Tuesday, October 10, 2023

3rd Annual Write the Hook Contest

The Library's 3rd annual Write the Hook contest is open! Write your hook for a story. What's a hook? A hook is the beginning lines or pages of a story written to hook the reader's attention. A hook impels the reader to want to continue reading to find out what happens next. We can't wait to read this year's entries!

 Link to the Online Entry Form 

 
🖉🖉 Contest Rules 🖉🖉
  • Write the hook for the beginning of something longer; for the start of a story.
  • Open to teens in grades 6 to 12, who are residents of Essex County in Massachusetts.
  • Entry must be your original work and have a word count between 300(minimum) and 1,200(maximum)words.  
  • Maximum of 1 entry per author.
  • Give your story hook a title. 
  • Entries due by midnight, Sunday, December 31, 2023.

The preferred method for story submission is via the online contest entry form

Entries will also be accepted in paper form, but it must be typed in 12 point Times New Roman font on 8.5"x 11" paper. If you submit your entry on paper you must include on the back of the last page: your first and last name, grade level, phone number, email, and word count. Paper entries that do not follow the above guidelines will be disqualified.

Our contest judges will use a rubric that scores points based on:
  • Length: Is the entry between the minimum and maximum word count?
  • Story Hook: Does the writing hook you? Do you want to find out what happens next?
  • Character(s): Is/are the character(s) clearly described?
  • Writing: Does the word choice convey a clear picture? 
  • Grammar: How is the spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc.?
  • Creativity!: original ideas? surprising? imaginative?
 
 $ Cash Prizes to be Awarded $
Prizes are funded by the Friends of the Hamilton-Wenham Library.
First $60, and Second $40, place cash prizes awarded to: 
Writers in Grades 6-8
Writers in Grades 9-12
 
Contest winners and any honorable mentions will be announced in January 2024, both on this blog and individually to the winners. Winning stories, along with author's name and grade level, will be published here on the Library's Informed Teens blog.

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

Otherworldly October Thursdays

It's almost here - our Otherworldly October event series! Please join us for a series of magical & mysterious programs in October. Every Thursday evening there will be an event for teens & adults to enjoy in celebration of the Fall season.

Spirits of the Bay State: The Ghosts of Massachusetts with Roxie Zwicker
Thursday, October 5, 6:00—7:30 PM 
On October 5, join us to learn about the ghosts of Massachusetts in a spine-chilling presentation by “New England’s Scary Godmother” and "mystery maven," Roxie Zwicker. The Bay State is home to some of the most historic places in America, what ghostly stories can be found walking down its many old roads and highways? Find curious abandoned places, haunted beaches, tavern ghosts and eerie cemeteries. Take a spirited journey highlighting stops in many local cities and towns as we explore stories & legends of mysterious area haunts.

Intro to Tarot for Teens & Adults
Thursday, October 12, 6:00—7:30 PM

Join tarot teacher, Laura Campagna, for a fun workshop on how to read tarot. No experience necessary. Participants will connect with their intuition and gain confidence in reading for themselves or friends. Each guest will receive a Smith-Waite tarot deck to keep. Please bring a journal to use during the workshop. If you don't have one, no worries, there will be pens and paper available for use.
This workshop is open to teens (ages 13+) and adults. 
Registration required, space is limited.

Autumn Lantern Craft

Thursday, October 19, 6:00—7:30 PM
           On October 19th, join us to make an autumnal mason jar lantern. Bring a little light to the longer nights with this cozy craft. All supplies are provided, and patrons will leave with a finished lantern & flame-less votive candle. This workshop is open to teens and adults. Registration required, space is limited.
Thursday, October 26, 6:00—7:45 PM
                   Drop in for a screening of The Addams Family (1991, Rated PG-13).  Synopsis: A stranger shows up on the Addams' doorstep, claiming to be a long-lost uncle. However, he is really a ringer in cahoots with a lawyer; and the two are trying to dupe the ghoulish family out of their fortune.

