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Description
The Promise

I made a promise…

I made a promise I would never break, and would never regret… or would I?

As the two of us walked down the path I looked to either side and saw the small finches dart from tree to shrub, shrub to tree branch as the mist formed from our breath as the warmth mixed with the cold, icy air.
The sun was shining down upon us, dark clouds in the distance began to roll in but the temperature was still freezing. I checked the temperature app on my phone balancing the large bunch of flowers in my left hand
with a large umbrella I had brought along just in case it rained; the temperature was minus five degrees;
I shivered in my suit and flicked the collar of my overcoat up and buttoned it against my throat, grateful that it wasn't snowing. The sun shone it's rays upon the rows of headstones, some covered in moss and dirt,
others in frost as we slowly walked on; the names called out to me as if I knew them, their ages were quickly calculated in my head and filed away and my companion begin to cry as we walked on.

We arrived at a small flowing brook and stopped. We looked over the area until I found an object nestled into a dark area of trees, an object that turned out to be a small granite headstone covered in moss and dirt.

"There…" I said quietly, as if I might wake the dead if my voice was any louder, pointing so my friend could see it.

She turned her head, her dark red hair glinting in the broken sunlight shining down through the trees, her brown eyes filling with tears. She walked to the edge of the brook and got to the other side by using several rocks,
protruding from the water as stepping stones. I followed, barely keeping my balance as my shoes didn't make it a very easy thing to do;
I almost plunged into the brook several times as they failed to grip to the moss covered stones regretting my choice of footwear. When I made it across I found her kneeling on the small concrete slab located directly in front of
the headstone. As she kneeled, she faced the ground and began to cry once more as she took the black handkerchief I offered.
I moved over to the headstone and moved an old and rusted metal tin that was placed by it to the side and removed from one of my jacket pockets a small china vase, with the inscription reading

"To Mum, love from Jane"

I filled it with a little water from the brook and took out several flowers from the bunch in my hand and placed them in the vase, and then I slowly lowered the vase at the foot of the headstone. My friend looked up and mouthed
a thank you. I stood behind her and waited. She started to speak as the clouds obscured the sun and I took off my sunglasses to realise that she wasn't talking to me, she was talking to her mother.
We stayed there in that position for roughly thirty minutes, Jane now sitting and myself still standing, now over her underneath an umbrella as rain began to fall from the clouds that had come overhead, the soft patter hitting
the leaves as well as the top of the brolly and the drops hitting the brook were the only sound in the small area, apart from Jane's soft voice.

I remember Jane telling me about her mother; it seemed like it was such a long time ago. We were sitting on the playground at school, during sport I think it was. We were all dressed in our horrible sport uniform of bottle green
and golden yellow, as our group was sitting down in a circle, ignoring the commands of our teacher. Jane and I moved a few feet away when I asked about her parents. She told me the truth, straight and to the point; her mother
had passed away. She asked me several days later when I said I would have to take a friend to a restaurant after his 18th birthday, if I would accompany her to her mother's grave and I promised her I would. That promise I have
kept.

She stood slowly, her hair moving as the breeze stirred around us. I handed her the remainder of the flowers and she placed them on the small slab she was sitting on. She turned and burst out in tears as I wrapped my arms
around her and keeping her close to my chest as the wind picked up, finding its way through my clothes, causing me to shiver.
We started to walk back, this time walking further up the brook where a small white walking bridge stood. As we linked back to the path we were originally on I took off my overcoat and placed it around the shoulders of
the shivering girl walking next to me. The wind was like ice placed on your skin as the rain came from all directions. By the time we made it back to the car park we were soaked through, and Jane had stopped crying.

"Thank you… for everything…" she said as I opened the passenger door of the white four wheel drive, before climbing into the seat and closing the door.

"I always keep my promises…always…" I whispered, then I got into the driver seat and we drove off into the storm.

Description
The Promise

I made a promise…

I made a promise I would never break, and would never regret… or would I?

As the two of us walked down the path I looked to either side and saw the small finches dart from tree to shrub, shrub to tree branch as the mist formed from our breath as the warmth mixed with the cold, icy air.
The sun was shining down upon us, dark clouds in the distance began to roll in but the temperature was still freezing. I checked the temperature app on my phone balancing the large bunch of flowers in my left hand
with a large umbrella I had brought along just in case it rained; the temperature was minus five degrees;
I shivered in my suit and flicked the collar of my overcoat up and buttoned it against my throat, grateful that it wasn't snowing. The sun shone it's rays upon the rows of headstones, some covered in moss and dirt,
others in frost as we slowly walked on; the names called out to me as if I knew them, their ages were quickly calculated in my head and filed away and my companion begin to cry as we walked on.

We arrived at a small flowing brook and stopped. We looked over the area until I found an object nestled into a dark area of trees, an object that turned out to be a small granite headstone covered in moss and dirt.

"There…" I said quietly, as if I might wake the dead if my voice was any louder, pointing so my friend could see it.

She turned her head, her dark red hair glinting in the broken sunlight shining down through the trees, her brown eyes filling with tears. She walked to the edge of the brook and got to the other side by using several rocks,
protruding from the water as stepping stones. I followed, barely keeping my balance as my shoes didn't make it a very easy thing to do;
I almost plunged into the brook several times as they failed to grip to the moss covered stones regretting my choice of footwear. When I made it across I found her kneeling on the small concrete slab located directly in front of
the headstone. As she kneeled, she faced the ground and began to cry once more as she took the black handkerchief I offered.
I moved over to the headstone and moved an old and rusted metal tin that was placed by it to the side and removed from one of my jacket pockets a small china vase, with the inscription reading

"To Mum, love from Jane"

I filled it with a little water from the brook and took out several flowers from the bunch in my hand and placed them in the vase, and then I slowly lowered the vase at the foot of the headstone. My friend looked up and mouthed
a thank you. I stood behind her and waited. She started to speak as the clouds obscured the sun and I took off my sunglasses to realise that she wasn't talking to me, she was talking to her mother.
We stayed there in that position for roughly thirty minutes, Jane now sitting and myself still standing, now over her underneath an umbrella as rain began to fall from the clouds that had come overhead, the soft patter hitting
the leaves as well as the top of the brolly and the drops hitting the brook were the only sound in the small area, apart from Jane's soft voice.

I remember Jane telling me about her mother; it seemed like it was such a long time ago. We were sitting on the playground at school, during sport I think it was. We were all dressed in our horrible sport uniform of bottle green
and golden yellow, as our group was sitting down in a circle, ignoring the commands of our teacher. Jane and I moved a few feet away when I asked about her parents. She told me the truth, straight and to the point; her mother
had passed away. She asked me several days later when I said I would have to take a friend to a restaurant after his 18th birthday, if I would accompany her to her mother's grave and I promised her I would. That promise I have
kept.

She stood slowly, her hair moving as the breeze stirred around us. I handed her the remainder of the flowers and she placed them on the small slab she was sitting on. She turned and burst out in tears as I wrapped my arms
around her and keeping her close to my chest as the wind picked up, finding its way through my clothes, causing me to shiver.
We started to walk back, this time walking further up the brook where a small white walking bridge stood. As we linked back to the path we were originally on I took off my overcoat and placed it around the shoulders of
the shivering girl walking next to me. The wind was like ice placed on your skin as the rain came from all directions. By the time we made it back to the car park we were soaked through, and Jane had stopped crying.

"Thank you… for everything…" she said as I opened the passenger door of the white four wheel drive, before climbing into the seat and closing the door.

"I always keep my promises…always…" I whispered, then I got into the driver seat and we drove off into the storm.