The Office of Catholic Schools holds an annual competition open to all Catholic school students; in past years the competition has taken the form of a Poster Contest (2012-2020), Visual Art Contest (2021), Spoken Word Art Contest (2022) and this year’s Writer’s Contest. Students were asked to create a short story with the theme “There is no love without hope, no hope without love, and neither love nor hope without faith” (St. Augustine).
The competition had four categories (Level 1 for grades K-2, Level 2 for grades 3-5, Level 3 for grades 6-8 and Level 4 for 9-11), and a panel of judges selected the top entry from each category to determine the “2023 People’s Choice Award” winners. The four winning students receive a copy of the winning stories in a book and $500 to go towards their tuition. Below are the winning stories for Level 2 (Brooklyn Flores of St. Adelaide Academy, Highland), Level 3 (Jaylnn Ambriz of St. James School, Perris) and Level 4 (Rylee Martin of Aquinas High School, San Bernardino).
Level 2 (grades 3-5) winner: "A St. Jude Mystery"
By Brooklyn Flores
December 25, 1905, London, England. William and Enola lay peacefully in their hospital bassinets. Their mother Emily is resting with her husband James by her side when the fire alarms go off. The babies start to cry startled by the loud alarm. James hurries to help his wife that is still very weak. James started to panic because he could not help his wife and save his two babies. “James, you have to leave me and save the babies,” Emily insisted. Before he had time to decide the room fills with smoke, and he could no longer see the babies only hear their faint cries.
It has been ten years since the fire. William and Enola sit quietly in their foster home listening to the radio. “ATTENTION, ATTENTION,” shouted the news caster. “In 1905 a mysterious fire killed thousands is marked as the Saint Jude Mystery.” The siblings listened closely as the newscaster detailed the fire and noted no bodies were ever found. Until now! “It was just discovered that survivors were found in a subway tunnel in Brooklyn, New York.” Enola couldn’t believe it.
Enola begged her foster mother to let them go to Brooklyn. Maybe her parents were among the survivors. Maybe they were still in New York. They had to find out. “There is no way you can travel to New York alone; I cannot leave the other children to take you.” Enola and William knew they had to find a way. They had to run away. They kneeled and prayed to God to find their parents. Faith and love would guide them on this journey.
William and Enola traveled for days. Their first stop in Boston. This was a scary city for two kids. The siblings arrived in Brooklyn on a cold Wednesday afternoon. With little money and no time, they had to find their parents. They go to the police for help. They are greeted by an officer at the counter. Another officer overhears the children telling the story of their missing parents. “Hello children, my name is Officer Jones. I can help you.” Officer Jones explains that he has been working with a private investigator to identify all the survivors.
Officer Jones shows the children pictures of the survivors. William stops and points at a picture of a couple. “William, it is your face, your eyes, your smile. This has to be our father!” exclaimed Enola. This must be their parents. Officer Jones explains the fire was part of a government coverup. The children’s parents are under an alias, but he could take the children to them. He explained the children will be given new names if they reunite with their parents.
William and Enola sit quietly waiting for the moment they have been waiting for. A small woman and tall man that looks exactly like William walks through the door. “Mother, father,” the kids cry out. Emily, James, William, and Enola are finally together. Love, hope, and faith win.
Brooklyn Flores is a 5th grade student at St. Adelaide Academy, Highland.
Level 3 (grades 6-8) winner: "An Angel in the Sky"
By Jaylynn Ambriz
AVA
While walking home, my mind wanders to thoughts of my mom, and I can't help thinking of her and everything she was to so many people, especially me. She was well-loved, filled with faith, and admired by her peers. Her name was Amy, and it had been two years since she passed, and even now, it hurts so much. I can feel the snow reaching my face; it's cold but somewhat soothing. Suddenly I'm distracted when I hear a loud noise; a dog is jumping in the snow, instantly reminding me of Daisy, my dog. My mom and I made beautiful memories with Daisy, especially during the most difficult times after my mom became sick.
