Salt stubbornly clung to the air, even through the flames. Its pungency folded into smoke, filling frayed edges of my memory. Amongst brackish clouds of rubble whipping around me, a metal tang lurked, ambushing my tongue. Sweat climbed my back warily, as if even it feared the ominous column of heat. The farm house GrandpopContinue reading “Lariat by Rohan Mahapatra | Honorable Mention 2025 Rural Teen Writing Contest”
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The Last Well-Reader by Lleyton Michael Kane | Runner-Up 2025 Rural Teen Writing Contest
By the second week without rain, the ground had begun to show its seams. Hairline cracks at first, then wider ones that caught the edges of boot soles and held them a moment too long. Livestock gathered at the troughs earlier each morning, standing with the uneasy patience of creatures that know more than theContinue reading “The Last Well-Reader by Lleyton Michael Kane | Runner-Up 2025 Rural Teen Writing Contest”
soul river, bone dry by Maxwell Harris | Winner 2025 Rural Teen Writing Contest
it isn’t supposed to be so hot this far into september, but still i stand outside the neighborhood grocery, my hands too full of swollen paper bags to wipe at the oil-sweat-dirt compound smeared across my forehead. instead my glands soak through my soles and into the asphalt underfoot, and i return a part ofContinue reading “soul river, bone dry by Maxwell Harris | Winner 2025 Rural Teen Writing Contest”
The Precipitation that Earned My Appreciation by Genevieve Frander | Honorable Mention 2024 Rural Teen Writing Contest
My eyes drifted open to see that the early morning’s light had already seeped through my flimsy, beige curtains. Sleep still smothering my senses like a thick cloud of fog, I reluctantly heaved my body out of bed. Suddenly, I stopped dead in my tracks, any remnants of sleep evaporating in an instant. I breathedContinue reading “The Precipitation that Earned My Appreciation by Genevieve Frander | Honorable Mention 2024 Rural Teen Writing Contest”
Dr. Parton's Literacy In Place 