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In the middle of a blazing hot summer, the summer before Prudence entered elementary school, a nice-looking nuclear family with a little girl her age moved in. The small town did not warm up to them easily, especially since the parents looked a cut above everyone with their brand-new car and dry-clean-only clothes. Why would this beautiful family come to the middle of nowhere to start a new life? But Prudence's suspicion slipped away a few weeks later when she peered out her window and saw the new neighbors' daughter digging a hole in her own mother's garden. She was transfixed by the clumps of soil carelessly tossed in the air, weeds and petals alike flying from the shovel's edge - the same shovel the mother had used to gently pat down the dirt around her seedlings as the girl looked on.
Prudence ran out, screen door slamming shut behind her and her little backpack. The tall wildgrass that grew just in front of the fence felt as familiar as her own bedroom, and felt quite confident as she strode up to the dusty pickets. She introduced herself to the new girl from the other side of the fence, reaching a paw through the slats to shake like she was told to do. To her surprise, the border collie girl on the other side just stared at her through the fence until she took her paw back in confusion.
"Don't you know how to shake hands?" asked Prudence. "I thought dogs were supposed to be extra polite," she continued, digging in her backpack for the lighter she swiped from her mom's room, "and anyway you're not supposed to dig up weeds unless you're going to burn them, otherwise they'll just rot in your yard."
"Well," said the border collie in a sugary-sweet voice as she eyed the lighter, "I guess there are a lot of things you could teach me."
From that moment on, Melissa latched onto Prudence, inviting her over for dinner constantly and roping her into pulling pranks. Prudence never forgot that rush of adrenaline she felt when Melissa lit that mess of flowers and weeds on fire, jumping back and shrieking with excitement as the pile went up. That was the most attention anyone had ever paid to Prudence, and she felt so special to have a best friend who only wanted to be with her.
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