{"id":3486,"date":"2016-11-19T14:06:24","date_gmt":"2016-11-19T22:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/?p=3486"},"modified":"2016-11-18T16:13:16","modified_gmt":"2016-11-19T00:13:16","slug":"teresa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/2016\/teresa\/","title":{"rendered":"“By the Light of the Fire” — story by Teresa Fundter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Young Readers League\u00a02016\u00a0Writing Contest<\/p>\n

Category 2 (Age 12-14)<\/p>\n

2nd place<\/p>\n

\n

By the Light of the Fire<\/h3>\n

by\u00a0Teresa Fundter
\n14 years old (Grade 9)
\nLa Canada High School<\/p>\n

The air was laced with smoke and ash, sirens wailing. The towering tent belonging to the circus\u00a0now lay on the ground in ashes, the only thing remaining: the scarred metal skeleton. Firefighters\u00a0in their bright yellow outfits asked the ring leader what had possibly caused the fire. The ring\u00a0leader, Nicholas, stood there in shock, saying, “I don’t know, I don’t know.” until he snapped.<\/p>\n

“I. Don’t. Know.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Nicholas watched his circus fall apart, his dreams with it.<\/p>\n

It was warm, too warm on a winter night. The ashes mimicked snow drifting back towards the\u00a0ground to alight on the lashes of the little boy standing amidst the remains of the tent. Nicholas\u00a0strode towards the little boy before anyone else could see him.<\/p>\n

“Hey there, little man.” Nicholas said. “I’m Nicholas, the ring leader. And you are…?”<\/p>\n

“Cameron.” the gaunt little boy said firmly. “My name is Cameron. I’m sorry for burning down\u00a0your tent.”<\/p>\n

“Okay, Cameron. How did you burn the tent?” he asked.<\/p>\n

The orphaned boy scuffed his shoes in the dirt. “I have this… this thing. I guess you could call it\u00a0a power. I can summon fire. Look, watch.” He opened his palm and scrunched his face hard, as if\u00a0his intense gaze was going to light a fire itself. To Nicholas’ surprise, a small fire bloomed in the\u00a0boy’s hand.<\/p>\n

“Put it out, now. Some people might be afraid of that.” The flame winked out. “But I think I can\u00a0help you. You see, there are special people like you at my circus. We can help you learn how to\u00a0control your power and give you somewhere to stay. What do you think?”<\/p>\n

Cameron, with nothing to lose and no one to tum to, replied. “Yes.”<\/p>\n

“Welcome to the circus, Cameron.”<\/p>\n

\n

Contest info:<\/p>\n

Tell us something about a new character joining a magical circus. What is their special ability? How did they come to join the circus?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Special thanks to our judges: \u00a0Allison Hill (Vromans), Nick Smith (Pasadena Library), Shauna Redmond\u00a0(Pasadena Library), Tiffany Duenas (Pasadena Library), Jean Penn (Pasadena Library)<\/p>\n

Sponsored by the\u00a0Friends of the Pasadena Public Library<\/p>\n

\n

To view more\u00a0stories from the contest, view the list: \u00a0http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/kids\/2016\/yrlcontest<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Young Readers League\u00a02016\u00a0Writing Contest Category 2 (Age 12-14) 2nd place By the Light of the Fire by\u00a0Teresa Fundter 14 years old (Grade 9) La Canada High School The air was laced with smoke and ash, sirens wailing. The towering tent belonging to the circus\u00a0now lay on the ground in ashes, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[92,93],"class_list":["post-3486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing","tag-contest","tag-young-readers-league"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s5ZwbD-teresa","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3484,"url":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/2016\/amelia\/","url_meta":{"origin":3486,"position":0},"title":"“Girl on Fire” — story by Amelia Monsour","author":"Teen Blogger","date":"November 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Young Readers League\u00a02016\u00a0Writing Contest Category 2 (Age 12-14) 1st\u00a0place Girl on Fire by\u00a0Amelia Monsour 12\u00a0years old (Grade 7) Sierra Madre Middle School \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0The circus master, Eduard, buttoned up his red coat, and prepared to enter the circus ring, where flying children, super strong men, and conjurers awaited. 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