Almost Holding Hands

Prolouge

"Dylan, what would you do if I ever left?" I asked dangling my feet over the small wooden bridge.

"Well then I'd go with you." He replied scooting a bit closer. He threw a small dandy lion over the edge and we watched as it quietly floated under the bridge and down the stream.

I was content with the answer. I knew I wouldn't leave. How could I ever leave Dylan? We were best friends. Best friends didn't leave each other.

Our toes rested in the crystal clear water. It was cool on this hot summer day. The wind blew through the trees and I lifted my face towards it, closing my eyes. I let the gentle breeze caress my skin and blow strands of black hair into my face.

"Ash?" He said, touching my hand.

I looked over at him our eyes meeting. "Yes Dyl?" I said using his pet name.

"What would you do if I ever left?" His jet black hair swept into his gray eyes, sparkling in the shadowed sunlight.

I didn't even have to think about my answer, "Of course I'd go with you." I said matter of factly.

Our eyes were still locked. 

"Promise?" He asked me.

"Promise." I  replied back to him.

"I promise too, Ash. I'll never leave you."

We both looked down at the stream, resting our chins on the rust-colored wooden rail. Dylan's hand snaked into mine. I squeezed and he squeezed back.

We sat there for a long time, listening to all the forest noises. The cicada's buzzing in the heat, the stream trickling over the shallow brown rocks, the lazy breeze rustling the emerald green leaves.

I looked at the dark blue sky.

"It's getting late Dylan, our parents will want us home soon."

"They can wait a bit longer. I have an idea." He started to stand, his bare feet making wet footprints on the dark wood.

I stood too, "Yeah, Dylan? What is it?" My wet feet made smaller prints, right next to his.

"Why don't we make it so every time we miss each other we can go back and look at our promise?"

"How can we do that? Look at a promise, I mean." I climbed up onto the railing and sat down dangling my feet in the air instead of water.

"Well," he climbed up and sat beside me, leaving a gap between us, "we could carve our promise into this bridge. We always come here."

"That's a good idea. Incase one of us leaves for a weekend trip or something. Then the other can come and look at the promise, and they won't be lonely anymore." I breathed in the scent of rain.

"Exactly. We can look at it when we're together too." He pulled out his red, one-bladed, swiss army knife. "Here, I'll start it."

He carved a rough, "I promise I'll never leave you." on the space between us.

"Now we both put our names below it." He handed the knife to me, "I started, so you're next."

I pressed the tip of the knife into the weather hardened wood, "Ashlyn".

"Now you." I handed it back.

He concentrated and carved, "+ Dylan". "But we aren't done yet. There's still one final step till we're done."

I looked at him, a ready, questioning look on my face.

"We have to sign it with blood." He said wavering a little. I could tell he was testing it out, seeing if I was okay with it.

"That's a good idea, I've seen it in movies. You have to use blood to seal a promise. But what if it washes away?"

"No, blood stains forever. Do you want me to go first?" He had the knife in his hand.

"No, I can go." I replied.

He handed me the knife. I pricked the tip of my finger and watched as a drip of blood pooled at the top. I pressed my finger next to the promise and slid it down the side, making a half heart.

"Now you can make the other half, Dylan, because we each have the other half of each others heart."

He licked his lips and pricked his own finger. He drew with blood, right next to my half of the heart. His blood was much darker than mine. Nearly black.

"There." He said, sounding satisfied, "Now we can always look at our promise."

We were both silent. Content. For this one moment, everything was perfect. I watched as the glistening crimson liquid dried.

The rain I had smelled earlier spilled from the sky. My curly ebony hair plastered to my face, as did Dylan's.

We looked at each other and started giggling. He hopped off the railing and held out his hand for me. I took it and hopped of beside him. We gave each other a know glance and simultaneously started to run, still holding hands.

We ran off the bridge and onto the dirt path, heading for home. We ran through the canopy of trees, sometimes momentarily sheilding us from the downpour.

We got to the edge of the dirt path that ended onto an old asphalt road. My house was right ahead of us and Dylan's was beside mine, but farther down the road.

I looked at the shadows through the yellow light of the window. A sinking feeling settled in my gut.

Dylan could tell, he could always tell what I was feeling.

"I'll never leave you Ash." He said grasping my two hands and standing directly in front of me. I looked into his dark eyes and he looked into my ice blue ones.

"Promise?" I said, barely above a whisper.

"Promise." He said hugging me.

I hugged him back. We stood in the rain, barefoot, and soaking wet.

I heard a crash in the house and knew I had to go. I ran across the road and up the old concrete steps. I turned and looked at Dylan who was still standing there.

"I love you Dylan!" I shouted as I opened the door bracing myself, knowing what I would face.

The door shut just in time for me to hear a reply.

"I'll love you forever Ash. Promise."

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That was seven years ago, when we were nine. That was before it all happened.