The boy gave a huge sigh of contentment as he stripped off his gloves and placed his last stalk of cron into the basket. The girl glanced at him, amused.

  He smiled at her.

  "That was fun, can I come back and help you sometime soon?" he asked.

  The girl looked at him apprehensively.

  "I don't think you should. Won't your mum be angry?" she asked.

  "Angry?" he questioned.

  Nodding, she said, "You go to the village school, I don't. Your mum might not want us mixing."

  The boy shrugged.

  "So, can I come back?" he asked.

=======================================================================================

  The girl watched as he ran off towards his house, his arms waving at her.

  "I'll be here tomorrow," he hollered.

  She waved back, indicating that she had gotton the message.

  When at last she could see him no more, she turned to the scarecrow.

  "Mr Scarecrow, I made a new friend today. He helped me pluck the corn and although he can be irritating he's still a friend! A real friend!" she told the scarecrow joyously.

 ======================================================================================

  The pale morning sun rose in the sky. The day was colder than ever. Still, as the girl trooped towards the corn field, she didn't mind the cold, didn't mind the work in front of her.

  She had a friend, and he was going to help her pluck corn.

  Reaching the fields, she saw a figure standing among the rows of corn, waving at her. She waved back, and picked up speed.

  "Hi," he said as soon as she reached him.

  "Hi," she replied, handing him the gloves.

  Soon, the both of them were bent in the fields, searching for the ripe corn.

  "Let's play a game. I bet I'll harvest 50 stalks of corn faster than you can!" he teased.

  She scoffed.

  "You're on!" she said.

  They began pulling frantically at the leaves, using all their strength to pull the corn out. At first, they started out at different ends, but soon they drew nearer to the center, closer to each other.

  "I've got 49 now, what about you?" he asked.

  "Same!" she responded back.

  Hearing that, he started pushing deeper into the leaves, wanting to win the challenge. He pushed further left, and thought he spotted a glimpse of golden yellow.

  He scuttled towards it, and just had his hands on it when another pair of gloved hands reached out for it as well.

  "You! It's mine!" he said.

  "It's MINE!" she argued, trying to push him away with her shoulder. He reeled back, but then caught his balance and pushed abck. The two of them pushed each other while attempting to pull the corn out. They were puffing and panting but neither was willing to let go.

  "Oh, be a gentleman!" she said, elbowing him.

  "Well, you let go!" he said, hitting her.

  She let out an exasperated sigh and pulled with all her might on the corn.

  Seeing her exert strength, he did the same.

  "Argh!" he shouted as the corn came loose and he started falling backwards.

  Next to him, he heard her surprised exclamation and knew she was falling too.

  The next thing they knew was that they had landed on the cold hard ground with a dull thud, their bodies lying next to each other, their breath coming in misty gasps.

  The corn lay a few metres from them.

  And then she started to laugh. A tinkling, merry laugh. He glanced at her, and she looked back at him, and then he too started too laugh.

  They lay there laughing like that, their faces nearly touching, friends.