The Promise

Introduction

As a child, nothing seems more important than having childish fun. A kind of fun that can make you an adult without starting from puberty.

Playing as a grown up feels exciting to a point that would make you think being young is a waste of time.

At the age of 9, a boy named Gwin Shange had a mind clambered hastily to an older age, buy rushing to want to have a girlfriend.

There was a girl living next to his house. Named Sane Cele, and she was his best friend since they were five.

Suddenly, he had a different thought about his friendship with her, that it was futile when he recognized she was an attractive girl.

One day he became a man when he had courage to confess that he's attracted to her. An  attraction that makes him see her more than just a friend. More to be like those people he sees regularly on television with their lips moving together.

When the girl told him she had a mutual attraction, it was abominable because he was fussy about ruining their friendship.

Since then they have been hugging, holding hands daily and writing each other love letters until they graduated from primary school.

Just when nothing troubles their lovey-dovey kinship. One night the boy heard news that was inevitable - about relocating to another province.

For the first time the boy had a thought about his father that he was an imbecile for accepting a job offer from far away from home.

His heart was in war with sadness and resentment for the fact he was going to leave the girl he admired very much.

Another day at the Durban beach. They sat on a bench and gazed at the ocean.

He had told her about moving to Pretoria, and it was their last day spending time together. Seeing one another and hopefully talking to each other.

"What are you thinking?" she asked him, breaking the moment of silence.

"I will come back for you someday."

She smiled at him, and she got up on her feet and held his hand. She pulled him up and she wanted to implore for him to stay but she knew she was going to be ineffectual because he would be homeless.

Instead, she said, "Let's make a promise."

"A promise?" He was hazy about what she meant because they had never made any promises before.

"When we both turn thirty. We should find each other again. Right here on this beach. On this day." She told him.

That day was June 15th, and they were only thirteen years old.

"What if we forget?" he asked, with a faltered voice, great sadness got the best of him.

"If you forget I will come and find you wherever you are hiding." She said.

"I will never forget you." he said, with his lips stretched wide sealed together.

"And if you forget I will come and kill that bastard you chose over me." he added.

They laughed.

"So, promise?" she asked.

"Yes. I promise"

"I promise too."

The promise was sealed with their first kiss.