The little girl sighed mournfully as the rain pattered down at the glass pane. She looked sadly away from the window and made her way back to where she had been sitting on the floor, her drawing unfinished and her best friend busy on his own picture.
'Why does it have to rain on my birthday?' she asked as she picked up a blue crayon. 'I'm big now, I shouldn't have to be stuck inside any more.' she added colouring in a bit of her picture.
'Oh yeah, four years old.' sneered an older boy who was polishing his forehead protector. ' Really big.' he added sarcastically.
'Yama, don't taunt your little sister.' came a deep calming voice from the kitchen, as the children's father poked his head around the corner. Yama got up and walked out of the living room, sneering at the girl as he passed her.
'I bet ninja don't stay inside when it rains.' continued the little girl gazing down at her picture proudly. The boy beside her stayed silent, he felt uncomfortable because she was in a bad mood. 'Do you like your name?' she asked suddenly, looking at him curiously.
'My parents chose a name for me and I must honour it.' he said after a short pause. The girl rolled her pretty deep hazel eyes exasperatedly.
'Yes, but would you prefer another name?' she asked slowly. 'A different one.' He shook his head, smiling at her. She turned back to her drawing. 'You had to have white shorts, didn't you?' she exclaimed, smiling adoringly at her best friend who giggled back at her.
She looked down at her two stick figures, herself and the boy sitting next to her. She was trying to colour in the lines but had come up against his white shorts. The boy reached over with a black crayon and drew the outline of a pair of oversized shorts onto his stick-self.
'That looks okay.' he said, admiring his handiwork. The girl smiled up at him, agreeing. She then bent back over the picture and wrote, in very shaky letters, his name followed by "from Mika".