First Prize
The Enchanted Island
By Navya Saini
 

“Once upon a time, there was a girl who stumbled upon a magical island. Her name I
cannot say, but I can tell you what happened while she was there.”
“From the outside, it looked as though it was foggy, but the reality was very different. It
was a foggy forest, or appeared to be one, with a different animal habitat in each clearing. The
mist and woods separated each one.”
“The girl had always had an adventurous streak, although she had never felt more
compelled to explore. So she wandered on, as if in a daze. Not that she knew what she was
looking for.”
“The girl passed through the first layer of trees and mist and her breath caught. ‘Wow...
What is this place? I-its so amazing! So... wow!’ For she was surrounded by the African
savannah, or at least a magical rendering of it. Giraffes, hippos, elephants and rhinos milled
about in the heat. A lion leapt over her head, making the girl scream. Animals she couldn’t name
were everywhere; odd, deer-like, or mouse-like, or birds.”
“‘I can understand you!’ the girl exclaimed to no creature in particular, for she truly could,
at least in this world, understand them all.”
“‘Magic of the fairies,’ suggested a giraffe who’d been eating acacia leaves.”
“‘We’re all vegetarians, too, here on this island,’ added a leopard, calmly walking out of
the tall yellow grass.”
“‘Vegans, actually,’ corrected an elephant who was wallowing in the mud.”
“And this was only a portion of the girl’s adventures. As if in a daze, she wandered, shy
and nervous, but her eyes were wide in excitement. ‘Wow’ seemed to be the only word she was
capable of speaking here. ‘Wow when she saw the buffalo and prairie dogs, when she watched
grazing deer and prowling wolves, when she encountered a large, round panda among the
Chinese bamboo forests, ‘wow’ when the huge, majestic amber-and-ebony tiger leapt over her
head swiftly and asked the girl if she could swim.”

“She was shy at first, even hiding when she came upon a frigid Canadian waterfall with a
brown bear prowling in it. But she was able to answer the tiger’s questions and play with the

cubs of the bear, who was hunting salmon- or at least, plants that looked like the red and green
fish who jumped up waterfalls. The bear didn’t even bother with the real salmon.”
“The girl didn’t remember a time when she’d had more fun. She frolicked with
chimpanzees and gorillas in the Central African greenery, goggled at colorful, dazzling Birds of
Paradise in the tropics, and befriended the creepy-crawlies she’d once squirmed at the very
sight of. She even visited a habitat that looked suspiciously like some animal’s fur- in giant size!”
“After panting in the afternoon heat of the Saharan Desert with camels, she stumbled
absent-mindedly into the next habitat, thinking about how animals in the human world (she was,
by this point, convinced that this was a magical realm) deserved better than climate change and
pollution.”
“‘Aaaaahh!’ she screamed as she clawed her way back out again, for once grateful for
the hot sun. She coughed and choked, her mouth filled with seawater. Seeing a huge eye in the
darkness that belonged to some unknown creature had scared her beyond consolation.”
“When she did go in, though, she found herself in a magical bubble, holding a lantern
that let her explore this place, which was evidently the deep sea. The giant eye had belonged to
an even bigger squid, who apologized for the fright.
“‘I’ve always loved the deep sea,’ the girl told him, ‘but of course I never could go there- I
mean, come down here.’”
“The squid nodded. ‘In the human world, these submarines come down here with
people and lights. It’s nice, of course, but scary. I, for one, have always tried to hide from them.’
The girl soon befriended more creatures than most people saw in a lifetime, and many of them
had never been named by humans.”
“‘So many colors and creatures and noises... this place is like a city!’ the girl breathed
when she finally left the deep sea and came out in a coral reef. And indeed it was. After meeting
many more aquatic animals and seeing many more underwater habitats, like narwhals and
walruses in the Arctic, penguins in the Antarctic, sharks and whales in the open sea, and even
exploring rivers and lakes, the girl finally reached the center of the island.”
Sometime during the journey she had realized that she was going in a spiral, and that if she
kept going she would ultimately reach the center.
“Here, the girl caught her breath yet again. This place looked like a bunch of different
habitats all in one. All of the ones she’d seen. Some she hadn’t. She recognized so many

individual animals she had recently met. She saw ones she must have missed before. Here
there were extinct species: animals no human alive had met, animals like dodo birds and
dinosaurs and Tasmanian tigers and so many more.”
“Scattered about were quaint little huts they seemed to belong to people, but were
neater than the girl had ever seen, given that they were made of natural materials. Walking
around this habitat were beautiful winged figures: fairies. Now the girl understood that this land
belonged to them.”
“‘See what happens when we don’t preserve nature.’ a voice whispered in the girl’s ear.
Suddenly the entire island shook. The island was transformed from paradise into a city, all
colors gone. The animals were gone, replaced by farms and fields and houses. The mist had
dissolved. The plants were gone. Animals hid in every bit of nature they could find. And the air,
land, and sea were all polluted.”
“The girl was suddenly whisked away, sent home. She always tried to appreciate and
preserve nature from that day on.”
I finished recounting my memories: “I know this because that girl was me.

