It’s Just an Award

It was a very hot day at Busch Wildlife. This was the time of year when all the 4th graders came out and camped for a few days. On one particularly hot day, a group of kids were scheduled to go to the pond. This shouldn't even been called a pond. Its a ditch that had gathered water from years of rain. There are no living things anywhere around it and the smell was unbearable. Despite all of that, the kids still made their way up the steep hill in order to find it. While there, the crazy kids were getting covered in mud and stagnant water.
“Whats that thing moving in the pond?” Maddie yelled. No one seemed to hear or care.
Maddie found a net and swooped the mysterious object up. While bringing it closer to her face, she realizes that it was a salamander! She was jumping up and down in excitement, catching attentions of some of the other kids.
“Can I hold it?” Andrea said in a quiet, unfamiliar voice.
“Sure you can! But don't drop it!” Maddie said without hesitation. The computer teacher ran to Andrea in excitement. He was shocked that there were actually living things in that nasty pond.
“Smile Andrea, and hold the salamander up high so I can get a good picture.”
“...But its not actually…”
“Smile!”
After the picture, Andrea handed the salamander to Maddie and went back down the hill with the rest of the group. Maddie let the creature go

The rest of camp was boring and filled with useless activities that Maddie never excelled at. One happened to be archery. She managed to be the only kid that never got an arrow on the target.
The last day of camp was dedicated to handing out silly awards. “The loudest scream going down the zip line”, “The fastest time crossing the rope bridge”, “The most bullseyes in archery”, were just a few examples. One of the last awards announced was “The first person to catch a living thing at camp.” It went to Andrea Garland. This was strange because Maddie caught the salamander.
“I didn't catch that” Andrea thought to herself. “I’ll just go along with it anyway so I don't embarass that other girl or myself.”
Maddie stood up disbelief. “...But that was MY award.” She quietly spoke to herself. Her best friend at the time yanked her back down to the ground.
“Let it go Maddie. Don't embarrass yourself or that girl by making a big deal out of a stupid award.”
Camp ended shortly after and the award ceremony slowly faded out of Andrea and Maddies’ minds.

A few years later, the 4th graders turned into 7th graders and Maddie and Andrea quickly became friends. They hung out every night and never went a weekend without having sleepovers. It was only a matter of time before one of them brought up that awful 4th grade year. Andrea was the first to announce she had been mistaken for an award on one of the camp nights. Maddie asked if it had anything to do with a salamander. Andrea shockingly replied with a yes. Both girls looked at each other in confusion while connecting the dots.

“You were my salamander-stealer?” Maddie exclaimed.

“It wasnt my fault! I swear!” Andrea quickly said.
They both laughed about the whole situation and gave each other a reassuring smile.

“What did you do ever with that award anyway?”

“I threw it away.”
“Oh, okay.”
“You didn't actually want it, right?”
“No! It’s just a stupid award, thats dumb.”
Now, years later, they are both still best friends. Maddie occasionally brings up the topic of the salamander and they both laugh everytime. Maddie always smiles but Andrea can't help but notice that Maddies’ smile is totally fake.
“Shes still not over that award.” Andrea thinks to herself.
“She should've stood up for me.” Maddie thinks to herself.
They both smile and quickly change topics.