Fiona was clever and fun, and got on well with everyone. It was no accident that Fiona was so popular at school. From an early age she had made an effort to be friendly to everyone. She invited the whole class to her birthday party, and from time to time she would give presents to everybody. She was such a busy girl, with so many friends, that she hardly got a chance to spend time with individual friends. But everything changed on National Friendship Day. That day in class everyone had to make three presents to give to their three best friends. Fiona enjoyed the task of choosing three from all the dozens of her friends. However, when all the presents had been shared out among classmates, Fiona was the only one who had not received a present! She created quite a puddle of tears . How could it be possible? So much effort to make so many friends, and in the end no one saw her as their best friend? Everyone came and tried to console her for a while, but each one only stayed for a short time before leaving. This was exactly what Fiona had done so many times to others. The next day when she got home, Fiona asked her mother where she could find true friends. "My dear," answered her mother, "you cannot buy friends with a smile or a few good words. If you really want true friends, you have to give them real time and affection. For a true friend you must always be available, in good times and bad." "But I want to be everybody's friend! I need to share my time among everyone!" Fiona protested. "You're a lovely girl," said her mother, "but you can't be a close friend to everybody. Time is limited; it's only possible to have a few true friends. The others will be playmates or acquaintances." Hearing this, Fiona decided to change her ways so that she could finally have some true friends.