Dream Catcher Story Contest<\/p>\n
1st place<\/span><\/p>\n (Category 1: grades 3-5)<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cCatching Dreams to Be the Dream\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n by Madeleine Cham<\/strong><\/p>\n Age 11, Grade 5<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Once upon a time, there was a little girl who wished to catch dreams. Every night, she left a glass jar by her bed to catch them. Her dreams sent her soaring into the sky, swirling through the sea, adventure and beauty everywhere. She would meet fairies and make exotic potions, visit elves and slay dragons, explore shipwrecks with mermaids. But she awoke with no memory of the wonderful dream except for the longing urge to be whisked away to a wonderful world of fantasy and fun. She rarely had nightmares, and they always passed quickly.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One night, the little girl gazed out her bedroom window and sighed. <\/span>How wonderful it would be if I could catch my dreams, if only for a few minutes!<\/span><\/i> she thought, just as a twinkling star fell from the sky. She gasped in happiness. She had wished upon a falling star, a myth that her mother had told her about! Filled with excitement, she ran to her bed and was soon asleep, convinced the next morning she would awaken and know what her dreams were.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0She awoke sharply at 7:00 am and grabbed the glass jar and twisted it open. She gasped as memories of adventure and fantasy flooded her mind, ideas and magic from her dream life. Struck with inspiration, she grabbed a journal and began to write. Page after page was filled with worlds she had explored while asleep. It amazed her parents and community when she showed them days later. However, the gift didn\u2019t last forever, and her glass jar, the Dream-Catcher, as the little girl called it, stopped working after a few days. But the girl\u2019s life was changed. She devoted her life to writing and inspiring people like her in the same ways her dreams had inspired her.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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