When my mom and I first found Daisy, she was curled up in a ball at the local animal shelter. Scared and alone, she looked like she had never been cared for in a loving home. My mom and I desperately wanted to bring her home and give her all the love she deserved. We gave the dog love through the years, but she gave us even more love in return. Daisy was the kind of dog that just knew what you needed even before you did, so it was not a surprise that when my mother started to feel sick, Daisy was right there by her side and would not leave her. I didn't understand it then, but Daisy would be my only friend to help me through the most challenging time.
AMY
Doctor Joy enters the room. "Hello Amy, I'm afraid cancer has come back and is much worse this time. I think it's time that you tell Eva and begin to make arrangements. We can try a more aggressive round of chemo, but it may not work and will only lessen your quality of life. Unfortunately, there is no cure for Leukemia at this time." Amy thanks the doctor for trying and asks how much time she has left; she doesn't want to spend her remaining life in the hospital. The doctor responds, "possibly 3 - 6 months without treatment." Amy excuses herself. "Have a great rest of your day," she says, "you too, Amy," says the doctor as she heads home to have a tough conversation with her daughter Ava.
Amy returns home and watches Ava and her dog Daisy playing and cuddling; they are having the best time together. Amy thinks about how Daisy has been such a blessing and is so happy Ava has her in her life. She leans in to tell Ava she is sick; she doesn't even know where to begin. How do you prepare your baby for a broken heart? Amy's heart is already broken, knowing she will have to say goodbye to her whole world.
AVA
I remember crying uncontrollably; I had just received the worst news possible. My mother was dying, and I didn't know how much time I had left with her. Daisy was right there with me; how could she know I needed her? I remember thinking she was only a dog, but somehow she did and never left my side. The next six months were hard. My mom gently begins to fade away; she is sleeping more often and rarely can leave her bed. She has less energy each day. Before I know it, she is gone. After her funeral, I found a letter from my mom.
My darling Ava,
I know it doesn't feel like it right now, but soon you will begin to heal, and you will once again
find happiness in your life. Before I had you, my life was happy, but I had always felt something
was missing. I soon realized it wasn't something but someone. You. You complete me. You are my
everything, and I love you.
Love,
Mom
Before I knew it, tears were coming down my face. All I could think to do at that moment was pray. Pray to God for strength and a special prayer directly to my mother.
Mom, I am praying to you, my guardian angel, because, to be honest, I do not know how to move on with this loss. You are my mom, best friend, idol, and everything. I do not know how to move on without you. Please watch over me and give me the strenght to try to be strong and brave. I love you always.
To those who knew her, my mom was an Angel; now she is MY Guardian Angel. My Angel in the sky.
Jaylynn Ambriz is an 8th grade student at St. James the Less, Perris.
Level 4 (grades 9-12) winner: "Beyond the Bricks"
By Rylee Martin
There’s a small village on the northwest coast of 1893 Ireland, hidden within the forests. It’s a place where everyone knows everyone. Sheltering the village people from surrounding wilderness was a great wall, blocking them off from the outside world. The only way in or out being the coastal ports along the sea.
Amongst those within these walls lives Amadeus Cabot. Seventeen year old Amadeus has sweet caramel blonde hair and green eyes containing a golden hue deep within them. He’s just over six feet tall, perfect for his favorite hobby of browsing the village library’s seemingly endless shelves.
The life he had was simple, and many in town preferred it that way, but while the walls acted as protection for some, they were a prison to Amadeus. He wanted to see and do more than what was offered. He’s expected to succeed his father's position running the family’s small art shop, and considering his father’s recent illness, this time would come sooner than anticipated. The job consists of selling the store’s goods and hosting art classes in the studio every Friday.
There was nothing Amadeus disliked about the store or managing it, but he was unsatisfied with the simplicity. That’s why he loved the library, every book had a different story about a different person in a different place. He longed for that kind of adventure and thrill, but this dream only existed between the covers of books. He had lost hope that he would go beyond the village, and therefore could not appreciate and love what he had.
One day, while scanning the books in the village’s library, Amadeus saw a mysterious girl browsing shelves nearby. He found this peculiar because he knew the face of every person in that village, but hers, he did not recognize. Also, Amadeus had read almost every book in the library and therefore is the only person to be found this deep into the building.
