Dear, Me!

Life is so full of texting and tweets … a million emails … a slew of status updates! In the flood of all these digital messages, how do we find time for self-reflection? And what happened to the art of writing? What about the art of writing to yourself? This week, a group of fourth-grade writers from Allison Elementary show us how it’s done and how wondrous the results can be. These epistolary creations are not only charming but fitting reminders to not take ourselves too seriously and to, sometimes, show your Self what you’re made of.

Dear William,

Every time you walk, your heart moves along with you.

Love,
William

Dear Me,

I know you are very smart but also very sneaky. Sometimes you behave horribly, but I love you anyway.

Love,
Ulixes

Dear Me,

I wanted to tell you that I love you and that I have always loved you. You are a good friend, and although you have dark things inside of you sometimes, I want you to know that I love you for who you are.

Love,
Monica

Dear Me,

You are a great writer, and you should be proud of that. My favorite thing about you is your heart—every time you run, I can see it exploding across your face.

Love,
Betsy

Mission: Triumphant

Some days, it seems good has little chance over evil, and we’re left wishing for a superhero to come and right the world again. In this week’s edition of Unbound, one of our young writers celebrates the spirit of heroism and initiative that’s captured our American imagination for decades now. In the following short story, Jaden, from Mr. Barrera’s class at Allison Elementary, combines the undefeatable with the realism of chocolate donuts, reminding us of the heroes who could be in our midst if we only look around us. Way to go, Jaden, for inspiring us!

Chocolate Donuts

One day, Wolverine was eating chocolate donuts at the donut shop when Team X-Men called him to come to the studio. Wolverine got up and ran to the studio.

Suddenly, he stopped. He was looking at twenty bad guys. The bad guys had skull jackets and black, crazy hair, and their faces were red. The bad guys popped their knuckles.

Wolverine’s blades came out of his hands, and he destroyed the bad guys. Then he went to the X-Men studio.

His boss said, “There are twenty bad guys not doing good stuff.”

Wolverine said, “I just killed those twenty bad guys.”

“Oh, well,” said the boss. “Mission complete.”

All the other heroes ate popcorn and drank punch to celebrate.

Jaden, fourth grade, Allison Elementary School