my snake (Merrisa). “Hi, Merry,” I say and smile.
She flicks her reptile tongue and me. I reach over and turn on her heat lamp to keep her warm at night. I head to my bedroom and get ready for bed by first brushing my hair and teeth and getting into my comfy clothes. I hop into bed, happy to relax after a busy day. Well, not a very very busy day, really. It was kind of boring. I feel my eyes doze off and fall asleep.
I am awakened to a strange bang in the night. “W..what was that.” I am still half-asleep.
I check the time and it is exactly 12:00 a.m. I stumble out of bed and go to check it out, just to make sure nothing is harmed or taken by burglars. I wake to the living room and see everything is fine. Suddenly, I see a strange light coming from underneath a storage closet that I never use. I stare and rub my eyes and pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming and it makes me feel 10 years old again. I slowly and quietly walk over to the closet and touch the doorknob. Weird. It's very warm. Like on a sunny day and not a cold night. I am about to twist it when it swings open on itself instead.
The light from the door blinds me for a minute and I close my eyes. I open them again and the light dims down and I see a fantasy kind of sight. A meadow full of rare kinds of flowers and strange animals flying and walking all around. I want to step in, but I feel strange to see something so beautiful and not human-like that it feels like a prank. I sigh and close the closet door. I head back to bed, saying that this is a one-time thing. It is just too good to be true.
My clock wakes me up at the dot of 6:00 p.m. It feels like I only got a few minutes of sleep, though, it was about four hours. I stayed up thinking of the closet portal that happened and had a part of me that wished I went through it. I rub my eyes and sigh because it's another day of work. Although it seems fun and relaxed right now, it gets boring real fast. I mean, yes, I only went to college for two years. Even though I started college early, that was because of family issues and my so-called ex. He made me feel less of myself and made me do two years of college, resulting in a bad degree.
"I am ready for a new life," I say to myself as I walk out the door and find Moe there, ready to walk me downstairs. Such a gentleman he is. I walk with him out front, where he meows goodbye and goes down the sidewalk on his own adventure. My Uber drops me off at the building's front doors and I pay him a tip for being so nice, even with too much traffic. I am up to my desk when I realize that I have a huge stack of papers on my desk. I look at Dan and he just shrugs and goes back to work. I walk over to Hato’s office and knock.
“Enter.”
I step in and he looks up and smiles. “Ah, our newbie, Miss Jasmine. How may I help you?”
I smile back. “I have paper on my desk that I wasn't told about?” I say, slightly confused.
“Oh, that. Just go through those papers and find errors in typing and misspelling. I hope that is okay?” I nod and put on a fake smile. Another stupid job to throw at me. I want to draw. To make things like the others.
I finish at 11:46 p.m. and sigh. I couldn’t make dinner for Mary tonight. I, of course, texted her the reason why. I put my things away and realize there are no more Uber’s this late that go for cheap. I put my hands in my face.
“Hey Jasmine?” I look up to see Dan's face close and flinch a little bit. “Need a ride?” His smile is concerning, but I may just be tired.
“Sure…Thanks.” I get up with my coat and bag. He nods to the parking lot and I smile tiredly and follow. We get into his car and I fall asleep.
We reach my apartment and I say goodbye. Then, I walk up to my house and check my watch. 11:59 p.m. Almost midnight. I sit on the couch and set my things down. Suddenly, the closet door opens and the light is shining again, seeming to ask me to come into the portal and the warm sunshine. I glance down at my skirt and shirt and shrug. I may as well live a dream before I get old and grumpy.
I reach the closet doorway and take a deep breath before stepping forward and I am warmed. The sunshine is warm with a bit of wind. It's perfect and out of a fairy tale. I walk in the warm grass and smile. Looking behind me, I cry out in surprise. The door of the closet is gone. I panic and realize I'm not dreaming but stuck in another world. I hear loud footsteps like a horse coming near but strange and not a horse at all. I spin around and find myself face-to-face with a creature: scary but beautiful. It has dragon wings but a horse-like body.
“Ma’am?” A male voice with an accent says from on top of the creature.
“Can you back away from my Hao?” I look up shocked by a handsome face and he looks confused.
“What's Hao?” I am still in shock of the creature being so close.
“This Hao is what I miss riding. Are you not from around here?” I shake my head and he frowns.
“Well, Haos are a pet that a lot of people choose as a companion and form a bond with in their minds.” I step back from the Hao and nod. “My Hao’s name is Fala and she likes you for some reason.” As is on cue, she makes a roaring noise, but it is gentle.
I walk beside Fala as the man follows me and won’t leave me alone. “You don’t even know where you are going,” he says in an annoyed tone.
I scuff and don’t answer and continue walking away. The grass brushes my bare legs and other strange creatures rush past me. I squeal and jump when one bumps me.
“Miss, you aren’t even dressed for this area!” He glances at me and looks at my outfit.
“So what? I don’t care!” I snap at him and glare. He rolls his eyes and Fala snorts to match his mood. Fala’s scales shine a gold color in the sunlight.
I feel the urge to feel them and see if they are as smooth as they look. I put more distance between us to try and not think about that. I stumble over a tree root and yelp out loud.
“Be careful, miss. You don’t want mud in that pretty face.” I look back and his face is as smug as his tone.
“Wipe that look off your face right now!” I yell and spin around to glare at him.
“Why?” He fakes being innocent. “Just get on. I will give you a ride to town.”
I narrow my eyes.
“And get kidnapped? No thanks!” I say and turn to walk some more.
Fala steps in front of me and I stop. I look up at his face again and try to move around him. He just moves Fala in my way again and I want to scream at him. I stay calm and finally agrees to the ride.
“So, where to, mysterious lady?” He says in front of me on Fala.
I shrug and look as the trees pass. “I am not sure.”
He glances over his shoulder and sighs. “To my place, I guess then. Get you washed up and good clothes.” He looks ahead again.
I glance down at myself and see that I have mud on my clothes and rips everywhere. Even a few cuts on my legs from sharp thorns in the bushes I pasted. I nod and go back to the beautiful passing meadow. We have gotten onto a dirt road made by other people riding Haos? Maybe even old fashion carts of travelers?
I hear the sound of the town before we even go over the mountain. When we get into the view of the town, I gasp at the sight of it. It reminds me of medieval times. With the houses and the market that is going on at the moment. We reach a gate before we enter the town and I realize that it's a checkpoint. We stop as a guard comes up to us.
“Ellis, good to see you back home. Your mom was worried sick.” So the man's name is Ellis. “Brought back a beautiful lady I saw. From where?” I am surprised that I snap out of my daze and look at the guard.
“Oh, you know. Out in the wild type.” I am full of rage at the way Ellis says this and I glare at him.
I can feel him laugh in front of me. Suddenly, he gets off the Hao and takes Fala reins. The guard smiles and waves us forward. With Ellis walking instead of riding us forward, we enter the town slowly. I hear sellers shout out as we pass by.
“Get you fruit! Get your fruit! Straight from the best farm!” I zone them out and just look at the town folks passing by.
Ellis smiles and says greetings to many people as we pass. I can feel their eyes on me and their thoughts, as well. They may as well be asking why a wild looking woman is on Ellis’s Hao. I just stare back and try to not be nervous of the crowd we pass by. We reach a few houses and stop. Ellis looks up at me and smiles.
“Let’s get you a fitting for new clothes, Miss.”
I nod and he holds out his hand to help me down from Fala. I hesitate and take it but still stumble. He catches me and I shyly mumble thanks. He sets me down gently and nods. As we enter the house, I see so many clothes that I'm shocked.
