Why Not Save Planet Earth?! 🌍

"I have a hobby of mine that I think you'll like."

Maxine says to her best friend Nicola while they both eat their ham & cheese sandwiches on the last day of school in the cafeteria.

"Yea? What's that?"

Nicola asked while taking the crust off of her sandwich.

"Taking care of planet earth."

Nicola rolls her eyes due to the ridiculous hobby that her friend had requested.

Maxine notices Nicola's blank facial expression & says

"What? It's possible. My mom & I do it every summer!"

"Please tell me how that is possible Maxine?! You can't reach planet earth, it's in space."

"We are on the planet earth, Nicola!"

Nicola shakes her head & starts to disengage from the conversation.

"Look, Nicola, you don't have to visit space to take care of it. You can take care of it wherever you are! Like for example my mom & I pick up trash & bottles in local parks."

Nicola sips her apple juice loudly through her straw.

"So what do you say? Are you going along with this?"

"I don't know Maxine. I don't want to pick up garbage. That's the trashmen's job. I'm a GIRL I don't want my nails to get dirty."

Nicola says while looking at her pink glittery nails.

"Well, that's why my mom & I use gloves."

"Ok, I'll think about it."

As Nicola & Maxine are walking to the trash can to throw away their lunch bags, a kid named Kenneth Wallace who is also in the 6th grade, jumped in front of them as he bawled up his lunch bag & tended to shoot it into the trash can as if it were a basketball. The lunch bag never made it into the trash can.

Kenneth Wallace was a bully in Marshall Elementary. He had orange hair with freckles & wore a death bracelet. Kids in school called it that because the bracelet had skeletons surrounding it.

"Ew Gross!"

Maxine says while looking at the garbage that is propped on the ground.

Maxine became unflattered with Kenneth's junky behavior that she decided to approach him as he & friends joke at the table in the cafeteria.

"HEY!"

Maxine says while crossing her arms.

"What are you doing Maxine?"

Nicola says while running after her friend.

Kenneth gets up from the table & approaches Maxine with his hand on his hip.

"What?!"

"You dropped your trash, you litterbug!"

"Litterbug?! Why don't you just leave me alone you are not my mother!"

Kenneth says while laughing.

"Well maybe if you had a mother who taught you manners I wouldn't be confronting you about your littering ways!"

Kenneth folds his arms & said "watch your back next school year you won't get away with this by then"

Nicola grabs Maxine's hand & pushed her away from Kenneth.

"What the heck was that Maxine!"

"What! It's not right for him to be littering!"

"I know but who cares it's the last day of school the janitor will clean it up! They get paid for cleaning up after snotty nose kids like us!"

the bell rang & kids ran out of the cafeteria like roaches when the light flicks on.

The school was finally out & summer break had just started.

Maxine & Nicola are outside on the front porch playing with dolls while their mothers try to decide what activities their children will be doing this summer.

"Well, Maxine & I help clean the environment every weekend when summer occurs."

Maxine's mother Dallas says.

"Oh great! How does that go?"

Nicola's mother Madrid asked.

"It goes well I try to teach Maxine at a young age to care for the environment because these are the things that our children should be taught."

"Yes Most definitely! It is something that must be taught. Is that all you & Maxine do? No beach trips?"

"Yes I'm not trying to make her summer vacation like a boarding school, it's only the weekends we do that."

Madrid laughs & sip on a cold glass of lemonade.

"What is it that you & Nicola do?"

"Oh! We go everywhere! Beach, malls, anywhere that you could imagine!"

Nicola & Maxine sneaky look at their mothers from the window of the porch.

"What do you think they are talking about?"

Nicola asks Maxine as she whispers.

Maxine shrugs her shoulders.

"I hope that your mom isn't trying to convince my mom to let me help you two clean the environment."

"You say it as if it's a bad thing!"

"I don't want to waste my summer break cleaning up after slobs!"

"Don't look at it in that way! It's all about keeping planet earth clean"

Nicola & Maxine step away from the window & pick up their dolls.

"You know next year we are going to be 7th graders! Which means no more dolls!"

Nicola says while pulling the hair off her doll.

"I don't want to stop playing with dolls!"

Nicola rolls her eyes & place her doll face down on the porch.

"I think that you should allow Nicola to come with Maxine & me one Saturday just so she can see the basis of what we are doing."

"Dallas I like that you are teaching your daughter all about keeping the environment clean but I don't want Nicola picking up garbage. I'm sorry & I don't mean that disrespectfully. It's just how I feel."

"Oh no I understand. She's your child! If that is not what you want for her then so be it."

Dallas looks at her watch on her wrist & notice it is time for work.

"Oh, I have to go! I have work in about 30 mins."

"Oh ok well Maxine can stay here no problem."

"Ok thank you!"

"Yea I'll drop her off afterward."

"Great! Thank you, Madrid!"

Dallas walks out of Nicola's house onto the porch & kissed Maxine goodbye.

Maxine & Nicole sit at the dinner table eating spaghetti & meatballs while Madrid sat outside on the porch drinking a glass of wine.

"Have you thought about it?"

Maxine asks.

"I already gave you my answer! I don't want to do it! I want to go swimming ALL summer!"

"It's only on Saturdays & Sundays!"

"Saturdays is the best day of the week to go swimming! Not pick up garbage."

Maxine places her fork down on her plate.

"What's wrong? You don't like spaghetti & meatballs anymore?"

"No, I do it's just that I wanted us to do something together this summer."

Nicola pats Maxine on the back.

"I'm sorry I don't mean to hurt your feelings, Max"

"It's ok, you're not hurting my feelings. I should've never kept asking you"

"No, it's fine, cleaning the environment is something that you are passionate about."

Maxine & Nicola smile at each other while slurping their spaghetti noodles.

Saturday morning Dallas & Maxine were at a local park picking up trash with gloves on their hands.

"Mommy, can I ask you something?"

"Sure what is it?"

"Do you think that I am a bad friend for asking Nicola to do something that I KNEW that she would dislike?"

"No of course not! She's your friend you were just introducing her to something new & it's ok if she doesn't want to go along with it."

Maxine stops in the middle of the park with a trash bag in her hand; her mother knew by Maxine's body language that she was upset.

Dallas puts her two hands on her daughter's shoulders & looks into her brown eyes.

"Don't be upset what you are doing is very responsible for your age. You should be proud of yourself"

Maxine smiles & hugs her mother.

As Dallas & Maxine go back to cleaning they hear a voice in the park that sounded much like Madrid, Nicola's mother.

"Woohoo!"

Maxine & Dallas turn their heads there was Madrid & Nicola.

"Nicola!"

Maxine screams

They both run to each other