Elli awoke to find a dog lazily sleeping on her stomach. She was lying on a rather cramped bed. She sat up and found she was sitting on a chew toy. "Ah, you're up!" said a voice on the far side of the room. It was the new owner of the farm, and she was sleeping in his bed. She looked up at him. Darn! He put his shirt back on.

"What time is it?" Elli asked sleepily.

"12:05 in the morning"

Roy picked up two mugs from his counter, brought them over to his bed and handed one to Elli.

"I saw your face in the window while you were, um, spying on me."

Elli blushed. "Uh, I guess I was wondering what your name was and who you were."

"You could have asked. The villagers seemed to be interested in me, but you've fainted both times you've seen me, and I have found you looking through my window. Is there anything you need?"

Then Elli blurted it all out. "Are you the little boy that came here from the city and stayed with the old man and has a blue hat and liked that stupid little cow statue and met this girl that you had the most wonderful time with and when she asked your name you said Roy and you don't know the girl's name and her name could have been Elli, or uh, uh, uh." Her voice trailed off.

"Hey, I happen to like that cow statue, thank you very much! Anyways, could you repeat that- slowly?"

Elli took a long breath. "This is rather embarrassing, but when I was a little girl my neighbor, who lived here, was letting a little boy stay at his house. The little boy and I spent the entire week together and we became best of friends. Then he had to leave and return to the city. Before he left, he promised that he would return and find me. And well, I was hoping, err, that you might be him." She blushed and looked away.

A long pause followed. He took her hand and helped her out of his bed. "Come with me," he said.

He led her out behind the barn. Her head still felt light and she felt like fainting again however, she tried her best not to fall. Helping her sit down on an old bench, he grabbed a shovel and started to dig a deep hole in the soft soil. After a short while, his shovel hit something solid. Using his hands he pulled out an old box. "It's still there!" Ellie said breathlessly.

Roy and Ellie opened the old dirty box that they had buried many years before. Inside was the old man's blue feather that he had used to propose to his wife who had passed away long before. The box also contained a poem that the two companions wrote about their friendship, and a snow globe that had a sheep holding a sign that read 'please feed the sheep'. Elli pulled out a flower wreath that she had made, but by now it was dead and withered.

Roy and Elli looked up from the box and into each other's eyes. "I am sorry I did not come sooner," said Roy. Suddenly, Elli threw her arms around him. Roy jumped in surprise.

"I missed you," she whispered.