Billy yelps “Nooo!” and thrusts his arms around her. “Please don’t leave me, you can’t leave me!” he pleads as tears well up in his eyes.
“Believe me Billy, I don’t want to leave you here on your own.” Alice tells him. “But I can’t stay here if my mother wants me to return home.” she explains. “If it was up to me I’d stay, believe me I would… but it’s not my decision Billy.”
Billy knows she’s right. She is after all only a ten year old girl, but she’s also been his rock, his best and only true friend and in spite of being younger than he, she’s his big sister too. Two days later Alice has packed her case and is ready to leave. She wears a pretty yellow dress and Billy says, “That’s the first dress I ever wore.”