Summer of fun

Jane woke early. She was excited to strat the summer holidays. She could spent all day everyday playing with her best riend Elizabeth. She watched the sun rise, her smile growing with every passing minute.

Jane and Elizabeth were so excited about the new treehouse. Elizabeth’s dad and Jane’s granddad had worked so hard to make it for them. It was so big!! Especially to 7-year-olds. It was on the top of the tree with great views of the street and it had a balcony all the way around. They were so excited the first afternoon they were allowed to go and see it. It was a large single room, they were planning on what furniture they could get up to it. Jane the rebel of the two watched as Elizabeth’s dad and her granddad finished their safety inspection and left.

“Lizzer’s, look!” she said when they were alone. Elizabeth crouched down to the backpack Jane had brought with snacks and water in it. She pulled out a stolen screwdriver and a sliding lock she had liberated from her granddad’s greenhouse.

“We can put a lock on the hatch so no ‘grup’s can get in!”

“I dunno Janey, it might not be safe, what if we get stuck,” Elizabeth said chewing her hair, which was a nervous tick for her.

“Don’t be such a stick in the mud!” Jane replied, already starting to fix the lock. She slid the slider back and forth to show Elizabeth how easy it was to open. Elizabeth still looked uneasy when she was finished, so Jane left the lock open.

“It’s just a little one, granddad will be able to break in if we need him to, he’s saved us loads of times!”

Elizabeth nodded warming to the idea and trusting Jane more than she should have. Jane knew that Elizabeth was beat and decided to reward her by getting out the first lot of cookies to munch on and opening the first bottle of water, which they would share.

This was their summer, they played all day only going home for lunch, and when the cries of their names would be echoed from their respected houses when the street lights began to go on. They had been friends for forever ( at least to 7-year old’s). Elizabeth was 9 months older than Jane. but, Jane was the more outgoing and adventurous of the two. The part in Elizabeth’s role of the friends was she was the only one who could say no to Jane and she would listen. Jane knew Elizabeth was the sensible one, and she trusted her “no” saying judgment.

They ate their snack in silence Jane making plans to turn the treehouse into a pirate ship or a castle, Elizabeth making homely plans.

“I’m bored.” said Jane when they were finished

“We could play the ‘game with no name’” Elizabeth proposed

“Nah, it’s too nice to pretend we are trapped by the evil stepmother” Jane replied.

“We don’t have to pretend that.” said Elizabeth defensively, her imagination cogs were turning audibly to Jane. “she threw us out of the house so we made a treehouse to live in and now we have to sneak home to get food, like…like SPIES!!”

This idea appealed to Jane, It would be fun to infiltrate each other’s houses and sneak bikkies up to the treehouse. They had done it before when Elizabeth had first got her glasses. Jane had put them on and went to eat lunch at Elizabeth’s house, Elizabeth had gone to Jane’s. They had each ate half the others lunch before Elizabeth’s mam and Jane’s Nanna had realised they had the wrong child and sent then to the right houses.

“We need a plan if we get caught its game over.” Jane said already trying to calculate how they could sneak in.

“Cat flaps?” Elizabeth suggested

“We don’t have cats or flaps” Jane countered

The girls sat quietly for five minutes thinking, a rare event for them. Jane’s eyes sparkled as the idea came to her.

“We can braid the streamers on Nanna’s back door so they stop making noise and sneak to the pantry and grab some food,” she said. Elizabeth agreed and they went through the hatch to Jane’s Nanna’s house. They crept through the yard each girl petting her pet rock as she passed. At the door streamers, they both began braiding them as quickly as possible, it wouldn’t last long before they started to unravel, once the braids reached high enough they ducked inside. The kitchen was clear, Jane slowly opened the pantry door and looked inside hoping to find some treats they could sneak out. She found two packets of crisps. Score! She picked them up careful not to let the packets crinkle, they turned to leave before the streamers started flapping again.

CREAK

The girls stopped and listened, that was the living room floor creak, someone was coming, they couldn’t get caught!

“Run” Jane hissed, Elizabeth stayed frozen in place. Jane panicked they were going to get caught and Elizabeth was playing stick in the mud! Jane put both packets of crisps into one hand, not caring about the crinkle now. She grabbed Elizabeth’s arm and pulled her towards the door.

“LEG IT!” she yelled.

The girls ran out the back door as Jane’s granddad rounded the corner to see in the kitchen. He caught sight of two small figures disappearing into the garden, stolen crisps in hand. He smiled as he shut the pantry cupboard door. Those girls were always up to some sort of mischief.

The girls ran back to the treehouse laughing all the way, once they were up Jane locked the hatch and they lay on their backs laughing and panting.

“We should be cat burglars,” Elizabeth said

“New game, that was fun we need to do it again.” Jane replied.

“Not today.” Elizabeth said

“Nope, you are too freezy and it’s your turn to rob the next house”

“Freezy isn’t a word”

“Yes, it is”

“No, it’s not”

The argument lasted ten minutes, Jane believed if she said a word then it was a real word, Elizabeth, did not agree with this theory. The argument passed and the girls shared one of the packets of crisps. As the sun started setting Jane and Elizabeth could tell that this summer was going to be the best summer ever.