Tough Times by Aarush Iyengar, 12 Tough times are here, So keep your loved ones near. Be happy and sing a song, When you feel the days are long. Keep your spirits up in different ways, Work and play inside, eat a bag of LaysⓇ Don’t freak out, don’t go crazy, Do what everyone does best, just be lazy. Sleep longer, watch TV, Do anything you want, you are free!

The Virus By Avah Dodson, 11 As I lie in bed I can hear Mom sobbing into Dad’s arms. They’re dying. What are we going to do? Who? I wonder as I drift off. No one I know. I wake up to rustling, like a lost mouse Scurrying from an invisible threat. Dad is getting up early to go to the store. But why, I ask, Why can’t we go to Starbucks Like we always do?

Virus by Chloe Deyo, 11 “Wash your hands.” “Don’t touch your face.” That’s what they say in every germy case. All it has brought is pain. I can’t get it out of my brain. It’s one of my greatest fears. I hope I don’t catch it here. Will the Coronavirus ever end? Will our hope ever mend? Chloe Deyo, 11 Pearland, TX

A COVID-19 POEM by Cali Bennett, 11 I hate COVID-19 It is bad, bad, bad It will not leave It is as intense as the cold water in the ocean, like when you are trying to get out of the water, but you can’t Like a river rushing all around you, then it’s all gone "I chose to write a poem instead of a story because I like how it tells how you are feeling inside.