Thursday, August 17, 2023

Graffiti Art Contest Winners

Congratulations to our Graffiti Art Contest winners!! There were 9 paintings entered in the contest. Over the past 4 weeks 192 votes were cast. Claire Adler received the most votes for Best Use of Color. Kai Geraghty-Sari received the most votes for Best Design, and Sam Bourque received the most votes for Originality.

Wednesday, August 2, 2023

August and Beyond

We've got two weeks to go in our summer reading programs - but, despair not, you can still register on our Beanstack platform and have a chance to win a prize. Speaking of prizes please drop by the teen area and vote for three of the graffiti paintings on display. I'll be announcing the contest winners here. Visit the Library to cast your votes on Saturday August 12, and enjoy an hour long indie-pop acoustic concert with singer-songwriter Peryle! Concert will start at 2:00pm. Peryle's songs are personal & introspective, often reflecting on love, loss, & self-discovery. Recently, Peryle unveiled her first single, Story. Hear for yourself why her voice & songwriting captivate audiences!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beginning August 15, you can sign up for the Chess Club that starts September 20. There will be 8 Wednesday afternoon sessions for beginning or intermediate players, ages 8 to 13. Find out more information and sign up for the beginner or intermediate session here. Space is limited to 10 participants, registration is required.

Coming up in October the Adult Services Librarian and I are collaborating on running a 4 week series of programs for teens and adults we're calling Otherworldly October, featuring a tarot workshop, New England ghost stories, and more. Check back, I'll be posting details soon.

Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Summer!

Find Your Voice this Summer--Programs start June 24 and continue through August 10. To register visit the Library's Calendar of Events and click on the workshop you'd like to attend. This year's summer reading challenge on our Beanstack platform also starts June 24. The challenge runs for 7 weeks with weekly raffle drawings for gift certificates to local businesses. You may enter the challenge at any time during the 7 weeks. Find out more information here. If you earn the reading challenge completion badge, you will be entered into an extra drawing in August for a fun goody bag and surprise gift certificate (there's already been a request for the Lego store...so maybe that will be in the goody bag or maybe something else...). The weekly drawings and winners are posted here.

 



Wednesday, January 25, 2023

Teen Programs Preview

Save the Dates!

Here are teen programs coming up at the Library - 

we're already stacking them up for summer!

Click the picture to register.

 
Play D&D with Erick of Quest Master's Guild: We’ll make all the characters together at session one. No need to bring your own. We'll start at level 3, Max HP. You will have a choice of setting; whichever the majority wants to do from the following (in difficulty order): Fungeons and Flagons, Settling Debt, Seven Plunders of the World, Sunset on Avalon, Rime or Reason. Meets Saturdays every 3 weeks for 2 hours: February 18, March 11, April 1, April 22, May 13.  For teens in grades 6 through 12. Beginner's welcome. Registration required.
 
 
 Join us for a class on making Ukrainian eggs (Pysanky). Open to teens in grades 6 through 12.  Presented by Kati Bourque, (Head of Technical Services here at the Library). All supplies provided. Workshop is limited to 15 participants. Registration is required. 
 
 
 
Try your hand at graffiti. We'll supply the paint and a 30x40 inch canvas. All artwork will be displayed on the walls of the Library's teen area during our Find Your Voice summer reading program. During that time artwork will be voted on by teens and visitors to the exhibit; some prizes will be awarded. For teens entering grades 6 to 12 in Fall 2023.  Registration opens Saturday, June 3.

 ICNHA Certified Henna Artist Mandy Roberge will be here for this two hour session  for teens entering grades 6 to 12 in Fall 2023. Come chill to some beats, color a mandala, meet friends, & leave with a wicked good henna tattoo. Sign-up for a tattoo on the day. Tattoos will be done first come, first served, as time allows. Tattoos take approximately 5-10 minutes each to complete. 
 
 
 Make a Duckie Soap [Teen session]
Make your own soapy creation and add your choice of duckie, then take your handmade creation home. It can be removed from the mold the following day and used right away.
For teens entering grades 6 to 12 in Fall 2023.  Registration opens Saturday, June 3.
 
