Every girl looks in the mirror and immediatley picks out a countless number of things she wants to change about herself,

things she wishes were different about her.

Her hair's too curly,

her teeth aren't straight enough,

and her stomach not flat enough. 

The list goes on and on. 

And the sad thing is that girls will do almost anything they can to try and fix the things they don't like.

They have this image that they want themselves to be, 

and they'll strive to get it as much as they can.

No girl thinks that they're perfect,

no girl doesn't have things that she wishes she could change,

no girl thinks they're beautiful. 

And it doesn't help when there's people like you going around making it worse.

Making fun of them for not being supermodel skinny,

or for not being a genius,

or anything else. 

Pages tossed to the wind

Swirling, they come to rest on the ground

Only weeks later, they break apart

Become part of the Earth

Over the ages, they are forgotten

They contained stories once

Legends and myths

That made even the bravest child shudder

Some held tragedies that brought tears

Others held happiness and laughter

There were some of love

And some of hate

All ages clung to them

Treasured them more than gold

Kept them close to their hearts

But some were still forgotten

These are the stories of life

They tell of promises and secrets

Of mysteries no one can solve

True wonders

What is your story?

The one you protect

Maybe don’t want to tell

Tell it anyway

Don’t let it be forgotten

Taken by the wind

Turned into the Earth

Find that story deep inside you

And share it with the world

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Week of Jan. 30:  Click here to READ THIS WEEK'S SELECTIONS or click Photo 3, Writing on Writing, and General Writing to read all recent submissions. To view or download the pages below as pdf files, click the newspaper's name in the attachments below.

To view last week's Newspaper Series index, click here.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your first art prompt. People got back to me saying they were interested in doing this, so here you are. This is "Reflection" by paperdragon1967. Write a poem, a song, give this girl a story. Thanks for your enthusiasm, everyone.

Fair sailing,

-Circe

The day I met you,

I never thought I'd actually fall for you.

I thought I would only ever think of you as a friend;

a best friend.

But then...

I don't know.

Something changed.

I got to know you more.

I got to know you as if I'd known you my whole life.

I finally knew you so well that I knew when you were happy,

when you were sad,

when you were jealous,

 If I had just one wish, it would be to go back to Bosnia. All my family lives there and I haven’t seen them in a long time. I miss everyone, especially my brothers. There’s so much you can do in Bosnia, the people there are all so nice. I remember when I went to Bosnia in 3^rd grade, it’s so beautiful there. I loved feeding the birds, spending time with my family and going for a horse and carriage ride with my parents, sister and brothers. I remember one day in Bosnia we took a bus to my grandmother's house and a gypsy kid came up to me and asked for money, I was so scared of him that I gave him a broken toy and ran onto the bus. I wish I could spend every summer in Bosnia. I wish there was never a war because I would still be in Bosnia with all my family. The food there is so good. Cevapi are so good. I miss Bosnia. I wish I could go back.