The peace was suddenly shattered with a loud crack of a twig. I glanced up and saw Tony coming from the forest, towards me. I smiled and got up off the ground, from where I was sitting. We hugged, then sat down again. It was a peaceful day, the sky was a clear, pale blue; there was barely a whisper of wind, to ruffle the tree tops. We were sitting by a stream that ran at the bottom of my yard, at the edge of Forget-Me-Not forest; where we had first met. I did not speak for a while, neither did he; it was more of a companionable silence than awkward. When he finally did speak, his words shocked me.

“My family is moving. I’m so sorry Louise, I only found out today.” I stared at him, my mouth gone dry. “We’ll be leaving in a week, my father’s job is transferring us to South Carolina. I can’t tell you how much I’ll miss you, but lets make this last week memorable.” And so we did.





………….

“This is the last day I’ll see you,” I whispered as we sat down by the stream. “What will I do without you. You’re my best friend.” How could I lose you, you mean more to me than just a best friend! But I didn’t say this, I couldn’t, not on the last day I’d see him.

“I know this is tough, and its hard on me too… And I’m sorry, I don’t want to go… But its life I guess, maybe you could visit sometime… Or I could visit you here… I don’t know….You’ve been the bestest friend ever… I’ll miss you terribly, too.” He sighed and just looked out into that dark green forest, stretching beyond the stream. He started to speak again but I wasn’t listening anymore; my thoughts had run back to the first day I had met Tony…





………….

‘O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art….’

“Crack! Snap!” I startled up, what was that; it sounded like the noise came from the forest! I peered into the gloomy shadow of the trees, no sign of life. Now where did those noises come from? I wondered, as I set my book down on the grass. Might as well take a look, no harm in “exploring” the forest. Ha ha, not exactly likely for me to find anything, or anyone. Probably was just a squirrel. Sigh. Guess its back to….

“Crack! Snap!” There it is a again. I mused. Might as well go see. I stood up and splashed across the stream, that lay at my feet. It was icy cold, but I paid no attention to it, my focus was on the forest. I pushed branches away from my face as I stepped into the slightly dense foliage.

I took two more steps away from the open, and stopped. I had come face to face with someone else…It was a boy, around my own age,13. I was so shocked I couldn’t speak, who would be wandering around the forest like this kid seamed to be doing?

“Um, hello. My names Tony. I just moved into the house on the other side of the forest and I wanted to explored these woods and I didn’t know anyone was here and I’m sorry if I surprised you. Oh, and who are you?” He finished, breathing hard, as if it had been a myriad of words for him to say at one time. I closed my mouth, finally, gathering my scattered thoughts.

“Louise. And you did give me sort of a shock. I heard you, while I was reading my book.. But I didn’t think it would be someone, thought it was just a squirrel. Anyways, welcome to Forget-Me-Not Forest; and to the neighbor hood.”

“Forget-Me-Not Forest, that’s what its called? Strange name, but thanks for the welcome. Its quite beautiful in here, isn’t it; and quiet as well. Why is it called that, anyways?” He asked, looking around at the shadow covered barks.

“Well, for one, there are hundreds of Forget-Me-Not flowers carpeting the ground, as you can see. Also, there’s a legend about how it got its name. Come back with me to where I was sitting and I’ll tell you the story.” I said as I turned around to exit the forest. He followed me out, across the stream, and to where I had left my book.

“So tell me how the forest got its name.”

“Well, as legend goes; there supposedly was a castle, built at the edge of this forest. There was a king and queen who lived in the castle; the queen loved flowers, her favorite being the pretty little blue, purple, and white flowers that grew so abundantly in this forest. The castle was full of the lovely flowers, that were picked right here. The king and queen loved each other greatly.

“But the queen got exceptionally ill one day, and soon was at death’s door. The king was so sad, for he had loved her dearly and did not wish her to die. But she had said she was ready to go; she called for her husband to come to her. He knelt beside her bed, tears glistening in his eyes and on his cheeks. She whispered that she loved him and with her last bit of strength took a blue flower, one of her favorites, and laid it in her love’s hand. With her last breath she said, ‘Forget me not, dear love.’ The breath left her and she died.

“The king did not forget her and so named the flower as well as this forest, Forget-Me-Not as a remembrance to his beloved wife….And that’s the story of how this forest got its name; or at least one of the myriad of stories told. I hope you enjoyed it.”

“Wow! That was an amazing story! Thanks for telling me it….Um well it looks late I better go, but do you think I could come back tomorrow and hear another story about the forest, if you know anymore, that is.” He asked rather shyly, a slight pink came into his half turned faced. It took all my will power not to smile, instead I said; “Sure, love to tell you more. Come back any time….




……….
…

“Louise! Are you listening?” Tony’s voice broke threw the wall of memories, alerting me to the present. Sigh.. How could he leave now, though we have been friends for only three years, it had felt like I had known him all my life. It will be hard to let him go…Let my best friend go.

“I’m sorry, Tony, I was just thinking of when we first met. And I got lost in the memory,” I tried to smile, but it felt forced. I was truly going to miss him, and the lose would run deeper than he could possibly imagine. “What were you saying?”

“I was only going to say,” he plucked up a couple Forget-Me-Nots, that were lying near by, and handed them to me. “Please, forget me not.”