Little By Little

Chapter 1- The Beginning

**Anika is 4 Ben is 5**

I bounded across the street to the new neighbors house. I heard that they had a boy one year older than me. I wanted to have a friend, I didn't have any friends yet.

I knocked on their door and stepped back, waiting. A little boy with messy brown hair and tired chocolate brown eyes opened the door. His eyes brightened when he saw me.

"Hi! I'm Anika. I'm yow new neighbor. I live over there." I pointed at my fairly large grey house.

"Hi Anika! I'm Ben!" The boy said. His voice was high and squeaky.

"Do you wanna pway?" I asked him. He nodded excitedly. Ben quickly ran inside and told his parents that he was going outside to play with me.

"Come on let's go to my secret place!" I told him. I grabbed his hand and we ran across the street together to my house. My shoulder-length blonde hair blew around my face in the wind as we ran.

I pulled him into the forest in my backyard and we ran towards a large tree.

"Close yow eyes, Ben," I said. He covered his eyes, peeking through his fingers.

We walked a bit further until we were at the tree. I looked up and smiled when I saw my secret tree house still intact.

"Come on Ben, lets go into my twee house!" I said excitedly. We both climbed up the ladder and sat down I side of the tree house.

There was a fairly large couch in one corner with purple cushions on it. In another corner there was a bookshelf that had about 10 children's books in it. There was a pile of empty water bottles in one corner and a stack of full ones in another.

Ben looked at me and smiled. "Does this mean I'm yow best fwend now?" He asked me.

"Yeah! Nobody else knows about this place! Well except for Daddy." I squealed. I sat down beside him and we lied back on the hard wood floor.

"Let's always be best friends!" He said.

"Ok!" We pinky promised each other that we would always be friends.

"What was your name again?" Ben asked me."

"Anika."

"Oh yeah. Anika, I'm thirsty!"

"There's some water over there if yow want some." He nodded and started to crawl over to the water bottles. He stumbled and fell on top of me. We lied there for a little bit, giggling, before I poked his cheek. He scrunched up his nose and we both began laughing.

"I think I have to go home Anika. I'll see yow tomowo?" He asked.

"Yeah! Definitely!" He smiled and grabbed a water bottle before climbing down the ladder and going home.