For children: Sriya and Anandi write letters to each other and ‘post’ them in a crevice of a wall

Hi,

6 July

We had a Wall Friends consultation and decided to include you in our gang. I am Anandi. WFA = Wall Friend Anandi. It is also Wall Friend Anaconda, but that is a joke you won’t get.

I am almost ten years old.

The other founding member of the Wall Friends Club is Sriya, aka Sri Lanka. She is ten years old.

What is your name? How old are you? As Sriya and I are the founding members, here are some rules:

1. The Wall Friends Club is a secret club. You are not allowed to tell anyone else about us, unless we give you perm written permission.

2. You must write the date on each letter.

That’s all I can think of for now. We can add more rules later.

Dear Ana,

8 July

No letters yet! Do you think the other person, soon to be the next WF (hopefully), is upset? Were we very mean? (I hope not! I didn’t want to be mean. But a code like that is like whispering in front of other people, isn’t it?)

P.S. Sorry about the terrible handwriting. Writing this standing up so that I can slip it in right away.

Love,
S

Dear S,

10 July

Uh-oh. I hope not! The other person found your code mean, but it wasn’t mean. You just wanted to get me to allow another letter writer into the gang. I was the one who didn’t want anyone else to be part of this.

I feel a little guilty. So, if you’re reading this letter, Other Person, I’m sorry.

I wish I’d been ready to include the new WF immediately because now I’m so excited about the idea of the Wall Friends Club! Maybe we could meet on special ocassions at a secret meeting place. Maybe we could solve mysteries. Or go on adventures!

But SL, I’m so scared that I’ll blurt out something about the WFs that when I meet Veena, I sit quietly nowadays. And I’m usually such a chatterbox that she knows something is up and I think she’s upset. What to do? I really don’t like keeping secrets from my best friend.

Love,
Anandi

Anandi and Sriya,

10 July

Yes, I was upset. First with both of you and then only with Anandi. But this Other Person, as you called me, read all your letters. And left them there because I’M NOT MEAN.

I’ll tell you just one thing about me, and you’ll understand why I didn’t write anything earlier. I am Veena. Yes, Anandi, your “best friend” Veena.

Dear Veena,

11 July

Sorry, sorry, sorry. I’m so sorry, I was the one who asked Anandi not to tell you about me. I keep being mean without meaning to be mean. But I just really liked the idea of a secret friend. Anandi will tell you about my two best friends, so you will understand (I hope) why a special friend was so important to me. But then, just because I wanted a special friend, I made you and your best friend fight. I’m so sorry! I don’t know what else to say. Anandi knows I like to fill up the paper so that I don’t waste it, but I can’t say anything more. I’m sorry, Veena. Will you be WFV?

Love,
Sriya

Apology accepted. :)

and now I’m just excited to be part of the WFC!

Love,
Veena

Uh-oh! I forgot rule 2 of the WFC – the date! It’s the 12th of July.

Excerpted with permission from The Wall Friends Club, Varsha Seshan, illustrated by Denise Antao, HarperCollins India.