She has silver hair, deep blue eyes, and wears a long crème colored dress. While Amadeus is staring at her through the gaps between books, she suddenly turns to look around, then starts towards the door.
Amadeus follows her without hesitation, weaving through the village until reaching the wall at the edge of town. He hides, watching in confusion as she approaches a weakened spot in the wall. One by one, she begins to disassemble the loose bricks, revealing the outside forest. She then climbs through and pieces it back together. He couldn’t follow her further without taking the wall apart himself, so he instead goes back to the library.
Amadeus visits the library everyday, waiting hours to see this girl again. Eventually she returns to the same isle as before. She takes some books off the shelves, observing each one carefully before putting it back. Finally, she takes one and, after looking through it, walks to the front of the library to check it out. Her and the librarian, Mrs. Bukahney, chat for a bit, laughing. Once she leaves, Amadeus follows her to the same place. After she had placed the bricks back within the wall, he decided to continue following, removing these bricks from their spots. When he created a hole big enough to climb through, the girl was nowhere to be seen.
Slowly, Amadeus ventures deeper into the woods, keeping the wall in sight at all times to avoid getting lost. As he walks further in, he realizes this is what he was longing for, a new adventure away from the repetitive life of the village. Amadeus closes his eyes, breathing the fresh air in deeply, focusing on the sound of leaves rustling in the wind’s current. Then, he notices a new noise. Nearby, something stirs in a bush. Unable to tell exactly where it is, Amadeus fills with fear as he senses its quick movement towards him.
Panicking, he tries to run back towards the village, but before he’s able to fully turn, he trips over tree roots. He scrambles to stand again, but slips on the soft ground as fear continuously sweeps his legs from beneath him. Breathing heavily, he hears the creature emerge from its hiding.
From the bushes jumps a small, fox-like animal with a tan coat and huge, pointed ears. Letting out a nervous laugh, Amadeus gets to his feet and heads back to the wall. He climbs through, and places each brick into its slot.
The next day was Friday, which meant Amadeus had to teach pottery to young children in the shop. Each session consisted of teaching the children to mold a cup to paint the following week. However, during the morning session, he couldn’t clear his mind of that girl and the forest. At the end of the class, he sat with his wet mug, thinking about the girl, when he had an idea. During the break between sessions, Amadeus molded what he remembered of the girl’s face. It wasn’t until children started to arrive for the next class that he stored it beneath the front counter.
Once morning ended, Amadeus decides to go to the library during his lunch break to ask about the girl. He walks over still in his messy apron. He enters the library and heads straight to the checkout center to greet the librarian.
“Good afternoon Mrs. Bukahney,”
In return the elderly woman says slowly, “Afternoon, oh is that you Amadeus? Why shouldn't you be at the shop today?”
“I’m on my break,” he replies quickly, “I was wondering if you could tell me anything about that girl you spoke with yesterday, she checked out a book.”
“Only one person checked out a book yesterday and he was no young lady,” Mrs. Bukahney responds with a giggle.
Puzzled, Amadeus pushes her further, “Are you sure? I saw you talk with her.”
“Oh yes, I’m sure.”
Disappointed, he sees there’s nothing more he’ll find here and concludes their conversation, “Oh, well thank you anyways. I should be heading back to the shop now.”
“Alright dear, have a good day.”
“You as well, Mrs. Bukahney,” He says, heading towards the door.
On his way back to the shop, Amadeus struggles to understand what happened. He had seen the two speak as if they were old friends, and she took the book with her, there was no way to sneak a book past Mrs. Bukahney. It didn’t make sense. At this point, he was no further along in finding out who this girl is and spent the rest of the day thinking about it.
Saturday arrives and Amadeus is running the shop. He had just sent off one of his regular customers when the bell above the door rang as another customer entered. Amadeus turns around upon hearing this and his eyes widen, beside the door stands the girl from the library. She was admiring the sculpture he made of her, which was now sitting on the windowsill.
Looking up at Amadeus she says, “It’s a beautiful piece.”
