The day we saw forever

The minutes before

Everything after 10.00
The sun catches her just right. She squints her eyes when she reads. The streets still feel like they belong to us. There is hardly anyone around. I catch an elderly woman across the street staring at us. She smiles when she notices me and I wave politely.

'The bus won't be here for another hour. What should we do?' she asks.

'We could walk for a bit?' She nods and hooks her arm through mine. We wander the streets as if we've done this a million times before. I catch a whiff of her scent when a cool breeze brushes past us. It seems to trigger something. A memory perhaps. Something hazy and unclear.

'Is it too early for icecream?' I follow her gaze to a lonesome icecream truck in the far distance. I'm impressed that she even saw it. It could be miles and miles away. A speck on the horizon. To her, it must be a neon sign. Flashing arrows pointing her in the right direction.

'You love icecream.'

'Everyone loves icecream.' She smiles.

'Well... my dad doesn't.'

'Your dad is a tool,' she laughs, stops, stares and blushes. 'Sorry...'

'You're a tool,' I blurt out laughing. The corners of her mouth go upward again and a soft giggle followed by a loud snort leaves her mouth. 'Come on, let's get you some icecream before you start to insult everyone around us too.'

'There is literally nobody around.'

'Better safe than sorry.'

She practically drags me forward at this point. The truck is getting closer and closer. I can make out the colors now. A pale blue with a giant cone painted across it. It seems as vacant as this part of town. Eerily unsettling if it weren't for the sun beaming down on it. Softening the mood.

What happens next is far more unsettling than I could've imagined though. We get to the end of the sidewalk. The road dips a little from here on out. A clear view of the truck across the street but the sun damn near blinds me and I stop mid-pace, pulling her back a little bit not enough. A loud noise, screeching of tires and a thud.

'Calli! Calli!' I yell, racing toward her. My heart thumping rapidly in my chest. I look up, ahead but the car is long gone. I look for the truck. The owner is on the phone. I should call someone, right? I should, shouldn't I? Where is my backpack? Where is my phone. My heartbeat increases and I can hear it. I can hear it beating in the back of my skull pushing all my thoughts away.

'Max,' I hear just as far away. 'Max.' again, like a whisper getting louder until I feel it pull me all the way back. I look down at her in my arms. Wrapped in my arms like the most precious treasure I've ever held. Blood gushing from her forehead. Her legs are awkwardly pushed to the sides, I try not to look at them. At the blood from her knees, dripping down onto the streets. Or that one fingernail that looks like it's been torn off.

'Calli!' A tear rolls down my cheek. She tries to sit up and I gently push her back down. 'Don't, don't, just lay here.' Her head is resting on my legs. Shit, did I move her? She shouldn't be moved, right? She should lay here, very still until the medics get here. It's bad if she moves, isn't it? I've read that somewhere. My thoughts wander freely again. No. I need to snap out of this. I need to be here, for her. Be here. I take a deep breath in.

'Is she okay? O my God! Do you need anything? I've called for help, the ambulance will be here shortly.' The icecream man yells from the sidewalk.

'Towels.' I reply, looking at the blood seeping from her head down to her beautiful eyes. Those beautiful soft brown eyes.

'Is it bad?' Calli whispers. Her voice hoarse.

'You'll be okay. Everything will be okay.' I try. She smiles, gently and a cough follows.

'Don't lie to me, Maxi.'

'It's bad,' I nod. 'But help is coming. They'll fix you right up. You'll be good to go.'

'Good to go,' She nods. 'I have a date to get to.'

'Yes you do.' Another tear rolls down my cheek.

A couple of minutes go by. Minutes that feel nothing short of a century. The icecream man returns with a towel. He smiles weakly to cover up the shock he gets when he sees her legs. He runs back to the truck to get more towels and I use the one he got me to free her eyes from the blood. She gives me a thankful smile.

I can hear the sirens in the far distance. Calli wraps her fingers tightly through mine.

'It was three years ago,' she begins. I shake my head in response.'

'No, safe it for our date.'

'Three years ago. Lillian threw that ridiculous party,'

'Summer in February.' I laugh. The memories of that party flooding back in. It was cold and rainy. Lillian invited about fifty people into her parent's home. Who were conveniently out of town that weekend. The cliché for all parties. We wore t-shirts and shorts. The girls had on their best summer dresses. She bought five inflatable pools and set them up in the yard. It was freezing cold but everyone was drunk and unbothered.

'I met you upstairs.'

'The study.'

Lillian's dad is a big shot lawyer. They used to live in our street until they moved about six years ago. Now they live in a massive house in the middle of town. Surrounded by fences. They have about ten rooms upstairs alone. I remember wandering around the house for a bit. Everyone was drunk outside so I figured I could do some snooping. Lillian and I weren't friends but she always invited me to her parties. A perk of being popular growing up, I guess.

'We talked for a few minutes. You might've been drunk.' She gives a weak smile.

'I wasn't,' I dig through this memory but I can't seem to focus on her. I see myself back in that study. I was impressed by the collection of books stacked neatly behind the desk. Originals, first editions. I hear her voice, vaguely. Curls, faded jeans, yellow top. There she is. She was there and I missed her. 'I'm sorry.'

'Don't be. I thought you were a dick,' She laughs and I can hear something pop.

'Careful.'

'Saw you the next day. That's when I nicked that drawing. At Smooths. You'd already forgotten.'

The sirens are getting closer and closer. I look up for a second and catch the flickering of lights at the end of the street.

'Calli, they're here. It's going to be okay now.' I look back down to her. Her eyes are only half open now. Her breathing is getting worse and a little pool of blood has formed around her head. The warmth of her blood awfully present on my legs.

'It's okay though. I forgive you for forgetting me. But please...'

'Calliope, don't.'

'Don't...' she sighs. Her eyes tearing up. 'don't...'

'No. Safe it. They're here. You're okay. You're okay.' The ambulance comes to a halt, tires screeching. The doors swing open and two medics pop out. 'She'll be okay, right?'

'Maxi,' her voice is only a whisper now and everything around us is happening so fast.

'She's lost a lot of blood. Multiple fractures.' I hear one of the medics say.

'Don't...' I hear her try again. 'Forget...' They're getting ready to move her onto a stretcher. 'Me.' She breaths out and her eyes fall shut.

'I've got no pulse!'

'Calli!'

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I took this story as part of a challenge I came across a while back. To write a light story with a very dark twist. Don't fear though... there is one more chapter to come. So stick around to see how this truly ends.