Behind the Pen: “Glowstick”

Zoe Zarubin (17), reflects on her experience crafting a flash fiction piece for The Literary Pallete’s first issue.

Zoe writes that her piece, “Glow Stick,” captures the essence of a summer’s sunset by showcasing the “reality that the [young] narrator is preparing to face when the sun goes down” as “the sun… metaphorically se[ts] on what little innocence and hope the [protagonist] has.

Her use of symbolism in reflecting the summer’s sunset theme represents the versatility and range of the newspaper and offers an emotionally interpretive lens into sunsets as a symbol for The Literary Palette.

Zoe hopes that “readers will feel this narrator’s pain and bitter resolve [and] develop sympathy for this kid who has been through the wringer… [but also] pick up on the narrator’s realization: that pain is deeply integrated into the fabric of life. Life doesn’t always give people breaks, just like people don’t give glow sticks breaks. This story highlights a pivotal moment from a young child’s transition from false hope to harsh reality, and [she] want[s] readers to see and empathize with it.”

To achieve the mood of the story, Zoe used “personification as… a big part of [her] work because the narrator continues to hold this glow stick in their hand and imagine if they swapped places with it, they begin to realize how the glow stick is a metaphor for their life. When the light of the glow stick dies at the end, that symbolizes the sunset—the dying of the evening light.”

Zoe’s creativity and clever symbolism glows in The Literary Pallete’s first issue, and we look forward to seeing what she does next!