And Summer Is Gone

Sometimes, friendships slowly drift apart as each day passes, while both people grow into themselves and realize their differences. In the adapted short story "And Summer Is Gone" by Susie Kretschmer, two somewhat inseparable friends, Amy and David, become autonomous as they grow from adolescents into young adults. Both characters have very established personalities right from the beginning; Amy is very intrepid and a extroverted young girl, and David is an artistic and poetic boy with introverted attributes. Although, these two characters are opposite in nature, that is partly why they were able to become such great friends.

The confidence and sociability Amy holds as a young girl  in the summer is outstanding. In Amy and David's first encounter, Amy is able to jump "agilely over the exposed water meter and [look] right into [David's] face"(2). She shows this sense of audacity through the means of exploring the creek, being able to gain the adoration of the young David and by knowing who she is and being comfortable with it. As Amy grows, she seems to lose her confidence and replace it with her insecurities, but throughout the entire story, she still carries her extroverted qualities. Even as Amy and David drift apart as school begins and  become more mature, Amy still has a group a friends "Kelli, Lori, Shelli, Tammi, Lani, Terri- and Ami"(3).

David, on the other hand is a very abstract boy who has few friends, but holds the ones he has very closely and is okay with not having many. His artistic abilities shine through in various situations where he creates images depicting the Aztec style with Amy. Also at the art museum where his painting of "a great Aztec pyramid under oily black storm clouds"(4) is presented and awarded for the second consecutive year. David is an introvert as well who is able to admit this himself. Further on in the story he reflects on both Amy and his conflicting personalities by saying "I hid alone- she went to every party"(4). This is substantial evidence that David is an introvert and knows he is. 

Although David and Amy's personalities are somewhat mismatched, they are able to look past their differences and have great amounts of fun together. Creating, learning and sharing things together during the hot summer days down at the creek, it seems as though their friendship would last forever. However, as they both mature, David becomes more confident with himself and Amy seems to become diffident due to the pressure of high school. Amy doesn't want to be seen around David, and although this may crush his heart, he realizes that he can't change this and moves on.