Hey writers, here is the page for you! This is the place where ideas soar, where creativity flows, where you can share your work and read the work of other young writers just like you! Excited yet? Here's how you can get in on the fun! If you have a short story, poem, essay, or any other short piece of writing you would like to share, e-mail it to me at dallaswoodburn@aol.com. I will critique your work and send back some of my positive feedback and thoughts to you. Plus, your work will have a chance to be PUBLISHED right here on this page! So get out that pen and paper and start writing! I can't wait to hear from you!

* * *

"Untitled"

by Riki Schmitt

I look into the mirror

But what I see isn't me

What I see is you

You with your eyes of gold

And smile so sweet

Why aren't you here

Why did you leave

i'll sit in your car

and think and talk

tell you about life

you comfort me back

I wish you were here

And I could lie in your lap

But for now it's not true

You're not here

So i'll sit in your car

And not in your lap

It's all too different

So i'll talk to you and

Please speak to me

* * *

As the Wind Ruffles My Hair

by Daniel Brooks, age 13

As I travel the beach, I had a clear stare,
The wind blew toward my hair and my face felt toward,
Beach winds settled toward the west,
The wind ruffles as it felt my chest,
The wind tastes like heaven,
Feels like being lifted up by seven,
My ears heard a swishing sound of the wind shuffling
rare,
I wanted to move my hands, but I wouldn't dare,
The air's arm wraps me like a teddy bear was cared,
The air likes to be shared,
Air is a powerful force,
We must not annoy,
The next time I feel the air,
Everybody can share.

* * *

December Morning

by Jon Oyan

Upon a December Morn,

From the glorious sea,

A population was torn

By a tsunami

Waiting for aid,

The country broken in two

As chances began to fade

For a day anew

Standing in the dark

Were those who did survive

After the tsunami's mark

They were lucky to be alive

With many families parted

Living in such pain

Amidst the broken hearted

There was still something to gain

The light of tomorrow is headed their way....

* * *

Reflection

by Jenny, 12

I look in the mirror and see,

a face.

Not my face,

but a painted face,

Like the girls in the hall.

I wipe off the paint,

and I see

me.

No lipstick,

No eyeliner,

just me.

And that's when I realized,

That's all I ever wanted to be.

Broken Heart

by Jenny, 12

You capture me with your waves,

of happiness,

and depression.

You whip me away,

but pull me back.

Hateful words,

a fist of two,

are all it takes,

to break apart.

Yet you hold on,

with your kindness,

Heartful Words,

a kiss.

Someone else,

steps into the picture,

ruining the view.

You whip me away.

Though I may hurt,

my heart will repair,

I let you go,

and I am not pulled back...

* * *

The Wilted Flower

by Christine Butch, 18

A wilted flower lies in the field
Upon your cold, dead body
I placed it there, among your blood
To honor your sweet memory
The pain you inflicted
Upon my virgin purity
And the discontinued innocence
That you so proudly tore from me
A broken heart, a withered soul
Such a part of me, you were
The part that made me whole
You now remain
In a grave of distance
Relieved from all the pain
While I live with ungranted wishes

Childhood

by Christine Butch, 18

She was innocent; She was young
Little pink dresses, humming cute little songs
Her hair was braided, her mind was faded
Not a care in the world, just a helpless little girl
Somewhere in her life, something went wrong
No longer in her life was that happiness there
Now she's a girl with lost hopes and dreams
Hopeless thoughts and muffled screams
Somewhere in the darkness she believed
That life was no longer what it seemed
What happens in her future depends upon her past
Her past which is her present
She wonders which day will be her last
Like a normal little girl
She once wondered what she'd be
Now she knows it's nothing
Because there are things in the world
That she can now see
The hate, the pain, what life now revolves around
The people in the world
Who slam and push her down
This once innocent girl
Who now sees the truth
Is the person inside of me
And it's inside all of you

* * *

Rockstar

by Bianca, 15

i chug my beer

jam on my guitar

sing the lyrics

and let my mind go far

i'm backstage

swaying back and forth

throwing a beer bottle

i begin to morph

head in toilet

feeling sick

i go to my band

and begin to kick

i scream and yell

they fight and swell

black eye and broken arm

i did so much harm

leaving the club

i stop and look

seeing in the mirror

the life i took

the cool rockstar

had suddenly vanished

only a bit of her

had not been banished

* * *

Fighter

by Destiny

As I watch before me
The world crumbling to a fine dust The men and women in Iraq
Working and fighting from dawn to dusk
Sleeping, Bleeding, Hurting then Dying
They have family waiting at home
But yet they never come
Where Is My Fighter?

