The Ellipsis is an online magazine founded in 2015 by Writopia Lab. We publish thought-provoking, daring, and provocative works from Writopia Lab writers ages 12-19. Along with works recently completed and polished in Writopia Lab workshops, we publish teens’ works recently recognized by the Scholastic Writing Awards. We seek to celebrate the next generation of writers through this interactive platform. Since we are a magazine dedicated to teen writing and we do not censor, there may be mature content.
Check out writopialab.org/snow for snow-poetry, snow-stories, snow-horror, and snow-snark for all ages, all written on January 4th, 2018 during the “Bomb Cyclone” that hit the Eastern Seaboard! Congratulations to the writers, ages 3-20, who spent their day developing these especially reflective, poetic, and sometimes quite dramatic and hysterical wintry pieces. Please note that we do not censor content; instead we mention on top of each piece if we feel there is violent or mature scenes or language.
—Writopia Lab
A Mother Knows Best
"'What about George National High School?' asked my mom. I immediately felt my chest tighten. You had to take an admissions test and have a perfect GPA to get into George National High School.…
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Black Roses
"We planned our funerals together. / You told me you wanted black roses. / 'Black roses, where can I find those?' I asked. / 'I’m sure you’ll figure it out,' you smiled."
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The Diary of Evil Chicken Dude
"... out of nowhere, I grew a beak and feathers. I turned into a human-sized chicken, then I started to do evil mean tricks and pranks."
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The Case of the Missing Gem
"After their coffee, the detectives went home to get some sleep. The next day, Lock and Watts went out to the nearby buildings to see if Moriarty had ziplined in and out of the…
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Secrets That Lie Beyond the Front Door
"I wipe my eyes as I close the door behind me. Walking down this uneven dirt road brings back memories of when she used to skip down a sunny road with the cherubic face…
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Bad American Food
"There was once a diner on the highway. It was small and dinky, but charming in that old time sense. It invoked a 50’s style aesthetic, with a shiny metallic roof and dim neon…
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The Infection (Excerpt)
"I jolt out of sleep and am met by a wave of relief. So it WAS just a dream! That kind of dream drains me emphatically. Wow, I’m thirsty. I get out of bed…
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Danger in Life and Death
"The camera focuses on a lady (Ivy), arms outstretched, holding onto a support beam. She's high up in the air and on the outer edge of the bridge. She looks around 17 years old,…
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The Adventures of Rusty and Runty
"When two sailors of the open seas / Come forth to a ruler of fortune and keys / Whence spews forth a prince who wears gold / Who has weak bones and a fragile…
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Nod at Me
"nod at me nod at the rooftop do it nod / acknowledge the bathtub on the penthouse garden where i am with my friends taking photos in cowboy boots / and / slips in…
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The Goldin Era
"The cheap sneer of polysatin / Running, splashing, hiding across dresses / The hostess appears, pulled patch in her sleeve / wide in the electric glare"
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The Skeletons in My Closet
"Thunder cracked as lightning branched from the sky. / “Let's move!” / The hazard lights flashed, and the windshield wipers beat rapidly as I scooped the raccoon’s body into a bag. Jumping into the…
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Do You Believe in the Devil?
"'John, do you believe in the devil?' John looks up from his book, the old, yellowed pages a sign of its age and use. 'I’m sorry?' he asks, confused and little bit frightened."
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Insanity
"Drop a lightbulb onto any surface / Watch the splinters on the skin morph into perfect shards / Flying everywhere, exposing the wiring inside."
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A Different Perspective
"Despite countless warnings from my aunt and relatives, I was going to pet this stray. They hadn’t seen that these dogs could be gentle, so they didn’t know. Cautiously, I put my arm around…
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Bathroom Break
"I spent all night last night / running to get the men in white coats / with butterfly nets / because there’s shampoo oozing out of my walls / making my bathroom tiles sticky…
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Tears of Hope
"Far away, a man stumbles through the dry, desolate desert all alone. Upon his skinny body cling tattered cargo pants, scattered with holes and loose threads. An equally worn shirt hangs loosely, size large,…
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All Roads Lead to Nowhere
"Embarking on a road trip feels like true freedom, a blitz through the universe. As the road rumbles beneath the tires, it feels as if the highways are being pulled underneath the car, and…
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Not the Last Time
Apart from the headache from the boisterous sirens of the produce trucks, another thought overwhelmed my mind. Had fate rolled its dice slightly differently, possibly landing on a three instead of a five, I…
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my grandmother
"my grandmother lives / in a sunny-yellow room with dried wildflowers in a / china vase by the window."
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Split Ends
"This is a story that begins at the ends: the frayed, thinning, split ends. The mangled roots that tell a tale of irreparable damage and stagnated growth. Why wouldn't I cut them off? The…
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Inside the Ribcage
"People tell me I look just like my mother. It took me years to see it. The structure of our cheeks, the shape of our smiles. A few weeks ago when my mother drove…
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The Bleachers
"I sit behind the block, fidgeting with my goggles and cracking my knuckles. There is one more heat before I swim, and watching the other swimmers race makes me want to rip somebody’s spine…
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elegy
"as a child, I remember the hum of the sea / as you sang for me from / the pages of the old dictionary, / beaten blue cover on the / definitions of your…
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