So Long Astoria

The sky was filled with dark gray rain clouds on this dreary day as he stood outside on his front porch, watching the boats drift by down at the harbor. A chilly wind blew suddenly, tousling his hair as his eyes surveyed everything that was within his view. He sighed sadly, wrapping his arms around himself and leaning back gently on the wall of his home.

This was it. This was his last day in Astoria.

He looked down at his feet as memories began to swirl within the confinements of his mind. He loved this place, and he'd love it forever. He remembered the time that his brother and his friends had found the treasure map in his attic – that old, seemingly useless piece of parchment that had taken them on the greatest adventure of his then thirteen years of existence. He remembered his first kiss within the caves miles and miles beneath the ground – of the way is heart glowed when her lips touched his…and the feeling of heartbreak later when he learned that it had all been a mistake. He remembered the feeling of bone chilling amazement when he had first laid eyes on the rotted remains of One – Eyed Willie, knowing that they, the Goonies, had finally accomplished what professional treasure hunters had never been able to do. He remembered the way that they all had rejoiced over the treasure, only to be taken captive moments later. But they were rescued, and with the jewels he had cleverly hidden in is marble bag they were able to save the Goon Docks from destruction.

There was a loud crack of thunder, and Mikey looked up.

But this time they weren't losing the Goon Docks. This time, Mikey had to leave for a different reason.

He had grown up.

He was eighteen now, and tomorrow he would begin to head out east to embark on the next "great adventure": college.

Mikey knew he had to go, but he wasn't ready to leave just yet. He had never been away from his family or his friends in such a long time, and he wasn't sure how he could handle being without them. The Goonies had a special bond, he knew that, but he just wasn't ready to let go.

But he knew he was being selfish. He knew he wasn't the only one leaving.

Data had left last week. Mikey smiled. Data. Some things never changed – he was still the same crazy kid who made inventions out of household objects on a daily basis. Luckily for the Goonies, Data's inventions had improved greatly and had been of use to them on more than one occasion. Now they would be of use to them at his engineering school.

Data would be famous some day for his inventions – everyone knew that.

Then there was Chunk. To no one's surprise, he had decided that he would attend a culinary school to perfect his rights at cooking. Chunk had taken up cooking when they were in junior year of high school, and he had gotten really good at that. He had also lost some weight and shaped up a bit, being in a lot better health than he had been in years. His family was proud of him and his cooking achievements, especially Sloth.

Mouth was working on becoming a plumber like his father, but even that was taking him away to some school down south. Mouth was still the same obnoxious friend that he had always been, but his had found out how to put more thought in what he was going to say before he said it. He had also matured the most out of all of them, and Mikey always suspected that that had something to do with his relationship with Stef. Mouth and Stef had been dating on and off since Mouth's sophomore year of high school, and they still bickered constantly.

Mikey laughed lightly. It was amazing how many times they had broken up and gotten back together.

However, their relationship differed from his brother Brand and Andy's relationship. Still going strong after five long years, none of the Walshes would be surprised if Brand asked Andy to marry him soon. But Mikey wasn't too sure how keen Brand was on the commitment of marriage at the moment, and Brand hadn't shown any interest in proposing soon. But Mikey knew that Brand loved Andy and that Andy loved him, so he held no fears that they wouldn't be committed in a little while.

Besides, no one could break the bond that kept the Goonies together.

"Mikey! Come inside this instant!"

Mikey jumped slightly as he was yanked from his memories. He turned his head and called towards the door, "I'm coming Mom!"

"Now!" Mrs. Walsh shouted back. "It's raining and I don't want you coming down with asthma!"

Mikey looked out towards the harbor. Sure enough, it had started to pour heavily and a fog was beginning to obscure his view of the entire town. The wind picked up suddenly and blew hard as thunder crashed again loudly in the distance.

Mikey smiled to himself. It figured that his last day in Astoria would be a miserable one. Sometimes, he found it amazing how the weather matched his inner feelings.

Mikey turned around and headed inside.

The thunder continued to boom loudly off in the distance. Mikey lay in his bed, attempting to get some sleep as the storm raged on outside. However, the constant noise refused to let him drift off into his dreamland and he found himself rising from his bed.

Mikey moved towards the window. Once he reached it he yanked on the blinds until they opened.

He peered out the window.

It was nothing but darkness.

Mikey sighed and begin to close the blinds when, suddenly, lightened flashed across the sky and illuminated everything in front of him. He could see the town as it would look in broad daylight.

Mikey smiled suddenly.

The storm reminded him of that day five years ago that he had found the treasure map in his attic and that they, the Goonies, had gone on their adventure.

Knowing this, Mikey felt comforted. This storm was a sign, he realized, a sign that he would be fine in life and that the Goonies would always be a part of him, no matter how far he went and how long he was gone for. He knew it would be okay to let go, knowing that it was only for a little while.

"So long Astoria," Mikey whispered out to the darkness. "So long."

fin.