I stare into the shimmering surface of the lake as I wait for Ivanna to get back with our hot dogs which I assumed would take a while considering the long line I'd seen when we'd first spotted the vendor.
Before leaving to get the food, Ivanna had...
The little girl shrieks as she falls, the sensitive skin of her elbows scraping against the flat surface of the stone that the garden pathway was made of. By the time she sits up, wincing in pain because of her elbows, another little girl runs up to her and looks down at her.
Both of them had just met minutes ago and started playing as their parents talked when Eliana felt down. Caroline knelt and looked at her elbows, and scrunched up her nose in a grimace at the sight of blood. She slides her arms around Eliana's shoulders helping her up but fails as they both fall, her on top of Eliana.
For a second, they are both quiet looking at the other, each expecting the other to start crying.
Then a laugh breaks out.
Caroline notices Eliana laughing as she lays on the ground, below her. Then she starts laughing, joining her friend on the ground beside her.
They laugh for as long as they could, clutching their stomachs until they start to feel nauseous and dizzy.
Slowly they get up, each helping the other, erupting in giggles occasionally.
Eliana spots a cut on the right side of Caroline's forehead and winces.
"You have a cut on your forehead."
Caroline instinctively brings her fingers to her forehead and winces when she feels it. It was small, but spots of blood were starting to appear.
Eliana holds out her right arm, the one that was not injured, to Caroline.
"Come on. I'll take you to my brother. He knows how to put medicine. He always takes care of my cuts whenever I fall."
Caroline bobs her head at Eliana's suggestion.
"I have a brother too! His name is Sebastian. He steals my chocolate. He told me that I couldn't eat chocolate because I was still only six years old." Caroline pouts as she describes her brother to Eliana.
Eliana grins.
"My brother does that too. His name is Aspen. But he doesn't do that anymore. I stole his toys and hid them for a day and now he doesn't steal my chocolate. I can help you do the same to your brother! He sounds very mean."
Caroline nods excitedly as Eliana offered her help.
"If you do that, then he won't steal my chocolate. And I'll share some with you!"
Eliana shrieks a yes to Caroline and jumps up and down at the mention of Chocolate.
~~~
Later in the evening, hours after the deal was made between the two children, the adults spot an angry Sebastian running down the stairs chasing the two girls as they run for cover from him. Eliana grabs Caroline's hand shrieking as she spots Sebastian close behind them and pulls her behind Aspen, both of them hiding behind him from an angry Sebastian.
Caroline and Eliana, both peak from behind Aspen to find Sebastian charging towards them. Aspen moves away from them as soon as he realizes what the girls were doing not wanting to be part of this.
The girls shriek even more as they realize that Aspen left them. They both look at each other, shriek, and run towards their parents who had just entered the room searching for the cause of all the screaming and shouting.
The girls run towards their fathers who pick them up instantly, thus gaining protection from the angry Sebastian. Sebastian runs towards his mom, whining about how the girls hid his favorite cars and how he cant find them.
The parents turn towards the girls, putting the spotlight on them.
They look at each other, their eyes wide as they imagined the scolding they would receive when they found out what they did.
So they do the only thing that they thought would get them out of trouble. They lied.
They both erupt in excuses.
"The cat took the cars."
"Our fish ate the cars."
Eliana stares at Caroline.
Caroline stares at Eliana.
Both their faces lose color as they realized how different their excuses were. The adults look at them, eyebrows raised, an amused smile on their lips.
Eliana's father, Mr. Harlow looks at his daughter and inwardly smiles as he knows that it was she who was behind this. He gives her a pointed look as she smiles an innocent smile at him.
Eliana screams at Caroline as she jumps out of her father's arms, gesturing her to do the same. As she ran away from them, she could hear Caroline doing the same and they flee the room Sebastian right behind them.
This was the start of a wonderful friendship.
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