For years, the large rock sat in the corner of Rhoda's family home. For as long as she could remember she had been struggling with loneliness. She had tried to make friends, but she couldn't. She had tried to play with her toys, but she couldn't. She couldn't do anything by herself. But the rock was different.
After class on the day she turned eighteen, Rhoda found the rock waiting for her at the kitchen table. Shaped like a small fossil, the rock was cool to the touch and had an animal print design on its surface. The rock gave Rhoda courage that she had never felt before.
"I am going to use this power to make a friend. I will just show them who I am and that I want to be their friend." She said to herself.
Rhoda took the rock out the front door when her mother forgot her homework. She walked down the sidewalk and disappeared into the tall grass at the end of the street. She was on her own.
She waited a long time, but no one came to find her. She finally sat down on the cool ground. The grass felt soft on her bare knees. She had never sat on the ground before. It was okay, she just needed to wait long enough and someone would come by.
She looked at the rock in her lap. "I will make a friend today. I will make a friend today." She said to the rock.
A shadow darkened her face. The rock fell to the ground, as she turned to look. A boy, who looked nothing like her, was standing above her. He was tall, with dark shoulder length hair, and a matching beard and mustache.
"Hey." The boy breathed. "What are you doing here? Why are you talking to that rock?" The boy scolded, speaking quickly. "You need to play with other kids. Go ask your parents if you can play at my house. I live in the big house at the end of the street. Go on, go ask them now."
"I can't." Rhoda paused.
"Why?" The boy asked.
Rhoda crawled closer to the boy. "I'm too young."
"Get out of here!" The boy kicked at Rhoda and she fell to the ground. "You're too young to be here. You're too young to be anywhere. Go home and don't come back." The boy said, walking off.
Rhoda ran to the rock and held it to her chest. She needed to make a friend, but nobody was talking to her. They just kicked her away. "I'll show them that I can make a friend. I'll show them all." Rhoda said to the rock.
She walked home, it was getting dark. Nobody came to visit her, but she didn't give up. Every day Rhoda would play by herself in the corner of her house. She walked the length of the sidewalk each day, looking for someone that might visit or talk to her. Most days, nobody did.
"But I will make a friend today. I will make a friend today. I will—"
A shovel hit the dirt beside her and jarred her out of her thoughts. Rhoda looked up. The boy—from that day—was in front of her. The boy was lifting a plant from the ground, and she ran to him.
"This is for you." The boy said, smiling. "It looks like a day saver."
Rhoda snatched the fragile stem from the boy and walked with him. The boy's home was not very far from where she lived and it was warmer inside than out, even in her costume. The boy made tea for her and she sat in front of the small fire that was burning in the fire pit.
"I'm sorry about that day on the sidewalk. I was just telling you the truth. You can't be outside by yourself this young." He said. "But you do look different."
"What do you mean?" Rhoda asked.
"Well, you're the first girl in our neighborhood to cut her hair or wear those clothes. You look nice, though. It looks like one of the girls from the Renaissance did it to you. I like it." He responded.
Rhoda looked down at her dress. She had never seen one like it. It was a high collar, buttoned at the neck, and tied shut across the front. It was unlike anything she had ever seen.
"Do you like it?" She asked.
"Sure, it's cool looking. I'll try to get you something just like it." He said.
He got up and walked away from the campfire.
"Wait!" Rhoda called to him.
He turned around and crossed his arms. "What is it?"
"Do you want to be my friend?"
"Excuse me?" The boy responded.
"You said that you wanted to be my friend." She responded.
"Well, I meant that I wanted to be your friend, but I didn't think you wanted to be my friend." He said.
"Want?" She asked.
"Well, I could be your friend." He replied. "You could be my friend. We could be friends. Would that be okay?" The boy asked.
"What's a friend?" She asked.
"Well, a friend is somebody that you like to do things with." The boy responded.
"Do you like to 'do things'?" She asked.
"Sure." He responded. "But I don't think you do."
"But I do!" Rhoda responded and grabbed the boy's hand. She led him to her house.
The rock sat quietly in the corner of her house, as she led the boy inside. Rhoda walked him through the house and jumped up onto the couch.
"Can you sit here?" She asked.
"Sure." He responded.
"Do you have people you like to hang out with?" Rhoda asked.
"Sometimes." He responded.
"Do you like to read?" Rhoda asked.
"Sometimes." He responded.
"Do you like my new dress?" She asked.
"Wow, you made that? It's really awesome." He responded.
Rhoda smiled and pulled the boy to her side. She wrapped her blanket around both of them and held the boy. After a while, she was warm enough.
"I want to ask you something." The boy said.
"Okay." Rhoda responded.
"Do you really want to be my friend?" He asked.
Rhoda paused. She didn't know what it meant to be a friend.
"Do you really want to be my friend?" He asked.
"Yes." Rhoda responded.
He smiled and hugged her tight. She never wanted to let go.
They continued to talk for hours. He taught her a lot about what it meant to be a friend and she taught him a thing or two.
They got up and waved goodbye to each other as they left out the same door they had entered.