A Promise

“Lou! Lou! Wait up!” I yelled, running up the hill. Lou had already reached the top. She stopped, turned and yelled, “You would have to do better than that, if you don’t want to get caught, Gin!” she flashed me a wide smile before running down the other side. Panting and huffing, I made it to the top and stopped for a moment. The sun’s heat was on my back, and my cheeks and ears were hot. I could see Lou sitting in our favourite spot, under the apple tree. She didn’t even look winded. She grinned and beckoned me over. I started running again, clutching the box of strawberries we had just stolen tightly in my hands. The sun’s blazing heat made the tree’s cool shade seem like heaven.
“You made it!” said Lou, as I flopped down beside her, panting away like a dog.
“Don’t sound that surprised, I am not that slow,” I snapped.
“Ooh, looks like someone has a hot head,” she said, fanning my face with her hands.
I rolled my eyes at her.
Lou laughed and said, “Well just look at the number of strawberries we managed to snag this time.” She picked up one and tossed it into her mouth. “Mm mm…. juicy as ever,” she said, closing her eyes and savouring the taste.
“I wonder why Mr. Johnson never complains or says anything to our mothers about us stealing his strawberries. I am sure he has seen me many times. Why, just last week, he chased me around his backyard with a stick!”
“Because silly, he can't remember anything. I bet he even forgets that he grows strawberries. How would he remember who stole it? Also, try to be a little bit faster next time. If you continue with this speed, it won’t be long before he does complain to our mothers. Although, I will say you have improved a lot since the first day I took you stealing. You were such a baby back then.”
As I rolled my eyes at her again, my mind slipped down the memory lane. The first day I went on a strawberry-stealing expedition with my wild friend. Boy, I hadn’t thought of that day in a long, long time.
A year back I had been a miserable girl, moping around the place because I had been forced to pack up my life and shift to a completely new world. I had to leave my lovely house, the beautiful garden I had put so much time and effort into and worst of all, say goodbye to my grandmother. With my black mood, I would have rather stayed indoors and sulked, but with all the shifting and moving I was ordered out. I roamed the place, walking around the deep blue ponds on the lush green grass. I wanted to hate the place, but its picturesque beauty made it quite hard. As I sat on the banks of a small pond, staring into its calm waters, a sudden ‘Hey!’ startled me so badly, that I almost fell into the pond. I turned around to see a pretty, older girl, grinning at me.
“Scared you pretty bad, didn’t I?” she said, walking closer to me. I got a proper look at her face. She had blond hair, that glinted golden as it caught the sunlight. Her startling green eyes danced with mischief. She had light bronze skin and an athletic figure. She was beautiful. Not regal or elegant beautiful, but natural beautiful. For a second, I just stood there gazing at her, tongue-tied.
“I-I will say you did,” I said, finally finding my voice.
“I am Lou, Louisa Hope,” she said, extending out her hand.
“I am Gin, Ginny Walker. I just moved here,” I said, shaking her hand. Her hands were a welcome warm.
“I know,” she said, grinning again, “we are neighbours. I saw you moping about. You had a permanent scowl on your face, like my grandma.”
My cheeks turned hot as I remembered my sour face. But as I looked at Lou laughing at my discomfort, my embarrassment turned into indignation. “I know, I am a mess and I am miserable. I didn’t want to leave everything behind and I hate change. And right now, my entire world just-just changed completely,” I stuttered, my voice choked with emotion.
“Hey, hey you know what they say,” her amusement now replaced with concern. “You can never leave behind the things that actually matter. Also, we all hate change, but we accept it and cope with it. The world would be in ruins if we all decided to cry every time something changed. So quit complaining. Come on, Miss Sour Face, I know something that might cheer you up.”
Before I could protest, she grabbed my arm and dragged me with her.
She took me to a house which had a small garden in front. There was a wide assortment of many different plants. As the wind blew, I got a whiff of the fragrance of the many flowers. Oh, how it reminded me of my old garden. If I closed my eyes, it almost felt as if I was back home. I turned to ask Lou why she had brought me there when I saw her crouching on the ground behind the fence, spying through the gaps and holes in the wood.
“Get down!” she hissed, “do you want him to spot us?”
