Excerpts from “Jeffrey & Jeremiah” by Harper Greene and Willow Potter
March 12, 2026
Excerpt from Jeremiah:Something felt off that day, it might have been the stress Jeremiah felt every day from his parents leaving, but he knew something was wrong. He hatched only a week ago, but as a ground beetle, he had only fifty-two weeks to live at best. “Bye Jere!” his mom and dad yelled while leaving. Jere was his mom’s nickname for him, and he loved it. Of course he liked his full name, but something about having a shorter option appealed to him. Jeremiah was left alone in his family’s hollowed out room in the underground colony. And just like every day, his parents were heading to The Rock to get food.
The Rock was where most ground beetles exited to the surface to hunt for food. Jere’s favorite was seeds found in the dirt, but he also enjoyed eating ants and smaller beetles. The Rock was also a hunting ground for larger animals. He had heard hushed talks from the older beetles of young grubs who lost a parent to the predators that waited atop the gray stone slab that was The Rock. Jeremiah knew that he was prey, and it was a dangerous world for beetles because of the countless dangers that lurked above ground.
Excerpt from Jeffrey:Jeffrey crept over the floor of cold, dark dirt, the pine needles from the trees above digging into his creamy pale brown scaled feet. The moon was rising to his right, soon to become a flashlight in a dark room. Dusk was always the best time for hunting, every decent predator knew that. The twilight air felt like knives in his skin, and the pine needles dug into his feet.
This was his one chance. His one chance to prove to his friends, his community, the entire world, that he, Jeffrey, could be brave. That he was just as strong, fast, and worthy as his parents.
A twig under his foot sent him falling back into reality, the weak moonlight almost blinding after the darkness of his fantasy. Jeffrey shook his head once to clear his mind and prowled onward. When the tall, flat top of The Rock came into view, he could see the light gray, speckled, surface gleaming in the moonlight. He stretched out his little four-inch-long lizard body on the cool stone, chin pressed close to the hard rock. All he had to do now was wait.
The story from which these excerpts were taken was written by Willow Potter and Harper Greene as 8th graders at Washington Middle School, with WITS writer-in-residence Troy Landrum, Jr. Performed at the Seattle Arts & Lectures Encore Series event with James McBride at Seattle Town Hall on March 3, 2026.
Posted in Student Writing Writers in the Schools Arts Education 2025/26 Season