Promise

My heart hammered at my chest as if trying to break through my ribs and escape. With my lungs burning and my legs seizing up, I sprinted faster than I ever have before. Behind me, the stupid ass dog named Pinky or something barked madly, nipping at my heels. Neighbors yelled at me, though I couldn't hear them.

Now, you may be wondering how I got into this situation. You see, my friend and I had been playing baseball in a nearby park when I pitched it a little bit too hard, causing my best friend, Derik, to hit the ball a little bit too hard. I mean, it was one of the best hits I have ever seen, but considering how it went into an old woman's backyard, which housed a giant bulldog, we were both pissed as hell.

"What are we going to do? Isn't that old lady, like, always sleeping?" Derik had asked.

"I don't know," I said. "We need that ball back, but if it is between getting killed by a giant, probably carnivorous dog, I think we should just buy another ball."

"You and I both know that we don't have enough money to buy another ball," Derik said, scratching his head.

"Hmmm. . ." I had said, coming up with a plan. "Why don't I distract the dog while you grab the ball? Then we both jump the fence before the dog gets us and keep playing baseball?"

"All right, let's do that," Derik said apprehensively, walking toward the house.

We both walked to the house, glancing around to make sure no one was watching us. When we got to the fence, I grabbed a nearby trash can and dragged it over to where Derik was standing. I pulled myself up onto the trash can first, then peered over the fence. In the corner of the yard the baseball sat on the ground. The sun was shining more directly on the ball as if it was a treasure from Indiana Jones or something. In the corner directly opposite of the ball lied the dog, asleep.

"All right, we'll be in and then out. Got it?" Derik whispered, staring at the dog nervously.

"Okay. I think that since the dog is asleep, I'll just hop in and get the ball myself. Is that okay?" I said, pushing myself up onto the fence.

"Fine with me," he said, suddenly looking extremely relieved.

I pulled myself over the fence very carefully and landed on the ground with a quiet THUD. I glanced back at Derik with a grin and then slowly made my way to the ball, looking every so often at the dog to make sure it was still asleep.

Step after step, I made my way to the ball. Finally, I made it there, picking it up and rubbing it on my shirt. Then I turned around and tossed the ball to Derik. It went right past him, landing in the front yard. For a second, I was confused. Why didn't he catch it?

That's when I realized that he was staring at where the dog was. I pulled my eyes from Derik and glanced over at where the dog was supposed to be asleep, but instead it was awake and staring at me. A soft growl came from its mouth as it started making its way toward me.

"Well, shit," I said, stepping back slightly. The dog growled for a few more seconds and then started bounding toward me, barking furiously. Shouting, I bolted for the fence, jumping as high as I possibly could and grabbing the top of it. Pulling myself over it, I fall to the ground in a crumpled heap.

I didn't have any time to rest, though, because the dog crashed through the fence just as I stood up, trying to bite me. I immediately started running down the street, Derik in front of me. My house was only a few blocks away, and the dog had only just barely bitten its way through the fence.

Now that you're all caught up, let's get back to running away from the dog, why don't we?

Shoes padding against the cement, we ran desperately toward my house, the dog beginning to catch up with us. Derik shouting a lot of things that I knew he would get in trouble for saying, we turned onto my block. Derik reached the house and immediately opened the door, going inside and beckoning me to hurry up.

Glancing back, I saw that the dog was only a few paces behind me. It was extremely lucky that the dog isn't fit, or I would've been dog food. I looked forward and saw that I was on my lawn now.

I bolted up my porch and dove through the front door, Derik slamming it behind me. The dog rammed into the front door like a cartoon character, stumbling back and falling down the porch. Derik and I stared out the window as it barked at the front door, eventually turning around and making its way back to where it lived.

Only when I saw it turn down the street did I actually start breathing again. Clutching a stitch in my side, I sat on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. Derik sat on the couch next to me, panting heavily.

"Dude, that was . . . crazy," he said, combing his fingers through his hair.

"Yeah, that was crazy," I agreed, looking over at him and grinning.

"See, this is why I love hanging out with you, Boston," Derik said. "We do crazy shit like that!"

