Love You Forever

They might as well have been walking in circles as they crossed through the park, passing by enclosures and attractions with little more than a glance. Frankie and Katie were both confused as the impossible old woman followed them through the whole process.

“If you’re not gonna help us, why are you here?”

“I need somewhere to watch my game play out, don’t I? I think next to you girls will do for now.”

Though she understood, Frankie still wasn’t satisfied. Mid-walk, she flipped around to face her.

“What’s your angle here, really? I guess I get why you’d wanna follow us, but why set this up in the first place? Does Kidney seriously pay you enough to set up a diversion like this all on your own?”

“You’re awfully talkative for such a shy-looking girl.” Willow half-joked, an earnestness in her voice. “But I’m not doing this because he’s my boss, I’m doing it because he’s my friend.”

“Your friend?” Katie was surprised enough to look away from the giraffes they were passing.

“My friend. I’ve known him my entire life.”

“Are you two…” Frankie started, never having wondered why Kidney wasn't married until now.

“Oh, no.” Willow picked up Frankie’s clumsily dropped prying. “Kidney has yet to meet someone he loves in that way. Too old for me, anyway.” She laughed.

Katie took a look at the clouds in thought.

“Is he looking?”

“For love? I can’t imagine why he would be. Kidney’s explored all those possibilities already, in a time long ago. That boy in the picture… I’m sure he was quite the gentleman.”

Frankie lifted the photo, taped together with gift shop office supplies.

“This is Kidney?”

“It was. Maybe, back then, he was looking. But now, I think his love for progress is more important to him. Maybe that’s not something you girls will understand.”

Katie examined the photo herself, seeing something familiar in the boy’s longing face.

“No, I get it. I’m not looking either.”

Willow laughed again.

“You sound sad, saying that at such a young age.”

“It’s not sad!” The girl hopped once in her soft dress, smirking as she stamped back down on the crowded path. “I’ve got my own progress to make.”

“If you didn’t have to make all that progress, would you prefer seeking romance?”

“No, I don’t see the appeal.”

“Then maybe you are more suited to Kidney’s life than he is himself.”

Something was picking at Frankie as she listened.

“So… Miss Willow. In your note, you said the keys were hidden in the park’s past, right? Then why are you telling us all this if you swore you wouldn’t help out in any way?”

“The details of our relationship has nothing to do with the treasure hunt. It’s his life I’m celebrating.”

“I’ve learned so much about Kidney and yet so little about what we’re actually supposed to do right now!” Katie beamed, to her sister’s agony.

“You haven’t learned a thing.” Willow insisted. “After all, that man is still shrouded in mystery, even to me.”

“How? Weren’t you like, childhood friends?” Katie continued her conversation as Frankie studied the message on the photograph.

“I was the only one still in my childhood. It must’ve been… twenty-fort- er… to you, it would have been around 8 BNG. I was eight, and he was already… well, much older than most will ever be.” She recalled, hearing the ancient sounds of the street in her head again, remembering the cold and the hunger. “I didn’t know then. That the world was awful. That… things could be better.” She admired her surroundings, seeing his beauty reflected. “To think that man became my friend, and not long after… my savior too.”

Frankie had a map of the park out on her phone now in her offhand, peeking between the two as she tried to figure out their next step.

“So you’re also very old then?” Katie asked somewhat intrusively.

“Yes. Distant as he may be, Kidney has a way of keeping those he needs around. There’s plenty inside this body of mine that I can’t call natural.”

“You’re lucky.” Katie smiled. “I’d sure like to have that kind of life.” A tear was begging to birth from her right eye.

Willow shook her head again, though joining Katie in the smile.

“Anyone who wishes for that is the saddest and most afraid of all.”

Not hearing the elder’s remarks in her obsessive investigation, Frankie clicked the pieces together.

“I got it!”

“What’s up, sis?” Katie leaned over to see what she’d found. One of the local rides?

“It’s time we learned their ways, Kate. The birds.”

Examining the image of the giant swing set on her phone, she didn’t really get it. And without Willow proving the slightest bit of guidance, they couldn’t be sure. But if there was one person Katie believed, it was her little sister.