Lost But Not Forgotten | ✓

↣Prologue

"Marco!" A little girl of six, with two missing front teeth, called out. The gap between her teeth caused her a slight pronunciation error and it caused her and her friend to giggle.

"Polo!" Her best friend since birth laughed alongside her and ran I circles around the young girl. "Just a tip Nat: try turning around."

"It's not fair Walt! How do you always win?"

"I have X-ray vision!"

Using Walt's pride as a distraction, Nat turned around and blindly grabbed for Walt's shoulders. She felt a familiar pair of shoulders and hurriedly pulled the makeshift blindfold off of her face. Ecstatic green eyes met her light brown ones.

She wrapped the folded bandana around her wrist and dusted her hands. In a few year's time, all of her peers would be squeamish about boys and their 'cooties'. For now, however, she was content having Walt as her best friend.

A knock from the sliding door signaled them to come back inside for snacks and drinks. Walt, the chivalrous six-year-old, let Nat walk inside before him. He had grown up watching his father and Nat's father let their wives walk inside before them and he always reciprocated their actions in his friendship with Nat.

"I want winter break to come around soon."

"Walt, the year just started." Nat said and Walt shrugged. "It's only been a week."

"That's a week too long " Walt expertly took two small sandwiches in one hand and dropped one onto Nat's plate. With his other hand, he held two Styrofoam plates. Meanwhile, Nat took out a bottle of sanitizer and the juice boxes. Through their food, the two talked about how their schools were and about how it was horrible that Nat had moved away from the neighborhood.

Finally, that evening, when Nat's family was leaving Walt's house, she sleepily waved him goodbye. She knew that his bandana was still tied around her wrist and that her hair-tie and bow clip was still on Walt's dresser, but she could pick that up next time.

Unknown to her, there would be no next time.

* * *

Weeks passed by without either of them being able to see each other. Nat's previous house was across the street from Walt, but now she had moved closer to the city and it was a good twenty minutes by car.

Walt brought up the topic of going to see Nat at the dinner table, but the idea was always shut down. On Nat's side, it was the same story.

Weeks turned into months and after a while, Nat was exasperated. She had been observing her family for a while now and had a solid theory on why her family had not gone to see Walt's. For a newly turned seven-year-old, she was highly intelligent.

She wrote all of her findings and ideas onto a sheet from her school binder and put it in an envelope.

Walt, she scribbled on it and wrote her own address as the returning. There was a post box on her way to school and it wouldn't be too hard to drop it off. The next Monday, she left earlier than usual and dropped the letter into the mailbox.

Months turned into years and before Nat realized, she had forgotten all about that stamp-less letter and of the little boy with green eyes who always shared his cookies.

Until she had to sit next to him in Home Economics, eleven years later.