A Long, Long Time Ago... I Can Still Remember...

I hope you realized that that title was a reference (or, a lyric, more precisely) to/of the song American Pie by Don McLean. :) Good song, go listen.

Anyhow, I remembered that I said something about posting one of my favorite short stories I've written. So, here I go. :)

First, not that I'm expecting you to, but if you do happen to share this story or use it in anyway, I hope you will cite your sources and send me a message with how you used it and such.

And- Follow me on Twitter! @meggofin  :)

Okay, here we go with Finger's Crossed...

Hallie Monroe shook her head fiercely, and water droplets flew from her hair. She rubbed her arms and shivered. The water in the pond was chilly. Smoothing back her honey-colored hair, she swam to the side of the pond and climbed out. She grabbed her towel from a big rock and wrapped it around her electric green bathing suit. After sliding on her sandals, she stepped on the path towards home.

As she walked, she thought. She thought briefly about school, which started the next week.  And she thought about her best friend, Milly Parker. Milly had been sick the last couple of days. Hallie had visited the Parkers’ house for the past week, but Milly was confined to her bedroom. The doctor said she had the flu. Mrs. Parker said that Milly wouldn’t be at school the first few days. Hallie was eager to see her friend, but she had to wait until Milly was healthy again.

Hallie had known Milly since kindergarten. They had been in the same class and sat next to each other by a stroke of luck. Their houses were only a couple of minutes away. Milly and Hallie were as close as sisters.

She remembered one time when they were eleven and had been on the same local basketball team.

“Milly! Pass it to Jenny!” Coach Lewis yelled. “Jenny, to Victoria! Pass to Andrea, now! No, not to Hallie!”

Hallie put her arms down. The ball smacked her in the face, and so did the coaches words.

“Coach,” someone groaned. Hallie wasn’t sure who. She felt like someone had pressed pause on a dramatic part of a children’s movie. She couldn’t believe the coach had said that! Hallie knew she wasn’t the best player on the team. Actually, she knew she was the worst, but at least she tried. Obviously that wasn’t good enough.

“Hallie,” the coach said. He stepped towards her, but she ran out of the gym, leaving her coat and water bottle on the bleachers.

Her mom was supposed to pick her up in twenty minutes, but she couldn’t wait that long. Hallie decided to run home.

The air was cold on her bare arms and legs and she thought about returning to the gym to get her jacket, but she couldn’t and wouldn’t face that coach ever again. After she had been running steadily for about ten minutes, she saw car lights up ahead. Hallie paused to take a deep breath and looked at the car. It was slowing down.

“Hal?” It was her mom. Hallie had never been so happy to see her.

“Mom!” she cried, and she climbed in the front seat with her mother.

“Sweetie, what are you doing out here? Practice doesn’t end for ten minutes. And where’s your jacket? What happened?” She waited patiently to hear the whole story.

“What?” she exclaimed when Hallie was finished. “How dare he!” And she drove to the gym and got Hallie’s things. “Here,” she said, bringing them to the car. “Put your jacket on. I’m going to go talk to Mr. Lewis.”

Hallie stuffed her arms into her warm jacket and sat in the car, waiting. She jumped when there was a knock on her window. A finger scraped the frost from the window and Hallie saw Milly.

“Yes?” Hallie said, rolling down her window. Milly was the best player on the team and Hallie didn’t really need her sympathy right now.

Milly hesitated and then said slowly, “Hallie, I’m really sorry about tonight. I can’t believe Coach said that! But, if you want to quit the team, I’ll quit too.”

“Milly, no. You don’t need to do that. You’re the best, I’m the worst. You stay, I quit. It’s what’s best for the team.” Hallie smiled sadly.

“But it’s not what’s best for me, Hallie!” Milly protested. “You’re my best friend and what’s best for me is to stick with you. You quit, I quit. You stay, I stay. Best or worst.”

That’s when Hallie realized just what a great friend she had. 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hallie had reached her small comfortable home by the time she remembered to call Mrs. Parker to see how Milly was. Hallie climbed the stairs to her porch and opened the front door.

“Mom?” she called, not surprised when she didn’t hear an answer. Her mother, a journalist, often got called into work at the newspaper because there was a new story to cover.

 Hallie climbed up the stairs to her bedroom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An hour later Hallie lay on her bed. She had showered and then called Mrs. Parker. After hearing her stomach rumble a couple of times, she had made a peanut butter and honey sandwich. Now she was enjoying it.

