The little girl stood all alone
on the playground.
The other children carefully jumped on
the hopscotch board drawn
in colored chalk on the sidewalk.
Some played hide-and-seek in
the nearby grove of trees,
others scaled the monkey bars,
whizzed down the metal slide, and kicked
the soccer ball around the field.
There were screams of delight
and laughter.
But the little girl stood by herself, feeling
all alone in the midst of the commotion.
She was shy and couldn't imagine
asking the other girls if she could take a
turn jumping rope or playing a game.
Just then, another girl tapped her
on the shoulder.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"I'm just watching," said the little girl,
trying to hide her interest in sharing
in the children's fun.
"Well, would you like to play on the
swing set with me?"
The little girl thought for a minute,
glancing at the empty and motionless
swings. They seemed lonely, too.
They seemed to need a friend. "Okay."
Together, they sat on the swings.
Together, they reached for the sky,
swinging higher and higher.
The little girl had never soared so high.
Sometimes, you never know where
friendship will take you!
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