The Battle of the Block

James had always disliked Tony Hicks ever since he moved into James’s neighborhood. From the start, James sensed a strong rivalry forming between the two. Whenever James was selling lemonade on a hot day, Tony soon followed, selling lemonade and a sweet treat to complement it. When James sold popcorn for the school fundraiser, Tony was always a house ahead making gainful profit. It was only after the enormous snowstorm, however, when the true battle began.

James woke up on a January morning as a white blanket of snow covered the whole town. When he looked out the window, he bolted downstairs and threw on his snow gear. As he pushed his snow blower out front, who did he see? None other than Tony Hicks wheeling out his own snow blower.

James was infuriated. Doesn’t he know this is my territory? I’ve blown these houses for the past four years! Suddenly, it was no longer a matter of snow blowing for the sake of helping his neighbors. For James, it was to beat Tony Hicks.

The boys locked eyes for several seconds with an unsaid acknowledgment that a competition had just begun. James was determined to clear the most houses on the block. The two boys took off, pushing snow from the neighbors’ driveways. As James started plowing, he realized that Tony was zipping through and was a couple houses ahead of him. Normally James took pride in doing a thorough job, but to beat Tony he’d have to cut some corners.

The boys worked frantically, completing each house as quickly as possible. As they rounded the bend, arriving at the end of the cul-de-sac, the boys were neck and neck. They approached the last house, looked back at their work, and groaned. In their haste to win, they had covered all the walkways.

After a few seconds, James spoke. “We really blew it, no pun intended,” he sighed.
And for the first time, Tony spoke to James. “We sure did, but we can fix it,” he paused, “together.” And then the boys set off, plowing the walkways as friends.