Pixabay

Diego reached out and picked up the envelope. It felt strangely heavy. An unknown fear was building in his mind, yet curiosity wouldn't leave him.Returning inside, he stood behind the cash counter and opened the envelope. From inside came an old photograph and a small note.The picture showed Diego himself, smiling with a little boy on his shoulder. The driver of the blue sedan was standing next to him. Diego couldn't remember when he had taken such a picture.

The note read:

Pixabay

“We kept our word. Now it's your turn. Come out tomorrow night at 2:17. Alone.”Diego's throat went dry. Who is this 'we'? He kept his word? Did he forget something?

He searched the camera footage all night, nothing unusual, just that car, that man. As soon as the dawn broke, he decided, no more waiting. Whatever would happen the next night, would happen.The next night. It was 2:15 a.m. The entire pump yard was silent. Diego stood outside. At 2:17, the familiar rusty sedan pulled into the lot.As soon as the car stopped, the driver opened the door. His face was clearly visible, deep lines at the corners of his eyes, his hair tangled.“Come on,” the man said. There was no threat in his voice, just a dull command. “Who are you?” Diego asked.The man smiled slightly. “You know the answer yourself. You just have to remember.”
Diego hesitantly got into the car. The car sped away toward the outskirts of town, along an old, deserted road.About fifteen minutes later, they stopped in front of an old, abandoned building with a collapsed roof and broken windows. The sign read in large letters:“Greenview Orphanage — 1972-2000”Diego’s head went electric.The orphanage! He had been here as a child!
Fragments of his past began to return: the dark dormitory, the stern matron, and a friend named Robbie! That friend had suddenly disappeared one day. But no one had looked for him anymore.Robbie, Diego whispered.
The man came forward and put his hand on his shoulder. “I’m Robbie. I’ve grown up, I’ve changed. But I found you.”Diego stepped back in surprise. Robbie! His only friend! But how?“Do you remember? Robbie said, “We made a pact. If we ever get separated, I’ll find you. Tonight is that night.”

Diego’s eyes blurred. As children, they had promised that if one of them got lost, the other would find them.“But why after all these years?” Diego asked in a trembling voice.Ravi took out an old diary. Pages full of pictures, letters, notes. Memories of their childhood.“I was looking,” Ravi said. “Someone adopted you and moved to another city. Every day I thought about how to be one with you. And today, we are together again.”Diego touched the pages of the diary. Lost memories began to return: unknown songs, secret smiles, the selfless friendship of two boys.

The dawn sky was bursting with light. And in that light, Diego realized that it was not a mystery, not a threat, but the love of a true friend that had brought him back to his old home, in old familiar hands.Diego smiled lightly and said, “Come on, Ravi. Go home.”
Ravi nodded.The two old friends disappeared into the dark building. With memories of the past and a new beginning in their hands.

I am inviting some of my friends:
@imranhassan
@rumanaafroz
@mahadisalim