“There’s the purple mailbox,” Ellie said and her voice is funny. I look at my watch and am happy to see it has taken three minutes just like Mom said it would.
“Five minutes and I’ll be home,” I said, feeling good. I like being at home.
“Can I come with you?” Ellie asks and she makes a strange noise. Like she is trying to cough up something.
“Stop making that noise. My dog makes that noise when he’s swallowed a bone. Did you swallow something?” I ask her.
Ellie shakes her head. “You say the craziest shit, Flynn. No, I didn’t swallow anything. I was just hoping we could hang out for a while.”
“Does that mean you’re my friend now?” I ask. I hope she is my friend. I want a friend. And I like Ellie. Except when she is mean. Then I don’t like her at all.
Ellie kicks something. “Yeah. I guess so. I’ll be your friend if you want.”
I smile at her. “I really want you to be my friend, Ellie,” I said.
And Ellie is smiling again and I know she is happy.
“I think I like you too, Flynn. Even if you say a lot of weird crap.”
“I’ll try not to say weird crap,” I said. I want her to be her friend. I don’t want to say weird crap and make her mad at me.
Ellie laughs and I smile bigger. “I like when you say weird crap, Flynn. It’s sort of funny.”
“Don’t laugh at me. I don’t like that,” I said, worrying that she’ll start being mean again.
“No Flynn. I won’t laugh at you. Only with you. Cool?”
I don’t know what she means but I can tell she isn’t laughing at me so I feel okay.
“You can come to my house. You can have some of my mom’s banana bread. She makes it every day for me,” I tell her; happy she wants to come with me.
“Your mom makes you banana bread every day?” she asks me.
I nodded. “Every day. It’s my favorite.”
Ellie is quiet again. I look at my watch. Three minutes until I will be home.
“Can I stop to pick some flowers?” Ellie asks, pointing at the yellow flowers on the side of the road.
“I have to get home,” I tell her, crossing over the wooden bridge that leads into the woods by my house.
I know where I am. I like knowing where I am.
Ellie stops following me. I look down at my watch. I have two minutes. But I don’t want to leave Ellie by herself.
So I stop. I cover my watch with my hand so I can’t look at it. And I wait for Ellie while she picks the yellow flowers with the black dots in the middle.
I am going to be late. I have two minutes.
But I won’t leave Ellie by herself.
She comes back and starts walking with me. She holds the flowers and twists the stems together into a knot. She isn’t smiling anymore. Her mouth is turned down again.
Then she throws the flowers into the stream by the road. Why did she pick them and then throw them away?
“Why did you do that?” I ask, pointing to the flowers in the water.
“They’re too pretty,” she said.
