Qiu Yinong, Class 1, Grade 7, Haide School Instructed by Yan Yifan

Summer romance began when the sun first showed its face at the horizon.

Darkness couldn’t last long.

I once fell in summer,

struggled, but darkness covered me utterly.

I started to live in my hallucinations instead of in reality.

I was left with a night without stars and some unhealed scars.

But starlight showed up — as they promised in my dreams.

Star dust glittered and the Milky Way found its self-esteem.

Everything was bright enough to beat the dark.

I finally got out of my darkness and my scars.

The beach appeared.

Seagulls sang.

Ocean waves splattered against the shore and roared me to life.

Night finally passed but the stars remained.

The sun rose and the coldness left my body.

Summer romance began.