by Kai Strand –
Derrick’s best friend, Lyle, had moved away at the end of the school year. The summer had been long, hot, and boring without him. Derrick’s birthday was in two days, but he wasn’t even looking forward to it. Without Lyle, it would just seem like he was at someone else’s party.
Lying on the floor of the tree fort, Derrick had never realized how creepy the sound was of wood scraping against bark when the wind tossed the tree around. In the past he and Lyle were always talking, so it was easy to ignore the creak of the floorboards or the moan of the swaying branches.
Derrick hadn’t even received an email from Lyle all week. What if Lyle had made another best friend already and forgotten Derrick? In previous emails, Lyle had shared how hot his new town was and how the ground was a reddish sand instead of covered with lush grass. He said it was so hot there he couldn’t carry his favorite candy in his pocket—Tootsie Rolls—because they melted. And his mom got mad when she found chocolate stuck to the insides of his pockets, especially if she found it after already doing the laundry.
Having checked his email before he climbed into the tree fort just a half an hour before, Derrick knew he’d only be more disappointed if he went in and checked again only to find his inbox empty. The sun beat in through the eastern window and the inside of the fort was so hot Derrick could smell the wood as if it were baking in an oven. Swiping sweat from his forehead, he climbed out of the creaking tree fort and down to the yard to search for frogs in all their favorite hiding places. Frogs always cheered him up.
Kneeling next to the house, he lifted the cover from a plastic utility box buried in the ground. Derrick squinted and blinked, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the shadowy insides of the box. He and Lyle had found plenty of tree frogs resting on the pipes inside. But instead of finding a frog, he found a Tootsie Roll.
“What?” Derrick lifted the candy out of the box and stared at it as if it would tell him what it was doing in there. He shrugged and slipped the candy into his pocket. “Lyle must have forgotten about it.”
Peering into the box, Derrick found no frogs, so he replaced the cover and brushed blades of grass from his knees when he stood. The next box was buried in the ground farther along the side of the house. A nearby tree kept this box in almost constant shade. The dirt was cool and damp on Derrick’s palm as he leaned forward to lift the cover. They almost always found frogs in this box because the shade kept the interior of the box chilled no matter how hot and humid it was outside. Derrick leaned forward into the rush of clammy air that escaped when he lifted the cover. An earthy scent wafted up too, carrying with it a hint of mold.
“No way!” Derrick whispered. There were no frogs inside this box either, but there was another Tootsie Roll. Derrick pulled it out and looked around the yard, half expecting to find someone watching and laughing. He checked the boxes for frogs almost everyday. Surely he wouldn’t have missed seeing the candy if Lyle had left it there. He replaced the cover and headed to the last hiding place.
It was a large plastic pipe with a lid. They didn’t always find frogs inside the pipe because they had to cling to the sides, but sometimes they did. Except this time, Derrick found a Tootsie Roll tied to a string hanging inside the pipe. A tiny piece of paper hung off the twisted end of the Tootsie Roll wrapper. Derrick lifted the string high until the paper swayed back and forth in front of his face. It said, “Tree fort.”
He shoved the lid back on the pipe and dashed around the house. Clambering up the handmade ladder nailed to the trunk, his slick sneaker slipped and he almost fell off. Panting, he climbed into the fort. Sitting cross-legged in the corner with his red hair sticking out in all directions and a huge grin on his freckled face was Lyle. “Happy birthday!”
“My birthday isn’t for a couple more days,” Derrick said. He wasn’t sure he could believe Lyle was there.
“Well then it’s a good thing I’m going to be around all week.” Lyle stood, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a Tootsie Roll. He unwrapped it and popped it into his mouth before smashing the empty wrapper back into his pocket.
“How did you know I’d check for frogs today?” Derrick asked, unwrapping one of the candies he’d found, not bothered by the light scent of mold that clung to the candy.
Lyle snorted. “You check everyday! I created your little treasure hunt as soon as my mom dropped me off, then I sat behind the snowball bush and waited for you to come out of the tree fort so I could sneak up here.”
“You’ll be here all week? You’ll be able to come to my birthday party?” Derrick asked. He was finally starting to believe that his best friend was actually standing in front of him and not just a dream.
“I sure will!” Lyle said. “My mom had to come to town to take care of some stuff. It was my idea to tag along and surprise you.”
Derrick threw the crumpled up wrapper at Lyle. “You did a good job.”
“Have you checked the basement window wells yet for frogs?” Lyle asked. “They like to crawl into the leaves piled up in the corners.”
“That’s a great idea!” Derrick scurried down the ladder with Lyle right behind him. Derrick was suddenly sure it was going to be his best birthday ever.
the end.
Question Time
- Why was Lyle sad?
- What did he think would cheer him up?
- What did he find when he looked for frogs?
- What was his surprise?
