Disclaimer: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends © Craig McCracken

-X-

"Welcome to Foster's!"

The brown-haired girl smiled when Frankie opened the large front doors. She adjusted her glasses absently as she stepped inside. "Thank you. So, how do I get a friend?"

Frankie rolled her eyes. "Mr. Herriman insists on a screening process, but I think you should look around until you find somebody you think you'll like. Once you've chosen a friend, you just sign a few papers and you're off!"

"Great." The girl gave the hem of her red shirt a quick, nervous tug. "So, do I follow you then? Or what?"

"Oh! Right, right." Frankie turned and started walking. "I'll just give you a tour of the house and introduce you to the friends along the way."

As they went, the girl twirled the end of her long hair in silent nervousness. Frankie decided to start up a new conversation and hopefully help the girl to relax.

"So what kind of friend are you looking for?"

"Not something too human," the girl answered. "A boy would be nice though. Friendly, cheerful, kind, patient, playful. Y'know, that sort of thing."

"Well a lot our friends fit that description. I'm sure you won't have much trouble. Are you looking for a friend for a younger sibling, or a little cousin maybe?"

"Um, no actually. The friend is for me."

Frankie stopped and faced the girl. "But, you must be 18 or 19 years old."

The girl stared back at the woman. "Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, first of all. Wouldn't you already have an imaginary friend from when you were a kid?"

"I could never actually get them out of my head," she answered and she watched a particularly hairy friend scuttle past them.

Frankie frowned. "Don't you have any real friends?"

"Listen, I'd rather not talk about it. All right? I came here to find a friend." The girl started walking towards an open doorway. "If you aren't going to help me find a friend, then I'm perfectly capable of doing it myse- Oof!" The girl collided with what she thought was a support beam for the ceiling, and she fell back on her rear. She shook her head slightly then looked to see what exactly she ran into.

Standing before her was a red giant of a friend. Her eyes swept over the 8 foot tall figure in amazement.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry," said the voice that was so high above her.

She craned her neck to see the face of the friend. "Wow…" she whispered.

"I'm sorry," he said again. "Here, let me help." The tall red friend reached down, grabbed her hand, and pulled her back to her feet. He smiled at the girl, but she only continued to stare up at him. "Um, are you okay? I'm really sorry I bumped into you. I run into things sometimes." He gestured to his crooken, blind eye.

"It's all right," she finally said.

"You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, um… My name is Sarah."

He laughed kindly. "My name is Wilt." He shook her hand. "So what brings you to Foster's, Sarah?"

"I'm looking for a friend to adopt."

He laughed again. "That's great. We have lots of friend here at Foster's. Why don't I show you around and help you find a friend?"

"Actually, I want to adopt you, Wilt."

The tall imaginary friend fell silent. He seemed to be thinking quite hard. "I'm sorry. You don't want me."

"Yes I do Wilt. You've already proven to have all the qualities I was looking for in a friend. Plus, you're really tall. I like that."

"Um, I'm kind of broken. Is that okay?"

"Sure its okay," she said with a smile. "I'm kind of broken too." She took hold of his hand. "Is that okay?"

Wilt nodded and laughed. "That's okay, Sarah."