Valentiny Contest Entry

Each year, Susanna Leonard Hill hosts a "Valentiny" writing contest on her blog. The rules are that it must be 214 words or less (2/14 for Valentine's Day), it must be a story about Valentine's Day, and each year, there is an emotion that must be conveyed. This year, the emotion is WORRIED. It also must be a story for children.

I really love contests like this--the opportunity to write for fun, with a word-count challenge or some other restriction...it's a great way to hone my skills and be creative!

Below is my entry for the Valentiny Contest.

FOUND ACCEPTANCE

214 words

“Time to exchange valentines!”

My stomach sinks at Ms. Sain’s announcement.

Heat ripples through me like ink bleeds through tissue.

“Oooh, princess erasers!”

“You brought superhero tattoos!”

“What’d you bring, Cam?”

My cheeks blaze. I’d prepared my answer, but still.

“I decided to make my valentines. I…wanted a challenge.”

James starts to respond before becoming riveted by Mike’s parachute guys.

My valentines? Found Poems from newspaper articles.

I’m sweating. Fretting. Regretting.

I’m still new here. My classmates find me mysterious, which is fine.

I’d rather be known as the quirky, artsy kid than…

The poor kid.

We can’t afford valentines. I didn’t even bother asking Mom.

Everyone doles out their sticker-adorned envelopes and tiny toys.

I slap my flimsy little scraps on each desk.

What a dumb idea. They look like old CIA reports, mostly blacked out. The handful of remaining words are …lame.

Why did I bother?

I rush back to my seat, mortified.

“Woah—what is this?”

I can feel my heartbeat in my ears.

“Did y’all see Cam’s poems? Mine’s from a business article:

Merge trust.

Venture in

long-term

partnerships.”

I don’t breathe.

But they don’t laugh—

They marvel.

“How’d you do this?” “Cool! I wanna try!”

I grin.

I didn’t think I wanted to stand out,

but maybe I do.