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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The Mighty Jump

This was it.
I could see it in front of me.
The stream was ending.
I had to jump.
The strong current was blinding.
The mischievous drops of water were going against me.
I picked up speed.
Flapping my tail fin one hundred times a second.
Propelling forward faster and faster.
I jumped.
Elegantly soaring through the air.
Slipping right through a grizzly bear’s jaws.
I could see the open sky above,
and the rushing water crashing below.
Then just like that, I gracefully slipped through the quiet
and frigid waters.
My adventure was over.

The Mighty Jump Ella Rogers
Ella Rogers, 10
Lake Forest Park,
Washington