[By Thisbe McMichael, Killington Elementary School] Vespae had something to do with wasps. She could speak to the bugs. Vespae even had little shiny wings. No one knew about them but her, of course.

The soil gently shifted around the straw thin roots of the sprouting pine. Up, down, left, right, as a wormlet wiggled by. But as they passed, their tough roots, their fragile skin brushed against each other, like a brush stroke on a canvas.

I woke up, knowing something was wrong, and heard something strange whooshing sound. I raced to the window, and my breath caught, my heart ripping through my chest.

the night rules this land,
forever.
most creatures die of fright and want of light,
but not the girl.

the name the darkness gave her: Ciaran.

the wind whispers, "child of darkness, Ciaran her name,"

I’m only up half the tree when the branch above me breaks. I scream for a second, because that was my next hold.

Hello, my name is Morticia. I live in Chill Hollow, on the outskirts of Nebraska. I am twelve years old. My zodiac sign is Scorpio. I live with my two parents, little sister and pets. Normal right… Not me.