The HARK Journal recognizes student talent from elementary-to-university level.
Enjoy the student contributions below.
Elementary Division
On October 21, 1785, Henry M. Shreve was born. His parents were Israel Shreve and Mary Cokely.
Henry grew up in a big white house next to the Red River. As a kid, he made paper boats and let them sail in the river.
One day as he placed the paper boat in the water to set sail, he fell over. He began swimming. As he opened his eyes, he saw a big blue glow. It stood out to Henry because the river is normally red, so he swam towards it. As he got closer, he saw a crystal silhouette. Henry grabbed it and swam back to dry land.
Henry studied the crystal and realized its type was unknown to man. Not knowing if it was dangerous or not, he ran and placed it in a glass container in his room.
The next day, Henry decided to show his friends what he found in the Red River. He called Jack, Zoey, Tom, and Elizabeth and told them to meet him at the local elementary school. When they arrived, Henry pulled the crystal from his backpack. All of his friends were amazed. Henry was shocked that it still glowed.
Jack said, “Where did you find this?”
Henry said, “I found this in the Red River.”
As the group stared at the crystal, the glow got bigger and bigger. Elizabeth said, “Everyone should hold the crystal while saying our code word.”
Tom said, “Yes, that is a great idea. This will be our little secret.”
All five kids held the crystal and yelled, “Red-Sea!”
Everything around them froze in time. The crystal shined brighter than ever. The light was so bright that the group passed out.
Henry awoke next to his house. He felt stronger, faster, and more powerful than ever. He ran to his house, but his family was gone. When he looked in the mirror, he saw he was taller and wore a blue suit with a silver trident attached to his side. Each of Henry’s friends awoke the same way. Zoey had on a purple suit. Tom had on a red suit. Elizabeth had on a pink suit, and Jack had on a black suit.
They still had no idea about their superhero powers until they heard a loud noise coming from downtown. They all flew as fast as they could to the noise and found the villain Dr. Doom throwing logs in the Red River. Henry and friends decided to stop him and save the day. They came up with a plan to stop Dr. Doom. Jack and Tom found a rope. Elizabeth and Zoey got wooden bats. Henry used his skill at making paper boats to create a real boat.
As Dr. Doom continued to throw logs in the Red River, Elizabeth and Zoey snuck up behind him and knocked him out with the bats. Jack and Tom came quickly behind them to tie him up. Then Henry came along in his steamboat and used his superpower to lift all of the logs out of the river.
When the police arrived, the five friends delivered Dr. Doom to them. Finally, Dr. Doom woke and realized he had been captured. Surprised at being placed in the police car, Dr. Doom saw the five heroes and tried to frame them for the logs in the river. A police officer told Dr. Doom to save it for the judge.
Henry, Jack, Elizabeth, Zoey, and Tom became hometown heroes. Soon after, they all saw a light shining from the Red River. They went over to where Henry had removed the logs and noticed that there was land underneath. Realizing that Dr. Doom had tried to hide a town, the five heroes decided to name the town Shreveport because of Henry’s last name.
Henry and his friends built a community in Shreveport. They vowed to change back to human form and only use their superpowers when they needed them. Their secret code “Red-Sea” would stay with them forever.