Eternal Memories

Some people come in our lives and leave footprints in our hearts. They become so close to us that no matter what happens, the bond is still strong, and in some cases, unbreakable

He was just another guy. That's what I thought. He will go through his life. I’ll go through with mine. Just another guy I met. I never thought he would come to mean so much to me. I guess that's life. The most unexpected things happen to us. And for me it happened to be crossing paths with that guy. 

I first saw him in the park, when I was walking my dog. He was sitting on a bench, reading a book. I remember his dark brown hair swaying slightly in the breeze, completely oblivious to the world around him. Or that's what it looked like. 

Nothing really happened that day. We were two strangers. There was no reason to talk. We each minded our own business. After all, our lives weren't some sort of drama filled novel. In fact, I didn't see him after that. Not for a while at least. 

It wasn't until a couple weeks later that I saw him again. And actually met him, thanks to my dog Ame. I was walking rather distracted with my headphones in, when Ame barked and started running. Catching me off guard, the leash slipped out of my hand, resulting in me chasing after a dog that ran twice as fast as I did. 

"Ame, stop it! I had scolded her from a distance when I saw her jumping on the same boy from before, looking for some dog biscuits that he happened to have in his hands. 

Panting, I reached the boy, and pulled away a jumping Ame. "Bad dog" I told her sternly, causing her to flatten her ears against her skull. 

"Sorry about that" I said looking up at the boy, who just laughed. 

"Don't worry about it. She can have one if she wants" He said crouching down and pulling out a biscuit, which Ame gladly took. 

I crossed my arms and fake glared at him. "You're going to spoil her like that. Now she's going to jump on every random person on the streets" 

He laughed at my comment, realizing I wasn't serious. "You'll just have to keep a better eye on her, won't you?" 

I smiled at him in return, studding him. His dark brown hair seemed almost black and his eyes bright green. His face wasn't boyish, but it wasn't manly either. I had to admit, he was kinda cute. 

"I'm Justin" he said, holding out his hand for me to shake

"Kara" I've replied, shaking hands with him. 

After we let go of each others hands, neither of us said anything, causing an awkward silence.  After a few seconds though, we both started laughing at each other. 

"So do you have a dog? I doubt those are for you" I said after we stopped laughing.

"Actually they're for my aunt's dog. I'm not the type of guy that has pets" 

"Your loss" I told him, shrugging. 

He just rolled his eyes in response.

"What school do you go to?" I wondered after a while. I was sure hadn't seen him in my school, which was where most kids around that area went.

"I'm home schooled" 

"Is that good or bad?" I remember asking him, though I never understood why I had asked that in the first place

"It's just different." He told me shrugging. "I don't get any of the high school drama, and I learn at my own pace."

"What about friends?" 

He looked at me and gave me a half smile I came to love. "That's what random encounters like these are for." 

Honestly I can't remember what else we talked about that day. I know we stayed out for a long time, talking and laughing about random stuff. But I do remember smiling to myself after we said goodbye. He seemed like a guy I could trust. I remember that I had a lot of fun that day and hoping I would see him again. 

And I did. A couple of day's later, I was walking home from school, and decided to walk through the park. Why? I always liked parks for no particular reason. There he was, reading a book. Smiling I walked up to him. Sneaking behind him, I looked over his shoulder and took a peek at the book he was reading. 

"I don't know about you, but economy during the industrial revolution seems to me like a very dull and boring subject for such a fine day."

He jumped and turned around when he heard me, relaxing slightly when he saw me smiling at him. 

"Where did you come form?" He asked taking deep breaths. He was very concentrated and I gave him a good scare, something I always felt proud of, as mean as that sounds.

"From my mom I think" I said sitting down next to him, earning an eye roll form him.

"Why are you reading that anyways?" 

"My mom is quizzing me on this tomorrow." 

"Well I think you should take a break" 

"Why should I do that? I haven’t been studying that long" 

"Because I'm bored" I said pouting at him. 

