Walking up and down the street, Sam couldn’t decide what to do. He had walked by the McMahon’s home several times. Each time, the boy would stop and walk part way up towards the building and then retreat. When he reached half away, Sam would keep telling himself that what he was doing was silly, and it was just Ainsley. For goodness sake, he was getting all worked up over a silly girl.

It wasn’t just any silly girl though, it was Ainsley. A young girl he was becoming quite attached to. That girl was a little bit odd sure. Her vocabulary was huge, she dragged around a toy bunny everywhere, and as far as Sam could tell she was pretty fearless. But those were all things that Sam liked or didn’t mind much. There was more to Ainsley then Sam could have predicted when he first met her, and forced to walk to school with her by his mother. Surprisingly, the boy really enjoyed her company. After all their walks together, and going to camp together, the young blonde girl was hard to get off his mind. Sam had even made her a bracelet while they were away at camp. He had just never bothered to give it to her.

That was why he was pacing up and down her street. Clutched in his hand was a little bracelet made out of colored strings. White and blue threads were knotted and twisted together to make a small loop, and at the center was a single star-shaped bead. He had been meaning to give it to her a while ago. However, every time he looked at the bracelet since first making it, it just never seemed good enough. His knots were sloppy and of all different sizes. The poor little bracelet had been undone and redone too many times to count. Eventually, Sam just gave up on trying to improve it and simply decided to call it ‘rustic’ looking.

As the boy neared the home for what seemed like the hundredth time, he swallowed his pride. He’d do it! After holding onto the bracelet for over a month, he would finally give it to Ainsley. Sam marched up the little path to the McMahon’s home. Sam started with a strong stride. Each successive step became smaller, and Sam slowed down. The closer he got to her door, the slower he walked.

Half-way there, Sam stopped. Just like before, part of him wanted to turn around and run the other way. But he didn’t let it get to him this time. Eventually, the boy made it to the McMahon’s door and rang the bell. There was no answer. Sam waited a minute and pressed the bell again. Still no one came to answer the door. Nobody was home! Sam was off the hook!

But he couldn’t just go home with the bracelet after all that trouble. Instead, Sam slipped the bracelet in the McMahons’ mail box. He didn’t leave a note or anything attached to it, just the bracelet all by itself. Then the dark haired boy started to walk home.