“Emily, what do you think is out there?” Amanda asks. Her gaze was on the light of the concrete jungle as she leans against the train station railing. Amanda’s smile and joy fills my heart every time I think of her.

I take a step and lean against her. “I don’t know, but I’m here with you,” I reply.

Amanda giggles, “Of course! And I with you. Don’t you ever wonder what’s beyond this old town? I want to explore the world. Stand on every meter of the beautiful blue dot we call home!” She looks at me and tilts her head to one side. “And you my dear, do you wonder what’s beyond Edgewood street?”

I pause and think. Finally, my eyes meet hers, “I do wonder. But I know, wherever you go, I’ll follow.”

Her smile grows and she throws her arms towards the sky and shouts, “Of course! You all hear that!” Amanda turns to me with a finger raised. “We girls are on an adventure first thing in the morning.”

Puzzled, I reply, “But tomorrow’s Friday. We still have classes Amanda.”

“Who says I have class? I am a sophisticated farm girl from Blue Ridge Road. The only thing I have is a friend and a destination. Everything else will come tomorrow.”

I begrudgingly agree, but on one condition, we have to come back by Sunday night and tell our parents.

She happily agrees and proceeds to twirl along the train platform as we wait for the 8 o'clock train home.

I hear a knock on my window and the adventure was on. We were up before the sun was, running across the town. Causing havoc on one side of town to the other. We jumped over fences from farm to farm, scaring the sheep and chickens and alerting the farmers. This lead to bombardments of insults and threats that we laughed off. Just another day with Amanda and company. We would go around town teasing boys, jumping between streetcars, eating and drinking what we shouldn’t; doing all of this to reach the other side of town; to reach Edgewood and the great road.

By the time we reached Edgewood, we were exhausted. Drenched in sweat, dirt, and laughter, we rested under a great big willow.

“That was fun,” I said, gasping for air. “Except for that one old guy. He couldn’t take a joke.”

Amanda was laying beside me looking ready to pass out. She replied, “Yeah, but we got ‘em good.” She took a few deep breaths. “And made it all the way to Edgewood at the last tree before the Big Road.”

I sat upright resting by back to the tree. I motioned Amanda to rest her head on my lap.

“You’re so soft and comfy Emily.”

I blush. “I’m glad we came.” I began to stroke her head as her breath begins to slow into a deep sleep. I’ve always been with Amanda from when we were kids. She was my better half and I love her in every way. I only hope she feels the same. “I love you Amanda,” I whisper. “And I hope we can stay like this forever.” Amanda stirs as though hearing me, but quickly goes back to rest.

Amanda eventually awakes and we have a small picnic of cheese sandwiches, fruit, and water. It turns out, we ate nearly everything before we even got here. “Sorry about not bringing more Amanda,” I apologize. “I should have brought more.”

Amanda smiles with a mouth full of food. “It--it’s finnnee. I gottttt mor dan enufff to eat.” She swallows and clears her thoat. “The food doesn’t really matter, it’s hanging out with you. But thank God this food is here. It’s so delicious. You must have put some magic fairy dust in I’m certain Emily.”

I blush again. “Thank goodness. I made them last night; nothing special.”

She crawls closer until our faces are a few centimeters apart. “Don’t go telling me that! I know how much work you put into everything.” Amanda moves even closer. “I’m glad you love me.” Her eyes begin to water. “I know you have for a while, but it’s nice hearing it.” Her tears began to flow. I reached for my handkerchief to dry her tears.

“I love you Amanda. Wherever you go, I’ll follow.”

She rests her head on my shoulder. “No, wherever we go, we’ll be side by side. How else am I going to hold your hand?” Her hands wrap around my waist and she says, “I love you Emily. I’ll be with you forever. I don’t care if I don’t travel the world as long as you’re always with me like it’s always been.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll go to every place so many times we’ll have to go to the moon because we’ve been everywhere.”

We kissed and made love. We watched the fireflies and moon. We cried and laughed. For the rest of the night, it was just us in love, Amanda and Emily.

Light crept through the cracks of the tent where patches that were temporary became permanent bandages. I awoke to the sound of birds and distant farm animals. Beside me was a beautiful drooling lover too tired to even wake up the sun on time. Since she seemed so at ease, I crept closer to her and tickled her into the new day. To say the least, she was amused, maybe not initially, I have the scars to prove that, but she was grinning all the way to the central train station.

“Once we get a car, the world is ours for the taking,” declared Amanda, resting one leg on a trash can and a fist in the air.

“Don’t hold your breath. With your spending problems, we’ll be lucky to be debt-free by sixty,” I retort. I looked at the scrolling message on the monitors. The usual train is out due to the derailment. “Looks like we’ll need to get on the Elk Creek train today. I’ll go get the tickets, go ahead and wait here with the gear.”

“Okay, don’t take to long my dear.”

“I’ll be a sec and what’s with the ‘my dear’?” Her voice was lost to the noise of the surrounding crowds as I scurried off for the tickets.

I finally got the tickets and the train arrival was in a few minutes. I ran across the station, but with the crowds and broken signs and temporary signs; I got lost. Arriving at the platform I saw Amanda, but from the other side. She was on the wrong side of the platform and the train was leaving. I tried waving, yelling, screaming. In a moment as the other train was leaving, she saw me smiled and waved. At that moment the creep from yesterday shoved her into the oncoming train then disappeared. At that moment I saw the love of my life smile full of life. The next, she was gone.

For the next week, I searched every millimeter of the station to find every piece of her. For the next month, I cried every single day. For the next year, I tried hunting the monster down in every corner. For the next ten, I worked to become a detective to bring justice for Amanda and let her rest in peace. Let her rest so that I can one day join her where no one has ever gone and come back to tell the tale. Keep everything you love close and never ever let go, because the next moment may change your world forever. A tip from detective Emily. And before I forget, there are no good men in this world, especially those who wear red round-rimmed sunglasses.