IT’SBEENHOURS!
(PUFF-PUFF)
HASANYBUGGY
FOUND
ANYTHING?THETRACKSGO THIS
WAY!BUTWATCHOUT
FORTHE... SOMETHINGSHHH!
CRASHING
IN THE
BUSHES...LOOK!A CLUE.
THINKIT’S...
MARSHMALLOWNETTLES!(OW-OW-OW)
NOWYOUTELLME.
GRRR.(OW!)JUST
US!
HA-
HA.I GOTA
LITTLE
STUCK...
WWW!!!!ANDHERE’STHE
RESTOF THEBAG
SOMECAMPERS
MUSTHAVELOST
THEM.I KNOW,
I KNOW...
SNIFF-
SNIFF.THERE,THERE.
SCIENTIFICDISCOVERY
DOESN’THAPPENIN A
DAY.NOTEVERYDAY,
ANYWAY. ..WE’LLBE
BACK!WE’LL
FINDYOU,
BIGFOOT!WHEW!I THOUGHTTHEYHAD
US THEREFORA MINUTE.
TOOBADABOUTTHE
MARSHMALLOWS...NOMORE
S’MORES..SO THE
BIGFIND
ON MY
SCIENTIFIC
EXPEDITION
IS...
LITTER?
UGH.NEXT VACATION LET’S FIND
A DESERTED BEACH TO CAMP
ON, OK? I NEVER KNEW THERE
WERE SO MANY BUGS IN THE
WOODS. (SHIVER) MAKES MY
SKIN CRAWL.still wanted to go her way. She led her ducklings through
a gate leading into someone’s backyard.
We knocked on the door of the house where the
ducks entered the backyard to inform the owner about
the ducklings. The owner invited us in to see what the
ducklings were doing in her backyard.
We were delighted to see the mother duck and her
babies playing in the pool.
Second prize 11 and up
Holly H. Simon, age 12
Port Washington, NY
The Mage Rebellion
The iron in the Magecell is sapping my magic. I’ll
never escape. I was captured by the Imperian military
while trying to join the Mage Rebellion. Now, I’m impris-
oned—and condemned to execution. After living f ifteen
horrible years, death might be a relief.
Mages like me have always been enslaved. We’re
forced to use magic to shape stone and metal, sprout
crops, and make weapons for the Imperian army. I was
on the run from the military. But then came the Mage
Rebellion. Aryanna Selene, a young mage, formed
an army of mages from across Imperia. Quickly, the
Rebellion grew powerful. The mages seemed about to
defeat the Imperian king and triumph.
Then, a traitorous rebel found the king. Hoping
to collect the bounty on Aryanna’s head, he told all he
knew about the uprising. (After explaining, the mage
was killed.) Wielding this crucial information, the king
destroyed the Rebellion. Mages were captured and
locked inside the Magecell—the prison where I am now.
It’s full of iron, which destroys our magic. More mages
died every day. Then, a month ago, the king declared that
Aryanna had been killed. The Rebellion ended with her.
Tonight, I’ll be executed. I stare at the door of my cell
waiting for guards to arrive. I hear keys clink. Here they
are. The door creaks open. But a black-cloaked f igure
yanks me out and unlocks my shackles.
“Quiet,” a girl’s voice hisses. She frees every other
mage in the hall. We gape. “Follow me,” she murmurs.
We dart through the Magecell. The girl has keys to
every door. She guides us out of the prison and into the
surrounding woods. We follow her to a camp in the trees.
Magic glows everywhere. Mages gaze at us. The girl
removes her hood.
The prisoners gasp. I know that face—from WANTED
posters, from scavenged newspapers. And the teenager in
front of me is supposed to be dead. But there she stands.
She broke us out of the Magecell. And she’s grinning.
“Welcome,” says Aryanna Selene, “to the Mage
Rebellion.”Third prize 10 and under
Kyle Mahoney, age 8
Lodi, OH
The Accident
One sunny day my mom and I were driving our Gator,
a giant vehicle like a car, through a f ield. We were driving
peacefully, and it was fun. The tall corn was growing close
to the side of the path in the field we were crossing.
Suddenly our Gator f lipped over on its side. It happened
so quickly, I didn’t even know it was coming, but in an
instant, we were in a ditch that neither of us had seen.
We were both crying. My mom hit her leg on a rock, and
she couldn’t even walk on her left foot. Oh no, I knew
something bad had happened. Luckily, I was buckled in
and did not fall on top of her.
My mom said I had to be brave. At f irst, I wasn’t,
because I was too scared. A moment later, I shrugged
off my fear, because I knew it was up to me to rescue
my mom. I ran through the f ield for more than a mile,
crossed a creek, and arrived back at the house. I told my
father about the accident, but I wasn’t crying. I was only
worried about Mom.
My father and I jumped into a big SUV and went to
rescue her. Once we picked her up, we drove her to the
emergency room. While my father went back with the