"1st Place - “New Year, New Life" by Ramya Chebolu: Jan. 2024 1st Place

It was a Wednesday afternoon on January 1, 2032 in Voridia. My name is Zyeon, Me and my brother Samadryn were relaxing on our couch and thought it's time to set new goals and new year resolutions. Samadryn came up with a superior idea! He wanted to build a new vorda (home) and get a job. I loved the idea and was ready for a fun adventure! We started to build our new vorda north of the Pathlantic dessert. It took us 3 days to build our vorda.

Our stomachs were growling so we rushed to a restaurant. Before we entered, I saw a sign that said “Help Wanted”. We sensed trouble, and wanted to act like superheroes, we smashed through the door. The manager came tensed and asked why we did this?

We were confused, because we were trying to help. The manager said “help wanted” does not mean someone smashes the door. We were embarrassed but still asked if we could get a job and he agreed! We went to a library later and saw two aliens there. They had a book I wanted to read. They were very friendly, and gave the book to us. They said their names were Amaya and Zander.

They took us to a coffee shop nearby. We tried it and it had an acquired taste but after some time it tasted good. We talked for a long time, we all had fun and are ready for fun adventures ahead of us!