Chapter Three
Jack and I spent all night making signs that read “Save Our Park” and “Leaf the Trees Alone!”
The next morning, we called everyone on the team to tell them about the protest. However, no one else seemed to care.
“Mmmhmm,” said Teesha sleepily. “I’m busy.”
“I’ll try!” said Avery cheerily.
“I can’t,” said Zac.
“We’ll see,” said Scott.
But the next day, Jack and I were the only ones at the protest. We stood at the corner of the park and waved our signs at passing cars. A few cars honked and waved. But most sped on by.
After a while, Jack threw down his signs. “This isn’t working,” he said. “We should just go home. How are the two of us going to convince anybody?”
“You’re right,” I said with a sigh. “I guess my volleyball dreams are over.”
“Maybe they aren’t over,” Jack said. “They’re just on hold for a while.”
“Same thing,” I said as I grabbed our signs and started to walk home.
That night, I couldn’t sleep. Outside my window, stars glimmered like grains of sand. And the full moon looked like a bright round volleyball.
I sat up, turned on my lamp, and got out my computer. “Dear Lakeview City Commission,” I began to type.
I wrote for an hour, telling the commission all about my beach volleyball dreams. I told them how beach volleyball had helped me get through tough times after we’d moved to Lakeview.
I told them that my greatest sports hero was Kerri Walsh, Olympic gold medalist in beach volleyball. I even told them how I dreamed of playing in the Olympics someday.
I ended the letter by saying that beach volleyball was the only sport that my brother and I played together, and that destroying the park was like destroying our family.
If Jack ever read the letter, he would tell me how dramatic I am. But I knew what I’d written was true. I printed the letter out and set it on my desk.
In the morning, I read the letter again. What good will this do? I wondered. It’s not like they’ll listen to a kid. I crumpled up the letter and threw it in the garbage.