提要

友誼的產生，可能有百萬種不同的方式，好朋友幾乎都有近似的興趣、相同努力的目標。能夠找到一個真正的朋友，感覺就像是一份天賜的禮物。

Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful and extremely amiable girl named "Walk". She was a good girl, but she never liked her name as all the kids always made fun of her name. She ran away from everybody who teased her name and hence, Walk never really had friends. She would play alone all the time.

On a regular day, when Walk finished her homework and asked her mother if she could go out and play. Her mother said yes, but ask her not to go too far from home.

Walk went to her favorite spot near the river behind their house. She thought the river 's splashing and moving was talking to her, and Walk spoke back to the river in her own special way.

That day, she said to the river, "You are so fortunate, as you get to travel to different places and always be with your friends, ducks, turtles, fishes, and plants. I wish I had more friends and wouldn't be alone anymore."

When she was bored talking to the river, she would pick up stones from nearby and try to skip them across the river like her dad. However, she would fail most of the time.

She would then say to the river, "I am getting better each day. I am more of a thrower than a skipper." After many attempts at skipping rock, she finally finds a perfect rock, almost round, flat, and protruding at one end where she could hold and skip it in water.

She held the stone tight in her fingers, and innocently said to the river, "Oh dear river, If only I could skip this rock and make a wish, I would wish for a dear friend just like you, and if the rock skips all the way across you while wishing, I wouldn't be as lonely as I am now." Saying this, Walk whipped her arm back just like her dad had taught her and skipped the rock across the river with full force and dedication.

She watched the rock skip once, twice, thrice, and she kept wishing for a friend while counting. To her amazement, the rock went on skipping for the fourth, fifth, and sixth time, and eventually, on the seventh skip, it finally made it across the river on to the shore of the opposite side. Walk was totally taken aback. She had been holding her breath so hard and wishing so desperately that when the stone skipped the river and landed across she could not just believe her eyes.

Her deep thoughts and sheer happiness were disturbed when she heard footsteps coming her way. Walk immediately came to senses and started looking around. A little girl was tumbling down towards her. Walk panicked and started to run but she lost her balance and she fell off too. Rolling down towards the river, the unknown little girl and Walk fell almost on the same spot beside each other.

The tumbling girl was crying profusely and endlessly holding on to her knee. Walk pulled herself together and went close to the girl to help her. Walk saw that the girl's knee was bleeding. She said the calmest words to her, "It will be alright, I will help you clean the wound." Walk took some water from the river, washed away the blood from the wound, tore a piece of cloth from her skirt, and tied it around the wound on the knee to cover the cut. She politely said to the girl, "My house is nearby, let me help you, my mother will take care of the wound."

Walk helped the girl walk until her house. Once they both had reached Walk's house, Walk called out to her mother, "Mother, there is a girl with me and she fell down by the river. Her knee was cut and there is blood all over her dress."

Hearing this, Walk's mother came running out of the kitchen with the first-aid box. She made the little girl sitting on a couch and started cleaning the wound. She cleaned her knee with an antiseptic and applied colorful bandages to lighten up the girl's face. She then enquired about the girl asking her where she lived. The girl promptly told Walk and her mother that she had just moved in a house probably next door. All the houses looked so similar that she mixed up the one she lived in. Walk gasped and felt a hint of joy thinking about her wish.

The little girl looked at Walk and asked, "What is your name?" Walk was stunned and scared to tell her name because she did not want the girl to make fun of her name like other kids. However, Walk's mother replied, "Her name is Walk and I am glad she could help you."

On hearing this, the little girl began to laugh and almost happen to fall on the ground. Walk felt the pinch and she was on the verge of breaking into tears. Walk closed her eyes, and said to herself, "Is this the friend I get in return for my wish?" Just then, the girl stopped laughing and voluntarily said, "I am sorry for my manners, but it is absolutely funny as my name happens to be Run."

Walk gave a surprised look to her new friend and almost broke into laughter herself. Just to make sure she asked Run whether her name was seriously "Run", Run reassuringly said to Walk, "You helped me and wiped my wound, why would I ever lie to you or even make fun of you."

Walk felt tremendous happiness and was filled with joy. Her wish for the river had come true, she would never forget that day. It was the day Walk and Run became the best of friends forever.