 
Make a Clay Yeti Luminaria

Craft a cute yeti with air dry clay. Make the body from a pinch pot and hand-build the arms, horns and a toothy smile, then paint it. Glowing from within is a battery-operated candle that illuminates the face. Battery-operated candle included.
For teens entering grades 6 to 12 in Fall 2023.  Registration opens Saturday, June 3.

Palmistry PaintingDivine your fortune when you paint this mystical canvas painting project. Paint a hand with a legend of the lines, and an eye with wings. Follow along with Pop up Art School to learn brush techniques and how to mix colors.  
For teens entering grades 6 to 12 in Fall 2023.  Registration opens Saturday, June 3.
 
 
 

Make a wire tree sculpture with Ryan Kelley. Bring your own rock (about the size of an adult sized closed fist) to use for the tree base to the workshop. Open to teens entering grades 6 to 12 in Fall 2023, and to adults.
Registration opens Saturday, June 3.

 

Tuesday, January 24, 2023

Reading Club

                                                         Join a relaxed and fun reading club for teens(grades 9-12). There's no pressure to read any book in particular. Just share what you are reading, talk about books, and read. That's it! Oh, and sometimes freshly baked cookies are involved. Teen-led by reading & baking enthusiast Katarina. 
 
Meet in the Local History Room on the 2nd floor of the Library,  Thursdays, 3pm to 4pm. Check the Library's Calendar of Events for meeting dates (no meeting the week between Christmas & New Year's).

Top 12 Fiction Borrowed in 2022

In 2022 speculative fiction (fantasy and science fiction) held the lead for the most checkouts from the Library's teen fiction collection. The favorites in the top 12 also tended to be fast paced and suspenseful. If there's something you'd like to read click the number to go to the record in our catalog and place a hold.

Top 15 YA Checkouts 2022 by kclaire

Friday, January 13, 2023

Write the Hook: Meet the Writers

Meet our four 2022 Write the Hook contest winners, Gabe, Gabrielle, Molly, and Shane. It was fun to meet them all and talk with them about their stories.

 
1. How did you hear about the contest, and what made you want to enter it?  
My mom told me about it and I saw the poster. I love Science Fiction and stuff that is goofy.
 
2. What was your writing process; what inspired your story idea and character? 
I mulled around aimlessly with random ideas until I thought of something I liked and then I expanded on it.
 
3. How much of the story did you write? Did you finish it?
I just wrote the hook, and then I had to cut it down to get under the maximum word count. I don't plan to expand it.
 
4. Did you have in mind an ending for your story? 
I thought the Ninja's would have a convention in inter-dimensional space and there would be a battle. Also, in the end the main character gets his science project back.
 
5. If the contest is offered next Fall, do you think you will enter? Do you have any suggestions for changes or improvements to the contest? 
Yes, I would enter again. Only suggestion I have is to make the maximum word count higher.
 
6. What are you reading now? Do you have any favorite Science Fiction books? 

Six Questions for Gabrielle Chirco ("Down by the Dock")

1. How did you hear about the contest?  
I heard about it in my Creative Writing class at Beverly High School.
 
2. What was your writing process; what inspired your story idea and character?
I had a story that I had written in the Creative Writing class, so I reworked the beginning for the hook. I am glad because it made the story better. My inspiration was the location where I do crew (at Gordon Rowing). It was in the Fall and I had just finished Fall rowing and I imagined being there at night.
 
3. What genre would you place your story in? How does the story end?
I would put "Down by the Dock" in the horror/thriller genre. The story has Mean Old Man Bob who tries to protect people from his son who is a ghost. His son drowned and he takes out his anger on people who come to the dock. He doesn't want anyone there. The story ends with the words "this isn't the end."
 
4. If the contest is offered next Fall, do you think you will enter? 
Yes. It was fun, although I really like writing poetry better.
 
5. What have you read recently that you liked? 
 
6. Do you have a favorite book that you can recommend? 
Deeper Than The Dead, by Tami Hoag. It has the perfect ending. Very satisfying.