"I thought you hated crazy stuff!" I said, punching him on the arm as he laughs. "Come on, let's go get a drink."

I was about to stand up when Derik suddenly said, "Wait, let's promise each other something first."

"Okay, what?" I asked curiously.

"We should promise to be best friends forever," he said, holding up his pinky finger. I stared at it in shock.

"Whoa, what?" I asked. "I can't promise that! I mean, we're only twelve! We have our whole lives ahead of us, and, I mean, we might grow apart! I don't want to break a pinky promise, dude."

"Come on," Derik said. "Please?"

I stared at his hand for a few more seconds and then raised my own, wrapping my pinky around his.

"I promise."

In ninth grade, Derik and I found this amazing pine tree a few miles away from my house. It was tall, sturdy, and an excellent place for a hideout. One day, we brought a bunch of boards and nails to the tree and made a little platform up in the tree, where we would hang out almost every day after school.

Then, in my junior year of highschool, I told Derik to meet me at the tree after school to hang out. When he finally arrived at the tree, tears were leaking down his face and he was sobbing. After questioning him a bit, he told me that he was moving to another country in a few months.

And just like that, it was as though our days of being best friends was being numbered. As if once he moved, we wouldn't be best friends anymore. We began hanging out a lot more often and for a lot longer, but eventually, the day he was moving came around, and we skipped school just to spend one more day with each other.

We rode our bikes to the old tree. The sky was a brilliant blue, and there was a slight breeze. We were both trying not to cry when we made it to the tree and climbed up to our little hideout.

After sitting in silence for a few minutes, Derik broke the silence.

"Just because I'm leaving, it doesn't mean that we won't be best friends. It just means that we won't be able to see each other. I mean, we'll be able to write each other. That's good."

"I know, but then who will I hang out with at lunch? You're my only friend!" I said, as if it was his fault that he was moving.

We sat in silence for a few more moments before, once again, Derik broke the silence.

"Do you remember that promise we made when we were twelve? About being best friends forever?"

"Yeah, I remember," I said.

"It's crazy that we have still kept it after all these years," he said quietly, swinging his legs of the platform ledge.

"It sucks that it's going to be broken today," I replied, burying my head in my hands.

"Like I said before, why can't we be friends after I move? I mean, think about it; when we're in different classes at school, it doesn't mean that we aren't best friends. It just means that we can't hang out with each other."

I glanced over at him. Tears were streaming down his face, and he didn't even try to hide them. Suddenly, I felt tears spring from my eyes, and I scooted closer to Derik. That's when an idea coming to mind.

"Hey, I just got an idea," I said, grinning. "What if, on May 26th, 2023, the year when we both turn forty-years-old, we meet back at this tree and spend the whole day togther. And, of course, we'll keep in touch and send letters to each other and stuff. All right?"

Derik stayed silent for a moment, then turned to me and grinned as well.

"I like that idea very much," he said. "Let's keep in touch and eventually meet at this tree. Promise?" He held up his pinky finger. I immediately wrapped my pinky finger around his, nodding and saying, "Promise."

Derik and I started writing letters to each other almost immediately, telling each other what was happening in the towns we lived in. Though, unfortunately, as the years passed, we both wrote less and less. Of course, we were still best friends, but we both got really busy with college and our jobs. We both ended up getting married, having a few kids, and finding the perfect jobs.

Eventually time got away from us, and we drifted apart. We lost track of each other, but I never forgot about the promise we made to each other to meet up on May 26th, 2023. Surely he would remember too?

I woke up early on May 26th, excited to finally see my friend after so many years. Since we had last seen each other, I had gotten married, had five children, scored a wonderful job, and bought a massive new house still in the same town.

I got dressed, brushed my teeth, put on my shoes, and then told my wife I would be with my friend for most of the day. I left, drove my car up to the old pine tree with bags upon bags of our favorite candy from the old days.

I made it to the pine tree a few minutes later. It was almost ten a.m., the sun shining brightly above. I looked up and saw that the old wood platform was still sitting high up in the tree, the wood rotting away.

For the next several hours, I waited under the tree's shade for my friend, reading a book. I ate one of the bags of candy and a bag of chips out of hunger, then saved the rest for him.

