AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Nolan!” Mom exclaimed. “Why are you still wearing your pajama shirt?” He looked down at Woody from Toy Story and shrugged. “Please go change your shirt and hurry.”
Nolan ran to his room, stopping for a second to look at his Legos again, before grabbing a t-shirt out of his clean pile and pulling it over his head.
Mom stood in the hallway this time when he came out of his room. “Better! Now come on let’s go.” She carried a bag on her shoulder and pressed a hand to his back.
They walked outside and trekked across the lawn to Mrs. Garrick’s house. Mrs. Garrick came outside with a big smile and her arms stretched out. “Nolan, I’m so happy you’re coming with us.” She gave him a quick hug, but his eyes drifted to the girl skipping out of the house.
Her hair parted in two, bounced with each skip. She came to a stop in front of him. Her smile was big, but she was missing her two front teeth.
“Hi.” I’m Isla. Her blonde pigtails were sloppy, and her big blue eyes watched him. Heat exploded in his cheeks, and he wanted to hide behind Mom's legs, but babies did that and he wasn’t a baby. He stepped forward and held his hand out because that's what Dad did when he met new people.
“I'm Nolan.”
Isla wrapped her hand around his and pulled him toward the car. He heard his Mom laugh and looked at her. She gave him a wave, then turned to Mrs. Garrick.
“We're gonna have so much fun! Grandma bought me a new shovel and pail, so we're gonna make a castle, and I'll be the princess and you'll be the prince.”
Nolan didn't care about the whole prince and princess thing, but he was excited to build a castle. “Can the castle have a moat?”
“Sure!” she exclaimed, her voice pitching high and ended on a giggle. This girl definitely did not have cooties.
“Who’s ready to have some fun?” Mrs. Garrick asked with a clap of her hands. Her long hair was tied in a braid over her shoulder, and she wore a big straw hat that made her look funny.
Isla’s hand shot up. “I am!”
“Me too,” Nolan said.
They piled into the backseat and headed to the beach. Isla talked the entire time, but that was okay. He liked her voice.
At the beach, Mrs. Garrick set up a blanket for them, but he and Isla went right to making their castle. It was going to be the biggest castle ever!
They worked together while Isla continued talking. He wasn’t even sure what she was talking about, something about sharks and sunfish, but he also heard her say something about seashells, too. She didn’t seem to care that he didn’t say anything, so he continued digging the moat.
Mrs. Garrick came over and wiped them down with sunscreen. Nolan hated sunscreen. It was sticky and gross, but Isla happily allowed Mrs. Garrick to put the icky stuff on her, so he didn’t try to fight it either.
Once the moat was completed, he and Isla took a running jump to land in the middle. “Let’s make a tower,” he said. “Let’s make it go all the way to the sky!”
Isla bounced in place. “Yes!”
Nolan grabbed the pail and filled it with sand. Isla told him what to do, and normally that would make him mad, but it was her castle, too.
Covered in sand, they finished the tower. It didn’t make it to the sky, but it almost did!
“Come on kids, time for lunch.”
Nolan didn’t want to eat. Not when they had a castle to finish. Isla took his hand, and he forgot about the castle. “I’m hungry,” she said.
“Me too.”
She didn’t let go of his hand. Instead, they jumped over the moat together. They sat down on the blanket, and Mrs. Garrick handed them each a peanut butter and jelly sandwich—Nolan’s favorite.
He went to take a bite when the bread flopped open and all his jelly fell into the sand. He went to catch it and in doing so dropped the rest of the sandwich.
“Oh no!” he exclaimed, and sad, hot tears pressed against the backs of his eyes. He wouldn’t cry. He was a big boy and big boys didn’t cry. But he really wanted that sandwich, and now it was covered in sand.
“Whoops!” Mrs. Garrick said. “Let me see what else I have.”
“It’s okay.” Isla rested her hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her, and she smiled. “You can have half of mine.” She handed him her other half, and he took it carefully and gratefully.
