The Woodruff Times and The Upstate Times are proud to announce the winners of the 2026 Young Writers Competition.
Students in elementary, middle and high school were invited to submit original writing, and one grand-prize winner was selected from each division. Each winner receives a $100 prize and publication of their work.
This year’s winners are Olivia Johnston of Libertas Academy – Boiling Springs, Mijah Lee Landrum of Woodmont Middle School and Laityn Chappell of Fountain Inn High School.
Editor’s Note: The winning entries have been lightly edited for spelling, punctuation and formatting for publication while preserving each writer’s original voice and story.
Elementary Division Winner
The Creepy School
By Olivia Johnston
About the Author: Olivia Johnston is a fourth-grade student at Libertas Academy – Boiling Springs. Her winning entry, “The Creepy School,” is a spooky fantasy adventure about two girls trapped inside a mysterious school and their unexpected journey to escape.
Once there were two friends trapped in a school.
They would hear creaks and doors opening. The girls hated it there, but there was no way out. The school was called LIBERTAS.
The girls would sleep on the floors. They got food from the cafeteria. They would do anything to get out.
One day, the girls heard a voice saying, “I will help you get out.”
One girl said, “What was that?”
The other girl said, “Was that a person?”
The girls ran to the fourth-grade hallway. It became loud — creaks, wind, doors and voices.
They were running away. The noise was following them. They did not know what to do.
By the time they got to the doors that led to the outside, something happened.
Then — BOOM!
The door flung open.
There was a luck dragon.
It was the girls’ friend. They used to play with him a lot when they were younger.
“It’s you!” said one girl.
They hopped on its back and flew off.
LIBERTAS just vanished out of thin air.
The girls were long gone.
Secretly, the girls were witches, but the school was trapping their magic.
“We’re free!” said Loona and Mia. Those were their names.
On the way home, the girls saw another dragon. They did not know if it was friendly or not.
It started coming closer, but it did not do anything.
Mia reached to touch the dragon, but it flew away.
Their friend, the dragon, brought them home, and they lived happily ever after.
Middle School Division Winner
The Moon Light
By Mijah Lee Landrum
About the Author: Mijah Lee Landrum is a 12-year-old student at Woodmont Middle School. Her winning entry, “The Moon Light,” is an original poem using the moon, stars, sunlight and changing sky to create a dreamlike picture of night giving way to day.
As the night begins its sleep,
The waking crows begin to cheep.
The moon awakens in the skies,
While prayer-lights watch with peeking eyes.
But then the sun comes crashing through,
An explosion blinding all in view.
The moon and stars are swept away,
With no homebound path or price to pay.
As heavy days begin to wind,
They say, “It’s just your fantasy in the wind.”
The empty days go drifting by,
With no moon left to guard the sky.
High School Division Winner
Between the Pages
By Laityn Chappell
About the Author: Laityn Chappell is 14 years old and a freshman at Fountain Inn High School. Writing became a passion for her in 2025, and she originally began “Between the Pages” while she was in eighth grade. Laityn spent approximately three months developing the romance/rom-com short story. She credits her eighth-grade English teacher, Mrs. Hanning, and her mother, Shannon Ridgeway, with encouraging her writing.
It was Wednesday, January 9th, 2002, when I went to the library to check out my favorite book, “Gone With the Wind.” I check out this book once every year and re-read it, just to see if my perception of the book has changed within a year. After I checked it out, I walked home to my house on Marigold Street, which was only three blocks away from the library.
When I got home, I immediately opened the book, but when I did, an envelope fell out.
The outside of the envelope said: To Sarah Linn Rose Brown.
Despite it being addressed to me, the stamp said the year 1986, which was 16 years before I was born.
I was so curious I had to open it. It felt wrong to open it, but I did anyway.
The letter was dated January 8th, 2001. So I realized it was actually written last year and the person who wrote it had just used one of those old stamps they give you in the library.
The letter read:
“Dear Sarah Linn Rose Brown,
“I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember. You make me laugh the way nobody else can. Your hair is the shade of almonds; your eyes are a distinguished shade of blue.
“I know we’re best friends, but I can’t help but love you. How can I not love you, Sarah? You know me better than anybody else; sometimes I think you know me better than I know myself.
“I’ve always been able to tell you everything, no matter how good or bad. You are truly the best friend a guy could ask for, so I hope my confession of feelings doesn’t ruin our friendship.
“With all my love,
Ben White.”
I couldn’t believe the letter was from Ben, or that he had felt that way about me.
My mind flooded with questions like: How long had he felt this way? Why didn’t he actually send the letter in the mail despite it already being addressed and having a stamp? And did he still feel this way?