By eight p.m., he still hadn't shown up. The sky was dimming and the stars were beginning to brighten in the sky above me. I was considering leaving and going back home, for I felt deeply sad and angry. Why hadn't he come? Did he forget me? I thought we were best friends!

At nine p.m., I told myself he wasn't coming and made my way to the car. But right then, a blue minivan with its headlights on started driving up the hill. Staying where I was, I waited for the car to drive all the way up the hill, turn off its headlights then park.

I made my way to the car, grinning. But then something I wasn't expecting happened. Instead of Derik exiting the car, a woman in her mid-thirties got out of the car.

"Who are you?" I asked, stepping back cautiously. "Where's Derik?"

"I-I was Derik's wife, you see," she explained, coming forward. A look of shock and confusion must've appeared on my face, because the next thing she said was, "You are obviously confused why I am here and not Derik."

"Of course I am," I said. "I want to know why the hell my best friend sent his wife instead of coming himself."

The sun finally disappeared behind the mountains in the distance, and I could see the milky way high, high up in the bright sky. That's when a thought suddenly came to mind.

"Derik isn't . . . he can't be . . ." I said quietly. Derik's wife took a few more steps toward me, tears springing from her eyes.

"Derik can't come because he . . . he," she says, her lip quivering. "Died."

I stare at her in confusion. Did I hear her right? Surely not. Derik can't be dead. He can't be. He . . . he's my best friend. He was meant to come here today and talk to me about everything that has happened to him over the last twenty-five years. If he is dead, then that means I won't ever see him again. And that just can't be true. It . . . it can't be true.

"What did you say?" I say, tilting my head. "Look, you must be lying. Derik can't be dead. He . . . he can't be dead." I suddenly feel a pit start to form in my stomach. My heart feels as though it is trapped in my throat, making me incapable of speech.

"Derik died a few years ago. On his deathbed, he told me that on May 26th of 2023 to go to Granville, Idaho and meet a man at an old pine tree. He told me to tell you that he died and that . . . that you were always his best friend. That even after twenty years, you still his best friends. That you will still be his best friend in heaven." She suddenly let out a sob that made my heart hurt even more than before.

"So he really is . . . dead," I said, though she doesn't hear me. She muttered sorry and then got back in her car, driving back down the hill while I stood there, contemplating everything she just said.

Tears streamed down my face. I closed my eyes, blood pounding in my ears. I felt like vomiting. Or screaming. Or running. Or crying. Or hitting the ground and shouting at God, who I knew was up in Heaven looking down on me. Or tearing the skin off my chest and grabbing my heart and telling it to stop whatever it is doing to me right now.

But instead I sat on the ground, crying numbly, my whole body shaking. A horrible screeching sound rang throughout my head, and it felt as though someone was kicking me in the stomach repeatedly.

"Why Derik?" I kept repeating quietly as the tears splattered onto the dirt. "Why Derik?"

I somehow managed to get into my car and drive back to my house, park the car in the garage, walk up to my room and sit down on my bed. A second later, my wife emerged from the bathroom. When she saw that I was back, she asked, "How was seeing Derik?"

I didn't say anything, but instead stared at the floor. She repeated her question, but got cut of by my sudden sobbing.

"He's dead," I said, burying my face in my hands. She stood there, shocked, but then came over to the bed and wrapped her arms around me. She stroked my back gently, saying how sorry she was that Derik died.

"When he was moving all those years ago, I thought that we would never see each other again. But now I know that we really will never see each other ever again," I choked out, resting my head on her shoulder. She didn't say anything for a few moments. Then she said, "I am just going to say it: he is gone. He will never come back, and you will never see him again. But you know what isn't gone? His memory. His memory will forever reside in your heart. There, you can see him again. There, you can remember all the things you did. And there, you can . . . you can be with him. Always remember that, all right? Always remember that, and he won't truly be gone."

I imagined Derik up in heaven, looking down on me and smiling, saying that what she is saying is true. That he will always be with me if I just remember him. If I always remember him as my best friend.

And as my wife rubbed my back comfortingly, I suddenly did something that I did not think I would ever do again.

I smiled.