What is a friend? Scarlett was thinking about this big question. "A friend is someone you laugh with," she said to her stuffed cat, Lily. She knew what she needed to do! Scarlett grabbed Lily and headed out the door to the playground. "Friends make you happy, and I bet I can find lots of happy friends at the playground!"
The sun was shining, and the playground was full of kids. Swings were swinging, kids were sliding, and everyone was smiling. "This is perfect!" Scarlett exclaimed. She saw a group of children playing a game that looked like a lot of fun. They were throwing a bright red ball to each other.
“Can I play too?” she asked.
“Of course! Come join us,” said a boy with a big grin.
Scarlett loved throwing and catching the ball. She made a new friend named Leo. But all of a sudden, the ball bounced wrong and disappeared into a bush.
"Oh no!" cried Leo. "That's my favorite ball!"
Everyone started looking for it, but the bush was thick and the ball was gone. Scarlett felt sad. She knew how important friends are, and she wanted to help Leo find his ball.
"Don't worry, Leo!" Scarlett said. "I'm a super smart detective, and I'll find your ball!"
Scarlett pushed through the leaves. "Hmm," she thought. "If I were a ball, where would I hide?" She looked up, she looked down, she even looked behind a small tree. Nothing. Then she saw something interesting.
A little trail of red glitter led away from the bush! Scarlett pointed. "Look! Clues!"
"Wow, you're right!" said Leo.
The glitter was like a trail of breadcrumbs leading away from the playground, down a little path, and towards the library. The trail stopped right in front of the library doors.
Scarlett knew just what to do! She loved the library. It was her secret hideout. All those books were like treasure chests full of stories. Maybe this was a mystery about a missing ball!
She pushed the heavy doors open and… there it was! The red ball was sitting right in the middle of a bookshelf.
"We found it!" Scarlett and Leo shouted. They were so happy! They gave each other a big high five and took the ball back to the playground.
Leo told everyone how Scarlett was a super smart detective. Scarlett smiled. It felt good to help her new friend.
Later that afternoon, Scarlett walked back home. She held Lily tight. “I learned something important today,” she said to Lily. “Friends help each other! That’s what makes friendship so special.”
And as she drifted off to sleep that night, Scarlett knew that she would always be there to help her friends, no matter what. Friendship, she decided, was the best thing ever!
