Pinky Promise

10

Elise was soaked. The harsh rain paired with very loud thunder made it impossible for her to even move from her spot on the curb. She hated the rain; her rain boots would pool with water making her socks mushy and uncomfortable, and her hair would clump and stick to her face. What she hated the most though was the loud, booming applause of thunder that made her feel small and frightened, shaking her to her very core and rooting her to one spot. So when a bright flash of lightning illuminated the street, Elise could only cover her ears in a futile attempt to block out the oncoming noise that would for sure make her deaf, or at least that’s what it felt like. 

“Are you lost?” 

Elise jumped at the saccharine voice she heard instead of the terrible clap of thunder that she was expecting. Elise squinted up to see a small figure standing over her, holding an umbrella over her head and smiling sweetly. At a loss for words, Elise continued to stare at the girl who proceeded to sit beside her without asking. 

“Hey, I asked if you were lost,” the girl said, still smiling at Elise. 

Just as Elise opened her mouth to answer, the deafening clap of thunder she’d been awaiting exploded through the sky. Almost immediately, Elise placed her hands over her ears, curling up on herself. Tears started to roll down her cheeks as she heard ringing in her ears. 

The girl beside Elise noticed her reaction and immediately pulled her into a hug, running a hand through her clumped-up hair in an attempt to soothe the panicking child. The girl whispered things she thought would bring at least a little comfort to Elise, talking about how when they get home, their moms would probably scold them but not without a towel to dry them off and hot chocolate to warm them up, or how she read in a book that to know how far away lightning will hit, you need to count the seconds between the flash of lightning and the sound of thunder, then you divide it by five and that’s how many miles away the lightning will strike, so they’re always safe because it will always be far away. 

After a few minutes, Elise calmed down and the girl released her from the hug. “What’s your name? I’m Julia. If you don’t tell me your name I’ll make one for you,” the girl asked Elise. 

“Elise.” 

 Elise looked at Julia closely, clad in a pink Hello Kitty raincoat, complete with matching umbrella, cap, and rain boots, and still equipped with a smile that never left her face. Elise’s mom taught her to never give out her name to people she didn’t trust but it felt like Julia was someone she could, with her voice that could mask the loud peltering of the rain, and hugs that made her feel like there’s a fire inside of her, warming her on the inside, even if she was dripping wet and couldn’t feel her fingers from the numbness on the outside. Elise wondered if Julia minded that she was now also drenched but Julia didn’t seem to look bothered. 

“Why are you sitting here on the sidewalk?” Julia asked, looking at Elise with big brown eyes full of worry and doting, “you might get sick, sitting here without an umbrella. Are you scared of the thunder?”

Elise could only nod, too exhausted from sitting in the rain for hours and crying whenever thunder would rumble in the distance. Thankfully enough, Julia’s infinite energy and stories filled the air with a relatively pleasant atmosphere compared to when Elise was sitting alone earlier. 

“How old are you? You look like you’re ten. I’m ten too!” Julia held up ten fingers and smiled widely at Elise. 

At this, Elise offered a small smile, “I’m ten too.”

If Elise could describe Julia, she would be the sun who was too bright, full of warmth and care. Every time Julia would smile at her, it would feel like a galaxy has exploded inside her, with the sun right where her heart is. Elise silently wished for Julia to shine with happiness forever. 

Elise learned a lot about Julia; how she wants to have a pet dog named Grey, how her parents don't want another kid because they thought that she talked enough for two people anyway, how her love for Hello Kitty was infinite which explains her getup for the day, how she was walking home from piano practice when she saw Elise on the curb, and how she wanted to help people when she grows up—one of the main reasons why she approached Elise, aside from the fact that she was a curious child, of course. 

Julia learned a lot about Elise; how she was walking home from her doctor’s appointment when she suddenly heard the thunder, anchoring her to the curb and rendering her unable to move; how she was the second child with two other siblings but was less talkative than both of them, how she ignored her mom’s protests for her to bring an umbrella, and finally, how she was sick with a terminal illness that she forgot the name of, all she remembers is that she was diagnosed with it and the doctor said she only had a few months left to live. 

