ALEX MAKES A NEW FRIEND

Alex Makes A New Friend
written by S. P. Forster

Early one summer morning, Alex (short for Alexandra) arrived at the park with her Mother and 8 year old brother, Mark. Their Mother made her way to a nearby bench, where she settled in to watch her children as they played and explored.

Mark ran straight for the playground with swings, slides and sandbox.

Alex was slowly wandering around through the park exploring, when suddenly, she noticed something small and yellow gliding through the grass by her feet. She knelt down to see what it was, and to her delight, she found it was a soft, fuzzy, yellow and black caterpillar.

Alex laid down and stretched out on the soft grass on her belly to watch her newfound friend as it inched it's way along.

"I think I'll call you Fuzzy," Alex whispered as she rubbed and petted him. "You have lots of tiny legs, Fuzzy. Can I count them?" Alex asked. Of course, Fuzzy didn't reply and kept on gliding and squirming.

"1-2-4-5...Hey! Don't move!" Alex giggled as she tried to count his teeny, tiny legs. She laid her chubby finger on Fuzzy's back and instantly, the caterpillar wrapped his fuzzy body around it. Alex was having so much fun, she almost didn't hear Mark sneaking up behind her.

"Alex-x-x, ohhh Alex-x-x-x," Mark called sweetly. "Hey, whatcha' doing?" he asked with a mischievous grin.

"Ohhh, n-nothing m-much," Alex replied as she slowly stood up, trying to slowly hide her newfound friend. Alex, of all people, knew what a bully her brother could be and didn't want Fuzzy to become Mark's newest 'science project'. She shuddered at the thought of all the times she'd seen how her brother treated small creatures.

"I have to find a safe place for you," Alex whispered softly to Fuzzy.

She raised her big brown eyes up towards her hat and pretended to push her brown curls back to slip Fuzzy under her pink sun hat.

Mark was watching Alex suspiciously and asked, "You look funny Alex. What's up?"

Alex grew nervous as she shrugged her shoulders and replied, "Just fixing my hat. It was falling off."

Mark eyed her skeptically. Meanwhile, Alex was trying her best not to giggle and dance around because Fuzzy was squirming around in her hair, tickling her with every wiggle and squirm.

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and collapsed down in the soft, green grass with her arms wrapped around her belly laughing, until big tears rolled down her rosy cheeks.

Poor Mark was getting more and more confused and frustrated, that his face went red and he puffed his cheeks til he looked like he was about to explode.

Alex however, was busy trying to catch her breath without letting her hat fall off. She knew Mark thought she was laughing at him. And well, she was! Because to her, it was just downright funny!

She was thinking, "This is fun! And he doesn't even know about Fuzzy!"

Meanwhile, Mark knew one thing. He didn't like being tricked by his own baby sister and stomped away.

Alex watched as her brother stormed away and with a big sigh of relief, she reached up under her hat and gently untangled Fuzzy from her curls. She carried him over to the bushes at the edge of the park and said, "Goodbye little friend. You'll be a lot safer here."

She placed Fuzzy up on a branch full of leaves, gave a little wave and skipped off toward the swings.