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june, 2021 1st place winner: Bury My Heart by skinned knees by Cody Walker

A first grader found a heart on the school playground buried next to the swingset. Unsure of what it was, she summoned her best friend to get a second opinion. Then, a third child was called in to have a look. Soon, a whole crowd of first graders gathered around to confirm that it was, indeed, a heart. Finally, a teacher arrived to see what the fuss was about. She was more traumatized than the children were because they were young enough to not ask questions that might lead to therapy sessions.


Realizing the severity of the situation, the teacher summoned the principal, superintendent, and the school resource officer - which, in rural southwest Missouri meant a deputy from the sheriff’s department who divided his time amongst all the rural schools in the county - and together they had as much experience with buried hearts as a gaggle of first graders on a playground.

"It’s too big to be a human heart,” the deputy said as if that was somehow comforting.

"Someone must have butchered a cow or a pig and their dog must have run off with it,” the principal reasoned.

“No teeth marks,” the superintendent remarked, which ruined that theory.

“I’ll take it back to the department and we’ll figure it out,” the deputy said as he picked the heart up using a Wal-Mart grocery bag.

The students returned to class.

The teacher, principal, and superintendent returned to their respective desks.

The deputy took the heart home and put it in his freezer.

And no one talked about it ever again.



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