After much anticipation, we are extremely proud to present the honorable mention placers in our Hypertext High School Writers Contest! Below you will find an excerpt of each piece and a link to the full publication on Hypernova Lit, our sister site publishing the work of teenagers. Enjoy these stunning works. We feel so lucky to have the chance to cast light on such talented young authors.
It Was Just a Game by Mia Brown
“Did he ever touch you?”
The question crawled out of my mouth like a brave child curious of the world. He chuckled, a trembling one, and spoke. “I was eight, nine or ten. Who knows? I was innocent. No, more like I was stupid.” His voice ended with a growl.
“We were at church and I was settled in between my noticeably pregnant mother and unknowingly unsatisfied father.” I parted my lips in question but his fast reply sealed them along with the quick swallow of my intuition. “Don’t read between the boundaries.”
“He poked me. It hurt at first but when I looked up I saw the smile on his face and so I thought it was a game, so I poked him back. Over and over again we were poking each other. It was fun and I was laughing having a good time with my father, just playing a game” he rushed out urgently to it “just being a game’’ his body turning eyes glazed with the mind set of assurance, so I didn’t argue.
Garden by Miya Bruce
Sitting in the dewy grass on a still Saturday morning, I breathe in the fresh, cold air allowing it to tickle the hairs in my nose. My eyes began to water, “Ugh stupid allergies!” I whisper to myself. Nothing could ruin this moment of freedom. This moment of having no worries. I lie down and wait for my eyes to adjust to the direct sunlight, the sky is so beautiful. A kind of beautiful blue you would see at a boy’s baby shower.
The clouds are broken and scattered like my heart, but they’re a beautiful heavenly white. I can hear the trees brushing against each other ever so often when a gust of wind disturbs them. They make little whispers, sounding like snickering little school girls. I roll over onto my side and gaze upon the beautiful field of sunflowers surrounding me. They’re so vibrant in color, so full of life, something I’ve lacked for the past four years, I think to myself.
Time Seems to Slow by Angel Lopez
There were six crosswalks: four to connect the streets and two that ran diagonally from one street corner to the other to make travel a bit faster and easier. Reginald waited alongside a crowd of people at one of the street corners, waiting for the lights to change so they could get on with their lives. Reginald swayed amongst the crowd and bumped into a few people. Had he been any older, he would have seen like a drunk, but even with his age people could get that impression. He wore his headphones under his hoodie to try to block out the sun’s heat, but it only made it worse. His face was incredibly pale and the heat made sweat beads formed all over his head. Was it a sunstroke or what happened to him that was making him act this way? He didn’t really know. He stared ahead with a blank stare that only furthered the impression of him being on something. He didn’t know what to do, he couldn’t think straight. His mind was completely blank save for the lyricless song that played from his headphones.
Slowly Sinking into Darkness by Citlalli Lugo
She was slowly sinking into the deepest pits of the ocean. The once light filled water is now becoming darker. The ice cold water that surrounded her body seemed to be biting at her delicate skin. Deeper and deeper she goes. She no longer hears the frantic calls of her family and kind strangers that flooded the area.
The world seemed to be on mute. Her hair floats throughout the water and around her head like a dark aura. Her white dress is no longer limp against her body. The sheer cloth moved along the current as if had a mind of its own. She was calm and still. This is what she’s been wanting, to get away from the constant yelling and having to witness her family falling apart as the days dragged on.
Dreamscape by Jayy Prather
The girl with the moon kissed purple hair and the sun caressed pale, white skin. She’s been thrown in the loony bin for unspeakable acts upon herself.
She stays up until dawn watching the sun. The sun doesn’t look the way it does in coloring books.
She sits on the floor, looking at herself from the mirror that lays against the wall across from her. Nobody will love this hopeless little girl, she hates herself down to every last curl in her long hair. “She doesn’t belong,” she thinks.
Midnight dark skies stretching endlessly, resembling her farfetched dreams. There the moon sits on her throne. She stares like child, amazed by how she ruled the world.
It takes her a while to realize the moon is her.
She wears the crown.
