As the overcast August afternoon enveloped the park in a muggy haze, a young boy and girl sat on the swings, rocking slightly back and forth in tandem. The end of the summer was quickly approaching, which left the pair in less-than-cheerful spirits. They had spent their whole summer in this park. It was their sanctuary, their home away from home. They had met at the beginning of the summer on these very swings, and had become fast friends. Neither knew where the other lived, nor did they care to know. They met at the park and didn't venture past its chain-link fences. There was always plenty to do in the park. They could chase each other around the field, see who could swing the highest, make up silly games, or just talk for hours on end. It was their eleventh summer; the summer before everything changed.
The boy turned his head slightly to look towards his friend, taking in her long auburn hair and freckled face. Her emerald green eyes saw him looking at her.
"What are you thinking about?" the girl asked. They didn't care what the other thought about them. They were carefree and innocent, just two friends with no obligations or responsibilities.
"About how the summer is almost over. I'm going to boarding school, you know," the boy said somberly.
"Yeah, you told me. How far away is it?" the girl queried.
"Really far. I have to go all the way to London to catch a train there. My parents met each other there, so they wanted me to go. My mum told me her favorite teacher when she was a student there is the new headmaster."
"It'll be weird without you. I'll be at my school all alone," the girl said sadly.
"We can still see each other during holidays, right?" the boy asked hopefully.
"Of course. And we'll meet here. On these two swings. For old time's sake," the girl said confidently. The pair sat in silence, dreading the end of their glorious summer, slowly rocking back and forth, back and forth, until the boy smirked at the girl and ran off the swing.
"Catch me if you can!" he yelled back at her. He had natural athleticism. He was quick, had sharp reflexes, and could throw farther and more accurately than any other person the girl knew. She jumped off her swing and followed him, his already messy, dark hair becoming even messier as the wind blew through it. He was fast, but his friend was smart. She knew him back and front; she knew his tricks, his cunning movements that would've deceived anyone else. She cut him off near the big oak tree and tackled him to the ground. They lied on the ground panting and laughing under the shade of the oak tree.
"What do you want to do now?" the girl asked once their hearts had returned to a normal speed.
"Let's carve our names into the tree," the boy proposed.
"Wouldn't that hurt the tree?"
"Of course not. Its just the bark," he said confidently, though he had no idea if he was right.
"Okay, let's do it," the girl said with new enthusiasm.
After their hands were tired and red from the continuous carving, they stood back to admire their handiwork.
JAMES AND LILY :
FRIENDS FOREVER
The two looked at each other and smiled. It was perfect.
The overcast sky was becoming dimmer by the moment, and both knew they were late for dinner. They raced each other to the park entrance and stopped there.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye," Lily said sadly.
"Yeah, well, I'll miss you—I mean I'll miss playing with you here, at the park," James half-smiled.
"Yeah, me too," Lily said, trying not to cry.
They looked at each other for a little while, and then James did something Lily didn't expect at all. He kissed her quickly on her lips. It was an innocent peck, but to the eleven year olds, it meant the world.
"Bye Lily," he said then ran down the street towards his home, leaving Lily to watch him run off into the distance, out of her life.
Oh, how wrong she was.