Pinky Promise

When they were five...

"Luke! Wait. For. ME!" Hallie shrieked, laughing, as she chased Luke over the tree roots twisted everywhere over the uneven ground, under the low hanging branches of the trees that surrounded them, and around the puddles that the rain that had been pouring all last night had left. [Well, she wasn't going to go through them, for heaven's sakes. These were her new light up shoes.]

She stopped abrupt, skidding in a mud puddle as Luke froze suddenly in front of her. "Lucas Fisher!" she complained, stomping her foot, splashing more mud everywhere. [Well, her shoes were already ruined. She might as well.] "What are we doing here? What do you want to show me?"

"Look!" Luke grabbed her arm and started pulling her towards what had to be the biggest tree in the forest they were in, which was conveniently right behind their houses. Otherwise...they probably wouldn't be here. He stopped her right in front of it and looked up...up...up to see...

"What is that?" Hallie asked, crinkling her nose as she looked at what seemed to be a bunch of pieces of wood sticking out of the tree...wood that wasn't the original branches.

"A tree house, silly!" Luke said excitedly. "My daddy got permission from some big important people and he built it, just for us! Come on!" he pulled her again, this time around to the other side of the tree, where a rope ladder was hanging. He let go of her hand and started to climb up the seemingly unsteady method of climbing. He looked down at Hallie and smiled. "Come on," he said. "It's fine. You won't fall. I promise."

Hallie reached her right pinky out. "Pinky promise?"

Luke reached down, leaving only one hand on the ladder - Hallie internally freaked - and linked pinkies with Hallie. "I pinky promise. Now come on!" He darted up the ladder.

Hallie tentatively grabbed the rungs and stepped onto the bottom one, pulling herself up. She looked up at Luke, who was looking down at her over the top of a wooden platform. "Come on," he called. "Just keep looking at me!"

Hallie looked at Luke, fighting the urge to look down. She kept climbing, focusing on her best friend's face, and finally reached the top, where Luke scooted back to make room for her to climb in. She stood up and took a look around. "Wow..." she breathed. "What is this place?"

"I told you...my daddy built us a tree house! Look, there are shelves for our cool stuff...and he put my telescope up here. But he says he have to be really careful with it up here. And he said we can bring food up here, but we have to make sure we don't leave anything, because of animals. And we can make this our secret hiding place! And we can do ANYTHING here, cause no one can tell us what to do! ...What do you think?"

Hallie looked around and smiled. She liked the idea of having a secret spot with Luke. No parents, no older brothers or younger sisters [or vice versa] annoying them. It was...

"Perfect." Hallie grinned. She took a look around again. "Can we at least put something pretty in here?"

Luke wrinkled his nose. "Like what?"

"I don't know. We'll think of something...let's play!"

That afternoon consisted of an all-out forest war of ninjas versus pirates. It was always a battle between them. They both knew that ninjas were better, but someone had to be the pirates. This time, it was Luke, and after he lost both of his legs and an eye, they collapsed in a fit of giggles on the floor of their clubhouse. After their laughter died down, there was silence.

After a few minutes, Hallie shot up.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked, sitting up.

"Do you think we'll be friends forever, Luke?" Hallie asked.

"Duhh," he answered. "Why wouldn't we be? You're my best friend. We both like peanut butter and banana sandwiches, and you're the best jump roper I know. Who WOULDN'T wanna be friends with you...but I got dibs," he said.

"Well, duh, Luke," she answered in return. "You're the best pretend pirate ever and we both like ninjas. But...what if one day, we aren't friends anymore? Who am I gonna share my sandwiches with?"

"Stand up," Luke said. She stood, and connected her pinky with Luke, who already had his stuck out.

"Let's make a super secret special awesome mother-of-all pinky promises right here in our special super secret place," Luke said. "Ready?"

"You first," Hallie said.

"Okay. Hi, God. It's me, Luke. I don't know how this works, but I figure I should ask you, cause this is really important. I'm holding pinkies with Hallie mason. she's my best friend. And I'm telling you this so that you know I'm serious. I pinky promise forever-and-ever that Hallie will always, no matter what, be my best friend, and I will never share my sandwiches with anyone but her. Oh, and as soon as I get muscles, I'm gonna beat up Todd, that kid that keeps pulling her hair in class. Okay? Just letting you know. And if I break this promise, you gotta strike me with lightning, or whatever bad thing the priest in church says will happen. The end. Amen." He looked expectantly at Hallie. "Your turn!"

Hallie took a deep breath. "Hi, God! It's Hallie. I'm pretty sure you're watching us, so you know that Luke is my best friend, and I want to be best friends with him forever, no matter what, even when we're old and ugly like my old Great Aunt Celia, who really isn't that bad looking except when she gets her hair dyed blue. Anyways, I pinky promise times a million that Luke and I are gonna be best friends forever, no matter what, even when he plays the ninja and accidentally hurts me when he's pretending to beat me up, but it's okay cause I know he never means it. And I'll never share my sandwiches with anyone but him, either, cause he's the only boy I know that doesn't have cooties. Thank you. Amen."

The two of them shook pinkies, then proceeded to do their secret handshake. [I'd explain it to you, but it's a secret. Duh.] They gave each other a huge hug. When they let go, Luke said, "Invisible light saber battle?"

"You're on!" Hallie yelled, accepting the challenge.

Afternoon well spent.