Words by Mattie Ellis (13, United States)

Words. Words have always fascinated me. The way they flow, the way they sound, the way they look. Everything about them captivates me and intrigues me into wanting more. Words can build statues out of sentences, or they can create people out of paragraphs. Infeasible concepts that everyone says is just fantasy can come to life with the click of my keyboard. Anything can become possible. The whole world is at my hands when I have words. ​

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I used to sit in my cold room in the evening trying to ignore reality. The constant banter and bickering of my parents would never end, and I hated it. The ceaseless flow of name-calling was destroying me, but I didn’t know how to get away. So, I turned to writing. My escape. One day I sat down and found a torn-up journal my mom had written her grocery lists in over the years. All of the sudden, words flew from my sparkly pink pencil onto that tattered journal and I swear, it was like magic. Everything faded away, and I discovered the power of writing. I discovered what words can do. Ever since that day, I have never stopped writing. 

As I write, I can escape into a new society. A society where I can be who I want without the harsh ridicule of my peers. I love that. I adore the idea of no longer being myself, but the best version of who I wish I was. When I write, even gravity does not exist. The only thing that exists is my laptop and me. With my laptop, I can go wherever I desire. If I desire to go to the moon, I can go to the moon. No one can tell me how or what to write. There are absolutely no limits. Words are limitless, one of the many appeals of words. 

Life is not perfect, but it can be. Or, it can be as imperfectly perfect as I long for it to be. Without writing, I am just another tiny speck in the universe. But with writing, I am something. I am more than something. I am someone. With writing, I can become someone fearless, yet vulnerable. Words give me happiness, unlike anything else can. What’s even better is that my words can give other people happiness. My words, the stories I create in my mind and transfer onto a screen, can make other people smile or even laugh. There is nothing that brings me more joy than seeing the look on someone's face as they read the story I carefully crafted. To see their eyes go wide as they discover the possibilities and see through my eyes. 

That’s the other thing about words; they allow everyone to see into the beautiful mess that is my mind. Reading stories is like putting on a pair of glasses and viewing the world as another person perceives it, so when someone reads my work, they are able to peek into a sliver of my mind. Despite how confusing it may be, it's my mind they can see into, and that’s absolutely amazing. Occasionally my mind can be dreary and dark, but it's nice to be vulnerable, to let people see that side of me, the real me. They can see the part of me that craves more from life. The me who questions everything and adores the world, no matter how screwed up it can be. Many people communicate to express themselves, and some express themselves through theatre or art. But me? I express myself with my writing. My writing is the window to my soul. It is like my child. I nurture it and help it grow. It is precious to me, precious because it is me. Composing words into worlds is who I am.

Words. Words have always fascinated me. For the longest time, I thought it was because of the way they flow, sound, or even look. But no, that’s not the only reason words fascinate me. They also captive me because of the way they can help me show the world who I am. They can create a limitless universe that I can control. For me, they are an excuse to dive into another world and forget about my problems for just a few minutes, and melt away into the best version of myself. I love words because they allow me to wipe away my problems and become who I long to be. Words allow me to help others perceive the world the way I do. Words can do so much more than what meets the eye.

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