he was gorgeous. all of the girls on my street wanted him. he knew it.

me on the other hand, well...i sat outside on our porch playing with dinosaurs and tmnt action figures. he was riding past my house on his new bike. he stopped and smiled at me.

i just sat there confused.

he walked his bike up the drive way and parked it a few feet away from me.

...silence...

"your name is manda, right?"
*nod*
"i'm richard."
'sara likes you. why dont you go to her house?'
"i'd rather play with you"
*blush* 'oh, alright"

we became fast friends and spent most of our free time hanging out. he used to play with my hair all the time. thats one of the things i remember best about him.
his mother and sister both had short strands of the dullest shade of brown.
i had long blonde, red and brown curls down below my waist.
he also used to point out the apparent fact that my eyes were green, unlike anyone in my family.

he was a great artist. he used to always paint me pictures of things i liked. dinosaurs, books, green crayons...things like that.

i remember the look in his eyes the day before i moved. you could tell he had been crying. he whispered, "dah [his nickname for me], will you be my best friend forever?"

i didnt know what to tell him. i hid my tears well and quietly said back, "yes. forever and always."
i was 10 when we moved. he was 13. we sat under our favorite tree and he gave me my first kiss from a boy.

i would give so much just to see that kid again.

2002-12-07 - 7:30 a.m.
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