Six Questions for Molly Degnan ("The Darkest Night of Evermore")

1. What was your writing process this year; how did your story idea evolve?
I wasn't expecting to submit this story. I thought I would submit a different one, but I liked this one better. The idea just came to me and then I wrote and rewrote multiple paragraphs. 
 
2. What was the inspiration for your characters? Why did you choose a willow tree?
I tend to base characters in my story on people I know and then I put myself in my character's shoes and ask myself "what would I do?". I chose a willow tree because when I was younger I lived in a house with a willow tree that I called my fairy tree. I think willow trees are fairy-like and also from some viewpoints they can look scary. I like the mysterious aspect of the tree.
 
3. Did you write an ending for your story? You left it on a cliffhanger. 
I am not planning to finish the story because I have an idea for something I like better. I don't know what happens next. 
 
4. Do you have any suggestions for changes or improvements to the contest?
 No.
 
5. Do you have a favorite genre?
I didn't use to like mystery books, but now I really like them and they are all I read - mystery and some horror. Although I only like horror books not horror movies. 
 
6. What are you reading now?
Five Survive, by Holly Jackson. I recommend it 100 percent! It's so good that I didn't want it to be over. I gave to a friend to read.

Six Questions for Shane Kiernan ("Crash")

1. Did you enjoy the contest? How did you hear about it?
Yes, it was fun. I entered for fun. I write all the time in English class and share what I write. My friend Molly entered last year, and that inspired me to enter.

2. What was your writing process; how did the story idea evolve? What was the inspiration for your characters?
I started with a draft that went through a lot of phases. I wanted to write a year 3000 story. The plan was to have a landing on a planet, but then I saw I was writing a lot about the entry to the planet, so that became my focus. My character's traits were inspired by both Buzz Lightyear and Hans Solo. I like the Toy Story and Star Wars movies.

3. How much of the story did you write? Did you finish it?
I started it and have a lot planned out, but I haven't finished it. I'll probably keep working on it.

4. Do you know the ending to your story? Why did the Captain want to crash land on the planet?
The Captain didn't want the mission to go through. He faked a heart attack from going through the space crystals and purposely crashed. He wanted it all to look like an accident because he was part of the Supreme Leader's assassination. He didn't want to find the element, he wanted something else.

5. If the contest is offered again next Fall, do you think you will enter? Do you have any suggestions for changes or improvements to contest?
Yes, of course, I like writing. It was a fun project. I don't have any suggestions for improvements - it was pretty smooth.

6. What are you reading now and do you have any favorite books?
For class I'm reading Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson. I'm reading the Harry Potter books for fun - I never read them before because I thought they were gimmicky. I'm on book five, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I used to only read historical fiction. My favorite author is Alan Gratz, although I didn't like Refugee as much as his other books. I don't like horror. I like to watch horror movies, but I don't like to read horror books.  I also like comedy.

Saturday, January 7, 2023

Write the Hook Contest

Thirty stories were submitted to our 2022 Write the Hook contest. Twenty-four were from writers in grades 6-8, and six were from writers in grades 9-12. The middle school age writers all listed their school as Miles River Middle School. The high school age writers listed their schools as: Beverly High School (2), Glen Urqhart, Homeschooled (2),  and Pingree School. (No representation from Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School.😿) 

The results are in! Our Write the Hook contest judges this year were: Dede Johnson, Sarah Lauderdale, and Viktoria Page. Each judge carefully read all of the stories. The rubric scores were finished and tallied yesterday. Here are the first and second place winning entries. Enjoy!


2022 Write the Hook Winning Stories
 
First Place Story Entry Grades 6-8  
Molly Degnan, (Miles River Middle School student) 
for "The Darkest Night of Evermore" 
 
There is one thing I know. My father's death was not a tragic accident like the police reported. Evermore had one rule that everybody followed which allowed them to live a normal life…never go near the willow tree. We all followed this rule. No children played by this tree as they did around all the others. There was always a single rope tied around the tree's largest branch. It swung back and forth on windless days like someone was pushing it for eternity. It beckons you and draws you closer until it’s too late. All I wanted to know was what my father saw that fateful night that made him go to the willow tree.  
 
