"The Stars are on Fire" By Antonella Marie Rivas (2nd Place Winner, Top of Iowa 9th/10th Grade - Prose)

Sara Antonella Marie Rivas, known as Nella, is a vibrant sophomore at Panorama High School who excels as a writer, competitive dancer, cross country runner, cheerleader, and performer in school plays and musicals. Her creativity flourishes in art classes, and she’s a talented communicator, representing her school in speech contests. Driven by dreams of becoming a writer and artist, Nella’s passion, ambition, and diverse talents make her a standout member of her school community.

 Mankind had a habit of destroying everything they touched. Civilizations crumbled from one man's greed. Million's dead over petty squabbles. Wars started to show off one's power.They were never the smartest, yet they always thought they knew better. Their greed set everything aflame, including their home. As Mother Nature cried out, they had no one to blame this time, no scapegoat. This time, when the world was set aflame, they had no one to blame but themselves. Mankind, and as the stars watched, they could not help but laugh.

 At first, the stars watched a man. An older man. A man on the brink of death. They watched as this man, with little time left, was granted an escape.Guarded by men and women who had more time than he, if not for the status they were born with. While this old, dying man. Who had worked not a day in his life, who was given everything. Money, power, status, and escape from the burning planet, he had set aflame. The stars pitied the men and women he left behind. However, the stars knew that if they were given what the older man was given from birth, they would do the same. With disgust, the stars moved on to a quaint house to the north.

 Another older man, a kinder, wiser older man, sat with an older woman. Side by side, they sat in worn-out chairs. Frames of family and children hung on the walls and sat on shelves around them in the quaint house. All around, there was a sense of warmth and love. The older woman was crocheting a sweater for her granddaughter that she would never finish. The older man was reading a book that looked as though it had been read from cover to cover many times
already. There was a beauty to the way they sat in silence as though they had always done so. As if words were never needed for them. As though they could share a bond in their hearts without ever speaking.

 They both knew what was to come, yet they accepted it with grace. If it was time, it was time. They felt no pain or grief for themselves, but for their children and grandchildren, who had not yet lived. Not the long lives that they had. When the fire rained down on them, as they embraced and were forever molded together, they did not scream; they only silently wept. They wept for the children.

 Lastly, the stars watched as a mother slowly put her two children to sleep in her arms. A boy around eight and a girl of only five. They hugged their mother tightly as they drifted into sleep. The mother shed no tears for what was to come. She had to be strong, if not for herself, then for the little ones nuzzled silently in her arms. Her heart and her soul. She would not break. She would not be broken like glass. She would be melted by the flames into a shield. For the ones she held dear to her. She squeezed them tighter when the fire rained down. She held no fear, no tears in her eyes, as the family of three was engulfed in the flames.

 As the stars watched, they realized not all of mankind had succumbed to their greed and desire. That not all of mankind deserved to die, that some were good and kind. That some were worth saving. However, the stars did not move but only realigned.

 When the family of three was statues of fire and flesh. They could not move when the tears of the old couple were burned away. They could not interfere. The stars could not help but weep as they watched the goodness of mankind burn away to dust and ash.