#KidLitVibes 2023 (Winner)

Step right up, spin the Wheel of Feels! That’s what I imagined the Frenzies (the hosts of the #KidLitVibes contest) shouting as I stepped up to the virtual wheel. This year, I spun the word CALM, so my 125 word story is meant to invoke that feeling.

So many thanks to Gennie Gorback, Lindsey Hobson, Jess Hinrichs, and Molly Ippolito for hosting, and to all the awesome prize donors!

My entry below!

Slow Days

Slow days are for stretching out in the yard,

No one rushing me,

Or calling me inside.

Days for keeping my cheek close to the cool ground

And watching the ants work and work.

Slow days are for lying on my back,

Squinting up to the sky

Searching the clouds for pirates.

Slow days are quiet days.

No come-alongs or hurry-ups,

Or shoelaces needing tying.

Just the rubby sound of my toes in the grass,

And the rougher sounds of my skin

On the sun-warmed sidewalk.

Slow days are for thinking about kites,

And all types of birds,

And things that take time.

On slow days, the only things I feel

Come from inside of me.

Which is good and different and feels

Just right.