In his old corner office, down at the police station, I sat in his huge leather chair which once was so welcoming and was now stiff and cold in his absence. He would have yelled at me for being so contemptuous of others’ property. Through my tears, I stared at the picture of the two of us fishing that had always sat on his desk. He looked so alive and happy in that photo and it was so hard to accept that I would never be able to see his smiling face again. I had been looking through his neatly organized papers and listening to the microphone recording that had captured the sounds of his last moments. I prayed that if I kept playing it, it would give me the answers I longed for. I was happy to be out of the house which still smelled like my dad’s cologne. My stepmother needed her space too. She wanted to be alone with her feelings and so did I. I have to remember that she loved him just as much as I did. My stepmom is not like the evil stepmoms in fairy tales. She is the kindest person I have ever met, but our personalities just never meshed completely. I started to zone out when I heard a knock on the door. My dad’s kind receptionist, Mrs. Litsky, walked in and gave me a soft smile. I took my earbuds out and she gave me a pitying look. I knew what she had come here for; to try and get me to see my father one last time before the funeral. I sighed and stood up, giving in to her, and started walking to the place where his body was being kept. 
 
His eyes were peaceful. That is what mattered. I told myself over and over again that he was in a better place now, but that was the hardest thing to do. How could he be in a better place without me? I looked at him one more time and stood up. But then I noticed something that I hadn’t before. Red marks along his neck. The police said that they found him lying under the tree but that must not have been the whole truth. Why would they not disclose all the evidence of their own chief’s murder investigation? The faint marks around his pale neck were in a braided swirl of a pattern that could have only come from one thing… the rope hanging from that darn willow tree.
 
As I bent down closer, my eyes fell to his chest. It was then that I realized that his badge was still clipped onto his navy blue jacket. Immediately, I flashed back to the previous week, when he had come into my room with great excitement. He told me he was testing out a new and virtually undetectable camera that could be hidden in plain sight. I didn’t even see it the first time he pointed it out to me. But now, as he lay before me, I could see that the camera was still firmly attached to his badge. I unclipped it and shoved it deep into my pocket. This was it, this little camera could tell me everything I needed to know about my father's sudden death and I was ready to play it and even more ready to find out how my father died. 
 
I walked back into my father's office and connected the camera to his computer. I pulled up the image and choose and time stamp, 9:30 pm, about an hour before they found him. Before I could play the video, Mrs. Litsky walked back into the office. She stood right next to me and didn’t say a single word. We exchanged glances of fear and hope as I clicked play on the video. 
 
My heart skipped a beat as I saw the rope swinging back and forth from the branch of the willow tree. And yet not a single leaf rustled. Only the rope hypnotically swung on the windless calm night. Suddenly, a hand flashed before the camera and then it all went fuzzy. I replayed and paused the clip of the hand and saw dark purple nail polish. A woman. I looked to my right and Mrs. Litksy and I both exchanged looks of realization.
 
Second Place Story Entry Grades 6-8  
Shane Kiernan, (Miles River Middle School student) 
for "Crash"
 
The capsule's lights flashed black and white. Beams of fire engulfed the tinted windows. Control panels left and right were shouting out meaningless words in my direction. I tried to decipher the multiple alerts, but for some reason I couldn’t even understand English. One thing was clear, I was going to die. I quickly scanned the other side of the cockpit. The Captain in the chair next to me seemed to be alive, but he was out cold.

A white light flickered in front of me through the fire. We were at full throttle hyper speed, the only problem was that the quantum fuel was running out. A quick calculation told me we would be entering the planet's atmosphere at 200 neutrons per second, the maximum speed for a safe landing. I glanced at the Exo-Planet Scanner. The planet was a sector green which meant it could support human life. This planet was in its forming phase which means that we were probably on the rim of space, known as the “Edge”.

