Her words count

Tametris Dunn believes that the words she puts down on paper count, and not just because she was her school's winner of an essay contest last week.

Lately, she has been thinking a lot about how people treat each other. Her nine-year-old cousin and sister were shot by young gunmen in her Washington neighborhood in March. One of the shooters rode a bicycle.

Below is the essay she wrote for Documenting Dreams Writing Week. It was judged not on grammar but on her ability to convey an idea from a unique perspective.

Dream Life

My talent is that I want to sing.

I think people should stop doing bad things to each other. I also want to be a teacher. Another thing is that I wish my family gets a job and that God will bless my family with money, but not the bad ones that would not help their sisters and brothers. I also wish that Bruce-Monroe will get blessed to get new things and activities. I also think that all bad kids should be in one room with Principal Ryan and another teacher in the other. And the homeless people should get a home and food. And they, that is the store people, should stop selling guns that will hurt people which is all guns do. So that's why if you see a homeless person on the street, give a little change that will show that you're trying to make this world a better place.

What I would do to make this world a better place is to get all of the homeless people off the street and give them a home and food, and make some of the stores stop selling guns and things, and have a lot of people to come and clean the street and paint. When I get finished, it would be clean and colorful, and no people would be on the street. I'll make the town or city look big and everyone will be showing unity, like I do with my family.

If I sing, it would be how people act and about life, also how bad people do each other when they should show unity with each other, and that's what I want to be and what I would do to change the world.

(c) Copyright 1999. The Christian Science Publishing Society