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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story that begins and ends with someone looking up at the stars.

Posted in Middle School on Oct 28, 2022

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✍️ 405 stories

“Shooting Stars” by Genki Hagata

Submitted to Contest #51

The first time we drove far into the mountains to camp away from the city lights and countless streetlights of the suburbs, I was shocked at what the night sky actually looked like. I remember trying to wrap my 8-year-old brain around the fact that they were always there, even at my own house, just hidden by artificial light. My mother would constantly pull out random facts or bring up hobbies I never knew she had. One of which happened to be astrophotography. She taught me that you could take pictures of the night sky, over minutes, over ho...

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“If They Come, They Will Come From the Stars” by Christina Vasquez

Submitted to Contest #51

Alessandra never knew much about the stars— after all, her father always said astronomy was just speculation, laced with cautionary footnotes about what its study would do to one’s psyche if investigated too eagerly. It was not worth pause, not today in 2054, and certainly not in the future. What lay in the stars, among and behind them, did not matter when the ground beneath men shifted and melted as they walked, and the line between earth and metal and Hell grew thinner each year. She still liked to look at them, in the way she could. But t...

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“On Edge” by Shawn O'Connor

Submitted to Contest #51

The night sky was crystal clear for the first time in what felt like a month. It was the rainy season, which was underselling the experience a bit referring to it as simply, “rainy”. It certainly felt appropriate to refer to it as a season though since, apart from tonight, it felt like it would last months. As nice as it was to have a view of the stars for once, the cover provided by the storms was more important to the mission. Denver tilted his head back down slowly and began to scan the tree line with his eyes. The jungle, though it provi...

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“Grandma's Memorial” by Jessica Buford

Submitted to Contest #51

Have you ever returned to the favorite camping spot of your childhood in your mid twenties, and for the first time in a long time since you moved across the country from your hometown noticed the innumerable stars in the night sky? Then you leaned over to your now adult sister and said, “Something deep and meaningful.” To which she looked over at you and said, “What?” Then you realize the frogs in the pond and the crickets in the woods are so loud that you might as well be sitting in that trendy new bar at the crappy table by the speakers o...

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“Blurry” by Harvest Lechler

Submitted to Contest #51

Tiny white dots of blur, hanging high up above him. He rubbed his eyes and put his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose. The stars cleared. He saw the big dipper, Cleopatra, and the whole milky way. Clear as crystal. The stars were his favorite. They were always there for him, always by his side. Always willing to hear him out, and just listen, not criticizing or offering judgement. They always brought him a feeling of comfort and place. Well almost always. Unless he let his mind wander to the fact that some of those beautiful stars were...

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“Stars Align” by Savannagh Martinez

Submitted to Contest #51

Starr Casilla always knew that there was something greater than herself. A feeling like no other and she felt that looking at the stars. When she was younger, her mom would always say to her, "a veces la estrella que está sola brilla más brillante, pero cuando dos estrellas brillantes se juntan, solo brillan más". It meant, "Sometimes the star that is alone shines the brightest, but when two bright stars come together, they only shine brighter." That always stuck with her because her mom said that's what happens when you fall in love. Two st...

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“FLOAT” by Tawnee Brooke

Submitted to Contest #51

Have you ever looked into the stars for so long that you felt like you were floating? As if you have lost your grip on reality and nothing matters anymore? Just me?  Above me the infinite universe remained dark, unyielding, and so beautiful. Lake water splashes on my toes, the only thing grounding me to Earth.  Two nights ago I sat in this spot with Scarlett for the last time, I gazed at the stars with her for the last time, and I held her for the last time that day too.  ~ “How could the stars be so beautiful Scarle...

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“A Family in the Stars” by Rayana Bhojanapalli

Submitted to Contest #51

“Look at that one! Ooh, and that one!”I chuckled. “Yeah, the stars are shining just for you, Anns.”We were sitting on the trampoline in our backyard. Since it was a family tradition to look at the stars and see if we can find the star that the dead become after a family member passes, we decided to do it for Mom. She had passed a couple weeks before and the cremation was coming up tomorrow. It was still hard to think that Mom wouldn’t be with us anymore, but I was grateful that I still had my little sister. I don’t know what I’d do without h...

