November/December Issue 2021

Like a phoenix, a new magazine rises from the ashes of its predecessors, as the old way of literary magazines is reborn in glory. This magazine is born of fire and, like a newborn phoenix, better than all before it. Prodigious writers, artists, photographers, and poets all come together to create an astoundingly masterful publication. And now, without any further ado, we present to you: The Ken Caryl Times.

01. Cover Art by Claire Mannino 02/03. Welcome! Intro 04/05. Untitled By Garrett Ellis - Art 06. Winter By Claire Manninio - Art 07. The Person I Want to Be By Connor Quintana - Story 08/09. Gratitude By Taylor Seehafer - Poem 10. Together By Olivia Roybal - Poem 11. A Motto By Olivia Gibbs - Poem 12/13. Count Your Blessings By Anica Lest - Story 14/15. Thanking Trouble By Lily Ramsey - Story 16/17. Tale of the Meadows By Cameron Seep - Story 18. Love is Love By Colette Dallet - Art 19. Hakuna Matata By Emma Dunlap - Art 20/21. Hungry for Turkey By Kyan Peterson - Art 22. Picture By Ethan Shover - Art 23. What I Had By Olivia Roybal - Poem 24/25. Thank You for Reading! Closing

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Art contest winner: Claire Mannino, Grade&nbsp;7

● Stories! ● Poems! ● Art! ● Comics! ●

“Count your blessings,” Grandma Anne told me from her hospital bed. “Even when I am gone, there are still many wonderful things in life.” These were the last words my grandmother spoke to me or anyone. Two months before Thanksgiving, she passed away. Grandpa Greg said he would stay with us for Thanksgiving, but we knew it wasn’t going to be a joyful one.&nbsp; As we sat down to our meal, no one said anything. Thanksgiving laid at the center of Grandma Anne’s holiday heart, and it would never be the same without her. The turkey laid untouched in the middle of the table, while my parents tried some half-hearted conversation. Eventually, they gave up, accepting the fact that everyone missed Grandma Anne too much to talk.&nbsp; I had never felt so miserable. My brothers, Hector and Lyle, didn’t host their usual fork wars. Mom skipped making her pumpkin pie. Dad and Grandpa Greg threw away the wishbone before we could make a wish.&nbsp; I left my dinner on the table and trotted up to my room. I flopped on my bed and hugged my fluffy pillow. I glanced at my bedside table, and my eyes locked on the picture of Grandma Anne. “Count your blessings,” she had said. “Even when I am gone, there are still many wonderful things in life.”&nbsp; I sat up slowly, taking these words in like ice cream on a sunny day. I hadn’t listened to her two months ago. I had to count my blessings. I started counting as fast as I could. Mom, Dad, Hector, Lyle, Grandpa Greg, Max (our dog), sunny days, cold days, skiing, mountains, ocean, beach. I counted higher than I’d ever counted before. I felt myself smiling, remembering all of my favorite things.&nbsp; “Grandma Anne!” I shouted as soon as I got downstairs.&nbsp; Everyone looked up at me, a look of shock spread across their faces. “What about her?” Mom asked in a concerned manner. “Everyone heard her last words,” I explained. “ ‘Count your blessings. Even when I am gone, there are still many wonderful things in life.’ ”&nbsp; “We haven’t really been counting our blessings,” Grandpa Greg admitted.&nbsp; “Grandma Anne didn’t want us to have an unthankful Thanksgiving. She wanted us to be happy even without her,” I said.&nbsp; So our first Thanksgiving without Grandma Anne was not gloomy and depressed. We counted our blessings together. We enjoyed the many wonderful things in life. I finally understood Thanksgiving. It wasn’t about the turkey, or anything like that. It was a time to be thankful for everything and everyone. We had accomplished that.&nbsp; As I laid down to bed that night, Grandma Anne’s words still echoed in my head.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;“Count your blessings. Even when I am gone, there are still many wonderful things in life.”

By Kyan Petersen, Grade 7

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What I Had by Olivia Roybal, Grade 7

Walking down the street, Thinking about last week.&nbsp; When you were here but far away, When I didn’t have to walk down memory lane. Oh I loved you so,&nbsp; I’m sure you know. How you were like a light, Shining through lows and highs. Then someone flipped the switch,&nbsp; I hadn’t realized what I had,&nbsp; Till I lost it.

