At age six years old, every day was exciting for Nora. She bounced through life with energy and joy. Being in class was hard sometimes since she had trouble sitting still. The teacher wouldn't let her out if she caused trouble, but she knew if she behaved then she could have fun during recess. It was her favorite time of the day.
The school she attended had a large play structure along with some swings and a grass field. The students had full reign of the area for half an hour every day. Nora spent most of her time on the play structure. She climbed up to the top only to jump down and do it again. She tried to play games with the other kids once, but they ran away before she could talk to them. It didn't bother her too much; she could still have fun on her own.
One day, when she was busy climbing up the side of the play structure, she heard something that contrasted all of the fun parts of recess. Someone was crying. To be precise, it was a young boy with long black hair. He was sitting below the structure, sobbing quietly into clenched fists. For a moment, Nora stared down at him. Then she came to a decision.
Nora squeezed through the bars and hopped down in front of the boy. He tensed up when she landed, pink eyes widened in surprise.
"Hi." Nora gave her biggest smile. "I'm Nora!" She reached out with one hand. "What's your name?" The boy wiped his eyes with his shirt.
"Ren." He reached up and allowed her to help him stand. Once Ren was on his feet he let go immediately, fighting the urge to rub his eyes again.
"Whatcha doin' down here?" Nora wanted to know. Nobody ever went under the play structure, especially not to cry.
"Nothing." Ren looked her in the eye, holding her gaze firmly. His eyes were still a little red around the edges. He was kind of odd, Nora thought to herself, but he seemed cool.
"Okay." Nora reclaimed the hand she'd lost. "Wanna hang out?" Maybe he would be her friend. Or maybe not, she was starting to get used to being alone.
"Sure." Her hand felt warm and comforting in his. This time he didn't let go.
"Do you wanna just stay down here and talk for a bit?" Mostly she would do the talking, which he'd find out soon.
"Sounds good." It really really did.
The pair sat down on the ground, still holding hands. They stayed under the structure until the end of recess, just talking and getting to know each other. Well, Nora did almost all of the talking, but that was okay. They both finally had a friend. It was too soon to tell Nora why Ren had been crying, but he hoped someday he would be able to share it with her. Their conversation became the first of many, an introduction to a beautiful friendship.