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“The Guiding angel stars” by Jacklyn Pang

Submitted to Contest #51

The Guardian star in COVID night The door flung open! By the two sides of a path, there are tons of groceries There is three stacks of rice, many can of meat, sausages, and there is a stack of toilet rolls, toothpaste and even tea towels. Jacklyn thought her mum having another new business idea. She walks to the fridge, and couldn’t find her favourite lime juice. “ Mum! Don’t you think you go overboard? “ Aiyoh! You never know what like without food. Grandma told me of Japanese war” retort Mrs Huang. Jacklyn scowled at the reply ...

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“The Trail” by Eric Hubbard

Submitted to Contest #51

Falling backwards isn't as fun as one would think, even with a sky full of glittering stars. Falling backwards is actually quite terrifying. Especially when you trip over something in the dark. All these thoughts rushed through Jeremiah's mind as he lay on his back, pain rolling through his body in pounding waves. He lay still for a moment, mentally taking inventory of his body. Everything seemed okay, as in nothing was broken too badly. He focused on the moon above and pushed through the pain, raising himself to a sitting position. This i...

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“Light Years Away” by Taryn St. Clair

Submitted to Contest #51

The dazzling lights of the stars filled the empty sky as he looked up at it; his breath heavy as he clutched at his knees, breathless. I made it.  “Come, David. It’s time to go home.” His mother’s voice was soft spoken but assertive as she clutched at his small hand, smirking as she followed his gaze. She knew that the sky had always fascinated her son; the dreams he had filled with the alluring secrets that space had to offer, his imagination brimming with the abundance of information he hoped one day he would discover. The overwhelm...

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“The Dark” by Willow Hirst

Submitted to Contest #51

Darkness, it enveloped her as she sat on the wet grass staring at the sky ahead. It was cloudy that night, too cloudy. A faint glimmer of the dying stars above cast a shallow glow across her sunken face. The slow breeze sent a shiver down her neck as she sat expressionlessly waiting.  She was tired, too tired, but she couldn't rest. Not yet anyway. She had a mission to complete that was far from over. Tomorrow she would be going to space. When the time came to leave it wasn't the take-off that was most frightening, nor was it the though...

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“Kiss the stars with me ” by Candy Kent

Submitted to Contest #51

The crisp evening air kisses my skin leaving a trail of goosebumps behind its icy touch, the soft woven blanket beneath warming my back. My eyes filled  with the light of what seemed like a thousand stars.The night time breeze whispering in the trees and around me the smell of apples fills the air and lands on my lips.  It was a beautifully warm and clear summer day, out on the green grass below the biggest apple tree, I laid down on a silver fluffy blanket and matching pillow. With my newest romance novel in hand, to add to my e...

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“Outcrop Under Stars” by J.H. Rudolph

Submitted to Contest #51

Hamilton’s back met the pebbled ground with a heavy whump, followed by a low groan emitted from Hamilton’s mouth. As pulsing waves of pain punched into his spine and left hip, he found it hard to see through the fresh tears in his eyes; yet he kept them wide open, searching frantically for whatever it was that had launched him out into the brisk air. His eyes, however, only found stars, both those found far away in the depths of space along with those manufactured by his rattled brain. Only twenty minutes ago, he had been hiking...

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“The Sky is Not Empty” by Katie Moyes

Submitted to Contest #51

“See those three stars in a row? Those are Orion’s belt. There’s his shoulder and his sword.” Robert pointed a wrinkled, yet steady hand into the sky. “Grandpa, what are the stars? Are there really people in the sky?” Tyler stared up in wonder. “No, no, no. They’re really big, burning balls of gas millions of miles away. People just made up stories to help them remember what stars are where. Because if you know what to look for, the stars can tell you a lot. Like how to find your way home at night” “Well, why didn’t the people’s just use ...

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