It was a bright, sunny morning. Cassandra Wilkinson skipped out the front door and around her house to the back yard. She stopped at a wire fence, put her hands on it, and stared at the house in the next yard. There were noises coming from the house and tall, muscular men carrying a couch out of a huge truck and into the house. She had new neighbors!

Cassandra was 5 years old with long, blond pigtails. She wore a pink T-shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and some white tennis shoes. She was the youngest of four children, and the only girl. She was a tomboy; her brothers had made sure of that. They didn't want a little girlie girl ruining their fun. They had taught her how to fire a BB gun at the age of four, and they included her in wrestling and football. But she was still much younger than they were, and they sometimes didn't want her around for the fact that she was so young.

She longed for someone her age to play with, and this could be her chance. She remembered her mother's words, "Now dear, don't worry about what your brothers are doing, there is a new girl moving into that house. Maybe she'll play with you!" Cassandra closed her eyes to imagine what fun her and that girl would have. Especially since she lived next door.

She was snapped out of her vision by a noise. She opened her eyes to see a strange creature standing in front of her! She screamed then ran into the house. The little girl on the other side of the fence just stood there, a bit befuddled at Cassandra's strange behavior.

Cassandra peered out her bedroom window and into the yard. She could see the strange creature playing there. "Maybe its some sort of strange pet?" she said to herself. But no, it wasn't. She looked long and hard at whatever the thing in the neighbor's yard was. The longer and harder she looked at it, the more this strange idea that had suddenly popped into her head seem to make sense, that the strange creature in the neighbor's yard was not a strange creature, but, a little girl. She leaned out her window to get a better look, but quickly clambered inside when the other little girl spotted her.

When she looked out over the top, she saw that the little girl was still staring at her. Cassandra stared right back. The two of them just stood there looking at each other for a long time. But soon their little staring session was brought to a halt by the sound of doors slamming. Two large creatures, probably the other little girl's parents, came out and into the yard. Then, Cassandra heard two familiar voices down below her window. Oh no! she thought. But to her dismay, her parents walked right up to the fence and began talking with the new neighbors. That night at the dinner table, her parents were busy talking about their new neighbors.

"They are very nice people," Mrs. Wilkinson told her children, "You should go talk to them. Get to know them. We wouldn't want people to think that we were, um, racist."

Racist. What does that mean? Cassandra asked in her head.

"Yes, the new neighbors are quite nice. And they have strapping young boy, about your age Ron," Mr. Wilkinson said to Cassandra's brothers.

"They also have a little girl your age, Cassandra," Mrs. Wilkinson smiled, "Wouldn't it be nice to play with an actual girl?" Mrs. Wilkinson turned away from Cassandra and continued eating. "I've always said that Cassandra should act like a little lady. But you three have been turning her into a boy, I swear it!" Cassandra's brother's giggled.

That was the other thing about the little girl next door. She was a girlie girl. She wore dresses and played with Barbies. Cassandra was a tomboy; she didn't like those things. Except that here favorite toy in the world was a special WNBA Barbie. She carried it around all the time. But it was a sports doll that wore a basketball uniform, not the fancy ballroom dresses that the Barbies of the other little girl had.

Cassandra watched the girl for a long time. It would have gone on like this forever if it hadn't been for Cassandra's brothers.

In the days that followed, Cassandra's brothers became friends with the little girl's brother. They would ride off together, hangout in their tree house, and even would sometimes come into the kitchen. Cassandra didn't play with her brothers though, even when she was invited. She was afraid. But being afraid can get lonely sometimes. Then one day, she decided to venture out and make contact.

It was a warm summer day in late July when it happened. Cassandra's brothers and the new boy were going fishing, and they didn't want any girls. Now Cassandra wanted to go with them, but her brothers wouldn't let her. She went up to her room and began the usual task of spying on the neighbors, which at this point, was starting to get boring. She noticed that the little girl was having an argument with her older brother. Then Cassandra saw that her own brothers were in the yard, beckoning the new boy to come. They left, leaving the little girl in a tantrum.

