Dustland Fairytale

Almost a month and a half later, I find myself standing, alone, in the gravel parking lot of a familiar small town in the middle of nowhere. I adjust the straps of the backpack that hangs off my shoulders and begin to walk across the gravel.

It feels weird being back here, and there’s a voice in my head that reminds me I might have traveled all this way only to not find who I’m looking for. But then Haley’s voice rings through my head, “He’ll be there. He promised.” I miss my sister; it’s been strange going from seeing her everyday to only seeing her on weekends when she visits me at Dad’s house.

My feet kick up dust as I walk down Main Street. I wonder if my grandma will mind me showing up out of the blue, after all this whole trip was kind of spontaneous. Back at home, I wouldn’t say I was exactly happy but Dad stayed out of my way and we kept to ourselves so, I was content. I had tried to forget about the promise I had made with Braden, and planned on staying as far away as possible from this town. However I still felt guilty; I always keep my promises. So I told my Dad I was going to visit grandma and that I’d be home before the weekend.

I cough as I breathe in dirt and glare down at my feet as they lazily shuffle across the ground. I try to remind myself that this is actually cool compared to the summer days I spent running around here a few weeks ago. Clouds cover the sky and I had heard a few people on the bus mentioning rain.

Up ahead I notice a familiar figure walking down the road. My feet suddenly become planted to the ground and I squint my eyes trying to see if Braden really is here. The boy lifts his head up and gray eyes that have plagued my dreams stare curiously back at me.

He jogs towards me, and I try to move but my feet have forgotten how to from the shock of Braden actually being here. He stops in front of me and for a moment we both just stare at each other silently. Finally Braden laughs and wraps his arms tightly around me, lifting me off the ground and spinning around in circles.

When my feet touch the ground again I hesitantly wrap my arms around him, as if at any moment he might fade away like an illusion. “You came back.” He whispers softly into my hair, before his lips quickly peck my forehead.

I pull away and stare up at his face, “You never came to say goodbye…” I trail off quietly.

He glances down at his feet and then looks at me again, “I had to go take care of stuff back home. I need to say a proper goodbye to my mom. I needed to apologize to my father.”

I bite my bottom lip, and nod slowly in understanding.

Braden takes my silence as a bad sign and, his hands gently force my face to look back up at him, “I need to say goodbye so I could be back here to wait patiently for you.” He grins, trying to make me happy.

“I’m proud of you.” I raise my hands up and rest them on top of his, “It’s just I thought you ran away.”

He shakes his head, “I’m never running away from saying goodbye again, besides that day wasn’t a goodbye. It was a ‘see you later’.”

I laugh and stand on my tiptoes to press my lips against his, “I almost didn’t come back, but I missed you. Plus Haley was pleading with me… by the way, she says hello.”

Thunder booms over our heads but we ignore it, the sound barely audible as we stare at each other. Braden’s hands stay pressed against my face and in our silence so many other countless promises are made.

Small droplets of water land our skin and he rests his forehead against mine, “You know, I think we wished for rain everyday of those couple of weeks and it never came. Now I have no desire to leave this spot and we’re about to get drenched.” He laughs as the rain increases.

I chuckle quietly and sigh, tilting my head up to let the water cool off my face.

Braden’s fingers push my damp hair away and he whispers, “I love you. Thank you for keeping your promise; these last few weeks have been torture. Everyday you didn’t show I worried you would never come and that the only thing I’d have left would be memories of days I never wanted to end.”

I rest my head against his chest, “I love you too, and I’m never going anywhere… at least not without you.”

The End.