Real promises never break.
I was 13 years old at the time. I had a friend named Stephen. He was basically my only good friend at the time. We always went to school together and loved to talk about video games. He was with me since childhood. I truly loved him as a friend. He was there for me whenever I needed him. So was I. Sadly, he passed away. And it’s all my fault.
“Stephen was waiting outside my house. Hurry up Phil! We are getting late for school!” he shouted while I was still eating the last bits of my corn flakes. “Almost done!” I shouted back. It was a rainy day. Leaves fell off the trees and the road was slippery, so we had to watch out. I quickly grabbed my jacket and took my bicycle out of the shed. Together we drove through the rain to school. On the way there, we were talking about the 3 police cars that drove by yesterday. We both wondered what could’ve taken place.
School went as usual. Not much happened that day. Stephen and I sat next to each other in class. We both talked a lot which made the teachers go nuts and get us detention for the rest of the week. Can’t say it wasn’t fun! Even in the detention room we started laughing and making fun about whatever came to our notice. After we finished all our homework, we were free to go. Both of us took our bicycle and drove back home. This is where it went wrong.
“Hey Stephen,” I whispered, “look into the woods. Do you see that masked dude there?” I asked him. “Yes I do.” He answered. We both came to an idea. We thought that he was some kind of clown that scared people for fun. So I came up with the idea to give him chills for the rest of the day.
Both of us sneaked up to him. He didn’t realize that we were standing right behind him. Slowly and quietly I started counting “3… 2… 1… ROAAAARR” we both screamed into his ears. No reaction came from him. We were confused and turned him around. He was laying there. Motionless. I took off his mask and saw both of his eyes removed from his face and fresh blood dripping from his throat. “What the f**k!” I screamed out loud. “Stephen?, Stephen?!” I realized that he wasn’t there anymore.
I was all alone now. I started running, and was too afraid to look back. While I was running, footsteps appeared behind me. This was when the adrenaline really started kicking in. I was screaming for my life at this point. Luckily I was able to run away. I walked the rest of the road. When I arrived home, I quickly called the police and told them what happened. They told me that they’ll come to the location as soon as possible.
A few days later, I came to the horrifying news that my best friend, Stephen, has been murdered. I spend the rest of the day crying and hating myself for coming up with this stupid idea. “I wish I never noticed that masked man.” I said quietly by myself.
I am 15 at the moment. As it seems for me, he’s still with me. And I don’t think he’ll leave. When I think of him, I always remember that one promise we made. The promise that we wouldn’t leave each other. In any case you are able to make up. He kept that promise.
So did I.