Their Playground

Prologue

As soon as she saw the familiar red slide at her favorite playground, Kim Foster tried to pull her hand from her mother's to go play. "Can I go now, Mommy?"

"Slow down, Kim," her mother chided with a smile, not releasing her hand quite yet. "Wait until we cross the street."

Kim bounced up and down with excitement as they waited for the little white man to to appear, telling them it was safe to cross. She had been wanting to play at the park for such a long time, but her mother had been been too busy to take her until the weekend. Finally, her wish was being fulfilled.

Once they safely reached the park, Kim took off running towards the playground. She couldn't keep from beaming out of sheer excitement as she tore across the grass.

Then she stopped short. Sitting in the sandbox was a boy around her age. This surprised Kim because there were never any other children at this playground. There was a larger, newer playground a few streets over. That one was much more popular with the other children. Kim had gone there once, but she didn't like it quite as much. Her playground was more run-down, but she loved it dearly.

Kim looked on curiously as the boy built a sandcastle. He hadn't noticed her yet, and she wondered if he would like to play with her.

"Can I play with you?" Kim asked the boy shyly.

His head jerked upward, startled. "Why are you in my playground?"

Kim frowned. "It's not your playground. It's my playground." She hadn't actually thought of it as hers before, but she didn't like the idea of her favorite playground belonging to this boy.

The boy stopped digging to consider this. "I guess we can share it," he offered. "It can be our playground."

Kim thought about it. She knew from the Winnie the Pooh show she often watched that sharing was good. "Okay," she agreed.

The boy grinned, revealing a missing tooth and dimples. "I'm Thomas. What's your name?" he asked.

"My name is Kimberlie Anne Foster," Kim answered, feeling self-important. "But you can call me Kim, if you want to."

Thomas frowned. "My cousin's name is Kim," he informed her. "She's not very nice. I don't like her. Can I call you Kimmy?"

Kim giggled. "Okay!" Nobody had ever called her that before, but she decided that she liked her new nickname.

"Well, Kimmy," Thomas announced, "I am making the biggest castle ever! Do you wanna help me?"

And so Kim joined him while their mothers looked on from the bench. They played together for a long time that day, an occurrence that would be the first of many in their playground.