Penelope can't remember the first time she met the boy. She couldn't even tell you his name. But for two years, she spent every spare moment with him.
See, Penelope didn't become invisible when she was introduced to society. It started earlier. Her sisters pulled attention from her parents as easily as breathing. Penelope … didn't. She had to scream to be heard. At eight, she had decided that the punishment for it was not worth the scraps of attention from her attention. Instead, she decided to entertain herself elsewhere.
Unfortunately, the workers in the household were not the solution that she dreamed of. Once Penelope completed her work for the day set by her governess, she was given free rein. The work often took more of Phillip and Prudence's time - but they told her that since they were older their work was harder. Plus, they had a habit of excluding Penelope once they joined her.
So, it was very little trouble to escape unnoticed. She would run outside until she reached the creek. For several days, she would meet with her governess, finish her work, eat lunch, and leave. But, she always returned home at dusk.
A week later, she wasn't alone. Instead, a boy appeared. He was taller than her, but he couldn't have been that much older.
"Who are you?" She demanded.
"A man!" He said angrily.
Penelope laughed.
His face turned red. "Don't laugh at me. I'm all grown up now that I'm ten."
"Okay, okay," Penelope held her hands up non-threateningly. "I'm only eight so you must be right."
"My brothers said I was too young to hang out with them." He kicked a rock on the ground into the creek.
"Do you want to play with me?" Penelope asked hopefully.
He looked up quickly then looked back down. "What do you want to play? I don't want to play dress up or read like my sisters do."
"How do you play at reading?" Penelope shook her head. "No, I was going to see how far down the water I can throw the rocks."
His face lit up. "The last one to get ten rocks is a rotten egg." He took off running to get the best throwing rocks.
"No fair!" Penelope scrambled after him.
And so it went. For a month, Penelope and the boy met to test their limits.
Who could run faster? Him. Who could throw farther? Her. Who could jump higher? Him. Who could cross the creek faster on the rocks? Her. Who could yell louder? That was up for debate.
However, one day Penelope slipped up and mentioned the boy around her sister.s
"He's just a boy," Penelope said.
"What's his name then?" Phillipa asked.
"I don't know. I didn't ask." Penelope replied. She felt very vulnerable about this now.
"So he doesn't exist," Prudence said.
"Of course, he exists! We meet up every day at the creek." Penelope quickly covered her mouth. She hadn't meant to reveal so much.
"Sounds fake." Prudence mocked.
"He's real." Penelope stomped her foot.
"Fine. We'll join you after we finish our work and meet him." Phillipa said.
Unfortunately, circumstances were against her. As they were playing, he stopped her early before her sisters arrived.
"I have to leave early today." He said.
"What! Why?" Penelope asked.
"I don't know, my mom insisted." He shrugged his shoulders.
"But you have to stay!" Penelope said.
"Why?" He asked.
"My sisters are supposed to join us," Penelope said.
"It's fine! I'll just meet them later." He said and started to head out.
"Wait!" Penelope called. She felt crushed. She didn't have the words to explain to him that her sisters would never come back again. It took them a month to even notice that she was disappearing every afternoon. They would never believe her again.
"I have to go! I'll see you tomorrow!" He yelled out over his shoulder and left.
Shortly after, her sisters arrived. Penelope felt empty. There was no proof of him. And, as she expected, her sisters never believed he was real again.
Phillip started calling him her imaginary friend.
Penelope eventually found the words to complain about it to him.
"They said that I didn't even know your name, so you couldn't be real." Penelope fell into a seat on the ground, annoyed.
"We should come up with a code just for us." He said decisively.
Penelope perked up. "Like what?"
"Something no one else knows. Like how we always say 'shall we' before we try something new. We should say something else." He insisted.
"Oh, sure. Instead of 'shall we' let's go with 'shantilly' to replace it." Penelope laughed at the made-up word.
"Exactly! I love it." He put a hand on her shoulder to shake it in excitement.
"Good! Shantilly hang from a branch to see who can last the longest?" Penelope asked.
"Shantalie!" He said with a smile. With an impressive running jump, he grabbed a low-hanging branch. Penelope followed quickly.
From then on, they always used 'Shantilly' at the start of a challenge or question and the answer was always 'Shantalie' in response. For they never said no to each other. It didn't matter that Penelope's family ignored her. She treasured the friendship she had with him.
It became a fun joke that they never exchanged names. They shared intimate details about each others' lives. He knew she had two sisters and she knew he had seven siblings. Imagine - seven siblings. While she couldn't say for sure that she knew him better than anyone else, she could say with certainty that he knew her better than anyone.
For two years, they met regularly. Then one day, he wasn't there. Penelope must have gone over the days in the lead-up to his departure a million times. Nothing noticeable had changed. She returned to the creek every day. He never showed up again. Penelope never knew why.