Friends

Two or three of his friends stopped by with invites to run rampant, but Tyrone decline politely. After watching this for about an hour, his dad walked out into the side yard to have a word. "You okay, buddy?" he asked. "I'm surprised you don't want to play today; are you feeling all right?" Tyrone nodded, putting his book down. "I'm good," he said, looking up. "It's just that, when we moved here, we planted this tree first thing. It had to move, too (just like us), and today's its yard birthday - two whole years. I'm gonna just sit with it, celebrate, and water it a little extra." "Well, I can do that, if you wanna take off?" his dad offered, wondering if tree birthdays were a thing and feeling guilty. "Nah," Tyrone replied. "I really am good, Dad. You gotta be a good friend to deserve a good friend." And he patted the trunk of the little tree gently as if to say, "I got you."