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The World
It had been too long since they were last
able to hold each other. High school sweethearts are what most would have called
them, but the few who were truly close to either knew more.
Personally, I'd have to say that life really
sucked the day they were torn apart. At the time, I really wondered if there was
a place for 'perfection' in life. Anyway, to make it short and simple, it was
geography that tore them apart. She stayed behind to go pursue her life long
ambition at a university her parents had chosen, one close by her home if you
must know. I still find it odd that a teenager's dream would match their
parents' choice of school, however that is beside the point. He, unlike herself,
was torn by the demands of his family, as he was too young to start his own life
and so had to move with them.
Shame. It wasn't even their senior year, so
they couldn't even graduate or go to the prom together. Apologies, I'm straying
a little too far from the story...although I was pretty saddened when I saw her
dancing with this other guy, knowing what they had said the night he left.
Somber was the only word I can think of that
would describe that night with any accuracy. They cried as they said their
parting words...and hugged a little too. More importantly was what they
promised. It wasn't the usual, "I'll never stop thinking of you," or anything of
the sort. One thing I'll give them both credit for that particular night on the
white sanded beach was their ability to speak straight from the heart.
Lucky...yeah, they both knew what they meant to each other and made the
appropriate promise. They each promised their life to the other.
When we overheard them, I had to hold her
close. I was best friends with him, and the heart of my own life, Shannon, was
her best friend. Shannon and I were two hearts melded for life, but seeing the
two of them split up, we almost couldn't take it. We knew how close they were
and, later that night, we vowed to ourselves and to them that we'd do everything
we could to make sure they'd keep in touch or, at the very least,
reunite...sometime...somewhere....
Like I said at the beginning of the story,
it had been too long since they were last able to hold each other. After a few
short transfers and connections from who knows where, his plane touched down. My
wife and I, though not for that long, were both there waiting. I have never seen
eyes shine so bright...and I knew why as soon as they dimmed...severely.
As we walked out of the airport and on our
way back to our home, we told him that Kelly couldn't make it because of some
high level meeting of her conglomerate fashion thing a ma bob. Even with a
slightly downed face, the car was lit right up. He still had all of his energy
and my wife and I were eager to find out how much the world had added to all
that he was.
A few days had passed and we had learned a
lot about him. His parents had moved around so much and he had been to so many
different boarding schools, it was unreal. He had truly seen and experienced a
big chunk of the world, which is way more than millions will ever be able to say
in their lifetime. I can't list all of the things he saw or places he had been
to as it would take up too much time, so let me focus on something more
important...the fact that a few days had passed and he hadn't seen her yet.
Admittedly he did try a few times, however
she never seemed to be there. He and I were still the best of friends and still
connected as best friends are...something was wrong. To be honest, I don't know
what he was thinking, though I had no intention of painting a bleaker picture
for him.
You see, something happened in her life
after the night he left. I don't know what it was exactly or when it happened,
but it did. She slowly lost her value. My wife told me that a few days after he
had left that she...well, she said a lot of things that an outcrying, pleading
heart would say. However, her life turned out as follows. Slowly through high
school she became increasingly attached to fashion, although I didn't know why
at the time. By the time the prom rolled around, yes she was elected queen, but
she actually went with another guy. My wife and I spent that night crying,
wondering about a lot of things.
Later she soon became so superficial, it
became her work. Fashion became her life, not her heart as she had long since
promised. Her life became as thin as the cover of her glittering magazine. Like
I said, it was as though she had lost all of her value.
I broke it to him lightly, just giving a
brief description of her life. I didn't tell him about the prom though, whatever
false blurb I gave is what I told him. Anyway....
A few days had passed and he was walking
along the beach at dusk. The waves still rolling on the beach. On thing that
really caught my eye from the window of our (belonging to my wife and I) villa
in Malibu was how he sulked. I'm sure that must have been a universal walk of
some sort, but I just couldn't tell with the way his head was slung, his hands
in his pockets, his jacket open and catching the wind, his feet just moving
normally.
Her house wasn't that far down the beach
from our villa, but we didn't tell him that, security was pretty big around our
area as it was. I guess he found that out when he saw her, standing on her
wooden walkway overlooking the water, her hair blowing slightly in the breeze.
She turned and saw him, not 20 meters away from the exact spot she, herself, was
standing. Even from atop the villa we could see their mouths move...or was it
drop?
My wife and I were already walking along the
beach by the time they began speaking. Remaining out of sight, we crept up,
wanting to hear whether our vow had been made in vain. We didn't make it early
enough to hear the first part of what was said....
"...Sure I've been to a lot of places, but I
never forgot our promise."
"Promise schromise. As if that could have
ever been or done any good."
A moment of silence ensued. My wife and I
looked at each other knowing how that should have killed him on the spot to hear
it, but he stood...steadfast...and fought.
He took a deep breath and exhaled. "You
know, when I was standing at the base of the pyramids of Giza in Egypt, I was
told by a guide that the outer layer of the entire pyramids were made of sheer
limestone, to reflect the sun's light. I was also told that the 'brick' at the
very top was made of pure limestone, through and through, the only one of its
kind. Looters had managed to steal the 8 foot tall, pyramid shaped rock and it
was now gone. I looked at the guide in disbelief and he said, 'Well look for
yourself.' Sure enough, there was nothing there, the top of the pyramid was
flat, not pointed."
"Meaningless stories won't and don't get you
anywhere."
He kept fighting. "At the base of the Eiffel
Tower, you know, the one in Paris, France? I was standing in line, waiting for
the elevator when I looked over and read a warning sign. It said something along
the lines of be cautious of suicide jumpers...or something like that. I couldn't
understand why a person would want to jump off of such a magnificent structure,
but sure enough, going up to each level, I saw 10 foot high fences all around
the tower's outer observation area."
A look of confusion and curiosity appeared
on her face. He continued....
"A pyramid is not a pyramid without that top
stone. The Eiffel Tower is not the Eiffel Tower with those suicide fences on it.
That's why they both make for crappy pictures."
She chuckled a little and as she raised her
head she was about to ask him why he was rambling on about this stuff when he
interrupted her. "The morale of OUR promise was 'A human ain't a human if it
ain't got no heart'." Before I continue, I should say that those were the words
he spoke to her when they said their farewell's. I cannot imagine how loud those
words must have rung inside her ears.
They both glared into each other's eyes. It
seemed like forever passed in that moment. He finally spoke. "I'm sorry we lost
each other." Promptly after saying this he turned around and began to walk away.
After only a few short steps she called out to him on the white sand itself, a
tear gliding down her sweet cheek. "Please," she said in a shaky voice, another
tear rolling down her cheek. "Show me...show me what I've lost. It seems I
can't...live without you no matter how hard I tried."
He stopped dead in his tracks and turned
around, hearing her words. Being this close to her he noticed something
different about her neck. A feeling of dread and sadness came over him as he
pulled out a locket that was attached to the only piece of jewelry that he could
bring himself to wear. "Do you still --" She started to cry as she somehow
managed to pull the collar of her blouse down, revealing her bare neck.
He almost froze, but he didn't, he couldn't
stand the thought of her neck being so cold and bare. Removing it from his own
neck, his hands gently lifted her chin up. They wrapped around her and sealed
the ever-precious item there. Opening the locket, one could see a picture of
them both, from a long time ago. Again she cried. "Somewhere...deep down...I've
always loved you."
Their hug, at that exact moment, combated
life itself. At that moment he showed her what it was to cry. They never left
each other's lives again.
Looking at all of this; looking at what he
is, was, and always meant to her; some could say that he gave her the world...I
know my wife and I both would.
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