#shortstorywinner!
For those of you who submitted a short story, thank you! It was very hard to pick one winner, as you all did a great job.
The winner, as announced in this week's middle school chapel, is Irene Ahn's Stars at Dusk.
Blurb
That winter, you stole a part of my heart, you never came back to return it. Time and time again, I was the police, and you were the criminal, but you were always off the hook of crime every-time you gave me the ransom - your stars.
It was that winter you stole it and never returned, and thy ransom never came back too, and everything left now are parts of a small memory.
Memory I
It was that cold winter night, with the bright hopeful stars shining brightly amongst the sky, when we met. You possessed all the stars and you held them tightly in your hands, and I was there, and you shared me some of your hopeful stars.
And that night was special because it was just me and you, alone.
When you embraced me into your warm and hopeful light, you were like, sometimes, a barrier which blocked all my fears and darkness and brought out joy and the stars instead.
You gave me your stars, and I gave you my heart in exchange.
That was the start.
It was meant to be simple, you see?
Memory II
Everything was warm, and everything I did was met with praise, and your hopeful stars duplicated in my hands, and it sometimes temporarily filled the empty part of my heart - the place you took. But that part of my heart can never be fulfilled with stars. It is not stars I need, it is you.
Memory III
I visited that cold night often, with its starry night and beautiful view, but it was never the same without you, because that place can only be the same when it's with the starry man, the Artemis of this- our, world.
But it seemed that this place couldn't be helped, because it's starry man never came to accompany the sky again after that day, and it was then that I realized.
Memory IV
The stars in my hand duplicated every day to millions and millions, and my hope was uprisen to the top of the mountain. The stars were the only thing that I needed, nothing else was needed anymore, not even you, or the missing part of my heart.
Hope - the stars you have given me fills it up every day, every second.
Memory V
You're slowly drifting from a good dream to a memory, and things are passing by and I'm starting to realize new things and ideas of our memorable meeting on that starry night. The stars you gave me is duplicating to millions and I'm starting to return to my rightful mind, and I'm becoming normal again. What about you, Artemis of our world? Were you, for that matter, been in the rightful mind when we first met?
Memory VI
I was just so frantic.
My mind was racing and my soul was knotting itself, and I tried to find a strand of something to heal me of my state, and just like that, out came you.
Ｙｏｕ ｓｈａｒｅｄ ｍｅ ｙｏｕｒ ｓｔａｒｓ．
There was no better a gift. I slowly healed and when things weren't looking as bleak as before, you didn't seem to care and you never came for me anymore.
Memory VII
When things were becoming normal I realized that I didn't know you very much. Gosh, I didn't even know your name! All I remember is that we were alike, and your stars were strong enough to push me to normality.
But other than that, I didn't know you.
Who are you?
Memory VIII
It was then that I realized that we had made a trade. It just seemed so long ago.
You gave me your stars and I gave you my heart.
You made sure I wouldn't take my heart back, right?
But then why is my heart already back?
Memory IX
Your stars have grown so much in my care that they are being delivered to others now, too.
Your stars made miracles to me and others, and thankfully I have found someone to give love, not only hope.
Memory X - Finale
Even though it was never your memory, but just mine, you have given me hope.
Hope created you.
And you completed me.
But I will continue to walk towards the future and by doing that I will seal away all the places we went together. I am no longer the baby kangaroo inside your pouch.
And I will move forward.
But before I do, let me tell you,
Thank you.
--
A note!
Ayeeeee, you're at the end! Congratulations reading my boring story *clap clap*
I wanted to use the theme "changes and transformations" through maturing a character. I tried not to use romance for the competition, but ya know, all the romance piles in my desk wasn't helping and this is how I ended up haha XD and I resisted using romance for only the start and then the rest of the story is more like dealing with yourself because I didn't want to use romance as the theme moral LOL
Yeah, and so the theme won't appear literally on the writing because I somehow made it really hard to find- but once you know how I tried to shape the story, then after you'll realize my intentions with the story.
The stars in the story meant Hope - not literally just stars. The starry man gave hope to the protagonist, and at first she thought that the starry man was all she needed to feel hope again, but she was wrong. After she realized that the starry man won't return, she decided that her pride was all she needed.
But once again she was wrong, because the starry man didn't even exist in the first place. It was just her hallucinating as she tried to hold onto hope as her last resort when things started to go downhill in her life. With her hope, she, herself created the starry man.
At the end, she realizes that even though she didn't realize that it was just her the whole time, she was able to gather hope and duplicate them as it got bigger all by herself. As a result as she realized this, she started believing in herself and her ability in cutting through unfortunate times. When she became to realize this idea, she was so humble as to give hope to others too, because she had plentiful.
The End