Like any good creative writer, Mariah Bellamoroso simply took what she saw around her and weaved it into a story.

During a recent outing to Pike Place Market in Seattle, the 15-year-old saw an inspiring encounter between a street musician and someone watching him perform. The wheels started turning in Bellamoroso's head, and a couple months later the Joint Base Lewis-McChord home schooled ninth-grader finished the short story "The Quarter."

"The Quarter" recently won first place in the Grades 9 and 10 category in the Pierce County Library System's Teen Writing and Drawing Contest. Between Jan. 25 and March 5, students submitted more than 1,000 entries. The winning poems, drawings and short stories were showcased at a free public event at Pacific Lutheran University's Lagerquist Concert Hall earlier this month.

"It's great to get recognized like that," said Bellamoroso, who won her age category last year and finished third the year before. "My passion is creative writing."

Volunteers, including library staff and Pierce County Library Foundation Board members, reviewed the entries. Noted author Lorie Ann Grover and poet Kevin Miller selected this year's writing winners, evaluating originality, style, general presentation, grammar and spelling.

"She really enjoys (creative writing), and she's good at it," said Col. Paul Bellamoroso, Mariah's father. "(Her stories) seem like they are written by someone much older."

Bellamoroso was inspired to write her story after someone approached the musician and dropped some money in his cup, bringing a smile to his face.

"It just showed how a small action can change the outlook on someone's day," she said.

Bellamoroso illustrates the exchange in her story.

"There is a flicker of movement, the flash of a young, pale face rimmed with short, dark hair peering at him from the second floor balcony," she writes. "Then it is gone, leaving nothing but the quarter, still rolling around on its edge in the bottom of the cup. He lowers his gaze back to the shifting crowd and finds himself sitting up straighter, contemplative, but also strangely happy for the first time that day. He picks up the guitar and begins to play again."

One advantage to being home schooled, Bellamoroso said, is that she has more time to really develop her writing skills, which includes serving as a moderator on The Young Writers Society's Web site. The site allows writers ages 13 to 25 to read and critique each other's works.

"It helps you learn how to use the feedback to become a better writer," she said.

To read "The Quarter" in its entirety, visit www.piercecountylibrary.org/files/library/expressions-book-2010.pdf.