Kids

First Place

The Bully
Billy knew this was going to happen—it happened every day. He felt the same darned trickle of sweat race down his left cheek. Billy looked up at the face. It was a frightening sight. Finally, he reached down into his back pocket and gave the money to the tree trunk of a body. He had to tell someone.

by Delaney Cox

Delaney is a multitalented 11-year-old, all right. The fifth-grader at Shasta Elementary won first place in a local spelling bee last month, is an actress and can write, too. Her father encouraged her to enter the Fiction 59 contest, and we're sure glad she did.

Second Place

Super Hero Me
Sunday morning comics make me think, “Why doesn’t the world have super heroes?” I’ll be one. My rainbow blanket becomes a cape. Scissors create eye holes in my purple bandana. I look the part. I am the part. Strong, courageous, and powerful, ready to make the world a better place. Then I remembered, who do I have to save?

by Kara Kremer

Kara is 12 years old and is in sixth grade at Chico Country Day School. Her English teacher challenged the class to enter the Fiction 59 contest, and Kara, a lover of writing, went for it.

Third Place

Chocolate Ice Cream
One scoop, two. The little girl liked the sound of it. That was how I heard it, hoping she would not spill any on me. That’s right. Me, splattered with chocolate ice cream. She reaches for her cone, drops me, and I lay, a limp rag doll forgotten. She finds me and spills the chocolate ice cream yet again.

by Lucy Sandoe

Lucy, 10, is a fifth-grader at Blue Oak Charter School. She says this is her first time entering a fiction contest, but she absolutely loves to write.

Honorable mention

Binary
Womp, womp, womp … The man was scared. He knew he shouldn’t be where he was. That throbbing noise was driving him insane, taking control of him. Yet the offer had sounded so tempting. Infiltrate the complex, steal the tech, easy. Then, BOOM! Everything went black. The last thing he saw was a smiling face appearing on his computer screen.

by Ryan Martin
11

Spaceship
Sure it seems cool to fly to the moon in a modern spaceship. But wouldn’t it be nicer to walk up to the moon in your pajamas and play it like a drum? To twirl the bright stars in the dark velvety night sky? It is pollution free and free moneywise. You are reckless, unstoppable, you and your imagination.

by Violeta Quezada
10

The Whale
Phil was standing on the beach, gazing at the colossal whale that had washed up on the shore. He wondered how a creature could get that big. A security officer tapped him on the shoulder and told him that he had to go to the parking lot. Phil went and when he got there, he heard a huge explosion.

by Theodore Greenfield
11

The Pearl Shell
As I stroll down the beach, the horizon glows pinky-orange and the sea shimmers under velvety foam, rising to fluffy peaks and gliding across the shining sand. I see a beautiful shell. It is glossy white like a pearl with brown stripes and a glistening purple center. I pick it up, knowing we’re going to be best friends.

by Simone Hammett-Lynch
10