an old two story house made of red ‘| bet ‘He done it ‘Ya,’ brick, and was much larger than her aunt's little house across the street. It was even bigger than her own house! Keith came running out, and they walked around to the side of the house. Suddenly Wendy stopped. In front of her stood the most beautiful old swing-set she had ever seen. It wasn't the kind you put together, like the little ones she and her friends had. It was a big one, like you'd expect to find in an old playground The wooden seats were cracked and splintered and the paint was mostly worn off, but Keith ‘It's it was noticed beautiful her neater than to staring yours, at isn't her. ‘Prove Then, she said, then said, it.”’ ran across Diane, who lived down the to it, she asked Keith, play that?" ‘Sure,’ he said, ‘| can play every song in the world on it.”’ the street, “You | can't bet ya either,’’ | can,"’ she ‘‘Can part to him. at the bottom of the key- Nancy for a very serious rare disease, Wendy jumped out of a swing and lay down on the ground, yelling, ‘Help! | broke my leg!’’ Keith left his patient and went to her. He examined her leg and said very seriously, ‘‘It's broke pretty bad. We'll have to take you to the hospital." They didn't have a stretcher, so he picked her up and started carrying her to a big tree where the hospital was. He walked slowly, and with each step he came closer to dropping her. Suddenly he dropped her legs and she yelled, ‘‘Ow, if you don't be carefuller, you're gonna break my leg worse.” Brian Taylor and his little brother Randy. For the time that she was there, Wendy became part of the group and did everything with them. Most of the time they played in Keith's yard Wendy only went in his house once when they all went up to his room to get some toys. While they were gathering all the things that they wanted to play with, she noticed a little toy piano sitting on the floor. As she picked it up, one of the legs dropped to the floor. She set it down quickly, then pointing starting treating He turned around and walked back to his house. The, next day she came over and he introduced her to the rest of the neighborhood gang; his little sister Nancy, 8 year old said board, he played every note on the piano. He grinned at Wendy and said, ‘'| told you | could do it." ‘That's not every song in the world, stupid,’’ she said. ‘All those notes are part of every song in the world,"’ Nancy told her. Wendy made a face at Keith and they all started laughing. During the days that Wendy was there, they played in Keith's yard. One day they played doctor. While Keith was ‘‘Ya,"' she said as she ran up to it and sat down carefully in one of the swings. The chains creaked as she started to swing. ‘It’s real neat." He sat down in the other swing and they swung for a while. Then, without any warning, she jumped out. ‘'l better go back now,"’ she said. He got out and walked with her to the street. ‘Will you come back tomorrow?" he asked. “Ya,'' street. it,’’ she ‘He's He sat on the floor and put the piano in front of him. He put some building blocks where the leg had fallen off, saying, ‘That stupid leg never stays on.” When it he you can't.” really can,’’ Diane said, before lots of times.’ the others agreed. “I'm sorry,’ he said, picking her back up. He carried her the rest of the way without dropping her and set her down on the long grass under the tree. He carefully wrapped her leg in a pink doll blanket and fastened it with two diaper pins. When he was finished he handed her two croquet mallets. ‘‘Here’s your crutches,”’ he explained, ‘‘Now, be real careful and come back tomorrow and I'll take the cast off."’ She took the crutches and started walking. They were too short for her to walk very well with and after she took a few steps she fell and yelled, ‘Help! | broke you of said. he challenged. 10 my leg again." Then Keith came quickly and took her back to the hospital. Too soon the time came for Wendy to go back home. Before she left she went over to Keith's house and said goodby to the kids. She told them that she would come back next summer. Slowly she walked back across the street and got in afternoon with her aunt's family, or to pick the vegetables that grew on their farm. Every time she came, she went across the street to see Keith. One afternoon when she came with her family for a short visit, she went across the street. Keith was in his yard and when he saw her coming he ran to meet her, waving as he ran, her aunt’s car. _ “Hi,"" She waved to the kids, who During the long winter months, Wendy called, running toward im. “Hi.” Keith answered. ‘‘Wanna_ see something really neat?’’ he asked when she reached him. She paused a minute, catching her were standing in front of Keith's house until the car was too far down the road for her to see them. both Keith and Wendy hoped for the summer to come again quickly. Many times they looked out at the cold snow covered ground and longed for the time when it would be green and they could run and play together, . Summer finally came and Wendy returned. The first thing she did when she got there was run across the street and play on the swingset with Keith and the others. She told them all about home and the things she did there during the winter. She played with them all day every day that she was there. In the evenings when the sun was sinking behind the distant mountains, they ran through the fields together, chasing little white moths. The cool breezes chilled their bare arms. Sometimes they stumbled and fell, but they got back up giggling, and ran on. Keith and Wendy always ran a little behind the others and Wendy held on to Keith's hand. The day before she had to go back home, when the others were playing at Diane's house, Keith and Wendy sat alone under the big tree in his yard and talked about what they were going to do when they grew up. “D'ya know what I’m going to do when | grow up?" Keith asked. “What.” He hesitated a minute as. he wrapped a blade of grass around his finger. Then he said matter of factly, ‘I'm going to marry you when | grow up.” Through the following years, Wendy's Visits became shorter. Sometimes she just came out with her family to spend an breath. ‘‘Sure, what is it?’ “C'mon, I'll show you." He took hand and they walked around behind house and through the yard to the ture. They climbed the wooden fence her the pasand ‘See,’ he said pointing standing in the pasture. cows sat on if. “What?” COWS. she asked, to some ‘‘All | see is some He pointed again. ‘See, the calf, the little one over there,”’ he explained, see- ing the questioning look on her face. ‘‘It was just born last week. Isn't it the cutest calf you ever saw?"' She looked at it closely for a while, then said, ‘‘Well, | guess for a cow, its kinda cute. Why don't we go swing?" She jumped off the fence quickly, but he got down more slowly. They walked over to the swingset and started swing- ing. While they swung, they talked about what they had been doing and told each other some jokes until Wendy had to leave, One day after a few more years had passed, Wendy's mother and aunt decided that she was old enough to babysit her cousins while they went shopping. Wendy was excited about going to her aunt's house. It had been a long time since she had been there, and she hoped to see Keith again. When she got there she was disappointed to find that he had gone somewhere with his family. For half of the afternoon, Wendy sat on her aunt's front lawn and watched her cousins. Janet was six now and her little 11