Ben and I had been best friends since kindergarten, when we met on the playground at Donna Ray and Sammy Thomase’s pretend wedding, but now we’re juniors in high school, so that feels like a million years ago now.
I never imagined Ben had or would have felt this way about me.
Don’t get me wrong, I have caught myself thinking about Ben in ways friends just don’t think about each other, but how could I not?
He’s probably the best guy I’ve ever met. He’s kind, thoughtful, and one of the funniest guys I’ve ever had the pleasure of spending time with.
Ben’s also, like, model attractive. He is 6-foot-2 and has eyes that sparkle like emeralds.
I had always had a little thing for Ben but had always pushed those feelings aside because of the fear of rejection, and the thought of losing him as a friend absolutely terrified me.
It’s now been a week since I found Ben’s letter, and I’ve probably read it at least a hundred times since then.
When Ben got there, we sat on my bed and just started talking about dumb stuff.
And right when I finally got up the courage to ask him, he told me he had just started talking to a girl and he thinks they’re probably gonna date, but they’re not official or anything.
My brain instantly started swarming with the thought: Do I tell him now and hope he still feels the same way and will choose me, or let him be happy with this other girl?
I know it might be selfish, but I needed to know if he felt the same, and I wanted to have him so much that I didn’t really care if that other girl got hurt.
I just blurted out, “BEN! I found the letter.”
He looked at me confused.
“What letter?”
I grabbed the letter and handed it to him.
“This letter.”
His face went white like a ghost.
After I finally got the words out, I couldn’t stop talking. I just started asking all kinds of questions.
“WHEN DID YOU WRITE THIS? HOW LONG AGO DID YOU WRITE THIS? DO YOU STILL FEEL THIS WAY?”
Before I could get another question out, Ben cut me off.
“SARAH, SLOW DOWN!”
After a minute or two, I calmed down.
“Ben, do you still feel this way?”
Ben looked at me with an expression I had never seen before.
It was nervous, confused and scared all at the same time, and to be honest, that kinda scared the crap out of me.
Ben finally answered after a long pause, which seemed like a million years, and an excruciatingly long sigh.
“Sarah, to be honest, I don’t really know how I feel anymore. Everything is just so confusing and it has my head spinning in circles, but I think I need to see where things go with this other girl.”
I just paused.
I really didn’t know what to say.
And then Ben started to talk again.
“And Sarah, it really wouldn’t matter if I still felt that way about you. I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t ever feel the same way.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” I responded.
But hearing those words come out of his mouth stung like daggers because I did feel the same.
I wanted to be with him, but now I knew I couldn’t say anything about it because he’s my best friend.
I want him to be happy, and maybe this new girl will make him happy.
“Sarah, we’re still friends, right?”
His facial expression seemed genuinely concerned.
“Of course, you IDIOT! Best friends always.”
A few weeks later, Ben had actually started dating the girl, and she was all he ever talked about, which secretly made me want to die inside, but I put on a happy face and tried to act happy for him.
Her name was Annabeth, and I met her for the first time today.
Me, Ben and Annabeth were all going to meet up at the local ice cream shop downtown called Grandma’s Ice Cream Shop.
I got there first and sat down in the corner booth that me and Ben always got every time we went there.
I waited anxiously for them to arrive, thinking about all the things that could go wrong.
Then Ben walked in with Annabeth. Her arm was intertwined with his as they strolled over to our table.
Annabeth was stunning. She was around my height, pretty tan, and had long blonde hair with brown eyes.
Ben said, “Sarah, fancy seeing you here.”
“Ha-ha, Ben. Nice to see you too.”
Then Annabeth, with a nervous but joyous expression, said, “It’s so nice to meet you! Ben has told me so much about you.”
I had a fake smile while I replied, “Nice to meet you too.”
Then she started again.
“I think we’re going to be amazing friends.”
That made me shed a tear on the inside because I didn’t want to be her friend.
I despised her — not because of anything she did, but because I wanted to be with Ben so bad and she was the only thing keeping me from him.
A day after meeting her, Ben emailed me.
“Hey Sarah, I wanted to know what you thought about Annabeth.”
I winced at the question, but I obviously couldn’t tell him how I really felt about her, so I lied.
“I think she’s great. I’m really happy for you.”
I really am trying to be happy for Ben, but I just can’t be, and all I think about is that Ben should be with me instead of her.
I know it’s selfish to think that, but I can’t not think about it.
Over the span of a few weeks, I spent more and more time with Ben and Annabeth, and the more time I spent with her, the more I hated her.
But to be honest, there’s nothing actually wrong with her.
She’s funny and kind, but I can’t help but hate everything about her: the way she bats her eyelashes at Ben, the way she talks, the way she smiles, the way that she makes him happy.
I hate all of it.