I got down beside her and whispered, “Him, who?”
“Mr Johnson, the man who lives here,” she answered pointing through a small hole in the fence.
When I put my eye next to it, I could see, just through the window, an old man reading his paper sitting on an armchair.
Lou got up and sneaked around the fence. She kept her head well below the fence and tip-toed quietly making as little noise as possible. I, on the other hand, managed to step on a twig and even yelped out loud when it broke with a loud crunch. What can I say, stealth was not where I shined. We sneaked around the corner of the fence and reached the back of the house. Lou pointed towards two boxes kept near the wall.
“We need to get one of those boxes. They contain the best and juiciest strawberries that I have ever tasted,” she whispered.
“But that’s stealing!” I whispered back.
“An old man living all alone does not need two whole boxes of strawberries, Gin. Two kids on the other hand can make good use of them.”
“That does not justify stealing!”
“God, if you are going to be such a wet blanket, I will go alone. Just don’t do something stupid.”
Having said that, she swung open a loose fence and tip-toed in. She picked up one of the boxes, came back and threw the entire box over the fence. The box landed with a loud thud.
“Who’s there?!” yelled a voice from inside the house.
Lou opened the loose fence and got back out. I heard footsteps approaching and made a run for it. Lou followed close behind lugging the box with her. The big box she was carrying didn't even seem to slow her down. Suddenly she stumbled over a rock and yelped. I turned around to see Mr Johnson close behind her. Without thinking, I grabbed one end of the box from Lou and we ran, over the hill and down the other side before collapsing under a big, shady tree. We had lost him. I could still feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins, while my heart hammered in my chest.
“Are you crazy?!” I exclaimed at Lou.
“I am surprised you need to ask after all this,” she replied.
For a moment we both stared at each other. Then we started laughing, and couldn’t stop. We laughed and laughed and laughed till my stomach hurt and I could laugh no more.
“It was good of you to not leave but come and help, although,” she said with a cheeky grin, “I would have managed on my own.
“Oh really? Well, next time I shall leave you right there to get beaten up by Mr Johnson’s walking stick,” I said, swatting her arm.
And we both laughed again.
“Hello!! Earth to Gin!” called out Lou, clapping her hands in front of my face.
I snapped back into the present. “Oh, yeah, sorry. What were you saying?”
“I had something that I needed to tell you.” She looked at me seriously.
“Is it that you finally accepted that you are mental? Been telling you that for days.”
“Oh sure,” she replied with heavy sarcasm, “But Gin, this isn’t a joke,” she said quietly, looking at her palms, her voice taking a serious tone. I am going to the city for higher studies. My parents enrolled me in a school in the city. They want me to step outside and experience the world as it is. And honestly, even I want that experience.”
All the air seemed to go out of my lungs. “W-wait, you are kidding, right? I-I can’t live here without you.” I said, my voice breaking.
“Gin, I know this is hard, but it’s final. I leave here in a week. Tell me, you don’t always want to live here in a protective bubble, do you? We each have a future we deserve to live to the fullest. I know change is hard for you, believe me, I know better than anyone else. But change gives you choices, choices to define your life.”
“Lou, the city is a dangerous place. Bad things happen. The people are cold and rude, they don’t help. They just hurt. Don’t go, Lou, listen to me.” I begged, grabbing her hands, sobbing.
“That’s what makes me want to go there. I want to explore. And whatever happens, I would have lived and tried, rather than being bubble-wrapped my whole life. This is my choice. And I will always come back to you Gin. I can never leave you.”
I dropped her hand and looked away, trying to hide my tears. Why must I be separated from every person and everything I love? Why must I grow close, only to be torn apart?
She took my hand in hers and pressed gently. A tingle went through my heart.
“You will always have me. I promise.”
She pulled me close and hugged me tight. I wanted to sit there like that forever. I wanted time to freeze, and the world to stop, but I didn’t want to let go of Lou. I had a feeling that if I let go, she would never come back. Finally, she pulled away and gave me her usual grin. Except this time her eyes were watery, the mischievous glint lost somewhere in the mist. I couldn't even hide it anymore. I just cried helplessly in her arms.
