Kids Issue 2017: My life with friends

NIGHT DRAGON: Asheville School 11th-grader Heather Capps painted this atmospheric night scene.

Editor’s note: This essay and artwork are part of Mountain Xpress’ Kids Issue 2017, our annual feature devoted to kids’ art and writing. This year, we asked students to focus on the question “What Matters to Me?”

Imagine a life without friends. Friends are one of the essentials of life; without them, we would live a boring, lazy and incomplete life. I think friends are very important to have because I can count on them and I need them.

Harper is one of the best friends I have ever had. She is amazing at helping me with tasks, from writing anything to being brave. For example, one day we were writing a book, and she wanted to add something in. At first, I was not sure it would sound good, but she talked me into it. When I lived in New York City I could talk to her more, but now that I live in North Carolina and do not have an electronic device, we write letters to each other. The joy of opening the letter makes me feel like I am in the same room as her, and when I write letters to her, I always love putting them in the mailbox.

Sacha is another good friend from New York. I can tell her anything, and she is a great secret keeper. She loves cats just like me. I used to go and visit her and her very cute cats. Their names are Angel, Ranger and Tiger.

Gabby is the last person I want to talk about. She is creative and funny. She always has awesome ideas. One day we were playing with clay, and she suggested we use the guide book for the clay models. It really worked, too, with ideas like doughnuts, taffy, fish, owls and ponies.

I love all my friends for different reasons, and I would not know what to do without them. I hope you feel the same way when you are with and without your friends, too!

— Veronica Martinez
The Learning Community School, fourth grade

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