a little bit of black with a little bit of pink

The Tree House

Age 6

As the daughter of an overprotective and often overbearing father, Jennie had a tendency to explore. The second her father turned away she would slip off, climb over the back fence and into the small forest on the edge of town. Though she was only six, she was fast outgrowing the small town she lived in and constantly tried to find ways it could excite her again.

Finding the tree house in the woods had been something of a dream come true. A place in the world that was just hers, that she could sneak away to when she wanted to be on her own. It looked as though it had probably been abandoned a long time ago, the paint was faded and cracked and several rungs of the ladder had fallen away. In short it was exactly the type of place that would give her father a heart attack and she loved it instantly. She knew she had to go back home before her dad started panicking but she vowed to return whenever she had the chance.

She hurried back over the fence and in through the back door where she found her father, sitting at the table a cross from a brunette lady with a kind face. Jennie frowned, it seemed like he hadn't even noticed that she was gone.

"There you are pumpkin!" Her dad noticed her watching suspiciously from the doorway. "There's somebody I'd like you to meet"

The woman he was sitting with stood up.

"Jennie this is my friend Kate, Kate this is my daughter Jennie". He gestured to each of them in turn.

The lady, Kate, knelt down so the she was level with Jennie and held out a hand for her to shake. Jennie smiled a shy but very pleased smile, nobody had ever shaken her hand before and it made her feel very grown up.

"It's nice to meet you Jennie." Kate said, giving her and warm smile.

"Nice to meet you too." Jennie answered quietly.

"Kate has a daughter around your age. I think the two of you could be quite good friends."

Kate nodded "Her name is Rosé and she's five-".

"Dad we aren't the same age. I'm six, remember?" Jennie interrupted, age was a point of pride with her.

"Don't interrupt sweetheart," her father chided.

Jennie blushed.

"Anyway, maybe she isn't the same age as you but I hear you love puzzles? Rosé loves them too. I was thinking of bring her here tomorrow night and the two of you could do some puzzles together, is that alright with you?"

Jennie nodded, feeling shy again.

-----

It was another week before she had an opportunity to sneak back to the tree house. Her father had gone upstairs to take a phone call- probably from Kate, and she'd sneaked out and found her way back into the woods.

This time she took the time to examine the hut properly and catalogue all of its flaws. She'd decided that this would be her next project. It needed a paint job for sure and definitely a bit of spring cleaning. She climbed inside and examined the interior, her heart thumping with excitement.

Over the next few weeks, whenever she had the chance Jennie renovated her tree house. She swept out the leaves and 'fixed' the leak in the roof, by the time she was done she was extremely proud of herself.

She climbed back down and admired her work. Her smile dropped for a second when she realised there was still nothing she could do about the paint but her disappointment only lasted a moment. A shabby paint job wasn't the end of the world.