解說

曾經有一個美麗而又和非常親切的女孩，名叫「散步」。她是一個好女孩，但她從未喜歡自己的名字，因為其他孩子總是以此取笑她。她避開每個取笑她名字的人，散步因此從沒有過真正的朋友， 她也總是獨自玩耍。

有一天，散步做完功課後，要求媽媽讓她出去玩。媽媽答應了，但要她別離家太遠。

散步走到了她們家後面的河邊、她最喜歡的地點。她認為飛濺河水的滔滔不絕是在對她說話，散步也以自己的方式回話。

那天她對河說：「你真幸運，因為可以到不同的地方旅行，並且總是跟朋友在一起：鴨子、烏龜、魚類和植物。我希望能有更多的朋友，就不會這麼孤單了。」

當跟河水聊天倦了的時候，她會從附近撿起石頭，然後像父親一樣打水漂，但她大部分的時候都打不成。

她會對河說：「我每天都在進步喔，我比較像在扔石頭，而不是打水漂。」經過多次嘗試後，她終於找到了一塊完美的石頭：幾乎是扁平的正圓形，而且一端延伸，可以牢牢握住，方便嘗試讓它在水面彈跳。

她緊緊地扣住石頭，天真地對河說：「哦，親愛的河，如果這塊石頭能在水面跳要躍，讓我許願。我希望有像你一樣的好朋友，就不會像現在這樣寂寞了。」說著，散步就用父親教過她的那樣，揮動手臂、全力全意地打水漂。

她看著石頭在水面跳動，一次、兩次、三次，在計數同時一直許願希望有個朋友。令她驚訝的是，石頭第四次、第五次和第六次繼續跳躍，最後在第七次跳動時，石頭越過河面到達了對岸。吃了一驚的散步，一直屏息以待，當石頭從河面跳到彼岸時，她不敢相信自己的眼睛。

身後聽到腳步聲靠近，她沉浸在幸福的思緒被打亂了，散步環顧四周，一個跌跌撞撞的小女孩正朝向她翻滾跌落，讓驚慌失措的散步開始奔跑，但她一腳踩空，也摔向河邊，那個陌生的小女孩，和散步幾乎跌在同一地點。

那個女孩抱著膝蓋不停地哭，散步於是打起精神，靠近那個女孩嘗試幫助她。看到那個女孩的膝蓋流血，散步用非常平靜的口吻安撫她：「沒關係的，我會幫助妳清理傷口。」她用河水洗去傷口上的血，撕下裙子上的一塊布包紮。她對女孩客氣地說：「我家就在附近，讓我幫妳，我媽媽會處理傷口。」

散步扶著女孩走回家，對母親說：「媽媽，有個女孩和我一起在河邊摔倒，她的膝蓋被割傷，衣服上全都是血。」

聽到這裡，散步的母親帶著急救箱走出廚房，讓小女孩坐在沙發上，開始清潔傷口，膝蓋消毒後，還用彩色繃帶包紮小女孩的臉，然後她問女孩她住在哪裡。女孩迅速回答，她剛剛搬進了應該是隔壁的房子，但因為所有的房子看起來都很像，所以她搞混了。喘著氣的散步想到自己許的願望，感到一絲絲喜悅。

小女孩看著散步，問：「妳叫什麼名字？」冷不防被問的散步，很不想說自己的名字，因為她不希望小女孩像其他孩子一樣取笑她。但散步的母親幫她回答：「她名叫散步，很高興她能幫妳。」

聽到這個答案，小女孩開始大笑，幾乎笑到跌在地上。散步覺得痛苦地快要哭了，她閉上眼睛對自己說：「這就是我許願希望得到的朋友嗎？」就在這時，女孩停止了笑，然後說：「我為我的舉止感到抱歉，但因為我的名字剛好叫做『跑步』，所以才這麼好笑。」

散步驚訝地看著她的新朋友，幾乎「噗哧」笑出來。慎重起見，她問小女孩的名字是否真的是跑步。跑步認真地回答：「妳幫助我、清理傷口，為什麼我還會騙妳或取笑妳。」

散步心中充滿喜悅，她對河流許的願實現了，她將永遠不會忘記這天，這一天，散步與跑步成為永遠的好朋友。