I was running. Running through the vast meadows that seemed to stretch endlessly into the horizon filled with flowers of all kinds. Buttercups, Poppies, Lilies, Daisies, Sunflowers, Tulips, Violets, stretching across the lands. This was beautiful. I was happy. I felt the emotion coursing through my body like the warm sun beaming down on me giving me energy and strength. It didn’t seem like there was anything that could stop me from running. Running till the end. However. I saw someone in the distance. They were walking. Slowly. Mysteriously. I wasn’t able to tell what they were doing because they were so far away. So I decided to go up to them and see what they were doing. They got closer. Then closer. Closer. I came up to the mysterious person. I couldn’t see their face. It was concealed. “Hello!” I exclaimed. “Hello.” They replied. Their voice was scratchy and hard to make out. It didn’t sound native. “What are you doing here?” I asked. “I am watering the flowers.” This appeared true. They were holding a bucket and the flowers behind them looked watered recently. “Watering? How many of them? There are so many!” “As many as I can before the bucket goes dry.” “But why try? There are still too many! What happens when you can’t water them all?” The person thought for a moment at this question. They seemed surprised that I would ask this. “... Would you like to hear a tale?” They asked. “Sure!” I love tales. My mother used to tell me them all the time. They were lovely tales about lands far away with beautiful landscapes and lovely people that did wonderful things. Landscapes much like these meadows. “Alright.” “Long ago at the beginning of time there was the world. It was much like it is today and it is sectioned much like it is now. Every section was guarded by several guardians. These guardians were

fierce and determined on protecting their land from pests. For you see, back then every piece of land was a barren landscape that could contain nothing. However, the People Above saw the barren wasteland that was this world and saw their chance to do something they thought would be interesting. "They divided the land into sections and gave each section a number of guardians. The People Above told these guardians that if they guarded their land well enough then their land would be blessed and it would bloom beautifully. "The guardians accepted this thinking that they would just have to protect their land from other guardians. However, every year the People Above rained pests from the sky to attack the guardians. The People Above did this for 300 years. Some guardians fell to the terrors of the pests and their land was conquered. "After this time passed the People Above checked in to see who was still alive. They found that only a couple of lands were protected from the pests. The best of them all was this land. This land was protected the best. So the People Above blessed the lands with beautiful meadows filled with beautiful flowers. Then the People Above came to one of the guardians and made them the caretaker. They gave them a bucket of infinite water and asked them to water these flowers so that they would never die out. The guardian accepted. So now, the guardian is still watering these flowers today.” “Wow! That was an amazing tale! Is it true?” “Oh yes. Everything in this tale happened.” “How can you be sure that it happened?” “Well I am the guardian in the tale.” “REALLY?” “Oh yes. For this bucket has an infinite amount of water and I am here watering these meadows. For I have protected these lands before and now I am protecting them again!” After saying this, the guardian walked away. Possibly to water more meadows. Possibly to go back home. Possibly to get more water. I will never know. However, I will remember what they did, what they are doing, and what they will do to help keep these meadows alive. For I believe that his tale was true.

“Together” by Olivia Roybal, Grade 7

“A Motto” by Olivia Gibbs, Grade 8

Standing round the fire light, Round and round we said good night. How large the smiles shown, Out here camping alone. We were together in our hearts, Yet we found ourselves far apart. Out here in these woods alone,&nbsp; Out here our joy really showed.&nbsp;

May be this be your best year&nbsp; May this be your best&nbsp;hour day month year of doing what you love&nbsp; May this be the best times of your life&nbsp; Hold these memories&nbsp; Of joy and family&nbsp; Hold them forever in your heart&nbsp; Let them drive you&nbsp; Let them comfort you&nbsp; Let them fill you up with joy&nbsp; Let them be your driving force&nbsp; Smile because you are alone&nbsp; So embrace life&nbsp; Let words and people guide you&nbsp; And just be happy!

CONTEST WINNER by Taylor Seehafer, Grade 7

We need to be strong in this time of despair Bravery and perseverance are important I swear&nbsp; Even though it feels we have nothing&nbsp; If we say we aren’t thankful that would be bluffing Think of your family your pets and your friends We've lost our loved ones, our freedom it dreads But being thankful mends It mends your pain and loss&nbsp; Being thankful allows us to forget the past years we've had It reminds us of things that could make us glad Our family, house and home, our food and clothes So this Thanksgiving when your feeling lost Think of gratitude in deepest thought

