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What is so rewarding about friendship?_ my son asked, curling his upper lip into a sour expression. __aking friends takes too much time and effort, and for what?_ I sat on the edge of his bed, understanding how it might seem simpler to go at life solo. __riendship has unique rewards,_ I told him. __hey can be unpredictable. For instance...._ I couldn__ help but pause to smile crookedly at an old memory that was dear to my heart. Then I shared with my son an unforgettable incident from my younger years. __rue story. When I was about your age, I decided to try out for a school play. Tryouts were to begin after the last class of the day, but first I had to run home to grab a couple props for the monologue I planned to perform during tryouts. Silly me, I had left them at the house that morning. Luckily, I only lived across a long expanse of grassy field that separated the school from the nearest neighborhood. Unluckily, it was raining and I didn__ have an umbrella. __etermined to get what I needed, I raced home, grabbed my props, and tore back across the field while my friend waited under the dry protection of the school__ wooden eaves. She watched me run in the rain, gesturing for me to go faster while calling out to hurry up or we would be late. __he rain was pouring by that time which was added reason for me to move fast. I didn__ want to look like a wet rat on stage in front of dozens of fellow students. Don__ ask me why I didn__ grab an umbrella from home__eenage pride or lack of focus, I__ not sure__ut the increasing rain combined with the hollering from my friend as well as my anxious nerves about trying out for the play had me running far too fast in shoes that lacked any tread. __bout a yard from the sidewalk where the grass was worn from foot traffic and consequently muddied from the downpour of rain, I slipped and fell on my hind end. Me, my props, and my dignity slid through the mud and lay there, coated. My things were dripping with mud. I was covered in it. I felt my heart plunge, and I wanted to cry. I probably would have if it hadn__ been for the wonderful thing that happened right then. My crazy friend ran over and plopped herself down in the mud beside me. She wiggled in it, making herself as much a mess as I was. Then she took my slimy hand in hers and pulled us both to our feet. We tried out for the play looking like a couple of swine escaped from a pigsty, laughing the whole time. I never did cry, thanks to my friend. __o yes, my dear son, friendship has its unique rewards__riceless ones.