NEW: Writer’s Quill Winning Story!
Congratulations to tenth grader Daniel Gorrell! Scroll down to read Daniel’s thought-provoking answer to the following prompt.
Write a creative story based off of this line: When she woke, she was surrounded by the stars shining in the night sky. “How did I get here?” she asked herself. Be sure to include that line in your story!
The City Dweller’s Dream
By Daniel Gorrell
10th grade
The city dweller, sad and glum, stared out of her window into the smog filled sky. The only objects visible were neighboring skyscrapers, which looked gray and forbidding. Only occasionally would the wind blow away the smog long enough to reveal the many hover-trains, crowded with many poor workers like herself. There was nothing else besides these objects to be seen in the dense smog. Not a single one of those creatures known as birds, which she had read of in history books, could she see in the smog. They had all disappeared centuries before her birth.
The city dweller turned from her window to stare at her small bedroom. It was gray in color, like everything else. The bed was small, its sheets, blanket, and pillows gray. Only the faded quilt, an heirloom from a bygone relation, had colors other than gray. Her closet and dresser all contained the same color of clothes, gray.
The city dweller sighed and turned to look at the clock. It was 17:45 p.m., time for supper. She got up and went into the kitchen. The kitchen was just as gray and gloomy as the rest of the small apartment room. She prepared and began eating her supper, which consisted of nutrition cubes and purified water. She recalled as she ate the many different foods that people in the history books had eaten. She wished she too could eat those same foods.
After the city dweller had finished eating, she cleaned up everything and got ready for bedtime, for work started early in the morning. She fell asleep the moment she hit the pillow. When she woke, she was surrounded by the stars shining in the night sky. “How did I get here?” she asked herself. She got up and was surprised to see that her bed was in the middle of a meadow. She marveled at the beauty of it all, for the sky was crystal-clear and the moon and stars shown brightly.
The city dweller looked around and saw, to her amazement saw deer grazing in the moonlight at the edge of the field and rabbits playing among the trees. She heard a nightingale sing beautifully, serenading this nocturnal realm of peace.
Suddenly, the city dweller heard a great rustling behind her. She swiftly turned, bracing herself to see some frightening hunter of the night. It was a man, beautiful and radiant beyond description. An aura of power and magnificence emanated from Him. Dazzling light shown from His long garments. His bearded face had a smile upon it. He said with a strong yet kind voice, “Welcome my child, I have waited long for you to come to Me.” The confused city dweller replied, “You seem to know me, yet I never recall knowing of you. Who are you?” The god-like man replied, “I am one who has prepared a place for you in My house. You shall come tomorrow. For now sleep. You shall know everything in the morning.” The city dweller replied, “But surely this is all a dream? I shall certainly wake in my own room in the morning.” The man replied, “This is no dream. You have come here to stay. Does it please you?” The city dweller answered, “It is beautiful! I have never experienced anything like this wondrous place.” The man smiled and replied, “Then you will stay, for now, rest. All answers will come in the morning.”
The city dweller returned to her bed and watched as the god-like man disappeared through the trees, which seemed to kneel down before before Him. She smiled as she settled down to sleep. Truly happy for the first time that she could remember. She slept and dreamed of what would happen in the morning. Beautiful dreams of the sun, the sky, and the flowers. The birds, insects, and most of all, of the god-like man who had said, “Welcome my child, I have waited long for you to come to Me.”