The only people who went to the Edge were criminals trying to flee the ROFA Empire, or just crazy. Politics were never really my thing. My job was to find, recover, and research. ROFA calls it FRR. FRR Agents are usually the best in the galaxy. The Captain, yes the unconscious one, is the greatest to ever live; he has found over 100 different precious elements throughout the Edge. Recently, our Supreme Leader was found dead. He was killed by an unknown toxic element. That’s why we were here on the edge, 100 light years away from Cloxar, the ROFA capitol, trying to find the origin of that element.

Unfortunately, our ship was hit by a space crystal as we approached this solar system. Space crystals are thin strips of void or as we called them “no time.” My Captain was struck by it, knocking him unconscious. The thrusters were also hit causing them to go haywire and catapulting us uncontrollably into the gravitational pull of this planet.

As we screeched through the planet's atmosphere I felt death was near. My eyes strained as the fire grew stronger. My face burned in pain. The alarms shrieked and deafened my ears. My face rippled as the G-Force pulled back on it. We entered through the clouds, shooting down from the sky like a wayward meteor. My rocket roared and rumbled, shaking harder and harder every inch closer. Every inch closer to death. Phewfffff. The rocket fired out strains of white gas. My doom approached as the rocks suddenly looked real. The rough and jagged landscape darkened before my eyes. Purple trees showered the planet and blossomed gracefully. In contrast, an enormous mountain erupted with magma and ash, scorching the remaining landscape.The tree in front of me grew bigger and bigger. Its neon purple leaves disintegrated into ash as we grew closer. Crash!

Time suddenly stopped. I looked around the scene of my death. Fire engulfed my body. Rocks and shrapnel in my chest and my Captain, now awake, standing menacingly above me. He was alive and looked happy? That smile, that evil smile. This wasn't an accident. My Captain wanted to be here, which means maybe we were never hit by a no time, but why were we here?

First Place Story Entry Grades 9-12 
Gabe Cole, (Homeschooled, Topsfield) 
for "The Accursed Blight of the Interdimensional Funk Ninjas"
 
To start off, I would like to say that not a word of this note is exaggerated. Every single syllable is the truth, the irrefutable truth. Not a single moment is fictitious. All of my seemingly far-fetched exploits actually happened. Thank you very much, and if you think I am lying, you are a fool. Please do not reduce my grade for saying that. It is already low enough as is. Anyway, thank you for reading this brief preface, and let’s get into the incredible tale of how I lost the greatest science project I had ever created. 

My science project was stolen by inter-dimensional funk ninjas. There is no other way to state it. I had just finished it, and it was perfect, and I knew, without a doubt, that I would get a perfect grade on it, but it was stolen right off the kitchen table. How did they steal it, you ask? They opened a portal. 

The portal opened suddenly, in the blink of an eye, above the kitchen table. There was a massive flash of blue light, an unbearably loud staticy noise, and then the very air above the table seemed to unzip into a vaguely oval-shaped portal. I jumped back in surprise. “Dang,” I said. “That’s pretty crazy right there.” I never expected a portal to open in the kitchen. Suddenly, incredibly-groovy funk blasted out of the portal, pounding my eardrums. This, obviously, was an insane situation, but I had to admit that the music did indeed have some stank on it. 

Now, I know what you’re thinking, and no, despite the circumstances, I was not terrified. I know it’s very unusual for a portal to open above your kitchen table, but I was too busy grooving to pay much attention to it. Indeed, I was vibing too hard to notice the hand slowly, sneakily reaching through the portal, vibing too hard to notice the hand grabbing my science project. 

I was about to start doing The Worm when a voice came out of the portal, muffled by the funk, but still audible. “I’ll take that, Dude!” said the voice. That immediately snapped me out of my groove-induced trance. “What?!” I said. “Who is that?!?” I got up off the floor in a panic, just in time to see the hand grab my science project and deftly yoink it through the portal. It was as if it happened in slow motion, all of my hard work, my hours of toil and my struggle, all disappeared into the portal in just a few seconds, a maliciously minuscule moment of massively momentous melancholy. 

