OC Elementary Second Grader Wins First Place In State Contest

OC Elementary Second Grader Wins First Place In State Contest
Brynlee Waters, a second grader at Ocean City Elementary, recently took home top state honors in her age group for her short story titled, “The Land Of Pizza.” Submitted Photo

BERLIN – Ocean City Elementary second grader Brynlee Waters won first place this month in the short story category of the State of Maryland Literacy Association’s Youth Contest.

Waters advanced to the state competition to square off with other statewide writers after winning first place in the second grade short story category in the Eastern Shore Literary Association Young Author Contest.

The winning short story, “The Land Of Pizza” can be found below:

There was a girl named Harper York who loved everything about pizza. She loved the crunchy crust, the gooey cheese and the warm sauce but her favorite thing about pizza was the toppings. Her favorite topping was pepperoni.

Harper wanted pizza for dinner every night but her parents wouldn’t allow it. Instead, they said she needed lots of fruits and vegetables to keep her healthy.

“Eating pizza isn’t healthy,” Harper’s mom said. “If you eat too much pizza, you will turn in to a pizza.”

Harper thought turning in to a pizza sounded great!

One night, Harper was complaining about having to eat her vegetables for dinner.

“I don’t want to eat this broccoli,” said Harper.

“If you don’t eat your vegetables, you will have to go to your room,” said Harper’s mom.

So Harper went to her room and fell asleep with a hungry belly.

The next morning, Harper woke up to the smell of pizza. She thought her mom was making pizza for breakfast but she was wrong. When Harper looked around, she knew she wasn’t home. Everything she saw was shaped like pizza. The pillows on her bed were shaped like pepperonis, the wallpaper on her wall was different pizza toppings and the curtains were hanging like stringy cheese.

“Where am I?” Harper asked.

She looked out the window and saw pizza covered cars, pizza buildings and a swimming pool that was shaped like pizza too. People were even riding pizza bikes.

Harper ran outside and stopped to talk to a man walking his dog with a pizza leash.

“Excuse me sir, where am I?” Harper said.

The man said, “You are in the Land of the Pizza, of course.”

“The Land of the Pizza?” Harper said in a very surprised voice. “What is the Land of the Pizza?”

“Everything is pizza in the Land of the Pizza,” said the man. “It’s for those who love pizza so much that everything becomes pizza.”

“Does that mean I never have to eat vegetables again?” Harper asked.

“That’s right,” said the man. “In the Land of the Pizza there is only pizza.”

Harper ran down the street and into the first store she saw. Everything inside was shaped like a pizza. The toys were shaped like pizza, the clothes were decorated like pizza and even the pets were decorated like pizzas.

She suddenly became very hungry. She found a restaurant but all they served was pizza. Harper was very glad. She ordered a large pepperoni pizza for breakfast. Her mom had never let her eat pizza for breakfast.

After breakfast she wanted to see what else there was to see in the Land of the Pizza. She walked to the park where the slides were shaped like pizza crust and the swings were made of mushroom tops. Even the merry-go-round was shaped like a big pizza with different toppings to ride.

Before she knew it lunchtime came.

 “More pizza for lunch,” Harper said.

This time she ordered a large cheese pizza but her belly started to get sick of pizza. After seeing pizza, smelling pizza and eating pizza all day, Harper became tired of pizza. She realized that what her parents told her was true.

She walked to the man she had met before and asked him if there was any way she could go home.

“Sure, but to leave the Land of the Pizza, you have to eat your vegetables when you are told,” said the man.

Harper ran back to the room she woke up in. She laid in the bed, closed her eyes and when she woke up again she was finally at home. She went running out of her room and found her mom and dad.

“I’m sorry I never ate my vegetables when you told me to,” Harper said. “I promise to eat my vegetables when I am told. I don’t want to turn into a pizza.”

Harper’s mom gave her a hug and said, “It’s ok Harper. How about we get some scrambled eggs for breakfast. You must be starving.”

“Eggs sound great and you can add a vegetable too,” Harper said with a smile.