Our Spot

I saw it out of the corner of my eye one day. It was a Friday. I was walking home from school with my friends.

Georgie was telling a story about how he won a race across the city against his dog, Zippy, but Lucia and Eric rolled their eyes. “Did that REALLY happen, Georgie?” Kiana asked with a laugh.

“Well, it could happen,” Georgie said with a sly smile.

“Hey! What’s that?” I asked, pointing to what I saw through the broken slat of a fence. We had taken this shortcut home a million times, but this was the first time I noticed it.

Before they knew what I was talking about, I was halfway through the hole in the fence. I needed to get a closer look.

On the other side, I stood with my hands on my hips and smiled. My friends crawled in behind me. “Look!” I said to them, pointing to the grassy lot in front of us.

“It’s just a vacant lot, Nico,” Eric said, folding his arms. 

“Yeah! There’s nothing here!” Lucia huffed. 

Sure, the lot was covered in trash, and the grass was full of weeds. But I saw potential. I saw what this lot could become with a little work.

“Guys! This lot doesn’t belong to anyone,” I explained. 

“So?” Kiana asked.

“So if we clean it up . . .” I began.

“. . . and pull out the weeds . . .” Eric added, catching on.

“. . . and tell NOT EVEN ONE other person about it . . .” whispered Georgie.

“This could be ours?!” Lucia asked, her eyes wide with excitement. 

“Exactly! It can be our own secret park!” I said. Right then, we all put our hands in and promised to meet back here tomorrow, ready to make our secret park look beautiful.

The next morning, we met at the lot bright and early. I brought five huge trash bags and a box of gloves so we could collect all the trash and pull all the weeds. 

It took almost three hours to clean everything up, but we worked as a team and got it done. We cheered when Lucia tied a knot in the last garbage bag.

“This lot looks a lot better now!” said Georgie with a giggle.

“And a lot bigger!” Kiana said. They were both right. I was shocked at how much space there was for us to run and play.

“Now we just need to give our secret park a name,” Kiana said.

“Nico should name it! He was the one who saw it first,” Lucia said matter-of-factly. Everyone agreed.

So I thought and I thought and I thought. I paced in a circle in the middle of the lot, trying to come up with the right name.

“C’mon, Nico, it’s almost lunchtime!” Georgie groaned.

I asked for five more minutes and then: BOOM! The idea hit me like a water balloon. “I’ve got it! The name of our secret park is ‘Our Spot’!” The others looked at me and nodded.

“Our Spot it is!” said Eric.

Over the next few weeks, we played at Our Spot every day after school. We raced, we kicked my soccer ball around, and we lay in the grass looking at shapes in the clouds.

Our Spot was the most perfect place on Earth. Well, that’s what it felt like.

When the school year ended and we were out for summer vacation, we spent even more time at Our Spot. Kiana brought her jump ropes, Georgie and Lucia brought snacks, and Eric brought his favorite comic books.

One sunny summer morning, I was on my way to Our Spot when I saw a long line of people outside of the community center. My next-door neighbor, Mr. Perry, was outside directing the line. I was curious, so I went up to talk to him.

“Hi, Mr. Perry. Why is everybody in line?” I asked.

He said the line was for people who were waiting to get food from our community food bank. “Groceries can cost a lot of money,” Mr. Perry explained, “so the food bank gives food away to people who need a little help.”

I was surprised that so many people in our city needed the food bank’s help. “What kind of food do people get from the food bank?” I asked.

“Mostly pasta, canned foods, and other things that don’t expire, or go bad, right away. But I wish we could give away more fresh fruits and veggies,” Mr. Perry sighed.

He said that he and the other volunteers were trying to start a community garden. “That way we can grow fruits and vegetables to give away here at the food bank. We just need to find the right plot of land.”

“Land?” I thought, as I walked the rest of the way to Our Spot. My friends were already there, playing a game of tag. I sat at the edge of the lot, watching them play and running my fingers through the grass. When Georgie decided he was too tired to be “it” anymore, they all came over to say hi.

Georgie plopped down in the grass beside me. “What’s up, Nico? ”

“I’m just thinking,” I said.

“About what?” Kiana asked.

I took a deep breath and explained everything Mr. Perry told me about the food bank and the volunteers’ goal of starting a community garden.

“All they need is land to be able to grow fruits and vegetables for all the people who need them,” I said, standing up. “And I think . . . I think Our Spot is the best lot of land for the garden.”

I waited for someone to complain or argue with me, but Georgie, Kiana, Lucia, and Eric just sat there quietly. Are they mad at me? I wondered.

Just then, Eric stood up. “I think that’s a great idea, Nico!”

“Yeah, a community garden could help so many people,”
Lucia agreed.

“I’m just a little sad that this won’t be Our Spot anymore,” Georgie admitted.

“I’m gonna miss it too,” I said. “But we can always come to visit and help out with the garden!”

“That’s true!” Kiana said. “Let’s go talk to Mr. Perry.”

“Wait! Can we play one last round of tag first?” asked Georgie.

“Of course. But you’re still ‘it,’ Georgie!” I shouted, running away from him.

“Aw, man!” Georgie said, giggling as he jumped up and ran as fast as he could to try to catch us.