Seven days seemed to go by in a flash. The morning she was to leave, I dreaded getting up. I dreaded going with her to the train station. I dreaded seeing her get on the train and wave at me as the train moved and went far away. So, I did just that. And when the train left, I turned around, wiped my eyes and walked back home. Home where Lou would no longer be next door.
The year seemed to crawl by. The bright colours of the countryside seemed to have shifted to shades of grey. The birds’ song was no longer cheerful music, the ponds no longer a merry blue, the insects no longer fun playmates. After some weeks I started with the strawberry stealing again. I figured Lou wouldn’t want me to stop. I would take the box, and run up and over the hill to our spot under the tree. Somehow, I always felt closer to her there. Soon the months had gone by, and I was crossing out the days before her arrival.
I opened my eyes in the morning. This was the day I had long awaited. The day the 5 o’clock train would come to the station and drop my friend in my waiting arms. Not immediately, though. My ever-treacherous mother had given me chores to finish which would keep me busy well after 5.
I went to the station with my parents at around 5.15. Lou’s parents were already there. I realised with a pang, that Lou wasn’t there with them yet.
“It’s okay. Trains can be late,” I told myself. But as I walked through the crowd, I realised that the entire station was in a state of panic. Hysterical and worried men and women littered the platform. I spotted Mrs Hope sitting on a bench with her hands clenched and eyes closed. Mr. Hope paced back and forth, his face pale.
“What happened?” asked my mother.
“Accident,” croaked Mrs Hope, opening her eyes, revealing tears.
My world turned upside down. My voice was gone, my vision faded. I staggered to the bench and sat down. The word ‘accident’ spun in front of my eyes, while echoing in my ears.
“Lou…oh...Lou” I mumbled.
“We have no news on survivors yet,” said someone.
Suddenly a hush fell over the station, as an announcement was made. The survivors and injured passengers would be dropped at the station soon by a different train. All the people rushed to the edge of the platform, hopeful to see their loved ones safe and sound. Ten minutes later, a train moved into the station. I stood there, scanning each face for a hint of familiarity. But she wasn’t there. As cries of joy mixed with cries of sorrow, I knelt on the platform and prayed. Prayed to get one sight of her, prayed to God to not take her away from me, prayed for the promise she had made to me.
The platform quietened, as an announcement sounded again. The seriously injured had been taken to a hospital nearby. Immediately I sprung up, hope filling inside me. I walked towards where my father and Mr Hope were speaking and getting ready to go.
“I shall come as well,” I said
“No,” my father said, gripping my shoulder, “you must stay. What we see, may be more than what you can handle. You need to stay, Gin.”
“No! No!” I screamed as my father left with Mr. Hope, and my mother held me back.
Who knows how many hours passed, sitting on the cold platform. The tears had frozen on Mrs Hope’s face, while my mother held her cold hands, reassuring her that everything would be fine. Finally, I saw two figures emerging from the darkness. But when I spotted their bowed heads and white faces, I knew. My father looked up and whispered hoarsely, “We need to arrange a funeral.”
The day of the funeral sprung up bright and sunny. The birds chirped, and the insects hummed. It was almost like an insult to Lou. I walked through the ceremony like a ghost, neither speaking nor listening. White faces and black clothes shifted in and out of my view. As the ceremony concluded and the crowds dispersed, I quietly slipped away and walked towards our spot under the apple tree. The spot that I no longer shared with anyone. I sat down on the grass, facing towards the sun. I closed my eyes and pictured Lou sitting beside me. Her golden hair, green eyes and mischievous smile.
“I am mad at you, you know,” I said, my chin trembling, “I warned you that something bad would happen. But you were so stupid, so stubborn and like always, you didn’t listen. You never do! And now- and now I have lost you!” I screamed, letting out all the emotions I had bottled up since the day of the accident.
“You promised Lou,” I said, crying softly, “you said you would never leave me. You promised you would come back to me.”
As I closed my eyes, and let the tears trickle down my face, I felt a sudden shift in the environment. Something rustled near my hand, and then I felt it. The presence of someone familiar. The sweet scent of strawberries, the welcome warmth, and faint laughter.
“It was my choice,” I heard the words as clear as daylight.
A smile appeared on my tear-stained face, for I knew the promise had not been broken.