Lexi Jones has a way with words.

  The tenth grader at Louisiana New Tech at Plain Dealing recently won the state's Young Author Short Story Contest. Congratulations to Lexi. Here is Lexi in her own words.

Darkness to Light

  Spinning. Falling. Farther and farther. There is no way to turn, no way out. I scream. I jump, but not out of a hole, out of a dark place in my mind. I walk to the sink in the bathroom to wash the darkness off of my face with cool water. This nightmare is not a new thing; it has become very common in my dreams. I shove all thoughts of it away for another time. After meeting my best friend for coffee, I head to the library; being there soothes me. I find my favorite place in the very back by the books that are marked as fiction; they just do not understand that these books are real, for me anyway. A guy with raven black hair walks into the library. I know his face, but from where I do not know. We meet each others' eyes and for a second I feel that the darkness from my dreams is gone. I flinch and break eye contact. The darkness quickly comes back. Something about that guy was so familiar and it made me feel good -- it made me feel like I had a place. He settles in at a spot not too far from me. I refuse to meet his eye but I glance up at him frequently. He never takes his bright turquoise eyes off of the book in his hand. I read the title and accidentally said out loud, "Oh, I've read that." He looks at me then as if I might be crazy, if only he knew. Just then his face changed to a look of understanding. Bam! It hit me. I knew where I had seen him. He was the guy straight from the brightest parts of my dreams and nightmares.

  I walk over to his seat and sit in front of him, never letting my eyes leave his. I place my hands flat on the table. He sets the book down and reaches for me. I have the thought to yank my hands back, but I can't. My body is frozen in place. When his fingers glide over my hand, it's like fire but it does not burn. I smile and look down.

  Then I am going down. Spinning. Falling. Farther and farther. It stops. I wake up in the arms of the guy with the raven hair and bright turquoise eyes. This dream was different. I was not falling into darkness, I was falling into light. I knew in that moment the light came from him. He was the love of my life.

  The dreams I have had since that day in the library have been full of light and wonder. My dark dreams brought me to him and he took the dark dreams away.