Secret

Part 1

Little Anna never went into the woods behind her house. That was alright for her. Her mother told her not to, and she had no intention of ever going into the dark woods. The trees loomed over their backyard in an almost menacing way. Just looking at it gave her the creeps.

No, she had no intention of going there. She was happy enough to play with her stuffed animals, anyway. Every day, without fail, she sat in the grass and played pretend by herself, often while her mother looked on from nearby or from the kitchen window.

She didn't particularly like playing with others. "She's independent," her father would say. "She's lonely," her mother argued. Anna, who was only six, didn't entirely understand what they meant, but she didn't like the sound of either word.

"She can't be happy," her mother continued. "She's not complaining," her father said. She didn't like it at all, but she ignored it and went on playing. It wasn't her problem, she decided. 

"She needs a friend," her mother would say. And that was when she thought to interrupt.

"I've got friends, mama. Right here." She pointed to the assortment of animals next to her. Her mother smiled, but even at such a young age the girl knew it was forced.

"Don't you want a real playmate, Anna?"

"I've got Trinon and Geldy right here." She pointed again to a blue elephant and a pink bunny. Her mother sighed.

"They're just toys, Anna. What about another kid your age?" Anna shrugged.

"I'm fine, mama." She went back to her animals and after a moment her mom wandered away, presumably to talk to her father. She heard the back door shut and she hopped to her feet. She grabbed a chair from the patio and tried to carry it over to her play area. She grunted from its weight and decided to drag it along with her instead.

"Okay, Trinon, you be the prince and Geldy will be Rapunzel." She placed the rabbit on the chair gingerly. 

She held the elephant and gestured with its front arms while speaking softly: "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your-" 

"Hey." Her head snapped up at the sound of the small voice. The first thing she noticed was the color blue-and a lot of it. After a second of squinting, she realized it was a dress. A little girl about her age, wearing a light blue dress that went down to her ankles. She could see the toes of her worn out black shoes from under the dress. It was almost like a princess dress, like the ones she always wished she could have. "I was wondering if I could play with you."

"Uh, I guess." She murmured. "I'm Anna. What's your name?" The girl settled down on the grass next to her, her blue dress pooling around her. Anna couldn't help but wish it was her own dress.

"I'm Sallie. With an ie instead of a y." She smiled, and Anna couldn't help but smile back.

"Cool. What do you wanna do?"

"You were playing pretend, right?" She blushed a little.

"Yeah."

"What's his name?" Sallie picked up the elephant gently, patting its soft trunk.

"Trinon. And that's Geldy." Sallie smiled again.

"I like those names."

"Thanks." Sallie set Trinon down in the same spot.

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair." Anna grinned and picked up Geldy.

"Oh... But I don't have hair. All I got are these ears." Sallie couldn't suppress a giggle.

"Then I'll grab them with my trunk!"

"Okay!" Almost as if they were moving as one, Sallie moved the trunk as if it were reaching upwards and Anna moved the rabbit's ears as if it were dangling them off the side of the chair. After a few grunts and words of encouragement from both girls, the rabbit was able to "pull" the elephant onto the chair. 

The girls played like this for hours-the elephant soon became a prince/astronaut/cowboy, with the rabbit being a princess/artist/chef. When Sallie said it was time for her to go, Anna pleaded for her to stay.

"I'm sorry, but my mama doesn't want me out late."

"Where is your mama?"

"At home, waiting for me." She stood and brushed off her skirt. "I'll come back tomorrow, if you want." Anna brightened immediately.

"Yeah! And we can play pretend all over again!" Sallie smiled.

"So we're friends now?"

"Yeah! Friends forever!" Anna grinned back. She'd never really had a friend before. If she'd known this was what it was like, she'd have gotten one a long time ago.

"I'll come back tomorrow. And every day after that. I promise." Anna looked back at her stuffed animals.

"Okay! Tomorrow I'll bring more of them out, if you want. We can have a tea party, and I'll bring a snack, and we can play dress up... I can't wait-" She turned back and her new friend was gone. She frowned, then shrugged to herself and set about picking up her toys. It was getting dark out, anyway.