But even though I couldn’t stand her, I knew I had to pretend that I liked her.
I had to pretend to be friends with her for Ben’s sake.
Ben emailed me yesterday saying that Annabeth really wanted to be friends with me and wanted to hang out.
So, of course, I read it with a frown, but I still replied:
“Of course, Ben! I’d love to hang out with her.”
After that, me and Annabeth emailed back and forth for about 10 minutes making plans to hang out.
We decided she would come over to my house and we would have a girls’ day.
As soon as me and Annabeth finalized the plans, a heavy, almost suffocating tension filled my body as I started to think more and more about what we had just planned.
I tossed and turned for hours that night, dreading the day ahead, until sleep eventually overcame my body.
That morning, I did things like I usually would. I woke up, took a shower, brushed my teeth and put my clothes on, all while dreading Annabeth’s arrival.
Finally, she pulled into my driveway with her new black 2002 Volkswagen Beetle.
I started heading toward the door, knowing she would soon be at it.
My heartbeat became more intense and my palms started to sweat as the anticipation of us hanging out overwhelmed my mind.
My heart felt like it was going to literally explode out of my chest.
Then I heard a light knock at the door, and my mind filled with dread.
I opened the door in a subtle yet quick motion.
I saw her face. She had an ecstatic yet nervous look on her face.
She immediately pulled me into a hug.
Her hug was tight yet gentle — the kind of hug that felt safe, almost the same as when I hugged Ben.
But even though her hug felt safe, it made me want to gag because it was Annabeth.
How could I be hugging Annabeth?
A few hours passed and we played board games like Monopoly and Candy Land.
We also watched the movie “Sweet Home Alabama.”
We talked, and I honestly can’t believe I’m saying this, but I actually started to like her.
That made my skin crawl.
How could I like her?
She was with Ben, and I wanted him to be with me instead.
I wanted it more than anything.
Annabeth started telling me about wanting a new book to read and asked me if I had any suggestions.
Of course, I told her she should read “Gone With the Wind” because it was my favorite book of all time.
“Annabeth, you could borrow my copy if you want, but you’ll have to give it back when you’re done reading it because I’m borrowing it from the library.”
I knew that I had put the letter Ben had written me back in the book.
I could see Annabeth’s eyes widen with surprise, and her grin got so big that she looked like a little kid who had just had candy for the first time.
“Sarah, are you sure I can borrow it?”
“Of course, Annabeth.”
I handed her the book.
She grabbed it ever so gently and said, “Thank you so much!”
I could hear the excitement in her voice.
Me and Annabeth hung out for another hour or two before she left.
I thought I would feel happy that she now had the letter and would probably break up with Ben.
But I didn’t feel happy in the slightest.
I felt disgusted with myself.
How could I do this to Ben?
He’s my best friend, but probably not for much longer.
My mind was at battle due to all the thoughts running through my head, wondering how I would make this up to Ben, if he would still be my friend, if I could get the letter back, or one of the scariest conclusions of all:
Tell Ben what I did and hope he forgives me.
After hours of contemplating, I decided that I would tell him.
Even though this would probably end up ruining our friendship, I knew how much Ben appreciated honesty.
So maybe if I was honest with him, he would forgive me.
But I knew there was no undoing what I had already done.
I got on my computer and typed an email to Ben.
I must have typed and retyped the email a hundred times wondering what to say.
Finally, I came up with:
“Hey Ben, could you please come over to my house tomorrow just so we can hang out? I really need to talk to you about something. Sorry for the short notice. Please get back to me soon.”
Then I hit send.
My heart started to beat frantically with anticipation.
Finally, two hours later, Ben emailed me back.
“Sure thing. I’ll be there at 1:00 p.m.”
I was relieved that he said he would be able to come over but scared half to death at the same time.
I laid awake anxiously for hours that night, knowing that tomorrow could possibly be the end of my 11-year friendship with the guy I honestly thought could be my soulmate.
But sleep finally overcame my body.
I woke up and did what I would normally do: take a shower, brush my teeth and put on clothes.
But while doing this, I ran through almost every possible scenario in my head of what could happen with Ben.
After I got ready, I looked out the window until I saw his 2001 Ford Ranger pull into my driveway.
I watched him from the comfort of the bay window in my room.
He moved swiftly toward the door without a care in the world.
He walked into the house without knocking, as he had done so many times before.
I heard the clunking of his boots on the wood stairs as he headed toward my room.
He knocked on my bedroom door three times before I said, “Come in.”
I felt like my heart had sunk into a pit when he walked into my room, dreading the conversation to come.
Ben smiled when he saw me.
It was that same chipper smile that could make anyone fall in love.
He opened his mouth to say hey, but I basically cut him off.
“BEN, WE NEED TO TALK.”
