Precious Friendship

A picture fell out of a drawer when I was tidying up. In the painting, a little blonde girl was playing happily with a little brunette girl, and a happy smile was on their faces. Looking at this painting, I couldn't help but think of my childhood best friend - Mary Anne and remembered the precious friendship between us ......

It was in the second grade when a foreign girl with blonde hair and blue eyes was transferred to my class. The teacher arranged for her to sit next to me, and at first, I always felt uncomfortable, but slowly I got to know her better. She said her name was Marianne and she was from São Paulo, Brazil. She had just come to Beijing with her parents who were working in China and wanted to become very good friends with me. I was amazed by her skillful Chinese, and I was so energized that I asked her a series of questions: "I remember that Brazilians have black hair and black eyes and yellow skin, but how come you have yellow hair and blue eyes and white skin? What kind of country is Brazil? Is it as beautiful as China? How do you speak Chinese?" She said that she was not a Brazilian, her father was German and her mother was Russian and that her family had immigrated to Brazil. She liked China very much, she had learned Chinese when she was in Brazil, and she was very happy when she learned that her family was coming to China. She said that her country, Brazil, was very big and beautiful, and very rich in resources, that the people were very warm and welcoming, and that I was welcome to come and visit Brazil. I nodded my head with satisfaction and said to her, "I will go to Brazil sometime. Now, what about welcoming you to China? I would like to be your good friend for life!" Said I took her hand and smiled, and she smiled too ......

Since then, we have been inseparable from each other, whether in school, between classes, or after school. We often learn from each other, she asked me to learn English and Portuguese, and I taught him to learn Chinese. Soon, my English improved and I mastered Portuguese grammar, and her Chinese improved dramatically. After school, we often played tennis and volleyball together. Especially in volleyball, she couldn't stop once she got on the court, serving, saving, dunking, and blocking, she did it all very well. The balls she served over me were so overwhelming that I had to go out of my way to catch them, but most of the time I couldn't catch them and had to watch them fly off the court. Even the physical education teacher praised her: "Mary is a good talent, she will be a great volleyball player in the future!" At that time, I could only look at her with envy, and she always smiled and made funny faces in response. On her days off, she often invited me to her home. Her family is very enthusiastic, her brother often took us both to play together, in winter we build snowmen and snowball fights; in summer we went to the creek together to catch dragonflies, and we played with great enthusiasm, often forgetting the time so that the adults came to look for us before they knew it was time to go home. Her mother would often make some Brazilian or German food for me to taste, and I, the little glutton, could not stop eating, and often got a mouth full, making their whole family laugh. Whenever this time, her mother will remind me to eat slowly and not to choke, not enough to eat she will go back to make. For this reason, I often feel embarrassed. Gradually, my bad habits slowly changed, and I never made a joke again. If the weather was good, her father would drive the whole family and me to go on field trips together. We climbed mountains together, tired of climbing sat together picnic; also together to the lake fishing, to explore the forest ......

The happy days always go by quickly, just in the second semester of the sixth grade, one day she suddenly came to me and said that her parents had finished their work in China and that their family was going back to China. When I heard this news, I felt sad. She put on a smile and said, "Don't be sad, we can see each other again and you are welcome to come and play in Brazil!" At this point, I could no longer hold back the tears slipping down my cheeks, she also shed tears, and we hugged each other tightly. In the light of tears, I could see her smiling, and I smiled too.

The day we parted, I went to the airport to see her off. She saw me come and put a painting into my hand and said this is her hand-drawn, the painting of the girl with black hair is my girl with blonde hair is her, the two girls hand to hand represents our friendship for a long time. She said she would continue to work hard to achieve her ambition after she returned, she wanted to be a volleyball player, to make her figure appear in the international arena to win glory for the country. She also said she would never forget me and would write to me often when she returned to China. At this time, I also took off the "Jade Rabbit Longevity Lock" that I had been wearing around my neck and handed it to her and said, "Take this with you and wear it all the time, wherever you go, as long as you see it, it will be as if I am always by your side silently." She took it and immediately put it on her neck then waved goodbye to me, and I kept waving to her until her figure disappeared from my sight ......

After this, I did receive a letter from her. She said she was selected for the professional team, and now she wears the long-life lock I gave her all the time, both for training and competition. She said that whenever she saw it, she thought of me, and she immediately had inexhaustible energy in her body. I wrote her back, telling her how I was doing and giving her encouragement, and cheering her on. Since then, we have kept in touch with each other. In a recent letter, she told me a very happy story: after several years of hard work, she was finally selected for the national team and will represent Brazil in the international competition! She had finally achieved her ambition! She also said that the time had come for her to show off her skills and that she would probably be seen on TV a lot in the future. In a few days, their team will play in China and we will meet again then! I wrote her back with joy, expressing my congratulations, cheering her on, and looking forward to our reunion sooner rather than later.