Misty Bleachers

 It had been raining for six days straight, all day and all night. The sidewalks outside the school were covered with hundreds of worms, rising as high as they could to avoid being drown. I hadn't seen this much rain for my whole life. We'd have a day or two of rain here and there, but never for this long before. There were puddles and mud everywhere. My shoes were soaked through, my socks were soggy and my toes were sloshing around in my squeaky sneakers. 

"Let's smash as many of these little nasty slimy worms as we can, Ryan! I'll bet I can squish more than you can..."

I had no intention of smashing a single slimy specimen. These tiny skinny creatures had worked their way to the surface just to survive. Why should we kill them now?

"No. There are so many of them, they are everywhere. It would be more of a challenge to try to skip, splash and jump around them. Let's see who can reach the double doors first without squashing a single worm. Deal?!"

He stared me down, squinting his eyes tight and biting his bottom lip. 

"No deal! These worms are toast!!"

He stomped, stamped and splattered at least sixty helpless worms in a matter of sixty seconds or less, cackling wildly as he murdered as many as he could. When he reached the double doors he threw his arms up in the drenching rain and danced a victory dance, soaking through and through. Then he screamed through the rain.

"You're such a sissy lah lah boy, Ryan! I can't be friends with you!! We are nothing alike. They are just stupid worms, killing is fun!!!"

After school was over I sat under the misty bleachers as the rain continued its' unrelenting downpour. I cried for those worms and realized that not all little boys were quite as sensitive as I.