As she ate the sticky sandwich, she thought of Milly again. Mrs. Parker had said she was better than she had been before. Her fever was going down. Hallie couldn’t wait until her friend was well again.

Hearing the door open downstairs, Hallie jumped up and carried her sandwich down the stairs. “Mom?” she said, peering around the corner into the kitchen.

Mrs. Monroe looked up and smiled. “Hey, honey. What are you eating?” She ran her hand across her face.

Hallie grinned. “Honey,” she replied. “And peanut butter. Anyway, did you get a new story?” Hallie loved reading her mother’s articles. She thought the writing was amazing. Everyday she’d scan through the paper looking for her mother’s name: Jessie Monroe.

“No, they just moved my deadline forward a week. I’ve got to get to work.” Mrs. Monroe sat down at the table and pulled out her laptop. “Did you know that my topics the flu that’s going around? I thought I’d write about Milly.”

Hallie’s eyes widened in shock. “Mom,” she whispered, “do you think Milly will get better?” She shivered just thinking of her friend… well….

“Hal, I-” her mother paused. She had to seem positive, for her daughter, no matter how grim things looked right now. Things could change. “Hallie, honey, I think Milly will be fine. All we can do is hope. Come here.”

Hallie rushed to her mother, tears streaming down her face. “Mom,” she choked. Mrs. Monroe shushed her. They were silent for a while, neither of them sure how long they had been hugging. Finally Hallie spoke again. “What if Milly doesn’t get….” She couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence.

Mrs. Monroe squeezed her. “Sweetie, I know hard this is for you. I’m sorry. I wish there were something I could do. Poor Milly. And her family… how’s Paige?”

Hallie sniffed and wiped her nose on her sleeve. Hygiene didn’t seem extremely important at the moment. “Mrs. Parker’s fine, I guess.”

“Did you call her today?”

“Yes.”

“What did she say?”

“Mrs. Parker said that Milly’s doing better… but what if it’s like the calm before the storm? The peace before the tsunami?” Hallie wiped at a tear rolling down her cheek.

“Honey, Milly will be okay. She will.”

“Do you promise?” Hallie challenged. She had to be sure.

Mrs. Monroe looked her daughter in the eye. “Hallie, all I can promise…. All I can promise is that I will do all I can to help.” Hallie sighed and crossed her fingers. That would have to do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The following Monday, Hallie woke up early and went to school. All she could think about as she traveled zombie-like through the hallway was Milly.

Science went by in a blur. Her history teacher sent her to the nurse. Hallie felt disconnected from the rest of the world, maybe even the universe. She was sure no one knew how she felt.

Hallie was missing her best friend and lifetime pal. Milly should be here, she thought over and over again. It was the first day of seventh grade and Hallie was all alone. There were always lots of other kids around, but Hallie hadn’t bothered to make many friends. She’d assumed she’d always have Milly, the best of the best, with her. She knew she could try and make some new friends on the first day but then she thought she would feel like she was betraying Milly if she even approached another potential friend.

So instead Hallie played a memory of how she and Milly had met.

It was the first day of kindergarten and Miss Jameson was giving the students their seats. Hallie Monroe?” the teacher called, looking up from a seating chart.

“Yes, Miss Jameson?” Hallie answered eagerly.

“Hallie, you can sit at the purple table. Right over there, next to Milly.” Miss Jameson pointed to a seat nearby. Hallie sat down.

“Hi, I’m Mildred Samantha Georgia Kelly Parker. Milly for short.” Hallie looked at the girl next to her. “What’s your name?” Milly asked. “Is it Janie?”

Hallie shook her head, confused. “No,” she said. “It’s-”

Milly interrupted her. “Is it Kimberly?” She stared at Hallie.

Hallie gulped. “No, it’s-”

“Franny? May? Dianne? Lynda? Eleanor? Lily? Sara? Beth? Anna? Holly? Heather? Judy?”

“No, stop. My name is-” Hallie began again.

“Hallie,” a voice said. But it wasn’t Milly. Hallie looked up. Miss Jameson was standing over her. “Please stop talking. There’ll be plenty of time for that at recess.”

“Yes Miss Jameson.” Hallie glared at Milly, but she wasn’t really angry. She was just confused. Something had told her that Milly would be hard to ignore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Hallie opened her front door and called, “I’m home!” She waited for an answer. Her mom was home, because the newspaper was sitting on the stairs, and her mom always put it there after work. Hallie ran into the kitchen. “Mom?” she whispered worriedly, seeing her mom. Mrs. Monroe was sitting at the table, her head in her hands. “Mom,” she said gently, putting her arm around her mother.