* * *

It Hurts

by Jamie, 13

Her parents never wanted any child
But she happened anyways
She came to their home one chilly winter night
And in her eyes they saw a light
She was different, so they lashed out
On their only child, shes barely six
Black and blue finger prints
Adorning her neck
Leading up to the blonde braid she did herself
What a little girl, carrying all that pain,
Her mind, inside, was filled with rain
That never once spilled from those big blue eyes
While every other child cries
She walks solemnly to school as she trips
No one waiting there
To kiss her where
It hurts.

Her parents never wanted any child
But they had one.
Her heart weighed down with their torture by the ton.
She never knew what to say
Or what to think, every day.
But she came home one chilly winter night,
And in her eyes they saw a light.
Whipping fury from those parents
Gave her rain some sunshine
She then lay alone with her fingerprint
Adornment
Then, she floated up to heaven.
Now, God, is waiting there
To kiss her where
It hurts.

Cold Hands

by Jamie, 13

Closed heart
Cold hands
Standing all alone in the corner
Shes that little girl
The one who wont show what she thinks
Those cold blue eyes made you shiver when she blinks
She grew up to be the one
In the corner
With the gun

Her closed heart
And cold hands,
Shes still standing all alone
Those kids who used to call her names-
Now theyre the ones in the corner with cold hands
Under black sheets-
Their hearts sound no beats

She used to be the closed heart,
Cold hands little girl
But the next day she had no life
Her own cold hands had grabbed the blade
And then she was put to death by the knife
Her slit wrist dripping scarlet on the bed she made
Knife beside her
How ironic life is
She still has her cold hands.

* * *

My Pet

by Dontay Hall, fifth grade

I have a tadpole named Teddy,
His head is big, his tail is small.
Soon, he will turn into a frog,
And I won't know Teddy at all!

* * *

How to Find Love

by Tween Felisilda

I keep finding love but how can I find love, if
love is blind. I keep knocking onto his door, but love
doesn't open. Others say let love knock on your door,
but he does not. Why is that? People say love
is wonderful feeling, but how could two people be in
love if they hurt each other, making each other cry?
It is ridiculous, isn't it? Tell me, why is it some
people cannot find true love?
Is it hard to find a true love? How can a person determine true love?
How do they know that what they feel is true love?
I'm looking for the answers to these questions,
but it seems that no one can give me the perfect answer.

How can I find love if love itself is so
confusing?
I have asked people who have experienced love, but they
themselves don't know why and how they
came up with that kind of feeling. They told me that
it just happened, like they snapped their fingers,
"unexpected" they say. From what I've seen in romantic
movies, love is magic. Unexplainable things happen,
questions remain in mind. Thinking, why do these two
hearts click with each other? Why is this sweet girl
falling in love with this weird stranger? And the answer
to it all is love.

A friend told me, you shouldn't go looking for love. Instead let love find you.
If you are knocking onto his door, don't close it. Let him enter into your heart.
Then you will know what true love really is.

* * *

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

by Kassie Ranae Bradley

The petals fall from my fingertips as I pull them from the once beautiful flower
As they fall to the ground and get swept up by the wind,
I can't help but think
He loves me, he loves me not
I see the memories of us flash before my eyes and
I think back to the past when he broke my heart in two and pushed all those memories aside
As I come to the last petal the words slowly leave my lips
He loves me not
As I watch the petal fall to the ground and get swept away by the wind
a tear trickles down my cheek.

Attack on America

by Kassie Ranae Bradley

I lay wide awake late into the night
Thinking of nothing but this horrible sight
I see planes crashing into buildings over and over again
I see blazing buildings full of smoke falling to the ground
I see people jumping out of buildings
I'm confused and lost
I wonder why
But all I can do is cry
I think about all the innocent people on the planes and in the buildings
What were they feeling?
Now we're left dealing with the the fact that these people's lives were taken
Imagine the pain that people are feeling because of lost loved ones
The husband who called his wife comes to my mind
He said they weren't going to let this plan take place,
that they were going to save our country
But it would cost them their lives
As I think about that, more tears come to my eyes
Why did innocent people have to die?
I never thought I would be alive to witness a crisis like this
Will this start a war?
Can people take much more?
The people that did this make me sick
I don't like any of this one bit
It makes my heart sore.
Now the date 9-11 stands out as a sign
Dear God, I ask you to please help family, friends, and America deal with this the best they can --
Right now that's my only prayer.