[Y]oung Writers Project, an independent nonprofit based in Burlington, engages young people to write and use digital media to express themselves with clarity and power, and to gain confidence and skills for school, the workplace and life.
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The sweet silence of winter
By Noell Koslowsky, 15
Winter is about the simple things.
Winter is about admiring that perfect little flake of snow that lands on your hand, then watching it slowly melt away until it’s just a tiny water droplet slithering its way down your hand. It’s about those times when you’re waiting for the school bus and take long breaths of fresh, crisp air, then exhale to see the beautiful, hazy-white veil of your carbon dioxide slowly appear in front of you.
Winter is about watching your favorite maple tree at the center of your backyard lose its very last vivid-red leaf, then looking around to realize that all of the beautiful reds and oranges and yellows are gone, replaced by a blinding white blanket of snow that stretches as far as the eye can see. It’s about seeing the coniferous trees slowly growing, then making their inevitable way to a family’s home to be decorated with bulbs and tinsel for the holiday season.
At the end of every beautiful day you sit and listen to the Earth, hearing nothing but the sound of your own chest rising and falling. When you look, you can only see the white blanket of snow covering the ground, masking all of the creatures in hibernation. The world is peaceful with everything at rest, taking a break after the long year.
When spring rolls around, you will get back the lively, vibrant world you have always known. But until then, you only have the sweet silence of winter.