He didn’t even get the “e” out of “hey.”
Ben immediately came and sat down across from me in the bay window.
I saw Ben’s body tense up like it always did when he was worried. His normal carefree expression changed to a face of concern.
“Sarah, what’s wrong?”
I couldn’t look him in the eye.
Knowing what I did, how could I?
“Ben, I did something horrible.”
When I looked up at Ben and finally made eye contact, I could see another shift in his facial expression — one of concern and a hint of fear.
“Sarah, what’d you do?”
I could feel my heart beating out of my chest.
I felt like I could just crawl in a hole and die at that moment, but I didn’t.
I took a deep breath.
“I loaned Annabeth my copy of ‘Gone With the Wind’ from the library.”
Ben’s shoulders relaxed a little bit, almost like he was relieved.
“Why’s that so bad, Sarah? It just sounds like you were being nice.”
I felt so sorry for Ben, knowing he didn’t realize what I really meant, but I knew I had to tell him.
“The reason it’s so bad is because it still had the letter in it.”
Ben’s entire face fell.
His face was a mix of sadness, anger and confusion — one that I had never seen.
“Sarah, you’re joking, right?!”
I knew this was most likely going to go downhill from here.
“Ben, I wish I could say I was joking, but I’m not.”
Ben’s shoulders instantly tensed up again.
“SARAH! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME!”
He looked at me with betrayal and anger.
“Ben, I’m so sorry! I feel horrible. I was being selfish.”
He stood up abruptly.
“Sarah, you should feel horrible!”
He took a deep breath.
“We’ve been best friends for 11 years. Aren’t you supposed to be happy for me?”
He looked so cold and angry that it made my eyes fill with tears, but I didn’t let them fall.
I couldn’t cry.
After all, I’m the one who had ruined things.
“How could you be so selfish?”
I dug my nails into the palm of my hand, trying to avoid an outburst, but I couldn’t help myself.
“Ben, I wanted nothing more than to be happy for you. Believe me, I tried with every ounce of my being, but I couldn’t!”
He looked like he honestly couldn’t believe what I was saying, almost like I was speaking a foreign language.
“You couldn’t be happy for me?”
“WHY COULDN’T YOU BE HAPPY FOR ME, SARAH? You’re supposed to be my best friend!”
I wiped the tears from my eyes.
“BECAUSE I’M IN LOVE WITH YOU!”
He looked stunned.
“You’re in love with me?!”
“YES, you idiot.”
Ben’s face had shifted into almost every emotion you can think of, but the main one was confusion.
“I can’t do this right now, Sarah.”
He took a deep breath, walked out of the room, got in his truck and left.
It is now 10:15 p.m.
It had been two days since I told Ben, and I was sitting in my bay window in pajamas, contemplating my poor life decision.
Ben hadn’t called, emailed or showed up.
Nothing.
My whole world felt like it had come crashing down, and it was all my fault.
I had pretty much come to the conclusion that Ben would never speak to me again when I heard a knock at the door.
I headed downstairs and took a deep breath, preparing myself to talk to another human being for the first time in two days.
I opened the door, and to my surprise, Ben was standing there.
He was soaking wet from the rain.
I looked up at him, taking a deep breath and preparing for the worst.
“Ben, what are you doing here?”
He looked at me with a face of love, fear and a little bit of anger.
“Sarah … I went over to Annabeth’s house after I left yours, and she confronted me about the letter. She said she didn’t care that it was written a year ago — that those feelings just don’t go away. So she broke up with me.”
I looked into his deep blue eyes, feeling so much guilt.
“I’m so incredibly sorry, Ben.”
“Sarah, she wasn’t wrong.”
I looked at him with an obviously confused face.
“What do you mean?”
He gave me a very dumb smirk that he had done so many times previously, but this time his eyes were intense.
“I’m in love with you.”
I could feel my face shift from a frown to a huge smile.
“I’m in love with you too.”
Ben pulled me into his strong arms and kissed me.
My clothes were getting soaked from the cold rain, but I didn’t care, because I was kissing Ben — my best friend, the guy I had been pining for, for years.
It’s now been 12 years since then and Ben and I are still together, but now we are married and both 29.
Something even crazier than that is that we have three kids: Rowen, our oldest, who’s 5; our middle child, Riggs, who is 3; and our youngest, Rayleen.
Annabeth did end up finding happiness with her now-husband, Thomas.
The only thing I lost through all of this was my loaned book, “Gone With the Wind,” because even though Annabeth did end up forgiving us, she burned the library book.
So, even though I did end up having to pay a $30 library fee, I wouldn’t change our love story for the world.
Congratulations to Olivia, Mijah and Laityn, and thank you to every student who shared their creativity with us.