​

Honorable Mention

Slaughterhouses to animal sanctuaries: The story of

Caleb and his adventures

By Shiven Chauhan 

​

Lots of pigs are killed every year. And they aren’t just killed painlessly but electrocuted or
thrown in scalding hot water. Pigs are the 6th most killed animal in the world. Western countries
are often very angry that some people in Asia eat dogs, but the only difference between eating a
dog or a pig is your perception and what society has said is fine. So that is why today I am going
to be telling you a story that hopefully opens your eyes to how our animal friends are treated.
Caleb was just a boy who helped in the pig slaughterhouses and the farms although he did not
want to. He had no choice because his family was poor and he needed to make money. He had a
dream that the world should drastically reduce the amount of pigs slain in a year over 1 billion at
the time.There was a huge pig farm only 300 meters away from the slaughterhouse and Caleb
would go back and forward from helping the pigs at the farm to seeing them killed at the
slaughterhouses every time he saw one die his heart broke after all they were living breathing
creatures and had feelings too. One day he saw a truck coming to import pigs to the
slaughterhouse and it suddenly crashed. Pigs fell out everywhere. Fortunately there was an
animal sanctuary official nearby and came to the rescue and helped the pigs.
"Hey wait up, may I help you?” said Caleb to the official.
“Sure you can help us at the animal sanctuary!”said the official
“Okay, by the way what is your name?” replied Caleb
“Oh I am Charles and what is your name?” he said “My name is Caleb,” he replied
“ We are planning to set a mass breakout from the farm and save as many animals as possible”
said Charles
“We are willing to pay you $5 per pig you convince them to let go” said Charles “We are also
willing to give you $250 if you spy on them for us and tell us all the passcodes for the pig pens”
said charles seriously “You have deal” replied Caleb
They told Caleb to come to work there tomorrow and when he came back home from the farms
with $4 of earnings he bought some dinner for himself. The next day he went to the animal
sanctuary. The place was just amazing. The pigs were given amazing care and food and so were
all of the other animals. Some were given pitted peaches or magical food unlike in the farms just

a little bit of grass. Today he was assigned to feed the pigs magical plants which gave the pigs
the ability to talk.
“Where did you get these?”Caleb asked an official. “Oh some person found them and the pigs
loved them and they gave the pigs special powers.
Well Caleb had heard of the magical weapons they used to kill the pigs in the slaughter
houses such as wands or even chickens that could breathe fire. He found it amazing what could
be used for good could be used for bad. Days past working and spying and suddenly one day the
speakers announced something “All workers for the animal sanctuary please come to the
podium”. We are delivering a speech meanwhile a team goes to rescue the pigs they explained.
Caleb was assigned with Pig pen 5,6,7 and when he was finished he had run back for the speech.
He ran in and quickly spotted the pens he rummaged for his papers in his bag.For pig pen 5 he
had no trouble nor for pig pen 6 but for pig pen 7 none of the suspected passwords were working
at all.
Caleb was desperate he tried random things then he saw a shadow coming to the room he was
going to get caught. It was a giant robot holding a laser beam in one hand and a knife in the
other.
Hey what are you doing you are not supposed to be here security mode on. He fired a laser beam
directly at Caleb. It hit him but Caleb didn’t care he finally cracked the code for pig pen 7 and he
ran when he saw a giant pig running down at the robot.
While the two giants were brawling Caleb was running putting the pigs back.
“Phew I did it I saved the pigs” he thought He ran back to the speech
He didn't recognize the speaker; but he put that out of his mind he found a seat and sat down.
Everyone working at the slaughterhouses you are hurting these mass slaughtered animals
whether it be chickens,turkeys,pigs or cows you need to stop.They are living breathing creatures
and have a right to live. We understand you need food but you are killing over 1 billion
pigs,turkeys,chickens and cows. We need to drastically reduce the amount we are slaying.
The food you get out of it may taste good for you guys but they aren’t all that healthy. Studies
have shown eating processed meat causes cancer as declared by the World Health Organization

in 2015. The WHO findings were drafted by a panel of 22 experts who reviewed decades of
research. According to The American Cancer Society,
processed meat includes hot dogs, ham, bacon, sausage. It refers to meat that has been treated in
some way to preserve or flavor it. Processes include salting, curing, fermenting. Red meat is
beef, pork, lamb etc. Twenty-two experts from 10 countries reviewed more than 800 studies to
reach their conclusions. They found that eating 50 grams of processed meat every day increased
the risk of colorectal cancer by 18%. For red meat, there was evidence of increased risk of
colorectal, pancreatic cancer.
Hopefully my story convinced you to help save our animal friends