A pair of aspiring writers were the grand prize winners for the 2017 Buda Library Summer Contest for Young Writers, which was put on by the Friends of the Buda Library. Leah Whiddon was the winner for the age 8-12 group with her piece, “A Monster on My Head.” Madison Rivas claimed the prize for the 13-17 age group with her essay, “Rainbow for the Ages.” 

The Monster on My Head

By Leah Whiddon

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he first day of summer break I woke up, stretched and looked in the mirror and screamed. There was a monster without eyelids sitting on my head. It had creepy eyelashes, pointy and long. Then all of a sudden I blinked and it was gone. He had to be somewhere in my room but I couldn’t find him.

I searched everywhere, under my bed, in the drawers, in my closet but I had no luck. I looked back into the mirror and blinked and there he was sitting on my head again. This time though I didn’t scream since I didn’t want to scare him off. I had to come up with a plan to catch him.

First, I thought I would throw my hat on my head and trap him underneath. I grabbed my cap flipped my wrist and threw it on my head. I knew I had him, but when I put my hands on the hat and felt around it felt empty. After that I took it off and sure enough it was empty.

Suddenly I looked in the mirror and there he was again. The next idea I had was to quickly grab it. I sat still without moving a muscle. Then suddenly I slammed my hands on my head. I caught nothing but hair.

I tried and tried and every time he appeared he would dodge my try to catch him. I was ready to give up and getting a little hungry. So I grabbed my banana and peeled it open. The little monster was back on my head but he almost looked like he wanted my banana then I thought to give him some. I took a small piece and held it near him. Then he came and bit it. He crawled into my hand wanting more and I gave it to him. That is how I became friends with a crested gecko.

Rainbow for the Ages

By Madison Rivas

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]t the library, I found a photo stuck between the pages of a book: it was of two girls kissing with a rainbow flag around them at a pride parade. I made sure no one was looking, and then I took the photo out of the book, put it in my bag, and set off home, because something told me that it was important.

Life had been a bit blurry for me after a car accident I was in when I was 17 that destroyed most of my memory. After that event, I found myself questioning many things: what happened to my parents, what my teenage and childhood years were like, and my sexuality, which meant I was single and living alone in a shabby apartment.

I set my bag on the table and went over to the fridge for a drink so I could take a closer look at the photo. I found it quite strange that a picture like that was just sitting between the pages like a bookmark. I held it to the light and noticed that one of the girls in the picture looked a lot like me. I blinked so much my eyes hurt and looked at it again only to realize that I was me: I was at a pride parade, kissing another girl, in this picture. I suddenly blacked out for a second because all of the memories of that day and that girl came flooding back to me.

“Julia,” my mouth forced itself to utter. That name had slipped away from me after the car accident and now I remembered how much I loved her. I needed to find her, my one true love, again.

I opened my phone up to see when the next pride parade was coming to my town, since that was my closest shot to finding her again. It said that there was a pride parade coming to a nearby town in a week, so I waited that week away, even though it felt like years.

When the day finally arrived, I dressed in my gayest outfit and grabbed a rainbow flag that I bought the day prior. I hopped in my car to set off to it, the photo folded neatly in my back pocket. I drove the few miles and arrived to see a pretty packed parking lot. I stepped out of my car and took the photo into my hand to try to match someone to the other girl in the picture.

I had walked a while, and met some pretty amazing people, before I saw a face across the crowd that made my mind click. It’s her, I said to myself. I had the guts to walk up to her and say hello.

“Haven’t I seen you before?” she asked. I nodded my head.

“It’s Harper,” I said, “and you’re Ju-”

I was cut off when she gave a big hug, so obviously she remembered me. I never thought I’d see her again. She ushered a camera man over and kissed me with the flag around us once again.