He just laughed at my expression. "What am I supposed to do about that:” he questioned 

"Entertain me" 

"I doubt economy is going to entertain you. And that's something I have to do right now." 

I rolled my eyes at him. The small smile on his face told me that he would rather talk then study. I smirked coming up with an idea. 

"If you want to study so much, then you're going to have to catch me." I told him 

He gave me a confused look, so I took the opportunity to snatch his book and start running.  

"Hey! I need that!" I heard him yell as he started chasing me. 

I laughed and managed to avoid him for a while, but he eventually caught me, wrapping his arms around my waist. He surprised me, so I ended up tripping, bringing him down with me. 

We both laid on the ground laughing. Once we calmed down, the turned so he was facing me, grabbing his book out of my hand. 

"You know, it's not nice to interrupt people and then steel their books" 

"Oh yeah?"  I said, turning around so my elbow supported the weight of my head on my hand 

He nodded. "And now you have to make up for it" 

"How?" 

A big smile appeared on his face as he yelled "Ice skating!" 

I couldn't help but laugh. His excitement was contagious. 

"When? 

"I'll pick you up tomorrow around four."  He said getting up and winking at me before he left. 

It wasn't until the next day that I noticed he had no idea where I lived, unless he stalked me or something, which he hadn't. 

Once I saw the clock mark 4:10 I realized what happened, and I rushed out to the only place I could think of: the park.

Luckily it was near my house, so I made it in a couple of minutes. 

There he was, sitting on a bench. I smiled and walked up behind him. 

"You know, when you tell a person you’re going to pick them up, you normally go to their house" 

He jumped slightly and stood up turning around. 

"Your failed to give me your address:" 

"Fair enough" 

He smiled and walked towards me. 

"Shall we go?" 

I giggled at the formality in his frase and together we went ice skating. 

That day was one of the funnest one I ever had, and it’s one of the best memories I have. We both got along so well. After we went Ice Skating, we went out to eat pizza and we ended up getting kicked out because we somehow got into a miniature food fight.

After that day, we started hanging out more often. We went nearly everywhere: amusement parks, fairs, movies, arcades…..When he went to my house, he instantly got along with my parents, just like I did when I met his. We felt so comfortable in each others houses, that we started having weekly movie nights, and eventually sleepovers.

As our friendship grew, so did our trust. For a long time I considered him my best friend. We could trust each other with anything. I told him most of my secrets and he told me many of his.

 Many people said we made a good couple, and more then one asked if we were dating. But that was never the case. We were just very close friends. Though he never dated anyone and neither did I.  At the time, I had no crushes and I wasn't really looking for a boyfriend. When I asked him about his love interests, he told me he was waiting for that one special girl that would find a way into his heart. 

A year and a half later, he told me he had to leave. His father had been transferred to Europe. London to be exact. The news had shocked me. A year and half seemed too short of a time for the friendship we had. I had come to think that he would always be there. It was a stupid thought. After all he had his own dreams and his own life. We would be separated sooner or later.  And in our case it happened to be sooner. 

We spent the last few days together reliving our best moments. We went to all the places we liked to visit. We spent everyday together. I would go to his house during the morning to help him pack, and then, after a quick lunch, we would spend the rest of the afternoon outside. 

The day before he left, we had our last movie night. We watched our favorite movies, eating popcorn and sweets. Both of us tried to make the day last, to make his departure as far away as we could. But eventually, it had to come. 

I went with him to the airport, helping him with his bags. It was really quite between us. Neither of us said anything, until we had to say goodbye. 

"This is it, I guess" He said, a sad expression on his face. 

"Don't look so sad. You're going to Europe!" I tried cheering him up. 

"But I'm leaving a lot behind, like you." He said staring at me like he was trying to memorize my face. 

"It's not like we can't talk. We can always call each other, and send emails or something."

He shook his head. "It's not the same" 

"It's better then nothing" 

He gave me a small smile and he took the bag that I still had in my hands, which he would take with him on the plane. 

