Thank you to everyone who submitted a story to the nonfiction portion of the Winter in the Bay writing contest. Today, we’re delighted to present two more honourable mention nonfiction essays by young people in the 10-12 age category. Caleb Millar, 11, and Noor Zeina, 12, almost make us wish for just one more fresh fall of snow.
You can still submit your nonfiction essay of 350 words or less or your fictional short story of 2,500 words or less anytime for sharing. We will post those stories here once all contest entries have been published. Let’s keep telling our stories of the Bay!
Into the Woods
Caleb Millar
All winter long, my sister, my cousins and I go into the woods when the trees have snow on the branches. The snow falls on all of us so we make sure we have our hoods up but when we don’t, we get a lot of snow down our backs.
We try to find little forts underneath the branches. If your jacket doesn’t have a hood then you’re going to be a bit cold. Sometimes we play camouflage and it is really fun in the snow. We found a really good spot with a big tree up on a hill.
We also like to cross country ski in the woods. My mom made some trails for skiing on. Two of my younger cousins went cross country skiing for the first time during this snow fall. One of them really enjoyed it, so we are hoping to do it again.
We also made a really cool brush fort in the woods—you can barely tell it’s there because it is so camouflaged. My cousins and my sister and I like to make forts with crusty snow because then we can make them like bricks. We also have a really cool tunnel fort that we made in a snowbank. Mine is connected to my cousin’s. His is connected to my sister’s and hers is connected to my other cousin’s. I also made one in another snow bank that is not finished.
Caleb Millar illustrated his story with Philip Hodges’ “Into the Woods.” To read Philip’s inspiration for this work, visit the Winter in the Bay online gallery and click on the image of the painting.
When I First Came to Canada
Noor Zeina
When I was five I moved from Jordan to Nova Scotia, Canada. I did go to Toronto first but we went back to living in Nova Scotia and a lot of people in Nova Scotia helped us settle into our new home. And back then I couldn’t speak English but people helped me and my family speak English which was so helpful because we couldn’t understand anything people were saying.
We explored the place and it was great. When I was 6 I had a chance to go skating and I never went skating but I always wanted to go. I couldn’t because it was never snowy in Jordan. It was always hot there so you would not believe how excited I was to go skating and also I got to go skiing as well which was GREAT.
And I will never forget what Nova Scotia did to me. It changed me in a good way and I never wanna move, ever.
Noor Zeina chose Norma Morash’s quilt, “Canada, 150” to illustrate her story. To see Norma’s inspiration for her quilt, visit the online gallery and click on the image.
