The
Hike
Jessica hiked up into
the mountains to escape crowds, traffic, and clamor. Camping in the wilderness brought
her peace of mind. She drank from clear
streams and slept on beds of pine needles and moss. Upward she climbed until the air was thin and
her breath was short. Then she began to
hear voices. Were they the voices of angels?
No, they were chattering tourists.
Jessica had finally reached the visitors center.
Buddies
When me and my buddies played ball, Maria tagged along. She was too small to play, plus she was a girl. Yuck. But we let her chase foul balls. She thought she was our buddy, but no way.
One day a guy was out sick, so we let Maria play right field. We put her way out near the fence, where she couldn’t bug us.
I hit a long one, a homer for sure,
but she caught it, spun, and threw it all the way
to second. I never saw nothing like that
before. So we gave her a shot at batting.
She grounded to shortstop and outran the throw to first. She ran faster than all my buddies. We let her play a little more each practice,
until we had to let her start, so we could win more games. She was still just a girl, but sort of like a
buddy.
We got used to her and let her bike
home with us after games. We let her
swim with us at the quarry. We can't stop her cuz’ she throws a mean punch.
I think Maria might be my best buddy
now. All the other guys think she's theirs.
