A Different Kind Of Friend (standard:drama, 667 words)
Author: Anonymous	Added: Aug 02 2002	Views/Reads: 3420/1	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
While her parents are away in Europe, a 14 year old girl must spend her summer vacation on her grandparents' farm. She makes friends with the girl next door and learns that she is not like her other friends.

A Different Kind Of Friend 

For most kids, summer vacation was the best time of their lives. It
meant freedom. Freedom from school, homework, tests, and teachers. 
Summer meant being able to do whatever you wanted whenever you wanted. 
You could stay up all night and sleep all day. Basically, to most kids, 
summer vacation meant fun. 

But not for 14-year-old Jessica Lyman. Jessica's parents decided to
spend the summer in Europe, so Jessica had to go all the way to her 
grandparents' old farmhouse a thousand miles away. A whole summer 
wothout her friends with no one as company but her grandparents and 
their dogs. It just wasn't fair. 

Jessica watched sadly as her parents pulled out of her grandparents'
driveway. "Bye John! Bye Merideth! Have a good time!" Her grandparents 
waved. Once the car was out of their sight, Jessica's grandma said, 
"Well now. I better start on dinner."  Jessica's grandfather nodded. "I 
think I'll watch some tv." He looked at Jessica and smiled. "You can do 
whatever you like, dear." And with that, they both walked in the house. 
"Great," Jessica thought, "I've been here 5 minutes and I'm already 
bored." 

The next morning, Jessic'a grandparents left to go to a picnic with
their friends. Jessica didn't feel like going. She decided to go 
outside for a while. She went in the backyard and lied down in the old 
hammock. Just when she closed her eyes, she heard a voice. "Hi" Jessica 
opened her eyes to see a girl about her age with very blond, almost 
white, curly hair and light blue eyes. "Hi' Jessica replied. "My name 
is Sarah Burke. I live next door."  "Im Jessica.I'm spending the summer 
here with my grandparents because my parents are in Europe."  "Oh," 
Sarah said, "Well I'd be happy to keep you company this summer." 
Jessica smiled, "Ok." Maybe this summer wouldn't be so bad after all. 

Right away the girls began to talk. Jessica was shocked to see that she
and Sarah had so much in common. The two of them swung on the swingset, 
played catch, and played one on one soccer, which Sarah won. They had a 
great time. After the game, the girls sat on the ground, tired. "It 
sure is hot," Sarah said. "Yeah," Jessica agreed, "hey, I bet if we get 
a magnifying glass we could set a leaf on fire!" "No!" Sarah asid oddly 
quickly. "Why not?" Jessica asked.  "I'm scared to death of fire," 
Sarah explained, looking sad, "You see, about a year ago, I left a 
candle burning and my whole room started on fire. My pictures, books, 
clothes..they were ll ruined. I guess you could say I lost my whole 
life in that fire." She looked up at the sky sadly. "Wow" Jessica 
breathed, "I'm so sorry Sarah"  Sarah shrugged, "It's not your fault, 
Jess. It's mine. Anyway, I better go. My family will be having dinner 
soon. I'll see you tomorrow, ok?"  "Ok," Jessica said, "and then I'll 
beat you in soccer."  Sarah grinned, "We'll see about that." She turned 
and ran over to her house. Once she was gone, Jessica noticed her 
grandparents pulling into the driveway. She ran to greet them.  "Hello, 
Jessica. How was you day?" her grandpa asked. "Great," Jessica said, "I 
made a new friend. We played the whole time you were gone."  "Really?" 
her grandma looked surprised, "What's her name?"  "Sarah," Jessica 
replied, "Sarah Burke. She lives next door. We had so much fun. We 
played soccer and she beat me, but I'll beat her tomorrow--" she 
stopped when she saw the bewildered looks on her grandparents' faces. 
"What's wrong?" she asked.  "That's not funny, Jessica." her grandpa 
said. "What's not funny?" Jessica asked, confused, "I really will beat 
her tomorrow. At least, I'll try. She's really good." Her Grandma 
looked close to tears. "Oh Jessica, what a terrible thing to say..."  
"What?" Jessica asked.  "Jessica," her grandfather said, "Sarah Burke 
died in a fire over a year ago."


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