“Does it hurt?” Julia asked, always full of concern, not pity or shame. 

“No.” 

Elise couldn't really understand what it was about Julia that made her answer honestly without the annoyance that she would usually feel whenever other people would ask her the same question. Julia is too pure, she doesn’t deserve my annoyance was what Elise reasoned out. 

Eventually, the rain let up with the sun shining down on the two as they walked side by side, pinkies linked, down the road towards their respective houses with the promise of being friends forever sealed with a pinky promise. 

Despite the initial fear of abandonment, Elise knew at that moment that Julia wasn’t sticking with her out of pity because she was sick or because she was scared of the thunder, rather because Julia wanted to actually be friends with her. Pinky promises weren’t meant to be broken anyway. 

From that rainy day then on, Elise and Julia had been inseparable, attached to the hip, the two girls did everything together—going to movies, visiting the arcade, sleeping over at each other's houses, and even studying at the library for hours. Their favourite spot though was the curb where they first met, where they would just sit, eat popsicles, and share absurd stories about everything and nothing. Both Elise and Julia knew that they wouldn’t trade what they had for the entire world. 

18

Elise and Julia were sharing popsicles at their usual spot on the curb even if they outgrew the sidewalk a long time ago, so their legs splayed out on the road. 

Julia was leaning on Elise’s shoulder with her eyes closed and their pinkies intertwined, just enjoying the warm sun on her skin and not bothering the popsicle dripping on her shoes, making it dirty and sticky. There was a comfortable silence between the two, though normally, Julia would fill the silence with her bright chattering. It was Elise’s 18th birthday, and instead of going to different places around town to celebrate, the pair decided to relax at their favourite spot for a few hours before going to Elise’s house to formally celebrate with their families. 

Elise began to nod off when Julia’s voice broke the silence between them. 

“Don’t you think it’s unfair that I need to worry about college and stuff while you get to just chill there and enjoy? I mean, you don’t even receive grades, so why do you even bother going to school just to suffer?” 

“I don’t know if you know this, but I’m kind of sick, just a little bit, and the doctor said that I should’ve died, like, three years ago, but because I’m still here he practically told me that I’m living on borrowed time and I’m in danger of just dropping dead any second now,” Elise answered with her eyes still closed but with a small smile on her face, showing that she wasn’t all that serious despite the dark statements that came from her mouth just moments ago. 

Julia frowned at Elise’s answer; she really hated it whenever Elise joked about her sickness as if it was just nothing. “Don’t joke about that,” Julia answered lowly, looking up at Elise whose smile disappeared at the serious tone. 

It was true though; Elise outlived the doctor’s prediction that she only had months to live, celebrating her 11th birthday a few days after the doctor’s estimated time was one of the birthdays that she actually enjoyed because not only had she said, “Ha! In your face,” to the doctor, but that was the start of the many years of having Julia by her side as she made a wish and blew the candles on her cake. When asked if her wish was to have more birthdays, Elise simply shook her head and refused to answer because she knew that if she said her wish out loud, it wouldn't come true. 

It was also true that despite outliving the doctor’s prediction, Elise was still sick, growing weaker day by day. Putting on a strong face for Julia, who was the weaker of the two, was more important though. Despite Julia appearing the braver and stronger one, defending Elise from their schoolmates who would laugh at Elise’s sickness and make jokes about it, she was still the one who’d cry at the smallest of things such as scars on her knees and arms, or even sad movies and TV dramas. Elise swore to herself that she would do anything just to see Julia happy, going as far as wishing for her happiness yearly on her birthday. 

“I’m going to be a doctor when I grow up, I want to help people. That’s why I’ve been studying so much these days even though I’m too lazy to,” after a few beats of silence Julia spoke up again, “I want to be able to cure you in the future you know? Because you need to stay with me, that’s what we pinky promised, right? To be friends forever?” 

