A small, blonde girl emerged from the trees a moment later. Her eyes reminded Ellie of the mid-afternoon sky. The shade of blue was similar to the one she used in her paintings; cobalt, with a light hint of grey added in. The stranger's eyes sparkled, an innocent smile gracing her pale face.

She couldn't have been much older than Ellie, though the new girl was completely alone. Ellie wondered where this girl's parents were, before deciding it wasn't important. Ellie wanted to be alone, and being alone meant you didn't start caring about strangers.

"Go away!" Ellie ordered, meeting the blonde girl's gaze.

The newcomer ignored the words, stepping in front of Ellie's tree.

"You've been crying. Are you sad?"

"No," Ellie lied, glowering.

This girl was annoying, and Ellie had been getting used to the silence.

"Liar, liar, pants on fire!" The newcomer crossed her arms, sticking out her tongue at the frustrated Ellie.

"Fine!" Ellie relented, glaring. "I sort of ran away."

Ellie felt her ears growing hot. When she said it out loud, it sounded silly. She was too old to run away from her problems, but she was too mad to go back home. Her dad was changing her life, and she didn't even get a say.

"Wanna talk about it?" The blonde sat down next to Ellie.

Ellie shook her head.

"Okay, what's your name, then?" The stranger wanted to know.

Ellie told her, deciding that answering the girl's questions might make her go away.

"I'm River," the blonde remarked. "I live here. I ran away, too."

"That's weird." Ellie was interested despite herself. "Why do you live in the woods?"

"My mom's in jail," River said it as though it no longer bothered her.

"Why?"

River leaned in conspiratorially, whispering in Ellie's ear.

"They think she killed somebody. She didn't do it, though."

River grinned. She suddenly looked a lot scarier, and Ellie didn't understand why.

"You know how I know she didn't do it?" River continued, still smiling. "Because I did."

Ellie rolled her eyes.

"No you didn't." She wiped away the last of her tears. "You're just trying to scare me or something. I bet your mom's not even in jail."

Ellie was nearly ten, and that was way too old to be tricked by another kid's stories. She convinced herself that River was lying, because there was no way she could have hurt someone.
She was short, and way too thin to win in a fight.

"Fine!" River huffed, tucking a blonde lock behind her ear. "It's not like I care, but I'm telling you, I can do things to people."

Ellie wanted to roll her eyes again, but that would have been rude. She imagined River must have gone through something, and making up stories was her way of getting past all of it. Ellie shouldn't judge. Maybe River had run away, too, and she was embarrassed about why she had done it.

The two of them spent the rest of the evening together, talking about everything and nothing. Some time after sunset, Ellie finally told River about it all, about that conversation and how upset it made her feel.

She didn't know what it was about the strange girl, but Ellie felt drawn to River.

When the cold of the night started to gnaw at Ellie, she finally decided to go back home. Maybe she could work it out with her dad, and even if she couldn't, she knew that he'd be worried about her by now.

"Can you show me how to get out of here?" Ellie asked at last, having forgotten how she came to her resting place.

"No. I don't want you to leave."

Ellie frowned.

"I can't stay," she explained. "I need to go home."

River didn't speak, though Ellie swore the other girl looked annoyed. Her eyes were sparkling in the moonlight, but there was something dark hidden in her gaze.

"You're not leaving." River grabbed Ellie's hand. "Everyone always leaves, and they never come back. I'm going to keep you because I want a friend."