The Treasure Hunt

by Maddan Reese Eisenberg
It all started outside Maddan’s house with Jake, Ava, and Maddan (aka J.A.M.). They went to get some ice cream at the Grom at 76th street and Broadway. Then they saw something strange. They saw a sign outside Grom that said, “Taerg erusaert. Reveohw sdinf ti tsrif steg ot peek ti.” They wondered what it meant.

Elinor Saves the Gingerbread King

by Noora Sullivan
There once was a little girl named Elinor, and one day she saw a gingerbread man lying on her kitchen floor. He was about two inches long and had little gumballs for eyes, an upside-down candy cane for his nose, a tiny piece of a watermelon for his mouth, and some blue icing for the buttons of his shirt.

Billy, Coop, and the Parallel Portal

by Graham McGuffin
I was never a normal kid. I was always bullied in school. I was never as smart as everyone else. I had only one friend– Billy, my Guinea pig. Cooper McConner, that’s my name.

Lucy and the Book

by Mary-Kate Wilson
Once there lived a little girl named Lucy. She had long silky blond hair that reached her toes and creamy white skin. Lucy had a rich father and she lived in a very big palace. The palace was very old and smelled like moldy cheese.

2012

by Benjamin Lepson
I, Zack, live in California with my two children, Jake and Gretchen. They are both twins. I also live with my wife, Sara. We’ve been married for 13 years. I am a scientist. I study the future.
That day when I went to work, my friend Dylan, another scientist, said, “Look at what I found.”

A Bar With Carl Luce

by Altana

Reaching,
for life.
Anyone,
willing to listen.
To talk.
To be.

Burned Bridges

by Sara Rosin

Chapter 1: Stories

I was never really adventurous. Sure, I read books about people going on courageous adventures, and I listened to Crazy Billy’s stories every other day, but I’d never really been on an adventure and never really thought so much about it. I wished I was more adventurous and resourceful. Then I could escape this awful city forever.

The Explosion of The World

by Walter Graham
It was a really hot day out on June 23. It was the year 5,483,295. The temperature was 120 degrees. Some people thought that it was global warming. Some people thought that it was just a heat wave. But a lot of people feared that it could be time for the world to explode. It continued to get hotter every day. Once, around the whole world a faint shaking was felt.

Snuggles the Puppy

by Saachi Khanna
The next morning when Susie woke up her eyes fell on Snuggles. He was taller than he had been last night, and she didn’t like big dogs. She shouted to her mother, who arrived in less than a minute. “Look!” Susie said. “I see.” her mother replied.

Summer With A Splash of Snowflake

by Ali Levinson
“Meow.” The rough tongue of Lola’s cat scrapes against my cheek, waking me up. I pick Snowflake up and place her on my lap. I lazily throw the blankets off of me and climb down the ladder of the bunk-bed. I squat down, looking into the lower bunk to see if Lola’s still sleeping. To my surprise, she isn’t even there.

The Ball That Really Isn’t Perfect

by Kimberly Rogers
“I found it!” she cried. She dug furiously for a while. Banana mush was flying everywhere. Her finger hit something rubber. She moved her hand so that it was around the rubber thing. She pulled it from the ground and held it in her hand. A sudden tingling feeling spread from her fingers down her spine to her toes.

Stuck In His Head

by Esme Fox
I picked up my favorite book, Alice and Wonderland, and opened it. But as soon as I opened it all the letters on the page started swirling before my eyes. I started panicking, huffing, puffing, sweating and crying, all at once. Because when I closed the book it turned swirly too! Then I looked at the clock, hoping this was all a bad dream. But even the clock was swirly.