Well, this is where fate stepped in. The little girl gathered her Barbies into a bag, hopped onto her bike, and peddled away. Cassandra was amazed at what she was seeing. She raced downstairs, WNBA Barbie in hand, and ran out the door. She hopped on her own bike and followed the little girl.

Cassandra needed to get ahead of her. Luckily, she knew of a shortcut through a field. It would be tough, but she would be able to cut the girl off. She peddled as fast as she could. She eventually found herself in the student parking lot of the highschool. She looked both ways, and could see her brothers and the new boy biking on the main road. Then she looked in the other direction; there was the girl! She was stopped at the entrance to the parking lot, watching the four boys ride away. Cassandra ducked behind a car.

The little girl stayed there for a while, then turned her bike and entered the parking lot. The muscles in Cassandra's stomach tightened. The little girl biked over to a part of the highschool that appeared to be under construction. Cassandra watched the little girl until she disappeared, then followed. She biked over to where she thought the little girl was, but found that she was gone. Cassandra got off her bike and began to walk. She wanted to know what the little girl was up to. She walked up onto the track, but still, she saw nothing.

Cassandra eventually walked into a large shadow. She looked up to see a large structure standing above her. It was held together by what looked like black pipes, and it had silver steps and silver benches. I bet I could see her from there! Cassandra thought. She began to climb the stairs to the very top. Cassandra had no fear, she had climbed many trees with her brothers, and this large structure seemed like it was safer than a tree. She eventually reached the top, and was awe-struck at what she saw. She could see for miles! She could feel the wind blowing on her face. She looked at everything below her, and caught sight of a little pond.

Cassandra climbed down to the bottom of the bleachers quickly. She ran over to the pond to take a look. She squatted down at the water's edge. She saw no fish, no turtles, nothing that would suggest that there could actually be life in there. But, she did see a reflection. She looked up at what was making it. It was a large, dead maple tree. Cassandra stood up and walked over to the tree. She looked up at it and wondered why the tree had no leaves.

"Poor tree. Are you sick?" Cassandra asked it. Just then, a piece of bark fell off. She picked it up and said, "Oh, I see. Here." She carefully put the bark back where it came from, "I'll make it all better!" She kissed the tree and then gave it a big hug. Then, she heard a noise behind her.

Cassandra let go of the tree and turned around quickly, only to find the new girl standing there. Turning around so fast had made another piece of bark fall. Both girls looked at each other quietly for a long time, and then they both peered down at the fallen piece of bark.

"Is the tree sick?" asked the little girl with a southern drawl. Cassandra nodded. The little girl went to pick up the piece of bark, causing Cassandra to jump aside. The little girl picked up the bark and carefully placed it where it had come from. Cassandra's eyes widened. Then the little girl said, "I'll make you better, too!" She then proceeded to kiss and hug the tree.

After the little girl let go of the tree, she turned to face Cassandra. "My names Mary Louise Williams. What's yours?"

Cassandra was silent; she contemplated whether or not she should tell. Then she finally muttered, "M-my names C-cassandra W-wilkinson."

"That's pretty," said Mary. She opened her bag and took out a Ken. "Wanna play Barbies?"

Cassandra stared at the Ken doll. It had dark brown skin, like Mary's. Cassandra remembered that she was still carrying her WNBA Barbie and she looked at it. It was a plane light tan color with blond hair and blue eyes, just like her.

Cassandra looked up at Mary, who was again digging in her purse. She then pulled out another dark-brown Barbie, wearing a basketball uniform. "Here, I got that Barbie, too," Mary added with a smile.

"Do you like trees?" asked Cassandra.

"Like 'um? I was the queen of tree climbing back where I come from!" Mary answered a hint of pride in her voice.

Cassandra couldn't believe it! This girl liked tree climbing and she had a WNBA Barbie, a dark skinned one, but it was a WNBA Barbie nonetheless.

Cassandra stood there and blinked. Then she reached for the two Barbies and said, "Sure. I'll play with you."

Cassandra and Mary came back to that tree many times after that. They became best friends all through school, and even through high school. They would always remember the tree that brought them together, the tree of friendship.