“The Achievery” Narrative Writing Competition Winner – Adrian Ericson

On February 11, 2023, Indonesian Lantern hosted a Narrative Writing Workshop for Indonesian youths in South Philadelphia. With the help of AT&T’s “The Achievery” learning module, the students learned how to write a narrative piece, with the added component of a cliffhanger ending. Participants ranged from 3rd to 12th graders. They then volunteered to have their written pieces shared aloud. 

A competition was held for the person with the best narrative writing piece. After careful review amongst Indonesian Lantern staff, we determined Adrian Ericson had the winning essay !! (Wooo, yayy Adrian!) Shown here is the winning narrative short essay “Spiderman and Trash Villain”:

“One day as Spiderman was leaving his house to go to school, he faces heavy pollution and dirty streets, he takes a look around and sees people polluting and littering the streets without a single care. Spiderman gets furious, he gets so mad to the point where he skips school to think of a way to stop this ongoing disaster. He spends days alone sitting in his room trying his hardest to think of a way to save the city. 

Finally, he comes up with the conclusion that the reason people are littering is because there is a trash villain that encourages people to litter without their knowledge. Spiderman challenges the trash villain to an ultimate battle, a battle that will settle this trash situation once and for all. If Spiderman wins, Trash Villain has to clean the city, picking up every single bit of trash that hides in every single corner and leave the earth after he’s done. 

The trash villain agrees on the terms but counters saying that if Spiderman loses, he instead has to leave and trash will float the city. They both meet in the city for all to watch the fight. Spiderman wraps Trash villain in webs but he throws him back with a ton of trash. It was a good battle, they fought well until they…”

What happens next? Who wins? Original, interesting, environmentally conscious, and creative, Spiderman and Trash Villain tackles a seemingly mundane issue and turns it into a spectacle between superhero and villain. The essay also includes a cliffhanger, this being a central theme to the workshop. Does trash consume the city, or will the city be saved from an all consuming trash epidemic? What caught the attention of the Indonesian Lantern staff, was the relevancy of this fictional tale to the realities of many Philadelphia neighborhoods. Trash seems to float freely in the city, one can only imagine if there really is a Trash Villain living amongst us in Philadelphia. 

Spiderman and Trash Villain caught the hearts of the Indonesian Lantern mentors and writing contributors through its pertinent nature and inventive storytelling. As a prize, Adrion will be awarded a gift card and have his essay published on the Indonesian Lantern website. Congratulations to Adrian!! We hope to see more creative essays from you in the future. 

-Farah Feddaraini