The girl in the red coat is not what this story is about. This story is about a friend of the girl in the red coat.
This friend is one who knows all there is to know about cob spiders and their webs. This friend doesn’t like those things that stand outside that people hang their clothes on (because sometimes you forget your clothes are out there and sometimes it rains and you have to go outside and get them and you get wet).
This friend doesn’t like people who hang big American flags outside their houses (no real reason; she just doesn’t like them).
This friend likes to play and has an infectious laugh; the laugh of one who has never had (or at least won’t tell of having) a worst day. This friend can identify different shapes, colors, and numbers. This friend knows what a penny, nickel, dime, and quarter are.
This friend likes for her mother and father to lie down with her and will beg if necessary, going so far as to put it in writing. This friend will get into bed with her mother in the morning, whispering, “It’s 7:29 and I have a cow-lick.”
This friend, when telling her mother what Sarah said and having her mother ask which girl of the three on a nearby bench is Sarah, is one who sees the color of Sarah’s coat, not of her skin. Now, that’s a friend.
