ANNE'SBESTFRIEND

　　Doyouwantafriendwhomyoucouldtelleverythingto,likeyourdeepestfeelingsandthoughts?Orareyouafraidthatyourfriendwouldlaughatyou,orwouldnotunderstandwhatyouaregoingthrough?AnneFrankwantedthefirstkind,soshemadeherdiaryherbestfriend.

　　AnnelivedinAmsterdamintheNetherlandsduringWorldWarII.HerfamilywasJewishsotheyhadtohideortheywouldbecaughbyGermanNazis.Sheandhefamilyhidawayfornearlytwenty-fivemonthsbeforetheywerediscovered.Duringthattimetheonlyturefriendwasherdiary.Shesaid,"Idon'twanttosetdownaseriesoffactsinadiaryasmostpeopledo,butIwantthisdiaryitsefttobeemyfriend,andIshallcallmyfriendKitty."NowreadhowshefeltafterbeinginthehidingplacesinceJuly1942.

　　Thursday15thJune,1944

　　DearKilly,

　　Iwonderifit'sbecauseIhaven'tbeenabletobeoutdoorsforsolongthatI'vegrownsocrazyabouteverythingtodowithnature.Icanwellremeberthattherewasatimewhenadeepbluesky,thesongofthebirds,moonlightandflowerscouldneverhavekeptmespellbould.That'schangedsinceIwashere.

　　...Forexample,oneeveningwhenitwassowarm,Istayedawakeonpurposeuntilhalfpasteleveninordertohaveagoodlookatthemoonbymyself.Butasthemoongavefartoomuchlight,Ididn'tdareopenawindow.Anothertimefivemonthsago,Ihappenedtobeupstairsatdarkwhenthewindowwasopen.Ididn'tgodownstairsuntilthewindowhadtobeshut.Thedark,rainyevening,thewind,thethunderingcloudsheldmeentirelyintheirpower;itwasthefirsttimeinayearandahalfthatI'dseenthenightfacetoface...

　　...sadly...Iamonlyabletolookatnaturethoughtditlycurtainshangingbrforeverydustywindows.It'snopleasurelookingthoughttheseanylongerbecausenatureisonethingthatreallymustbeexperienced.

　　Yours,

　　Anne