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By Connor Quintana, Grade 7 When I stared through that door, into that other universe, my desires stared back. What would this alternate universe look like? I couldn’t help imagining what I would love to change about myself. What if... I asked myself, I could believe in myself? What if I had confidence in myself? Now that is a question to ponder. For me, it would change my life. It would change what kind of person I am, and for the good. I could have confidence in soccer games where, instead of being afraid of losing the ball, I could think about how I can lift my team up and change the game. I would learn to be more responsible because I knew I could, because I was CONFIDENT. This could be the thing that would cause me to become the soccer player I have always wanted to be. I could be able to have straight A’s and go to the college of my dreams, Stanford. There, I could get looked at by professional coaches, and be chosen to go to the team of my dreams. Just because of one spark of confidence, I would open up a whole new world of possibilities. Usually, I would be afraid of having scouts watching me, but now with this confidence, I would show them who I am. I would show them who Connor Quintana is. When being confident, I am not trying to say that I want to be cocky. That is not what I am saying at all. All being cocky does is have you slow down on your progression, not push you. It lets you think that you are the best in the world, when you aren’t there yet. Even if you are, confidence lets you keep pushing, as being cocky slows you down. Being cocky will let other people become better than you. Currently, I don’t have enough confidence to try new things on the soccer field and in this alternate universe, I would be showing myself and what I can do, not hiding behind my teammates. I looked away from that door. I thought to myself, Why can’t I do that here in my own world? If you look at something you want to become, it should never be handed to you. Once I become confident, or if you change one thing about yourself, you would feel proud of yourself and know that you deserve this. If you became rich because you worked hard for it, it would feel much better than you being given it. Today, in this world, I will become the confident person I always wanted to be.

The smell of turkey wafted throughout the Smith’s house. Aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents socialized throughout the home. “Where is the stuffing!” my mother yelled. My Aunt Sophie rushed into the kitchen with a pan of stuffing. “It’s here! Rena, don’t freak out!” she yelled. My mother had woken up at five in the morning to get ready for this year’s Thanksgiving, since it was our turn to host.&nbsp; “Grandma Joan? WHERE IS GRANDMA JOAN!!!” my Uncle Luke yelled. This was the third time that he had lost my great grandma. “She’s over here, Dad!” my cousin, Louise, said from our living room. Thanksgiving was always chaotic, no matter how much preparation there was. I ran into the living room where all of the kids were mingling.&nbsp; My eldest cousin Leo, who was nineteen, was watching them. “Okay, let's see. We’re missing one. There is Judy, Marie, Louise, Jake, Tom, Owen, Luke Jr., and Cassie-Dean. But where is Piper?” he said.&nbsp; “I’m here,” I said. The youngest cousins, Luke Jr. and Owen, threw letter blocks at each other. They were both three. “Owen! Luke Jr! Stop it!” Leo yelled, “Owen stop throwing blocks at your brother!” He quickly diffused the situation by putting Owen on the couch. Louise sat next me on the carpet of our living room.&nbsp; Louise and I were about the same age, though she was a few months older than me. “Did Mom forget the stuffing again?” she asked. I shook my head no. “Did your Mom make cranberry sauce?” Louise asked.&nbsp; “Yeah. I even got some of the ones that she didn’t put in the sauce,” I said. Louise scrunched up her nose.

“I don’t know how you eat those things. They’re so sour, and gross,” she said.&nbsp; “Yeah! They taste like dirt!” Cassandra-Dean, or Cassie-Dean, said. Cassie-Dean was Louise’s little sister, and a year younger than me. “Well, I like them,” I said, crossing my arms. My Grandma Joan wandered back into the living room. “Giving Dad the slip again?” Louise asked her, as she sat next to us.&nbsp;She winked and said, “You know it.” Luke Jr. came over to Grandma Joan. “It’s uncanny how similar Luke Jr. looks to his dad,” Grandma Joan said, shuddering.&nbsp; “Food is ready! Finally,” my mom yelled, calling us to Thanksgiving dinner. Marie, Cassie-Dean, and Luke Jr. made a mad dash to the bathroom to wash their hands, followed by Tom and Judy. My Aunt Clover, Judy and Tom’s mom, came in to help Grandma Joan.&nbsp; Louise and I finally meandered over to the bathroom after the chaos had mostly settled down. We all sat down. My mom took the head of our long dining room table, and my dad sat on her right. Aunt Sophie and Uncle Luke sat on the left, and Aunt Clover, Judy, Tom sat on the right. Grandma Joan sat on the end of the table. Luke Jr, Owen, Cassie-Dean, Leo, and Marie sat on the left. Louise and I sat on the right, next to Grandma Joan.

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