- Story by Abbie Dinowitz, Grade 11

As I crawled out of the anthill early yesterday morning, I was happy to see the enormous yellow sun shining brightly over the park. The sight was a huge relief, since the previous day it had rained and my friends and I had experienced several near-death experiences in puddles.

I reentered the hill quietly, careful not to bother my relatives who were still sleeping. There are more than a hundred of us who reside in the hill; we are the biggest ant family in the area.

My favorite older brother was awake, so I invited him to join me for breakfast.

"Let me relax for a little while, Sammy!" he grunted at me. Josh never wants to do anything with me anymore.  We used to have picnic-searching adventures and relay races all summer long. But this summer is different. Now all he cares about is journeying across the street every day so he can visit his girlfriend, Lisa. 

I sighed and went back outside alone.

I found some crumbs from a chocolate chip cookie near the big oak tree, but I didn't have much of an appetite. I wandered aimlessly for a little while, waiting for everybody to wake up. Soon, a group of small, giggly ants emerged from the hole at the top of the hill.

"Morning, Sammy!"  they shouted cheerfully. 

I greeted my cousins with a grin. Although they are girls, Jamie, Jill, Jessica, and Joanne are always ready to cheer me up when I'm upset. As I shared my cookie crumbs with them, I updated them on the Josh situation. It was old news though; I had been complaining to them about my brother daily. They knew that the best solution was to change the subject.

"So, are you meeting Alex and Jake this afternoon?" Jill asked, and her sisters all started to giggle. Their "secret" crushes on my friends were obvious; they always made sure that they were nearby when I hung out with them. 

"Nope," I answered, "They're grounded because their mom didn't like that we were playing in the rain yesterday."

"Maybe we should go visit them to cheer them up," suggested Joanne.

"Are you nuts? That’ll get them into even bigger trouble!" I snapped; I didn't intend to sound angry but I did. I couldn't help myself. My brother didn't like me anymore and my best friends couldn't leave their hill. All I had was four girl cousins to entertain me, and all they cared about were their stupid crushes. I needed some space. 

I left the girls alone without an explanation and crawled over to my favorite thinking spot, the small hole under the big red slide in the corner of the park. The thick cherry-colored plastic above me always makes me feel protected in my own, private, ant-sized world. I sat there for at least an hour, feeling sorry for myself and wondering how much fun Josh was having with Lisa today. I vaguely remembered him mentioning a stroll through the garden, a brightly-colored patch of flowers on the far side of the park. Despite my firm viewpoint that girlfriends were unnecessary, I found myself dreaming that it was me strolling around the garden, gazing into the eyes of a sweet, gentle girl and telling her how much I loved her. I quickly shook off the thought. There was no way I would fall into the trap that Josh had fallen into. 

I emerged from my hiding spot, a little disoriented and quite hungry, and decided to walk back to the anthill to see what my cousins were doing for lunch. I found my mother gathering all my younger siblings for a trip to the park's snack bar. I joined the crew; it was a good decision because at the snack bar I found a half-eaten apple under a picnic table. Munching on the apple, I began to feel better. After I finished, I decided to go find Max, Rachel, and Greg. They can be boring sometimes, and their favorite activity was to annoy the humans in the park. But they are fun to race against because I'm quicker then all three of them combined. 

I found Greg and Rachel on the ground near the swings, cheering Max on as he crawled up a young girl's leg and she started to scream. 

"Hey guys, I was wondering if you wanted to have a race or something," I greeted them. 

"Wait one minute, Sammy, let Max finish," Rachel said and returned to her cheering. I had never noticed how nice her voice sounded before; I wanted her to keep talking forever. 

When Max finally removed himself from the girl, he approached us with a triumphant smile. But when he saw me, his smile began to fade.

"Hello Sam. Come to defeat your second-choice friends in another race in order to raise your own self-esteem?" he asked me. 

"Leave him alone, Max. He's allowed to have his own friends. Of course you can hang out with us, Sammy," Rachel responded in my defense. 

"Uh, um, thanks," I said. Why couldn't I speak normally? And why couldn't I stop staring at Rachel's cute black eyes?

I spent the rest of the afternoon with them. I endured several more furious comments from Max, but they didn't bother me. Greg was quiet, but Rachel sweetly defended me over and over again. The four of us played truth or dare for hours. Although most of the dares involved torturing children, the game finished with the most amazing ending possible. 

It was Rachel's turn, and when she selected truth, Max inquired, "Rachel, do you like any boys, and if so, who?"

Rachel turned pink. She could not lie about this; lying in truth or dare is an atrocity. "I like Sammy," she whispered, barely audible. 

"What was that?"  Max asked obnoxiously. 

"Sammy!" she yelled. "I like Sammy, okay?"

I smiled at her. "I like you too, Rachel," I told her, even though it was not my turn to tell a truth. She and I just grinned at each other, speechless.

It was getting dark, and I had to return to the anthill before my mother began to worry. "Bye, Greg, bye Max," I said. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to say to Rachel; it came out as, "Uh, bye Rachel. I, uh, never mind.  Um, do you maybe want to hang out again tomorrow?" 

"Of course I do," she answered.  "I'll meet you by the big oak tree after lunch."

"Okay, sounds good.  Bye," I said. 

I turned away and walked home; I wanted to get to sleep as soon as possible so that I could wake up and it would be tomorrow, and I would see Rachel again. I finally understood how Josh felt, and why the only part of his life he seemed to care about was Lisa. It was the same way I was beginning to feel about Rachel. 

This is the 10th piece of student writing in a string of two straight weeks of student writing!

Check back every single day 'til Christmas to see if your writing gets posted!