"Aubrey"

“You're a weirdo,” James shouted over to his best friend, Aubrey.

“No! You're a weirdo,” the seven year old girl called back. “Just 'cause you're a year older than me, doesn't make you too old to run after the ice cream van! In fact,” Aubrey approached James with an ice cream in each hand, “it's makes you the weirdo.”

“It does not!”

“Does.” She licked one of the ice creams.

“You never see adults running for the ice cream van.”

“That's because adults are old and boring.”

“Well, I'm more grown up than you.”

“Oh yeah? Prove it.”

“How do you prove you're an adult?”

“Be old, and boring,” Aubrey licked the same ice cream again.

James watched her carefully.

“What?!” she asked after a while.

“You gonna lick that other one?”

“Why would I lick that one?”

“It's melting all down your arm...”

“But it's not mine.”

“Who's is it, then?”

“Yours, stupid.”

James' eyes lit up and he reached out for it.

“Nope,” Aubrey grinned. “You're too mature for ice cream.”

James huffed.

Aubrey continued to lick her ice cream, while the other dripped sadly onto the floor.

“You know...” she said slyly, “you could act your age again, and have this. If you want to...”
“I want to.” James sad bashfully.

“Prove it.”

“How?”

“Be young and not boring!”

James immediately ran past Aubrey, and jumped as high as he could, into the water fountain. Landing feet first, he kicked the water over the sides, and in Aubrey's direction. She laughed.

“Okay!”

“That enough?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she answered, holding out his ice cream as he climbed out of the fountain.

“Thanks,” he took it, and lapped it up.

Aubrey rubbed her creamy arm in his soaking wet jacket, and they smiled to each other.

James rubbed his own arm, as he sat on the edge of that very same fountain, twenty years later. He wondered where Aubrey was, and what she was doing. She had been his first love, and seemingly, his only love. All other attempts had failed miserably, and brought him back here. He would give anything to go back in time and tell her. Maybe he could have convinced her to stay? And then everything would have been different. Maybe better?

He felt a shiver run down his spine, so he stood, and began his long walk home.

A girl stood in the tree line. If only James had looked over his shoulder, he would have seen that he didn't have to travel the world to find her again. He just needed to see what was already around him, just as he should have, all those years ago.