“I know,” Elise smiled down at Julia, knowing fully that she would definitely become a doctor and a great one at that. Elise had no doubt in her heart that her friend would help people; it was in her nature after all. 

“You’ll be the greatest doctor I know.” 

Not a few months later, Julia had to go abroad to study medicine. She swore to come back as soon as possible. Despite being too weak to stand up, Elise still went to see off her friend.

Their pinkies linked once more, the promise of waiting for each other sealed with a pinky promise. 

Through all the tears and wet goodbyes, Julia finally took off, unknowingly bringing Elise’s heart with her. 

32

“I’m sorry I took so long, Elise.” 

Julia sat on the curb where she and Elise used to always hang out a few lifetimes ago. She was eating a popsicle stick despite the rain pouring around her. Another one lay beside her, untouched and dripping onto the pavement, colors mixing with the murky water rushing down the sidewalk. 

“I became a doctor, see?” Julia touched the white coat on her other side, dirty and wet because of the rain, and smiled sadly, “Am I still the greatest doctor you know?” Julia asked. A flash of lightning and a clap of thunder suddenly broke through the sky, making Julia flinch only a little bit.

“I hope you’re not scared of thunder anymore, Elise,” Julia chuckled. After a few seconds of silence Julia spoke again.

“They didn’t call me. When it happened, I knew nothing about it. I just learned after a few months.” 

Tears started to form in Julia’s eyes. “I would’ve flown here immediately.” 

“I’m sorry,” she repeated, tears finally streaming down her cheeks. Her half-eaten popsicle abandoned beside the untouched one.  

Julia stayed like that for a long time, sitting curled up on the curb like a child, wet, alone, and crying, jumping a bit whenever a flash of lightning and clap of thunder pierced through the sky. It reminded Julia of the first time she met Elise, the sick girl in a similar position as her. 

Just as a bright flash of lightning illuminated the street, Julia prepared for the oncoming sound. That would have scared Elise for sure, Julia thought to herself. Even in times like this, Julia always worried about Elise; her friend was terrified of thunderstorms after all. 

Oddly enough, the resounding clap of thunder never came. The rain started to lift and soon, the sun peeked through the once-dark sky. A small smile broke through Julia’s tear stained face. 

“I guess you still don’t like the rain, no?” 

As Julia stood up and proceeded to walk away from the curb and her old neighborhood with her wet doctor’s coat on her shoulder, a soft breeze blew, making the doctor shiver slightly but also smile wider. She understood the unsaid question. 

“Yes, I am happy, thank you for always wishing for my happiness. Thank you, also, for never breaking our pinky promise.” 

Julia looked back one last time to the place that held so many memories of her. She spent so many years crying over why she wasn’t notified of Elise’s condition, too many nights wide awake thinking about why no one called her when it happened. She questioned whether Elise simply did not want to see her for one last time, making their pinky promise at the airport their last. 

Julia took a deep breath, savoring the post-rain smell around her, and shook her head. Despite her anger and frustration, she still knew that she could never truly be angry at her best friend. Elise deserved all the happiness in the world. If only I could’ve shared the happiness that she wished upon me, Julia thought sadly. 

The curb on the street that was once always occupied by two children was once a place Julia called home, where her pinky would always be intertwined with another’s. She felt immense happiness that she could never compare to anything in the world. 

Elise was the sun, too bright and full of warmth and care. Every time Elise smiled, it felt like a galaxy exploded inside Julia, with the sun right where her heart was. Julia silently wished for Elise to shine with happiness forever, and she knew that Elise definitely would. 

A million thank you’s played through Julia’s head. Thank you for being nice to me despite my being a complete stranger all those years ago, thank you for always hanging out with me, thank you for always keeping our pinky promises, thank you for seeing me off at the airport, thank you for believing that I would become a great doctor… those and a million more were what Julia wanted to say out loud, but she could only utter one, and that one thank you was enough.

“Thank you for letting me meet you.”