That Day 13 Years Ago

It was a small interaction thirteen years ago, I was only five years old at the time, but I don't think I could ever forget it. It was the middle of summer, my friend Calico and I were running across from the river. We were playing tag, and I had finally caught up to him after five minutes. Both of us being out of breath, we decided to take a breather when he arrived.

“Excuse me, little girl,” I turned to see the man on his knee holding out some coins in his palm. “You dropped this.”

The coins didn’t catch my eye, though; instead, I was struck by who was in front of me. The short green hair, wide-brimmed hat, and golden sword handle at his side pointed to him being no other.

“You're that Carles Van, the hero from the south,” said Calico, who seemed equally surprised.

“I see, so people recognize me even here.” He pulled my hand and dropped the coins within them. “I guess my fame knows no bounds.”

“So you are that hero!” I yelled, with probably the biggest smile I had in my life up to that point.

“Does that mean you’ve finally started your journey to defeat the Demon King?” asked Calico.

“You got it right, little guy,” he said with a giggle

“So this was on your path huh,” said Calico, “hey me and, Lanne want to be heroes just like you when we gro-” I pulled on Calico's black hair and covered his mouth with my hand.

“Don’t say that out loud, you promised you wouldn’t tell anyone, ” I said with a blush so red you could mistake it for a fever.

“So you want to be a hero, Lanne?” he said, patting his hand on my head, “then you have one person who believes in you.”

“You believe in me, too, right?” Calico said, escaping from my grasp.

“Of course, little guy.” he said, patting him as well. After a second, he got up from his knee and dusted off his pants. “I’m short on time, so I need to get going.”

“C’mon, can’t you tell us some stories of your adventures?” Calico said while pouting his lip.

“Sorry, little guy, but I need to continue my journey up north.” A frown grew on Calcio’s face, but disappeared after hearing, “on my way back, I’ll tell you two everything.”

“Really?” I said, not really believing him.

“Of course,” he said reassuringly.

“Well, we’ll be waiting for you then, mister,” said Calico, waving with all his power.

He never kept his promise, though, because he would die facing the Demon King. After talking to him, though, I knew I wanted to be a hero just like him. Someone strong who could defeat what stood in front of me. After all, he believed I could do it, and he was the strongest hero in the land.