xvii. tree houses and true friends

The sun was bright and warm that day. I woke up to the sound of someone hammering something outside. I looked out the window. There was a big stack of wood and Daddy seemed to be making a big box. I got out of bed and saw Noah sitting at the breakfast table.

"Hi McKenna!" Noah said.

"Hi Noah," I said. I sat down and quickly started eating my bagel. Maybe I could get back to my room.

"Daddy's building a treehouse for us!" Noah shouted.

"That sounds cool," I said. It would just be a nice place to relax. Just me and Bronto and Strawberry.

"Aaron and Justin are coming too."

"Oh okay," I said. I finished my bagel and walked back to my room. I took out a crayon and paper and started doodling. Daddy always liked my drawings. He even put a couple of them on the fridge. I drew the tree and our treehouse in it. I drew Daddy and I looking up at the treehouse and the big, yellow sun behind us. When I finished, I walked outside. Aaron and Justin were there too and the treehouse was almost done.

"Daddy, look! I drew a picture!" I said.

"Wow, very good McKenna," Daddy said. "Let's put this one on the fridge when we go inside."

I smiled. Daddy liked my drawing! "Can I see?" Justin asked. Daddy showed Justin the picture. "That's really nice."

"Thanks," I said.

Daddy climbed up the ladder and put the last board in place. "It's done!" Aaron shouted. He jumped on top of one of the lower branches. I tried to run after him, but the first branch was too high for me.

"You can take the ladder," Daddy said. I went over to the ladder and started climbing. Aaron was still climbing the tree. He slipped a few times, but he always got back on his feet. I still got there first.

"Hey!" Aaron shouted. "You can't do that!"

"Yes I can!" I jumped into the treehouse. Justin started climbing up the ladder too. Aaron jumped in with me. I looked out the little window Daddy made. There was still a big yellow sun. Justin went in the treehouse and made a big pile of books and toys.

"We're so high up," Justin said.

"It's cool, isn't it?" I said.

"Yeah, I really like it," Justin said.

"Me too," I said. I liked my room, but now I had a better hideout. The treehouse.