Congratulations to Elisa Garcia-Carreras on being a Regional Winner in the Young Georgia Authors Writing competition! Her writing piece, 'The Empty Chair', has won the regional level of competition and will now advance to the state level.
From Northeast Georgia RESA: "This recognition reflects the importance that has been put into building good writers in your schools and celebrating their work. We are proud to have such outstanding representation for Northeast Georgia at the state level!"
Lake Oconee Academy is so proud of Elisa and our dedicated AP English Literature, AP Seminar, & Creative Writing teacher, Mrs. Caroline St. John, for being an incredible mentor to her.
Here is Elisa’s Award-Winning piece, “The Empty Chair”:
There is now an empty chair at the table.
One seat cold, that used to hold warmth
The many days of laughter, while the food was hot and the lights were dim, Gone.
They say life is short, but I don’t think so.
It is long. So long.
Maybe it’s my age talking, or maybe it’s the fact that I can’t see myself making it to the end of the year.
Let alone the end of my life.
When you focus on the seconds, time passes slow So slow.
Each second takes a minute, each minute an hour. An hour until the bell rings.
A year until your birthday, A lifetime until graduation.
But the second you blink, it’s Christmas again.
Except this time, when it’s your turn to open your present, you get socks and a belt instead of the pogo stick you begged for only yesterday.
And you’re happy about it.
Because your favorite sock has a hole in it, and your favorite pants have started to sag.
But only yesterday, you walked into school with your hands full of your parents’ hands Crying because you didn’t want them to leave.
But then, you stopped looking at the seconds, and had fun,
and the hours flew by until
Your parents have arrested you in a hug,
Crying because they don’t want you to leave.
But you’re already counting down the days
The minutes
The seconds
Until you finally get to leave.
But on the road, finally on your own, a sneaky tear escapes its detention Because you remember the little girl you once were.
Another sleep and you’re in a hospital bed. A baby asleep in your arms.
And time passes slowly again.
And one sleepless night begins. And you don’t think it will ever end. But then, slowly, a second passes, and then a third.
Until a million sleepless nights later, you’re holding her hand.
Waiting for the bus. And she cries because she doesn’t want you to leave.
And once she finds her best friend and waves at you through the window, she’s gone. And that sneaky tear pays another visit
Because you don’t know where the time has gone
And then time moves too fast. Another graduation,
Another wedding
A funeral
And another And another
And suddenly your very long life has dripped away. And each decade feels like an hour.
Each hour a second.
Each second the flitter of a humming bird’s wing.
Until finally, your chair is empty.
The seat that used to hold warmth is cold.
The many days of laughter, with hot food and dim lights Gone.
Gone, but not forgotten.
When you look at the seconds, life is long. So very long. But once you blink,
You realize you made a mistake because
It all slips away.
Very fast.