“The contest announcement further specified page-turning quality, interest to teens, character, and voice as judging criteria. With 1,200 entries, a winning story needed a strong beginning to keep it from landing in the no pile. Fourth-place story “When She Fell,” by C. J. Malarsky, exemplifies, beginning like this:
‘My world was a paper kingdom. It had been carefully constructed with heavy doses of whimsy and wonder. A patchwork daydream sprung to life. We made it together. It was our precious nothing, as we called it. But that was before.’
Paper kingdom? Patchwork of dreams? Precious nothing? Who made this world and what happened to change it? In just 40 words, the author piques our interest, planting enough questions in our mind to keep reading."
Writing this particular piece, which deals with a girl struggling to cope with the loss of her friend, pulled on my heart strings as it was inspired from the death of a girl in my community. It is an honor to have my work recognized in such a meaningful way and to have it selected as a prize winner out of all the many entries. To all my fellow prize winners, congratulations!
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