Bedtime Stories
2020 Scholastics Art & Writing Awards
National Gold Medal
Illustration by Julia Cheng
Vignettes
- 月 yuè, moon.
- craters
- 天 tiān, sky
- typhoon
- 倒影 dào yǐng, reflection
- Shapeshifter
- 日 rì, sun
- supernova
- 生 shèng, life
- bedtime stories
3| 天 tiān, sky
Gong Gong was a water god feared across all four corners of the world. He had the head of a human, with flaming red hair, but the body of a dragon, and the scales of a serpent. Once, in a fit of rage, he smashed his great head into the mountains that held the sky above the mortal realm, and a great fissure rippled up from the ground until it split open the heavens with a ruthless crack. The Earth’s axis was knocked askew as water gushed from the gaping abyss, raining down upon the helpless humans in unforgiving torrents.