Amadeus runs behind the front desk, kneeling down to search the shelf he’d placed the sculpture. It wasn’t there. He wondered how it got all the way to the window. Rising from the floor he moves around the counter to face the girl. An expression of terror and astonishment on his face as he stares at what’s before him.
She then reminds him of her compliment, adding, “Is it not?”
Blankly, Amadeus replies, “Oh, thank you.”
The girl smiles, pleased, and continues to admire the smooth moldings.
Gathering his thoughts, Amadeus asks, “How did that get over there?”
She looks into his eyes, “With God, all things are possible.”
“Who are you?”
“My name is Celine, it means heavenly,” She lets out a giggle, “I was so pleased that He chose that name for me.”
There is a slight pause while Amadeus admires her beauty, then she continues, “Your father, he is not well.”
Quickly glancing at the hallway leading to his father’s bedroom, Amadeus slowly says,
“How did you know that?”
“I told you, all things are possible through Him.”
More silence follows until Celine says abruptly, “Follow me,” and runs out the door.
Amadeus chases after, running past people, bumping into some and stumbling, until he nearly trips. Just barely catching himself, he begins to panic and spins, frantically searching for Celine. Suddenly he hears her voice, faint but recognizable above the chatter. It tells him to follow in a certain direction, so Amadeus pushes through the crowd. He continued to run, chasing the voice until it led him to the center of town. He circled the fountain marking center, but the voice was now a murmur changing direction. He stopped running and realized the voice was coming from above him, above the fountain.
Without hesitation Amadeus rushed into the water, moving as fast as possible towards its center, preparing to climb. He gripped the side above him and lifted himself. Once almost at the top, he could sense the voice before him, then he snapped back to reality. The ground was suddenly farther away than it had appeared before, and a crowd gathered around, whispering. He falters, then her voice catches his attention again. He pulls himself up, placing one foot on the fountain’s tip, unable to place both.Celine’s voice encourages him.
“I can’t balance.”
“Trust me.”
Amadeus slowly raises himself. Just when he was somewhat steady, he’s startled by her voice behind him and nearly fell.
“I’m going to fall,” He whispered.
“Have faith,” Celine told him again. “Step back if you are unbalanced, use both feet.”
Amadeus was hesitant, but did as she instructed. He closed his eyes and adjusted his weight throughout both legs. The last thing he heard was the gasp that rose from the crowd. Then, it was gone, his feet hit something solid almost immediately after stepping. He opened his eyes to see a pale blue emptiness, as if he were in the sky. He looked down to see what supported him, but it looked the same, almost like he was floating.
Amadeus heard movement behind him and turned to see Celine. He quickly approaches her, questions flooding his thoughts.
He shouted one after another, “What’s going on, where am I? How’d this happen? Where’s the town, and all the people?” He took a quick pause as earlier questions came to mind, “How come Mrs. Bukahney didn’t remember you? I saw you talk to her, and check out that book, but she had no memory of it. Where do you come from? How did you know about that spot in the wall and where did you go after climbing through it?”
He was expecting Celine to stop his rampage once she was ready to answer, but she didn’t. She let him speak, listening patiently.
Once he finished, Celine finally answered. Some indirectly, but still telling Amadeus all he wished to know. She described a large town outside the village with much to offer and that she had been sent in a way impossible to understand. She also told him that his father would heal and soon be healthier than ever. After taking this all in, Amadeus found a new hope in him, then the blue surroundings darkened and Celine’s face faded from his vision.
He awoke laying in the water fountain, the town gathered around him. Nothing hurt and he was completely uninjured. In fact, he felt better than he had in a long time. He understood now that it wasn't new adventures missing from his life, but hope and faith in something greater. Excitement ran through him in hopes to explore the town Celine mentioned. It was then that Amadeus looked over to see his mother rushing towards him. Following behind her, leaving everyone in shock, ran his father, who’d barely been able to move for months.
He then heard a very faint voice that turned the rest to echoes saying, “So don’t lose faith in Him, for there is nothing that can’t be done.”
Rylee Martin is an 11th grade student at St. James the Less, Perris.