By the Willow Tree

Quest left his house with his small black notebook and headed towards the park to sit by his favorite tree. At such a young age, Quest was a very inquisitive person who yearned for the unconventional and took pleasure in his own thoughts. He was very independent, and he was the type of person that kept to himself. There was a quiet confidence about him that most people were unaware of. Sitting by the willow tree, Quest was watching the other kids play. He was perfectly content being by himself and saying no to the boys when they asked him to play ball. Quest already had something else in mind that he wanted to do, anyways. He wanted to continue working on his poem that he started back at home, and so he did just that. He opened his small black notebook and started to write.

After he finished writing his poem, Quest started to head back home. He was writing poems daily in order to get ready for the town’s annual poetry contest. Quest comes from a small village where the townspeople knew each other by name. That is how small it was. It was a very quaint and endearing town called Hope Stone. Quest was fortunate enough to live on top of a famous and well known bakery owned by his mother. He enjoyed waking up every morning to the smell of fresh baked goods. Not to mention, he enjoyed eating them even more. His mom would give him the baked goods that still tasted perfectly fine, but were out of shape to sell. “Don’t judge a cookie by its cover!,” he would always say to his mom jokingly. Quest was very thankful to have a mom that fed him through and through.

The sun started to really come down as it left an extravagant and lingering orange film in the sky. When he finally got home, Quest took a closer look at the details of the town’s poetry contest. He realized that the grand prize winner wins $20,000. He stared at the paper and could not believe it. Quest got very excited about the thought of winning $20,000. He jumped into bed passionately and thought of all the things he could do with that money.

The next morning, Quest had his poem ready to mail and he dropped it off at the post office before heading to the park. He continued his daily writing by the willow tree, and was trying his best not to think about the contest. Unfortunately, Quest was having a hard time getting his mind off of it so instead, he got up and ran over to the boys that were playing. He shouted, “Over here, over here! I’m open!” to the boy who was holding the ball. The boy stopped and stared in confusion. There was a simultaneous pause from the others as well. It took him a couple of seconds to process the moment, but the boy eventually smiled and passed the ball to Quest. There was a mutual understanding that happened without any exchange of words. Quest did not know what possessed him to pull such a bold move, but he felt a rush that he had not felt before. It was a magical moment for him. He felt so hopeful about winning the contest that it gave him this unusual confidence boost. For the first time, Quest felt like he was really coming out of his shell.

A couple of weeks went by, and Quest was at his usual spot. He noticed that the weeping willow somehow looked different to him. It was moving more gracefully with the wind than ever before. It was his favorite spot in the world because it gave him the inspiration and comfort he needed. Quest softly collapsed underneath the weeping willow and laid there on his back. “I cannot believe I won,” he whispered. Quest received the letter a day ago saying that he was the grand prize winner of the town’s poetry contest. He was in shock, and he was ecstatic to be the winner out of all those talented people who applied. It was a huge deal for him. Quest never won anything this big before. Ever since that day he won, everyone from his town came over to his house to congratulate him. His mom was by far the most proud. Quest was elated from all the recognition he received. He felt very supported and loved by his town.

Till this day, Quest felt an overwhelming joy and warmth in his heart. He knew he loved to write, and that this was truly his gift. Quest never doubted himself. It just took him some time to find the right element to express himself that was authentic and honest. Through poetry, Quest found a way to channel his voice the way he wanted. Him winning the contest gave him the shift he needed for his voice to be heard. His poem made it into the town’s newspaper the following day he won.

Hope Stone Daily News

Winner of the Town’s Poetry Contest announced! Congratulations to our bright and young writer, Quest!

“Good Morning, Sunshine”

Two separate hearts intertwined at first sight

A song of passion to be sung,

the energy an electric moment

Pulled into fate undeniable,

Good morning he said

and sunshine she was

“Soul Searching”

Emotions lie hidden in a deep pocket untouched

The mystery yet to be uncovered,

the truth yet to be exposed

Now in search for clues and digging for answers,

it was an excavation into the human soul