“Hallie… sit down, sweetie.” Mrs. Monroe wiped her eyes, holding back more tears.

Hallie pulled out a chair and sat on the edge. “What’s wrong?” Hallie’s voice was weak. She knew this had to be bad. Her mom was so strong, it hurt to see her in tears.

“Paige called today. She wanted me to tell you…. Honey, Milly’s in the hospital. Her fever came back, worse than ever. They don’t know if she’ll make it through the night.” And with that Mrs. Monroe couldn’t hold back her tears any longer.

“No.” Hallie couldn’t believe it. “No, no, she can’t be.” She ran up to her room, tears dripping from her chin to her shirt, and flopped down on her bed. “No! Milly….” She cried and screamed, yelling in protest until her actions exhausted her and she fell into a horrible sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hallie wouldn’t get up for school the next day. She woke up early and lay in the dark, waiting for her alarm clock to go off. Then she hit the snooze button. One thought kept running through her head: Milly’s going to die. But she crossed her fingers.

Her mother came in, bringing her pancakes and juice. “Hon, you have to eat. It’ll be okay.”

Hallie looked at her mother. “What did you do?”

“What?” Mrs. Monroe was startled. “I didn’t do anything.”

“I thought so.” But she didn’t look happy. “How could you?”

“What do you mean, Hal?” Mrs. Monroe sat down on her daughter’s bed, ready for an explanation.

“You said you’d help. You promised. And you didn’t do anything. Thanks for keeping your word, Mom.” Mrs. Monroe couldn’t miss the sarcasm in Hallie’s voice.

“Hal, I wrote-” she began.

“No, Mom, never mind. Milly’s going to die. That’s all.” As much as she hated to, she was giving up. Her friend had been sick much too long.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Hallie stayed home the rest of the week. She couldn’t sleep, she couldn’t eat. She hardly left her bed. At least Milly was still alive. Hallie kept her fingers crossed at all times.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Sunday morning Hallie lay on her bed, staring at her ceiling, surrounded by stuffed animals. Anytime Milly could leave the earth and leave Hallie all alone. Hallie closed her eyes, hoping to close off her thoughts. They were unbearable; they brought her only sadness. But, then again, so did reality.

She was about to start crying again, and she wasn’t surprised. She’d cried a lot over the past week. She thought almost all her tears were gone, but maybe her tear ducts were working overtime now.

“Hallie!” She heard someone calling her name, but maybe it was all in her head. She wasn’t certain of anything anymore. “Hallie!” It came again. Once more, she thought, and I’ll go check. “Hallie!”

Hallie got out of bed and stumbled to the door, her legs weak from lack of use. She opened the door and staggered down the stairs.

“Hallie!” It was her mother.

“Yes, Mom?” Hallie sat down on the bottom stair, holding her head in her hands.

“Hal,” Mrs. Monroe said, joining her daughter. “Mrs. Parker just called…” Hallie closed her eyes and prepared herself for the worst. “Milly’s doing much better. Her fever went down dramatically. Back to normal.”

“Are they sure?” Hallie asked, looking at her crossed fingers. Please, she thought. Oh, please!

“They’re sure. Milly’s going to live.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            “Hallie!” Milly hurried through her front door and hugged her friend. After a moment, she let go. “I missed you so much!”

                Hallie grinned. “I missed you more. I hate to say this, but I thought you were going to die.” She studied Milly. It was her: her sparkling blue eyes, her bright auburn hair, and her rather large nose. It was Milly Parker, the way Hallie had always known her.

                “So did I, trust me. But then I thought about all of you: Mom, Dad, you. And then I crossed my fingers.” Milly smiled sadly, than brightened. “And here I am, alive and well!”

                “Hey, did you say you crossed your fingers?” Hallie asked curiously.

                “Yeah. Why?”

                “So did I!” Hallie and Milly high-fived. “Isn’t that weird?”

                “It’s kind of like… friend telepathy or something!” Milly exclaimed happily. “That’s so cool!”

                Hallie laughed. “Well, there’s one thing for sure: Crossing your fingers is not like crossing your heart and hoping to die.”

I hope you enjoyed that, if you made it all the way to the end... Feel free to leave suggestions or reviews or whatever in the comments section.  I know it's not the best story ever, but I did write it... 3 years ago... and I quite like it.

Also, all of that was of my own creation, so again, if you feel like using it (HA) please credit. :)

Thanks guys! Hope you all had a brilliant Christmas/Holiday season and a terrific New Year.