Note: I do not own the 'Life is Strange' game.

Staring at the contraption with worn legs, squeaky chains and a seat that was practically falling apart and rocking gently over the ground, I can see an entire lifetime before me. The wind blows calmly through my brown hair and makes my top flap a little and my hands are dug into my jean pockets.

I reach out for the chains that hold the seat to the rest of the swing and sit down with my back facing the fence, pushing myself forward and backwards by gently swinging my feet, leaving them hanging above the ground, resting my hands on my lap. The squeaks of the chains against the metal bar at the top fill the air, each one sounding as if it were glad to be moving again in its proper way after having been left here for so long. To be honest, I really doubt that Chloe has been using this since …

I sigh heavily with an equal feeling pulling on my heart. If only you were still here, William.

The barbecue rested at the other end of the garden, its worn legs and cover a relic of time in itself. I was sure that they had never used it since Chloe's birthday a few weeks before we saw him for the last time. I smile at the memory running through my head, especially the comedic side of it when Chloe had eaten two burgers and decided to swing up and down on the swing as fast as she could and ended up throwing it all back up and got it over her trousers. Oh, we were laughing about it for days on end afterwards.

That all seemed so long ago, longer than four years in fact.

As I raise my hands and grasp the chains of the swing I look up at the house, seeing the half-finished paint job on it. Another relic, Max! If that was what I'd become in the last few minutes, seeing as I had thought the same of these swings and the barbecue, I should become an archaeologist! Ha! What a change this day has been. I go from sitting in Mr Jefferson's class to going back in time to almost getting into a fight with Nathan and running into Chloe and now I'm an amateur archaeologist. Just make me president and be done with it!

Still, as I examine it, the house's unfinished look makes it look like it's in a sad and depressed state. The cracks in the wood, the half-finished paint colour, the worn things in the back garden and the rubbish in the bins next to the gate to the back garden, the overgrown weeds and scattered cinder blocks all over the place. All of it is like some kind of copy of person who would give up on life and not care about their home or their things or even their own bodies. The house, having lost its owner, had done the same and still was.

What a way to focus on memories, Max! I should be a poet who writes depressing verses or feelings.

Another sigh. I should probably go back inside and get the tools to fix my camera. Chloe's not really going to come running down to look for me, she's too busy lying on her bed smoking a joint. But I really don't want to go back in, I'd rather stay out here for a little longer. Enjoy a little bit of nature.

When I think of her name, though, it brings back one of our more interesting conversations we had had years ago.

"Hey Chloe, what do you truly want to do when you grow up?"

"Max, I'm already grown up! What about you?"

I remember I closed my eyes in a dreamy kind of way and began to think of various places around the globe, though the only things that came into my head were the famous landmarks and buildings the countries had.

"Travel. That would be so awesome. Explore the whole world. Go far from here."

After I said that, Chloe pouted playfully. "Far from me? Thanks a lot, dude."

I tittered at her words. "Dude, you would totally come with me! I need a bodyguard for our adventures!"

Chloe then smiled at this point, thinking of her 'hero'. "I would be like Lara Croft, except real! That would be majorly cool!"

I beamed. "Totally, we would have cars and planes and boats hidden all around for instant escape!"

I began to imagine us doing those sorts of things. Jumping into an Astin Martin called by remote control outside the White House; skydiving off the Petronas Towers in Malaysia; jumping into a speedboat in Shanghai or Sydney harbour; flying above the Amazon; skydiving into the Congo. It would be great.

"And no adults could tell us what to do!"

That would be the best part. Our parents said we were at that age, wanting to do our own thing and be a little rebellious and ambitious, but imagine it! If we could do those things, we would be the most badass pair in the world! It would be so cool!

I remember that Chloe smiled brightly at that. "Count me in! What would you do while I was body guarding you?"

I thought about it for a moment. I wanted it to be something that included both of us. Something really special.

"I would take pictures of all our adventures. I would love to be a photographer." I remember sighing a little heavily at that point, feeling a little down about myself. "As if I ever could be."

Chloe rested her hand on my arm. "Max, what are you talking about? You are a photographer. I mean, your pictures could be in a museum. In fact, they will be someday. I believe in you."

I believe in you. I almost smirk sarcastically to myself. If you did then, Chloe, you sure as hell don't now!

Would we ever be the same again? Before I moved, we were like sisters. When William died, she needed me and even said that I was really the only thing that made her hold onto hope and gave her the strength to move on. Now four years later and I'm back in Arcadia Bay, and yet she greeted me with real indifference like I was some kind of criminal.

Was it really my fault I didn't contact her?

Maybe …

I sigh once again and get up from the swings and start back in the direction of the back door. Where are those tools?