Sing To Me

Prologue

"Rowan? Rowan slow down. I can't keep up." The little girl giggled as she chased me down the sand dune, her eyes alight with excitement. She lunged for me with her lithe fingers, but I swerved just in time.

"That's the point silly." I replied, laughing slightly as I caught a quick glance of her lying on the floor over my shoulder. "We're playing tag."

She pulled herself huffily up, wiping the grains of sand off her favourite pink dress, that I could have sworn she hadn't changed for the past week. But that was the beauty of being children. We could both do as we pleased, and nobody paid much attention.

"Come on Ella, we need to be home in time for dinner." Well, it would be unfair to say our parents didn't care. They were annoying with all their rules, especially when I wanted to spend more time playing with my best friend. But my stomach went against my thoughts as it rumbled loudly into the afternoon air.

I turned around quickly to find Ella watching me with a strange look on her face. Her golden hair had been plaited neatly by her Mummy earlier that day, but a few stray pieces spilled out in front of her eyes. It managed to blend perfectly with her creamy skin and sparkly aqua eyes. All the grownups had told me that she was very pretty for someone her age, but the only thing I could see when I looked at her was my best friend. My best friend who all of a sudden looked really sad.

"What's wrong Ella? If it makes you feel better you can tag me now." Slowly I reached out my hand towards her. "Here. Tag me. Then you can call time out and I will be on next time."

Yet, a part of me knew that wasn't the problem. One minute ago she had been happy and cheerful, the way Ella always was. But now she looked the way she did when she fell over in the playground, or when I took her chocolate bar away and ate it all myself.

She grabbed my outstretched hand in her own, and pulled me down so that we were both sitting next to each other. The wind was playing with those golden curls that had fallen out, blowing them around her face. But she didn't seem to notice. Her eyes were focused on the waves crashing against the shore.

"Things will always be like this won't they Rowan?" Her eyes met mine, and I was surprised to see glistening tears threatening to spill over. It came as a shock. Ella was strong. Ella never cried. Not even when her goldfish died a few weeks back, and her Daddy had insisted on flushing it down the toilet, no matter how many times she claimed that he was only sleeping. She wasn't like other girls. She was Ella. My Ella.

"What do you mean?"

"Well the girls in the village told me that once we go to school, you would find other friends, and forget about me. That's not true is it Rowan? Is it?" She asked, sounding scared of something that I knew would be impossible. Her grip on my hand had tightened, and I could feel the nails that she had a bad habit of biting digging into my palms.

"You will always be my friend. Even when we are grown ups, and I'm a footballer and you're a singer, we will still be best friends. I will never have any other friends. Just you. I promise." My honesty rang true, and I meant every word. I smiled brightly at her, and received a dazzling one in return: even if her front two teeth were missing.

"In that case-" She jumped to her feet quickly, and tapped me on the head. "Tag!"

And with that she was running across the beach, towards our now visible parents stood waiting for us towards the back. I wasn't going to let her get away with that. With the same amount of speed I was after her, both of us running in the direction of the slowly setting sun.

If only I had known back then what the future had prepared for us both. I would never have made that promise.