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
9 | 生 shèng, life
When Gong Gong tore a hole in the heavens, the four corners of the world crumbled. Amidst the chaos, one goddess could not bear to watch the people suffer any longer. She carefully picked five precious stones from across the heavens and melded them together, gently sealing the cracks in the sky. Sadly, she gazed at all the life that had been drowned from the floods and fires Gong Gong had inflicted upon the earth. With her lithe fingers, she scooped up handfuls of golden mud from the riverbank and gingerly shaped them into bodies. The mud that dripped from her palms became children the moment they hit the ground, and soon, little cries of joy and laughter could be heard echoing from all four corners of the earth. She was Nüwa: goddess of rebirth, and Mother of All.