Stone Soup

Where young artists paint the world with words

The international magazine of stories, poems, and art by young writers and artists. Published continuously since 1973.

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I Am a Golden Trout

The sound of silence shatters
When a buzzing fly splashes into a cool freshwater lake
The water, like liquid tourmalines, ripples to kiss
the sun-bleached shore

I wait for a delicious, squishy fly to plop into striking range
Anxious yet excited
Each time is as thrilling as the first

I strike like a ravenous eagle
WHAM!
I clamp the sweet, juicy fly between my jaws like a wrench
GULP!
What a luscious fly!
I descend into the liquid silk water
To snooze in my blanket of warm earthy mud

I Am a Golden Trout Colin Johnson
Colin Johnson, 11
Laguna Beach, California