"Helping the World on Valentines!" by Mina Ha: Feb. 2024 1st Place

I sat on the edge of my seat waiting for the last minutes of Writing to end. I could hardly wait for our Valentines Party! Finally, the teacher passed them out telling everyone it was an anonymous valentines exchange. When I got mine, I was dancing for joy! I grabbed my cards and leafed through them. When I reached the last one, my grin faltered. It looked suspiciously like my own handwriting… I decided to read and then judge it. It went something like this:

The world is in trouble! If you want to help, go to the abandoned library on Apple Street.

Signed, Delila.

What? Signed Delilah? Delilah was my name! Was someone pulling a prank? I looked around but everyone seemed happy and occupied by their own valentines. I shrugged and decided to go to the library after school, so I could catch the person who did this.

Later that afternoon I headed inside the abandoned library while preschoolers delighted in mid-winter break. Dust particles floated around flipping and dancing as sunshine filtered in. I waited and waited and was about to leave when a holographic figure appeared.

It looked like an older me. “W-who are you?” I whispered. The holographic image sighed and said, “I’m you. In a sense, an older you. And the world is in trouble. I need your help. Do you trust me?” I found myself saying yes for reasons I know not why. “Good.” Older me said. “Let’s go save the world.”