It had been a few hours since then, the horrible moment, and by this point I knew it was inter-dimensional funk ninjas that had taken my project. I was also in a UFO full of aliens, cyborg goose warriors, and mildly disgruntled heath-food store employees, but more about that in a second. While still on Earth, I had turned on the TV to distract me from my powerful sorrow, only to hear something that piqued my interest..... It was a news channel, and they were talking about something incredibly relevant to me, although I did not know it at the time. 

“-Yes indeed, Monica. Speaking of inter-dimensional funk ninjas, they were recently ranked as the third-most dangerous threat to America after tornadoes and terrorism,” a man remarked. Another person replied, “That’s right, Bill. The infamous three T’s: Tornadoes, Terrorism, and Inter-dimensional funk ninjas.” That had me interested. Inter-dimensional funk ninjas rang a bell. “Victims of the ninjas reported hearing some rather groovin’ music before a portal opened up in the middle of the air and a ninja stole a possession of theirs. As a victim famously stated, “The music slapped. Yeah, it was bangin’. However, the ninjas stole my kidneys, which was not bangin’.” Oh. My. GOSH. I jumped up in shock, my mouth gaping open, and my eyebrows probably somewhere on the top of my head. 

This was insane. I could not believe it. I fell to my knees, my clenched fists shaking in apoplectic rage, and thunderously yelled, “DARN YOU FUNK NINJAS!!!!!!!!!!” That was the final thing I said before I was beamed up to the UFO. As all the individual molecules in my body separated and were teleported into the spaceship, all I could feel was a vague tickling sensation across my body, and all I could hear was some dude on the TV peddling his autobiography, Inter-Dimensional Funk Ninjas Stole My Kidneys: The Guy Holt Story. My last thought was: I think I am currently being abducted by aliens. 

Then, I woke up in the UFO, as I previously mentioned. “Whoa! What the heck?!” I exclaimed, completely shocked to suddenly find myself inside a large metal chamber adorned with many paintings of both humans and cows being abducted. There were several large, plush armchairs scattered throughout the room containing several inhabitants. “Yoooooo! What’s up, Dude? How’s it goin’?” said a cyborg-looking guy with the head of a goose, while standing up very slowly out of his chair. As he stood, you could distinctly hear the whirr of microprocessors in his metallic, industrial-looking limbs. He had an incredible mess of varicolored tubes and wires weaving in and around his body, and also, as I may have already mentioned, he had the head of a goose. He lopsidedly waddled toward me, metal hand outstretched in, assumedly, an attempt at a handshake. My mind could not keep up with what the heck was going on.
 
Second Place Story Entry Grades 9-12 
Gabrielle Chirco, (Beverly High School student) 
for "Down by the Dock"
 
The wind whistles and snakes through the trees, coercing the branches to do their own slow dance. It plucks the leaves off of their branches and Ella watches as they elegantly drift and twirl to the ground. She continues to stroll down in the direction of a small wooden dock. It’s a private dock in a suburban town on a small, quiet lake. The dock is somewhat dilapidated with exposed, rusted nails and splintered boards from years of neglect but Ella doesn’t mind. As she reaches the edge of the dock, Ella sits, careful to avoid the broken planks, takes off her flip flops and dips her feet into the cool autumn water. She watches as the setting sun turns the lake a vibrant red-orange. 

The dock was Ella’s favorite place to be. It was her own quiet sanctuary where she could simply relax with a good book or admire the beauty of the perfectly still lake. The only disturbance of the flat water was from the occasional fish jumping and sending small ripples over the previously flat surface. 

As the sun falls below the horizon, the sky is replaced by a glowing full moon and a sea of stars. She sees a vaguely blue light begin to shine behind her. Thinking it was Bob, a resident on the lake who didn’t like non-residents being on the dock, she quickly jumped to her feet bracing herself for Bob’s booming voice to scold her. When the scolding never came and she mustered up the courage to open her eyes, she found that no one was there. She looked around in every direction looking for movement or light of any kind, but saw nothing. After another moment of searching, she sat back down. Seconds later, the light shines again. This time, it was brighter and the breath of someone on Ella’s neck sent goosebumps flying down her arms.