Where Am I? Sitka Story Lab Student Anthology
The Island Institute's Sitka Story Lab program released this new book of Southeast Alaskan student writing in May 2016. Called Where Am I?: Stories of Strange Landscapes, Wrong Turns, and New Worlds, the anthology features fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and zany creative experiments that convey the disorientation and the discovery that young people experience, from being in the wilderness to simply growing up. The young writers come from Sitka, Hoonah, Haines, Wrangell, and Skagway, and are as young as nine years old and as old as eighteen. "The writing ranges from fantastic and playful to emotionally moving and dark," said Story Lab Coordinator Sarah Swong. "I'm impressed at how creative and varied these writings are, and at how open students were to feedback and improving their work." The project offered students the chance to write a piece for publication and to hone their writing with an editor.
The Island Institute's Sitka Story Lab program released this new book of Southeast Alaskan student writing in May 2016.
Called Where Am I?: Stories of Strange Landscapes, Wrong Turns, and New Worlds, the anthology features fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and zany creative experiments that convey the disorientation and the discovery that young people experience, from being in the wilderness to simply growing up. The young writers come from Sitka, Hoonah, Haines, Wrangell, and Skagway, and are as young as nine years old and as old as eighteen.
"The writing ranges from fantastic and playful to emotionally moving and dark," said Story Lab Coordinator Sarah Swong. "I'm impressed at how creative and varied these writings are, and at how open students were to feedback and improving their work."
The project offered students the chance to write a piece for publication and to hone their writing with an editor.
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PLAYING WITH FIRE<br />
time to see it burst into flames. Screaming, I plastered myself into<br />
the corner and watched in terror as the flames licked up the rest of<br />
my jacket. All that was left was a little fiery speck laying peacefully<br />
against the tiles.<br />
Over my heaving breathing, I heard someone tear into the rest<br />
room, “Is everything okay?! Is everyone okay!”<br />
I tried to answer, but my tongue was glued to the roof of my<br />
mouth and my lips were sealed together. I couldn’t move. The little<br />
speck grinned menacingly between the door and me. Something<br />
less than a centimeter had me trapped. The colors began to return<br />
again.<br />
I shut my eyes tight in attempts to gather myself. There was no<br />
way out. There was no way to sneak past, no way to douse the<br />
flame, no way to escape the heat. All I did was stand there, breath<br />
ing in heavy delusions, eyes closed. I wish that none of this never<br />
happened, I thought amongst the insanity. How could things go<br />
wrong in such a short period of time?<br />
When I opened my eyes, everything was pitch black. I wondered<br />
at it for three and half seconds and then light returned. I was back<br />
in the airport– not in the restroom, but in the busy, bustling halls<br />
all over again. I didn’t move. Cautiously, I shifted my eyes to the<br />
right. The little old woman was smiling right next to me.<br />
“Would you like to buy a star, young lady?” She asked.<br />
My jaw dropped and I scoffed several times. Then I laughed<br />
at myself like a crazy person. But I was cold. It was lovely, airconditioned<br />
cold. I laughed again in delight. Maybe I was a crazy<br />
person.<br />
24 <strong>Where</strong> <strong>Am</strong> I?
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