National Day on Writing Submissions: "Person of the Year", "My Long-Time Imaginary Friend", and "When I was 11"

"Person of the Year" by Katherine K.

Every year, Time magazine names a person of the year. Finally it was my year! Why? Why of course I'm amazing and who wouldn't want me as person of the year? I save people everyday from villains and evil people. One day- February 17th, to be exact- I was walking down Main Street in Downtown Maui, known for their amazing volcanoes, bored out of my mind. Most people wonder how you can get bored in such an amazing place, but, yes, you can. It started to feel outrageously warm throughout the town. Yes, i know its Hawaii, but this was different. I looked up at Ambazingabaus, the biggest volcano on the island. On the top of the volcano there was a young child sitting on it. His name was Tyler and he lived on my street. I ran to the top of the volcano and saved him right before it exploded and ruined our whole town. Soon after, Time magazine approached me asking if I would like to be person of the year. Well of course, because I'm amazing!

________________________________________________________________________

"My Long-Time Imaginary Friend" by Rachel H.

When you think of an imaginary friend, what do you think of? Probably a person, right? Well...my imaginary friend is a little different. My imaginary friend is a cloud. She's pink and blue and kind of looks like cotton candy. I know it sounds weird, but she is literally my best friend. I tell her everything from boys to asking her opinions on what I should wear. I also talk to her when I walk down the street and people think I'm crazy. I'm not though. I promise.

__________________________________________________________________________
 "When I was 11" by Mrs. Carey Williams, Administrative Intern

When I was about 11 years old, my older brother was at practice and my dad needed help carrying something down to the basement from my Pap's truck, which he had borrowed. I said "Sure!" and went out into the driveway to see what it was. The item that needed to be move was a steel bender. It was at least ten feet long and had to weigh over 300 pounds. As soon as I realized how much it weighed, I couldn't believe that he asked me to lift something so heavy! I used every ounce of energy I had, and by the time we got into the basement, I was in tears. When my dad asked what was wrong, I tried to explain that I wasn't my older brother and I couldn't do everything that he could. The reason I would never erase this memory is because in that moment, I learned that if I never did "heavy lifting" in life, that I would forever limit my potential. On that day, my dad looked past all pre-conceived stereotypes and asked me to do something difficult because he didn't for a second think that I would fail. This one memory is a driving force in my personal and professional life today.