Friendship
A short story by Sally Berneathy
Paula and I met in the first grade. Since her last name was Brent and mine was Berneathy, she sat behind me. We were both shy and had nothing to say to each other until the day she asked to borrow my ruler.



We lived in a small town in southern Oklahoma where money was scarce, and my six-inch red plastic ruler was a valued possession. Reluctantly, I loaned it to Paula--and she kept it for too long, or so it seemed to me. I turned around to take it back, but Paula wasn't through with it. I grabbed, she held on...the ruler broke.



I cried. She cried. I blamed her, and she blamed me.



And, in the manner of six-year olds, from that day forward, we were inseparable, the best of friends.



As the years passed, we spent many nights at each other's houses, whispering the night away about our plans for the...