diamonds | river phoenix

seventeen

"Where are we going?" Asked River. I had him by the wrist, dragging him down the footpath.

"I don't know." I sighed.

"Can we stop now? My wrist hurts!" He complained.

I stopped walking, releasing my grip on his wrist. He winced, holding his hand in the other.

I looked around. It was pitch black, all the shops were closed and not a soul was in sight. The faint smell of cooling engines drifted around, and that was about it. My town was almost unrecognisable at night. I had no clue where we were or how far away from the house we were.

"Why'd you walk out like that?" River asked. I gulped. I felt bad for dragging him in with this.

"I didn't want it to get nasty." I explained.

"Oh." River said. He was walking around in circles and investigating the pavement. I sighed. I didn't know where to go or what to do. At the moment, I was lost somewhere in Toronto; River being the only human being in sight.

I tried listing my options.
"We can't go back to the house," I started.

"Mm." River nodded, holding up some sort of worm and snapping it in half.

"And I have no family to go to,"

All my family was either back in California, or had moved to Australia years earlier.

"And I don't really have any close friends to go to." I finished. I shivered. The evening air was really starting to hit on.

River burst up by my side, noticing that I was a little cold.

"Do you want my jacket?" He offered.

"River, you're not wearing a jacket." I laughed. It was sweet of him to offer, though.

"Right." He nodded, realising. He went back to his now dead worm.

"Do you have any idea where we could go?" I asked, hopeful.

River thought for a moment, before suggesting,

"We could find a hotel?"

"They'd all be closed by now." I responded.

I started walking, River tagging along. We walked for a lengthy amount of time until River's eyes lit up.

"We could go back to California!" He exclaimed.

"Uh, I don't think so." I said.

"Why not?" He asked, slightly confused.

"I don't have much money, and how are we supposed to get to the airport? What're we supposed to do? Just start a new life in California?" I explained.

"We don't start a new life, we just pick up from where we left off!" He said excitedly.

I sighed. Poor River, it must be horrible having a concussion.

"What about the money?" I asked.

"You have a little bit of money, I have a little bit. If we put it together I'm sure we'll have enough for a flight over!" He exclaimed.

"I don't know." I said nervously. I wasn't really sure about just leaving Canada behind and moving to California.

"C'mon, it'll be fine." River assured me. He hugged me tight and kissed my forehead.

"I wouldn't let anything happen to you." He promised. I rested my head on his shoulder. We stood there for a few minutes, before I smiled and gave in.

"Okay." I whispered.

"Great!" River said, pulling even tighter. I felt warm an safe in his hold.

Gosh, having River in my life was an adventure, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.