Passage

What will it be, milady?” the rough, bulky yet kind looking bartender asked me from across the counter. I looked at him with my worn out eyes under the thin veil of what was left of my bangs. I showed a smile, or at least what I could manage to pass as a smile, at him and said “Beer please. Diluted, if you can.”

He looked at me oddly for a moment. Perhaps he wasn’t used to someone asking him for that kind of thing in these parts. Nonetheless, he shrugged it off and began preparing it, saying “Coming right up” to which I replied with a simple thank you.

I held my hands together on the table and looked at the far side of the counter, to a lonely looking window. Foggy but clean, I could see the falling golden autumn leaves. I somehow manage a slightly more convincing smile. I always had fond memories of such things. I loved them in my childhood, playing around with them with my friends until my parents would tell me to come in and stop making a mess. Nostalgia colours the otherwise mundane and prosaic life of the past, and it certainly did my memories wonders. In my heart, I knew that it wasn’t as rosy as I might have liked, yet I also couldn’t shake the feeling that it was better then. Simpler. Happier.

“Here’s your beer, milady.” The bartender said as he handed me a rather modest glass of diluted beer. I thanked him once more and took a sip from it. Looking up and realizing the man was still looking at me, I stopped drinking a bit and wiped my mouth.

“Is there something wrong?” I asked.

Ever so slightly startled, the fuzzy faced man answered; “Nothing, I was just curious”

“Of what?”

“Of you. I mean, you don’t look like you’re from these parts, and you certainly don’t drink like the people here!” he chuckled a bit. “Are you a traveller?”

“I suppose you could say that.” I said, taking another sip. “Although, you are mistaken. I was from these parts. It is just that I decided to leave, and I haven’t come back in a while. A long while. So long that perhaps I’ve lost the strength to drink appropriately.” I tried to joke a bit.

He let out a small chuckle and a smiled. “I see. Then, what brings you back? There hasn’t been anything happening here recently except the annual chills before winter and the regular fallin’ leaves.”

I paused for a second, then smiled. “Well, I suppose I just wanted to meet… an old friend.”

“Oh. I see. Was he or she from here too?”

“Yes. She’s a childhood friend. A very good one.”

“I see. Do you not keep in touch?”

I grimaced slightly, but then reverted to a faint smile. “Yes… we lost touch, quite a while ago. It’s quite an idiotic story actually. When I left I had promised her that we would keep in touch, and sure enough we sent letters to each other for a while.” I sighed. “But then, you know. Life goes on and you get so immersed with it. You forget old things, old things you hold dear and-oh, sorry for ranting nonsense”

He shook his head. “’Tis okay, miss. I get lost in thought all the time as well. Although, I know what you mean.” He looked at the same lonely window that I looked through earlier. “Sometimes, it is easy to forget what you’ve cherished so much in the past. And sometimes, you don’t notice until it’s too late.”

My mouth gaped for a slight moment, but I smirked, not at him, but at myself. “I suppose you’re right. I do miss her very much. I haven’t found a friend as good as she in all my times after I left. It’s a real shame.”

He nodded. “So, you’ve come to visit her then? If I may ask, what were you going to do? Sorry, I’m just curious.”

“Well,” I took a deep breath. “We had always said that the first thing we were going to do when we would reunite was to have a drink together.”

“Say no more. I’ll get my finest bottles of beer and cut the price in half, just for you”

I chuckled. “Are you serious?”

“No problem, it’s the least I could do for such a reunion.”

I rested my head in my hands, before looking up at him and saying “Thank you very much”

The bottles of high quality beer tinkled about as I walked up the old stone stairway of that old, ancient town. The golden leaves covered my tracks as I took a deep breath and continued on. Soon, I’d have reached the ridge. A beautiful place, with a view of the nearby coast. I smiled and held in a tear as I enjoyed the nostalgic and beautiful countryside, before continuing on.

After reaching a certain point, I took one of the bottles of beer the kind, bulky bartender gave me, and poured it to the ground. I poured very single drop, until it was all gone. Sighing, I then sat beside the spot and leaned over on the stone tablet just north of it. “Sorry it took me so long.” I said. “I’ve been doing fine by the way. And how about you? Are you fine up there? I hope so.” I looked at the sky with twinkling eyes. “Do you like the beer? I told you we’d drink together again. Hah, I’ve even gotten these high quality brew for a really great price! Proud of me yet?” I looked at the grave beside me as a tear fell from my eye. “I missed you, you know.” I whispered while stroking the sleek gravestone as a fallen golden leaf fell on to the ground before it.

“I’m sorry.”

I stayed silent for a few moments, before cleaning my tears off, though in futility as they just continued to pour out. Forcing a smile, I then grabbed my bottle and chugged like myself in my youth, and, looking to the skies while holding the gravestone beside me, I said to her “Thank you, for being my friend.”