Andy was blissfully unaware of being followed as he ran farther and farther ahead of his mom and dad. Being three, he was blissfully unaware of a lot of things.
He ran through the corridors stopping now and then to stare at the different paintings that spoke to him. He stopped abruptly when a huge painting of an old woman said, "Stop! You cannot be here! Where are your zookeepers, you little animal?"
Andy stared at her in shock and then began laughing. "I'm not an animal…I'm a boy…and I can be here! My mommy and daddy said so. So there." Then, in added protest of the woman's rudeness, he stuck out his tongue and ran off.
He looked back at the painting when she called after him. Not seeing where he was going, Andy ran straight into two girls that he had never seen before.
"Sorry!" he shouted loudly as he fell while trying to stand up. Finally he got to his feet. He looked at the girls and noticed they both looked older than himself, but not by much. They had pale blonde hair and soft, grey eyes. They were dressed in matching, skirts and matching, black sweaters. "Hi, I'm Andy," he told them shyly.
"I'm Moira and this is Janine," the older one said brightly as she motioned toward the younger one. "And we're okay…are you? You were running really fast."
"I'm good," he replied with a shrug, "There was a picture yelling at me so I ran away." The three of them started laughing. Then there was silence for a moment. "I'm three, you know," he stated to break the silence.
"That's nice," Moira replied with a giggle. "I'm five and Janie is four." She motioned once more who was nodding enthusiastically. "She's real shy around new people," Moira confided quietly.
Just then, two red haired children jumped out from around the corner and shouted, "BOO!" Moira, Janine, and Andy screamed loudly and then fell over in fright.
The red heads began laughing until suddenly Andy cried out, "Allie…Eric, that was mean! You scared me and my new friends!"
Eric immediately stopped laughing and sat down next to the three younger children. "I'm sorry guys-" he then broke off and glared back at Allie who was still laughing incessantly. "I told you it was a bad idea, Allison Margaret!"
The effect of hearing her middle name was immediate. Allie stopped laughing and sat down directly across from Eric, putting her face inches from his own. "You wanted to do it as much as I did, Eric Richard, so don't talk to me like that." Moira, Janine, and Andy shifted uncomfortably during those tense few moments.
Andy, even though the youngest, recovered first. "Oh come on guys, don't fight. This is Moira and Janine, my new friends." He gestured to the two blondes. "Guys…this is Eric and Allie, my other friends."
Everyone said hello too each other as the formed a circle. "Great!" Janine exclaimed, surprising everyone. "Now we'll all be best friends forever, right?" she asked them hopefully.
After a few moments pause, everyone else agreed in unison, "Forever."
Unfortunately, none of the children were seers…therefore none of them could foresee their parents looking for them and none of them could see how horribly their parents would take their new found friendship.