The story I’m about to tell you happened a long time ago. It’s about a little girl who discovered that friendship is one of the most important things in the world. And that you find friends where you least expect it.
A few years ago, there was a little girl in my town. She was always happy and smiling and full of great ideas. She was never bored. Sometimes she was a cook, sometimes she was an explorer and explored her surroundings and sometimes she was a brave climber who could climb any tree. She had long black raven hair. She often wore two ponytails braided together and her face was filled with beautiful brown freckles. Because she looked like an Indian, everyone called her Indy.
One day she decided to build a house in a tree. Her friends in town were on vacation somewhere, so she wanted to surprise them. She couldn’t wait for them to come and see what she had built for them. They would play in the tree and watch everything around them. First, she brought some wood she found in the forest. She nimbly climbed the tree and gradually pulled the wood up there as well. She was trying to fasten it there when her foot slipped and Indi almost fell from a great height.
At the last moment she caught hold of a branch and was now hanging high above the ground. She held on with all her strength, but she could not pull herself back. She was just holding on and her legs were in the air. She could feel that she was running out of strength, that she couldn’t hold on any longer, when she heard someone calling out to her: “Don’t be afraid and let go, I’ll catch you, trust me.” It was the lady who lived not far from her.
Indi had barely talked to her, she just knew she was her neighbor who was about as old as her mother. Now she was standing below her, calling out to Indy to let go. Indi was scared. She was hanging high in the air. She tried to pull herself up a few more times to climb the tree, but she didn’t have the strength anymore. Her hands slipped on the branch and she was falling down for a long time.
When she landed, she was fine. The neighbor caught her. They were both on the ground now, but they were fine. Indy thanked her and began to explain what she was doing up there. They walked and talked all the way home. They found they had a lot in common.
Indy went to see her neighbor almost every day after that. They played games together, went for walks, and the neighbor taught little Indi many things. They had many adventures together.
Once, when they were in the garden building a birdhouse, they started laughing a lot. I don’t even know why. At that moment, Indy looked at her neighbor and said, “I love you so much, I’m glad you caught me falling out of the tree that day. I never knew my best friend could be a grown up and so much older.”
Then she hugged her warmly. Her neighbor just closed her eyes and gave little Indy a big squeeze. “I will always hold you, my darling little Indy. I love you, too.” She whispered in her ear.
This story may seem like an ordinary story about an ordinary little girl and an ordinary grown-up neighbor. But actually, it’s about the extraordinary friendship between them that continues to this day. And I know that for a fact. You can trust me.
