Is it okay to have imaginary friends?
I think we all have them. They’re just normal for us, right? Especially when we want someone around! A friend who’s there for us, or maybe someone who can keep us busy for a little while. Imaginary friends come in many shapes and sizes. Some are taller or shorter, while others might be stronger and smarter. They may even have spikey orange hair and have a goofy name like Woofenshmirtz or Babby! But no matter how they look, or even what they’re called, all of our friends are loved.
I have a friend too! His name’s Andy.
Andy’s always been very special. He’s not like the other imaginary friends we keep around. You know, the friends who show up whenever they want, or the ones that nobody ever seems to see? Andy’s not like that at all. In fact, he loves being seen! He tells me that all the time. That’s his only wish – to be noticed by everyone, just in case something were to ever happen to me. He cares so very much! And he just wants to be my friend, after all.
Andy knows a secret way to get others to see him. It’s very special, I promise. The only problem is that he is also very shy! How silly of him, right? He’s not like other imaginary friends, who are always so happy to talk to everyone we meet. No, Andy thinks it’s rude to do that. Instead, he does something very different.
It doesn’t happen until I find a new friend. A real-life friend, someone who can come out to play with me when I go out to the backyard. Someone like Jaime – she was our neighbor. She loved playing with me outside. We would do it all the time until the sun went to sleep and then again once it woke up the next day!
Everybody loved Jaime, including Andy. Andy was so jealous that she couldn’t see him. That was when he decided to come out and play with us too. And in his super special way.
You see, Andy was shy because he didn’t like the way he looked. He thought people would make fun of him because he’s so skinny, or because he’s very tiny. I tried to tell him that it was silly and that he looked very handsome. But he’s still shy. So, instead, he likes to appear as someone else. Someone like Jaime.
And that’s what he did. So now, whenever Jaime came out to play with me, she looked just like Andy! And it made me really happy. It made Andy feel that way too. Pretty soon it was hard to tell who I was actually playing with because they both were the same person. That is, until Jaime left to go back home. But she’d always come back the next day, and so did Andy.
Andy loved it so very much. He wanted to stay that way. We all just wanted to play together, and Andy wanted Jaime to see him too. So, one day, Andy revealed a special plan. He knew how to get Jaime to see him.
The next day Jaime came out to play with us like she always did. Andy and I decided that we should all play in the treehouse again. And it was very fun! We played games like pretend, hide-and-seek, and so many others. While we were all playing though, Andy decided that it was time to reveal his plan.
Andy pulled out our pet rock Clifford. Clifford was such a silly pet – always up to no good! But we loved him so very much. Clifford was also a heavy pet too. Maybe because we fed him so much? Andy said that I should show Clifford to Jaime because she would like him. So, I picked him up and took him to her. But Jaime was always busy whenever I tried to show her Clifford. Andy didn’t like that. So instead, Andy took Clifford from me and he said “Don’t worry, I’ll show him to Jaime for you!”
Then he went up to her, lifted Clifford up in the sky for everyone to see, and then BONK! Right on her little noggin! She even had a whole bunch of stuff like weird spaghetti shoot out of her head. All red and squishy too. What was all of that stuff doing up there anyway?
But Jaime then got really tired when Andy tried to show her Clifford and fell asleep. That didn’t stop him though! Not at all. Andy lifted Clifford back up again and again and again until there was no way she hadn’t seen him. Then Jaime decided to lay in the treehouse next to my playset.
Andy got super excited. He said that he needed to show Jaime more! So we pushed her over to the corner of the treehouse. Then Andy had another idea. He thought that Jaime looked lonely lying there and that we should help her feel better.
He had me grab her hand before running away to do something else. I thought her hand felt very soft. Like a good blanket, or maybe a nice fuzzy coat. I stayed there for quite a bit until Andy came back and told me that I needed to help him peel Jaime like an orange!
He said that there were many ways to peel oranges. Some of us like to slice them open with a sharp knife, or even bite through the whole peel and tear it that way. But Andy has his own special way to peel oranges. So he had me hold Jaime’s hand while he lifted her fingernails. They came up with such a nice popping sound – like a soda can! Then he had me grab the nail too and pull it really hard. I thought that it might break off but instead, I was able to pull it and Jaime’s skin all the way up!
Then Andy had me go to the next one, and then the one after that. We even had to change from her hands to her feet because we had pulled all the nails. It was so very fun – and I didn’t know that we had stuff underneath that peely skin! They looked like little red strings, and they were really stretchy and tough to pull on.
Andy told me that those strings were very special. He had me push my fingers between them like I was trying to peek through window blinds. It felt so very weird! I could feel the little strings shake whenever I wiggled my fingers. But then there was also something else in there – something hard and sticky. Andy said that I should pull it out. So I tried. And when I did I realized that it was a super long bone!
Andy helped me pick the rest of the bones out. We must’ve spent so long in the treehouse, pulling bones away one by one. Until we were left with nothing but Jaime. The real Jaime. She looked so peaceful and cozy.
After a really long time, Andy took Jaime, lifted her up really high, and had me slip inside her. In between the stringy red stuff and the peeled skin. We started from her back, fitting my arms and legs inside her first. Then Andy helped me fit around her stomach, and finally over her stretchy face. And she fit over me so very well! Like getting a big, wet hug all around. Andy made sure to check everything again and asked if I was comfy.
Andy took me to the mirror, and that’s when I realized something. This had been his plan all along! This is how Jaime would finally get to see Andy, my friend. It was so perfect with Jaime, Andy, and me all together. We were like a huge family.
I wish it would have lasted forever, but then Jaime started to get heavy and dry. Once I started having trouble moving around Andy helped me get Jaime off, and then he had me move her to the back of the treehouse, hiding her in our little toy chest so she could get some rest. How kind of Andy to think of Jaime like that!
She must’ve slept in that closet for a long while. After about a week or two, Jaime’s family started to stop by our house a lot. I remember them asking us a bunch of weird questions. I think they were very worried about Jaime, but then after a while they stopped coming by. They had no idea that Jaime was still up in the treehouse, playing with Andy and me every day!
But then Jaime went away too, and Andy started to get sad again. He told me how much he missed having a friend to play with us. I told him that it would be okay, but he said that we needed to have someone come back up to the treehouse with us. How silly of him! But I also think our new neighbors have another boy who’s about our age. I think his name was maybe Johnny? Andy said that I should try playing with him. Maybe we could even become best friends like Jaime!
Andy also said that he has a special plan for Johnny. So I’ll just listen and do whatever he says.