by Tess Overstreet (age 13) – South Carolina, USA

There was a girl with a heart as bright as the sun that lived in the woods. Always by her side, there was a cat with a heart as pure as the moon itself.

They lived happily, caring for all the woodland creatures, especially the hurt, the endangered, and the forgotten. Their secret hideaway was perfect, until men discovered the beautiful forest and brought machines to chop down the trees for their own purposes. The girl, trying to hide the animals, was discovered. The men tried to drag her away, saying the forest was no place for a child. Her moon cat jumped out and tried to scratch the men’s legs, but it was no use.

All the animals in the forest wept, most of all the the cat with a heart as pure as the moon. She climbed the tallest tree in the forest to have one last glance of her girl. As she was being led away, one of the moon cat’s magical tears splashed on the girl’s right shoulder. Another came down and fell on her left shoulder. Suddenly, the girl with a heart as bright as the sun started sprouting wings! She spun faster and faster, as high as the tallest tree in the forest, and the sun and moon reunited. Frightened, the men never came back to the forest, and all the animals of the forest rejoiced!