Sitting on the playground, Nadia tossed wood chips into the air. She was the happiest little child anyone had ever seen. Wherever she went, she skipped and sang a sweet tune. Even at night, after she was tucked in by her mother, she drifted to sleep with a smile on her lips. One would think a girl as joyful as that would be the most popular little girl in town. Her life was actually quite the contrary. Nadia always played hopscotch alone during recess, and no friends invited her to come to their house after school. Even so she chose to be happy with herself, and it seemed that she wouldn't have it any other way. Until the day she met Juniper. One day, while Nadia was on the playground, sitting under the slide and making pictures with the wood chips, she looked up to see a little girl sitting on a stoop, in a cloud of shadows. She was alone, and looked very sad. Nadia would not stand for that. She stood and ran over to the little girl, stopping just outside her hood of shadows. Nadia stood silent, with a wide grin on her face, waiting for the girl to notice her. She did not. She kept her head down, staring at the pebbles on the ground, nudging them with the toe of her shoe. After while, tired of not being recognized, Nadia spoke.
"HI!" She said with enough enthusiasm to light a whole room. The girl stopped her pebble-nudging, and slowly turned her eyes up to Nadia. Even her brilliant blue eyes were covered with a dark shade.
"My name is Nadia! What's yours?" Nadia exclaimed joyfully. The girl turned her head back to her pebbles, letting her long, shiny black hair cover her face.
"Juniper," She whispered shyly. Nadia was delighted to be acknowledged by this stranger.
"Hi Juniper! You look sad. Do you need a friend?" Nadia asked, reaching out her hand into Juniper's shadow. All of a sudden, the sun dimmed, and the playground turned into a grim battlefield. Nadia stared at Juniper, confused and afraid of the sudden change in scenery.
"What did you do?" Nadia screamed, panicked and shaking. Through her thin hair, Nadia saw Juniper's lips curl into a smile, only describable as twisted and evil. Nadia tried to pull her arm out of the shadows, but she was trapped in Juniper's aura.
"Friend?" Juniper whispered through her malicious smile. Suddenly the shadows started to pull on Nadia's arm, closer towards Juniper and her stoop. Nadia fought back pulling with all her might towards the playground, screaming for someone to help. Not a single child halted their horseplay. Everyone continued on like nothing was happening. Nadia tried to claw her way out, but there was nothing to claw. She struggled against it, and all the while Juniper sat and smiled.
"Come and sit with me, friend," Juniper whispered. Nadia fought, but soon she was sat on the stoop next to Juniper. Nadia was drained. She felt no exuberance, no desire to see and to do, only to sit. She sat close to Juniper, holding her hand and watching the other children. Juniper giggled, ecstatic with her prize. She leaped from the stoop and sprinted out of the darkness, spinning and twirling around, for her freedom had finally come. She ran out onto the playground: she went down the slide, went on the swings, and was happy to be happy. All the while, she left Nadia on the stoop, trapped in the shadows, her joy stolen. Nadia never seemed to leave that stoop after she met Juniper. Every recess, she shied away from the other children, making a break for that cold, concrete solitude she now called her own.
