1ST PLACE || 2020
3RD THROUGH 4TH GRADE
GABBY AND MARTHA
by Trinity Maurer
One beautiful spring day on Larkspur Drive, Troy, Ohio a girl named Gabriela, who goes by Gabby, was walking her dog, Gracie when she saw a girl who also lived on the block. Her name was Martha. Gabby was jealous of her.
Martha was the only child of a rich family and it seemed like she got everything she wanted. Gabby had two sisters and three brothers and mostly wore hand-me-downs from her sister, and rarely got anything new.
When she saw Martha, she froze because Martha was wearing the most beautiful dress Gabby had ever seen. The dress was hot pink, with a blue ribbon. As Martha came near, she said, in a disgusted voice, “Hi Gabby.”
“Hi Martha,” said Gabby, trying her best to sound nice.
“What a beautiful necklace.” Martha pointed to Gabby’s heart-shaped gold necklace. “Could I please borrow it?”
The necklace was very special to her because it was from her great-grandmother. Gabby thought for a moment then said, “Sure, if you promise to return it.”
“Promise,” Martha agreed as Gabby handed her the necklace.
Gabby remembered her Irish dance competition that was coming up soon and thought that Martha’s dress would be perfect, so she asked Martha to borrow it.
Martha said, “Never, ever would I let someone like you borrow this dress.”
Gabby felt sad and embarrassed. “You are such a selfish person.”
“What does selfish mean?”
“Selfish means that you never want to share anything with anyone because you want to keep it all for yourself.”
“Well, then I guess I am.”
When Gabby got home, she was so sad about what had happened. She felt so sorry for Martha. She skipped dinner, which was so unlike her, for that was her favorite meal of the day. She was doing math homework and praying for some way or another for God to teach that girl a lesson.
Dear heavenly Father, I have seen how much Martha needs you and how much she needs someone in her life to show her how to be a kinder person. Please help me or anyone else to teach her.
When it was time for bed, she prayed again, but this time her whole family prayed together.
In the morning, she jumped out of bed and got ready to go see Martha. When they were younger they were best friends, so she figured that if anyone could help her she could. Gabby knocked on the door and was surprised to see Martha answer, not her butler. Martha looked like she was surprised to see her.
“Are you lost or something?” she asked.
“No,” Gabby said. “I’m here to see you.”
Martha looked outside like she was surprised Gabby was there to see her.
“Come in and sit down.”
When Gabby sat down, Martha asked, “So why are you here to see me again?”
“I’m here because I know that you seem to have everything you want in your life, but you have been a bit mean to people, including me. We used to be good friends, and now look at what’s happened to you. I’m here to help if you need me, you know that. I came here to say what I had to say, and now I’ll go.”
They said goodbye at the door. Gabby turned back to see Martha standing there speechless. As soon as she left, she had a good feeling about what needed to be said for the sake of her, Martha, and other people. Gabby continued to pray for Martha each night because she knew that Martha needed her.
A few days later, Gabby was surprised to see Martha and her mom handing out cans of food to some of the homeless that lived near the school. Once Martha saw Gabby, she told her mom that she would be right back, and came over to Gabby. Martha smiled nervously.
“I thought about what you said and realized maybe you were right. You have always been a kind friend to me, but I have not been kind to you. Would you forgive me?”
“Of course, I forgive you. You are my friend and that is what friends do.”
Later that night, Gabby heard the doorbell ring and when she answered the door, she was happy to see Martha holding a box.
“What’s in the box?”
“Well, Gabby, I should have let you borrow this the first time you asked. Here is my pink dress. I hope you do good at the Irish dance competition.”
Gabby was speechless and she hugged Martha and asked her to come to see her at the competition. Both girls were happy to bond their friendship back together.
Trinity is a third grade homeschool student. She loves art, reading, playing guitar, and Irish dancing. She would like to be an artist.