"He said he'd be here…" Little Alfred moaned, petting the soft fur of his white rabbit with his left hand. "He told me that he'd be here halfway 'till sunhigh."

The white rabbit only responded by twitching its black ears at him, then resting its head down on Alfred's right hand.

Alfred glared up at the blue sky. "This isn't fair," Alfred huffed, "everyone else has friends. How come I'm the only one who doesn't? Why do they all disappear?" Sadness washed over Alfred, and his grew watery. "Why don't any of them come back?" He sniffled.

On instinct, Alfred's rabbit jumped out of his arms, and ran in short little circles, catching Alfred's attention. "What are you doing, Spot?" Alfred asked. The little blonde boy then smiled, remembering that Spot always did this when he wanted to play. "You want to play?"

Almost as a response, Spot began running at a pace that Alfred could generally keep up with. Alfred, of course, chased his small white rabbit across the green, windy, lively fields of his home. The rabbit successfully distracted Alfred from the fact that the friends that he made were dying, and had kept Alfred from shedding his young tears. This was Spot's job. He represented Alfred's purity, and protected Alfred's innocence for as long as it lasted.

Alfred stared at the ground, running after the only thing that would play with him everyday, and would never have to leave. Alfred actually began to gain on quick, little Spot, and Alfred was bending down to scoop up the little rabbit when he ran into something.

Whatever he ran into grunted, and fell to the ground.

Alfred, who barreled right into it, fell face-first into the grass. He sat up, confusion all over his face and looked around, seeing nothing.

"Je suis désolé, monsieur."

Alfred looked behind him, and saw something that looked almost like he was looking in the mirror. He saw himself… But no, the boy's hair was too long, and his eyes were lavender instead of blue.

"What?" Alfred asked, tilting his head to the right. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear what you said."

"Quoi?" The boy asked.

Alfred leaned back with a blink. The strange language that came out of this boy's mouth was nothing like all of the different versions of Native languages he has heard. "What?"

The other boy didn't respond, but he looked at the ground. "Je ne sais pas ce que tu dis…"

Alfred drew his eyebrows together in confusion. He couldn't communicate with this boy. Alfred shook his head, determined to figure out a way to communicate. "What's your name? Mine is Alfred."

The boy looked up at him. "Quoi?"

Alfred pointed to himself. "Alfred. I am Alfred."

The boy pointed at Alfred. "Alfred?" He asked in a strange accent.

Alfred nodded. "What about you? What's your name?" Alfred said, pointing to the boy.

The boy pointed to himself. "Moi?"

"Yes, you."

The boy looked at Alfred, blinked, then spoke. "Mon nom est Mathieu."

Alfred tilted his head. "What?"

The boy glanced up at the sky. "Mathieu." He said.

"Matthew?" Alfred asked.

Mathieu nodded.

"You want to play?" Alfred asked.

Mathieu tilted his head. "Quoi?"

Alfred took that as a yes. "Tag?" Alfred asked with a smile.

Mathieu drew his eyebrows together, and narrowed his eyes slightly. "Taaag?"

Alfred nodded. "Tag." Alfred gave Mathieu a gentle and slow push. "Tag."

Mathieu took a step back with an offended look. "Taaag?"

"You're it!" Alfred screamed before turning around and running away from Mathieu.

Mathieu stood there, blankly staring after Alfred. Alfred turned around, and saw Mathieu's stare before tilting his head to the left. "You're it." Alfred mumbled.

"Iit?" Mathieu responded.

Alfred walked back over and gave Mathieu another small shove. "Tag."

Mathieu drew his eyebrows together, lifted his hand, and gave Alfred a gentle and slow push. "Iit." He mumbled.

Alfred laughed. "I guess I am," he began, "well, you'd better start running."

But, even with Alfred's instruction, Mathieu stood there with his head tilted to the side.

"Run." Alfred commanded. "You know, run." Alfred began sprinting in place. "Run."

A smile crossed Mathieu's face. "Oh! Donc, je suis sensé de fonctionner!"

"Uh, I guess." Alfred shrugged.

Seconds later, Mathieu sprinted away from Alfred who chased after his new friend. Mathieu was surprisingly fast as Alfred followed, running through the light green grass that stretched up to Alfred's waist.

The sun's light grew brighter as it reached its highest point in the sky, and the boys continued playing their game, unaware of what they really are. The sun began its descent, making the colors of pink and purple streak across the sky.

Alfred was running from Mathieu, and he turned around when he realized he hasn't been tackled by a happy ball of laughter, yelling "Iit!" Alfred saw Mathieu walking behind him, red-faced and panting from the continuous sprinting. Although the red face, and the pitiful pants, there was a giant smile crossing his face.

Alfred jogged over to Mathieu. "You okay?"

Mathieu blinked at him. "Quoi?"

