"Ten paces from that tree, five left, and sixteen diagonal up. There's no way you can get us lost this time, Ollie." Lilly smiled at her friend, looking down at the map.
Oliver snatched the paper away from her, pretending to be offended. "I can't, but you might."
Lilly playfully swatted his arm. "Calling ME stupid? That's really your area of expertise, eh, Smokin' Oken?"
Oliver smirked. "You're the blonde here."
Lilly rolled her eyes and continued to take large, foolish looking steps in different directions.
"This is it," she said, looking down at the grass under her bare feet. "Shovel?" She turned to Oliver.
He looked around hesitantly. "Yeah, about that…"
Lilly rolled her eyes again. She pointed an orange-nailed finger at the grass. "Just start digging."
Oliver dropped down to his knees next to Lilly and pulled up a clump of the Earth.
Wet dirt and a bunch of squiggling worms met the two teenagers.
"Sick," Lilly said, crinkling her nose. Oliver smiled and picked one up between two of his fingers, holding it back some.
"Oliver, don't you dare!" Lilly cried, backing up a little. He dared.
Oliver flung the worm at Lilly's face and hit his target. "Ew!" Lilly yelled. Without hesitation, she brought a clump of mud up in her hand and reached over, slapping it right onto his cheek.
Of course, this action was the last that triggered the mud-slash-worm fight.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Ew…I don't even wanna know what this was."
Lilly picked up a nearby stick and poked the gray-brown lump that resided inside the old shoebox that she and Oliver had finally managed to dig up.
"Ugh…Gum, maybe? I hope that's the worst of it," Oliver replied, grimacing.
So far they'd been through locks of hair, one golden blonde and the other dark brown, Barbie and GI Joe, McDonald's Happy Meal Toys, and several other countless items.
Oliver reached for a piece of yellowed, folded paper and straightened it out.
He read its contents aloud.
"We, Oliver Oken and Lilly Truscott hear by bequeath the contents of this box to our older selves, and whoever may find it other than them. Signed, Oliver Oken and Lilly Truscott."
Lilly was smiling. Gosh, that had been a long time ago. Oliver started to gather the box together again and stood up. "Hey, Oliver. You know what I think we should do?"
She grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the ground again. "What?" he asked.
"We should re-bury it in the same spot and keep the map. If we're still friends in like, fifty years or something, we'll come back."
Oliver tipped his head to the side. "Whaddaya mean IF we're still friends?"
Lilly shrugged. "Well, I guess people change and all, move away; get jobs. I just think it seems impossible for two people to be friends from birth until death, don't you?"
Oliver was quiet for a minute. "I dunno about you, Lil. But I always want to be your best friend."
Lilly's heart broke into a thousand tiny pieces. He was so sweet. Her face broken into a smile.
"Aw, Ollie!" She leaned across the box and hugged him. "Let's promise now that we'll be best friends forever."
Oliver pulled away after a minute. "Promise." He stuck out his pinky, and Lilly linked it with hers.
"Promise."