"Justin, we have to go!" his mom yelled, already waiting for him so they could board the plane

"I suppose this is goodbye" I told him, tears starting to form in my eyes.

He pulled me in a tight hug, which I gladly returned, breathing in the scent of his sweater. 

"I'll come back for you Kara. That's a promise." he whispered in my ear. 

In  response I held him tighter, until unfortunately we had to break apart. He picked up his bag and turned to leave, as a few tears slipped down my cheeks. 

"Don't cry K, no one is dying." he said when he turned around to look at me one last time.

I couldn't help but laugh a little at his comment. We had been acting like he was dying the past few days. 

"Just don't become too serious, J. Smiling is a good thing" I said back. We always joked around that people in London were just like the cold weather it always seemed to have in movies. 

He waved at me, giving me that half smile of his, and then turned around and left. 

That was the last time I saw him. We lost contact after six months. And even during that time, I couldn't help but feel that our friendship was slowly breaking apart. Distance does that to people, no matter how much they try to fight it. 

 

                                                                            ~ ~ ~

 

"You haven't talked to him since then?" The ten year old girl in front of me asked. She had asked me who the boy next to me in the picture was when I showed it to her in the park, so I ended up telling her the story. The wind had blown it out my door when I left for a walk, so I ended up taking it with me.

I shook my head at her. "No I haven't" 

"But he promised he would come back!"

I couldn't help but smile a little. "Yes he did. And I still hope I'll see him again someday. But it's very hard for that to happen."

"Why?" Her brown eyes were big and innocently curious.

 "Because that happened a long time ago. He might not recognize me anymore." 

"But if he did come back what would you do?" the girl asked the same question I had asked myself over and over.

"I would never let him go" I told her softly 

"Did you love him?" 

I chuckled a little at her question. 

"Maybe I did. I'm not really sure. All that I know for certain is that I'll never forget him" 

A woman yelled something from the other side of the park, causing her to turn around.

"I have to go. I hope you find him someday" she said with a smile on her lips before turning around and running to what I suppose is her mother. 

I smiled at her and stood up from my crouched position. I watched her walk away with her mother before resuming my walk with a sigh. It had been nearly six years since Justin had left, and I still missed him like I did all those years before. Everyday I wondered how he was.  I liked to believe he was fine and happy and that he had fulfilled his dreams.

"You know, that was a great story, but it doesn't have to end just yet." A deep voice said behind me.

Shocked I turned around and gasped as I saw a handsome man leaning against a tree with a familiar half smile on his face. He had dark brown hair that looked almost black over a pair of unmistakable green eyes.

He pushed himself off the tree, a playful twinkle in his eyes. "Did you really think I wouldn't come, K?  

 

Author's Note

I know this has a lot of things that could be better, even if I don't know most of them. Feel free to point them out, but I most likely won't change it, though it will affect my writing.
Any kind of feedback is appreceated.

Reviews

[Eagle Cruagh]

Well, first of all you are an excellent writer
and you are a story teller beyond excellent.
Do you know how I know that. I know that
because I did not intend to read this story.
It is too long and I don`t have much time--- but
in the first paragraph you hooked me. You stuck
your little finger in my face and said look at this
and I could not resist--- i LOOKED and you had me .
I was hooked. Each paragraph just go t deeper and ''
more interesting than the last and I could not pry
my self away from you . You are anything but a
Random Girl , you are a prize and I would like to
win you . '
Thank you for the most interesting read.
---- John

[etxcp]

Awesome JoB!!!!!! :)

[Taylor Duke Vonville]

Very enjoyable read. There some minor grammar issues (misspelling, etc) but nothing that took away from the story.

I really enjoyed the pacing. I thought the story flowed well. And though the ending was predictable, it was nice.

Nice story.

Please review my short 500-word story "All in the Family" if you get a chance.

Thanks!

Taylor

[nicolo]

And these are the moments in which your world is lifted to a better place --you've walked me through that place. :)