Alfred shook his head, putting his arm around Mathieu's shoulders, and leading him to the tree. The tree was large, and offered a huge shadow to hide in when it was hot, and long, strong limbs to climb in when you had the energy to. But Alfred and Mathieu sat in the shade on the ground next to Spot, who laid asleep.

The stars blinked alive, even though the sun was still desperately clinging onto the sky.

"Regardez! Mon ours polaire!" Mathieu yelled, pointing.

Alfred looked at the white ball of fluff in the distance. "Rabbit?" Alfred asked. From a distance, the ball of fur looked like a rabbit.

Mathieu looked at him in confusion. "Quoi?"

Alfred pointed at Spot. "Rabbit?"

Mathieu shook his head. "Non. Ours polaire."

As the white creature approached, Alfred realizes that it looks like the bears the Natives taught him about, but instead of brown or black, it was white. It was as tall and as wide as Mathieu, who hugged it around the neck, then sat back down. Alfred raised his left hand, and gently stroked the white bear's soft fur with his small hand.

"Alfred, tu es mon ami." Mathieu said happily.

Alfred looked over to Mathieu with a raised eyebrow. "What is 'mon...a-ami?"

Mathieu's face twisted, as he desperately tried to figure out a way to explain what "mon ami" was. Mathieu pointed at Alfred, "Mon ami," he said.

Alfred tilted his head to the side. Alfred was a "mon ami", but what was that? He went to ask what again, but he decided that it wouldn't help, for he wouldn't understand Mathieu anyway. Alfred closed his eyes in anger, this language barrier was too frustrating, why couldn't everyone just speak the same language? But if Alfred was a "mon ami", that means it must be something good, right? He hasn't done anything to anger Mathieu.

Alfred cleared his throat, making a guess. "Does that mean we're friends?"

Mathieu gave him a blank stare, and finally nodded slowly.

"I think we're friends too." Alfred concluded.

The two friends sat together in silence as the moon rose in the sky, forcing the sun beneath the horizon. The stars shone brighter than earlier, and the space beyond was pitch-black. The boys sat contently on the ground beneath the large tree, staring up at the beautiful white stars above. But Mathieu stood up, and so did his bear.

"Matthew?" Alfred asked.

"Je dois y aller…" He responded quietly before walking forward, away from Alfred.

No! Alfred thought, I don't want you to go, I don't want you to disappear.

Mathieu stopped a few feet from Alfred. "Retour lorsque le soleil est haut."

"What?"

Mathieu turned back to Alfred. "Soleil," Mathieu said, making a circle shape with his hands, "élevé." Mathieu finished, pointing to the sky directly above him.

"Sunhigh?" Alfred asked, "You want to meet at sunhigh?"

Mathieu nodded. "Oui."

Sadness filled Alfred as he nodded. He watched Mathieu leave, walking north with his white bear next to him with each step. Alfred didn't want Mathieu to go, nor did he want Mathieu to never come back, just like all of his other friends. Alfred stayed beneath the tree all night, just to make sure he didn't show up at the wrong time. Eventually, the little boy fell asleep beneath the stars, Spot right next to him.

Alfred woke in the morning with the sun shining through the green, spring leaves above him. It was half 'till sunhigh. Alfred's stomach moaned for food, so he climbed up into the tree above him, picking off two shiny red apples. One for him, one for Mathieu, if he showed up. Alfred munched on the apple as the sun rose more and more until it was finally sunhigh. There was no boy in sight. Alfred watched the treeline in the far distance for signs of movement, but there was nothing more than animals. He looked below him with a sad stare. Spot held his gaze before running in short, small circles, indicating he wanted to play. Instead of climbing out of the tree, Alfred just stared at the white rabbit with black ears.

"Alfred!"

Alfred looked up to the sound of his name. Sure enough, he saw a little boy and a white bear running up to the tree.

"Matthew!" Alfred called, waving.

Mathieu ran up to the tree, full speed, and began climbing the trunk without hesitation. Once on the same branch as Alfred, Alfred gave the red apple to Mathieu, who took it gratefully.

Pure happiness and surprise filled Alfred. Not only did he make a new friend, he finally made a friend who came back. He finally made a friend who didn't disappear the next day. He finally made a friend who later in the future, became like a brother to Alfred. Because, Mathieu has always been by Alfred's side ever since.

Translations:

Je suis désolé, monsieur- I'm sorry, sir

Quoi- What

Je ne sais pas ce que tu dis- I do not know what you're saying

Moi- Me

Mon nom est Mathieu- My name is Mathieu

Oh! Donc, je suis sensé de fonctionner- Oh! So I'm supposed to run

Regardez! Mon ours polaire- Look! My polar bear

Non. Ours polaire- No. Polar bear

Alfred, tu es mon ami- Alfred, you're my friend

Mon ami- My friend

Je dois y aller- I have to go

Retour lorsque le soleil est haut- Return when the sun is high

Soleil- Sun

élevé- High

Oui- Yes