So she traveled to a great meadow, and called out "Please! Come 
talk with me! I want to be your friend!"

        And there was a great trembling and shaking of the ground, and
the Earth rumbled, in a voice like an avalanche, "Why do you want to
be friends with me, little Silver?"

        "Because I am lonely, and in need of a friend. And I thought,
I shall make friends with the Earth, for all the things in the world
rest on the Earth. And then I would never be alone. " replied Silver,
speaking loudly to be heard over the roaring.  She didn't mention that
she was already friends with Air, Water, and Fire.

        "And why should I be friends with you?" rumbled the Earth. 

        "I thought you were probably lonely too. You spend all your
time deep underground, a cold and dark place. And everyone just walks
on you and grows on you, without ever really noticing you are there,
and they never stop to try and make friends with you. "

        The Earth stopped trembling and shaking, and just rumbled
quietly. Silver used this time to brush the dirt off of her clothes,
which had gotten quite dusty during the trembling and shaking.

        Finally, there came an answer. In a voice like shovel-ful of
dirt hitting the ground, the Earth said "Yes, I have been feeling
lonely, and I do need a friend. Let us be friends, little Silver. "

        So the two became friends. It was difficult at first, with
Silver becoming bored. It didn't seem like Earth did anything at all.
But eventually, Silver learned to watch not Earth itself, but the life
which grew on it, the birds and animals and plants which Earth
supported.

        Then, one day while Silver played in the meadow, a small duck
with bright red feathers landed beside her, and quacked rather loudly

        "What is it, my friend? What do you want?" asked Silver.

        The duck turned and hopped a few steps away, then turned back
to face Silver and quacked again.

        "Oh, you want me to  follow you!" Silver said, and walked a few
steps towards the duck.