A huge thank you to all who took the time to enter the 2025 Solano County Library Teen Writing Contest!

We were honored to read your work, and encourage each of you to continue writing.

Please enjoy the winning entry below!

POETRY WINNER

The Goodbye I Never Gave

by Sofia Garcia

 

You left like the sun slipping behind clouds

Quiet

Slow

But somehow still sudden

One moment you were here,

a part of every ordinary day,

And then you were gone

Packed into a car

Heading towards palm trees

And a new kind of life.

And I wasn’t there.

No hug

No final laugh

No last memory to hold on to

I was in Kentucky

And everything just changed

Without me even saying goodbye

We were two halves of a shared birthday

Tied by time

Not by blood but something stronger

You were always more than a stepsister

You were home in a human form

A forever kind of person

Now June feels lopsided

Like celebrating with one shoe missing

We were the oldest on both sides

The ones who were supposed to be strong

The ones who held everything together

But with each other we could fall apart

With you I didn’t have to pretend

And you never let me hurt alone

Even when your world was heavy

You made sure mine felt light

You dried my tears

While holding back your own

Checking in on me

With that quiet kind of love

That doesn’t ask for anything back

You were calm

When I didn’t know how to breath

You where my protector

Even when nobody was protecting you

I kept thinking about all of the lasts

We never knew where the last

The final sleepover

The final inside joke

The final moment where things were still the same

Now?

Everything is different

You’re laughing in Florida sunshine

While I sit in the shadows

You left behind

It’s not anger

It’s ache

It’s the weight of unspoken goodbyes

And the silence of missing someone

Who feels like a part of you

I wish I could’ve told you

How much you meant

How much you still mean

I wish I could have frozen time

Just long enough

To say

I love you

I miss you

Don’t forget me

So this poem isn’t the good bye I didn’t say

It’s a piece of my heart on paper

Because even though we’re far apart

You still live in the memories

In our birthday wishes

In the big sister moments

That only we ever truly understood

You where my comfort

Even when you need comfort too

And no matter the miles

You will always be

My other half

The first person I ever shared the weight with

The sister who gave

Even when she had nothing left

And I’ll never forget that

I’ll never forget you