It was a sunny Spring afternoon and I was out in the back garden, playing with Jasper and Gray. Nova wasn't feeling too great, so we were trying to give mum a bit of space. I think she was teething, she was a year old, so about the right age for her teeth to start coming through again. The boys were playing something between themselves, and although we all got on well as a family, they didn't really want their 5 year old sister trailing along with them. I sat down in the corner, in a patch of dandelions and daisies, and started to make a daisy chain. That was when I heard a noise. I looked around and saw a little boy, about my age, with the same blonde hair most of us Merchant kids have, peering around the fence, watching me. I smiled at him.
"Hello," I said. "Do you want to play?" The boy, pulled back, then peered round again. I went back to my daisy chains. If he wanted to come and play, he would. I knew not to push him. Gray was like that - though stubborn rather than shy. If you kept pushing, they would dig their heels in further. After a few minutes, a small shadow fell across my legs, making me look up.
"Can I join you?" the boy asked.
"Sure," I grinned. "Do you know how to make a daisy chain?" He shook his head, so I spent the next 2 hours showing him how to find the ones with the best stems, make a tiny slit in the middle of the stem and thread the daisy through. By the time he was called back in, he was almost as good as me at making them!
The next day was just as warm, so I went back out to play, in the hopes of seeing the blonde haired boy from yesterday. Mum said I could have my lunch in the garden, so off I went with a small lump of ham, a small chunk of cheese and a couple of slices of raisin and nut bread from the bakery, a few doors down. Within a few minutes, the boy was back. And he wasn't empty handed. He had with him a few slices of cheesy bread and some blackberries.
"Want to share?" he grinned?
"Yeah go on then," I replied, setting aside some space on my blanket for him to sit on with me. We sat there for a few minutes, sharing our lunch hauls, and eating.
"So what's your name?" he asked me.
"Sorrel."
"Solly?"
"Ha ha, no, Sorrel," I laughed. The boy's cheeks reddened.
"Sorry, I misheard," he mumbled.
"It's fine, I like that. Solly! So what's your name?"
"Peeta," he said, looking relieved that I wasn't going to yell at him or something. I thought about this for a moment.
"I'll call you Peep," I grinned, "because you were peeping round the fence at me." Peeta went red again, so I gave him a slice of my raisin and nut bread.
"My dad makes these," he said after a moment. "Mum and dad own the bakery a few doors down. I get to help make the bread sometimes, but not all the time, I'm still only five," he grinned.
"That's really good. My dad is a butcher, and he is starting to teach me all about meat and different animals. I have two big brothers and a baby sister, what about you?"
"I have two big brothers aswell, they are seven and nine."
"The same as Jasper and Gray," I exclaimed. "They might know each other at school! I'm going to start school in September this year." Peeta's face lit up.
"Me too," he said. "I will know someone now, before we start." We spent the rest of the afternoon chatting, playing, and laughing, then when Peeta was called back in, we promised to try and play again the next day. Over the dinner table that evening, I couldn't stop telling my family about my new friend who lived in the bakery and who makes the bread we eat. The next few months were spent playing together, sharing our lunches and getting to know each other much more. By the time school started for us in September, we had become the best of friends. Something that hasn't changed in the last ten years.
