’Till Death Do Us... Pardon?

A photograph. A flimsy piece of film. Or is it considered paper? "It's this thing that-" I said until she interrupted me:

"I know what a camera does." She said whilst holding her toy teacup high, attempting to catch as many raindrops as possible. "So, are you going to use it?"

Of course. Gotta use it now, before mom finds out. Gotta capture the 'before' and 'after' moments. Whence her big and bright smile, uniformed with her warm, wooly blouse and beanie (despite being drenched head to toe), brought life among the mood-drying grey skies, muddy puddles, and ants, snails, and flies.

"Are you just gonna keep staring? Do I need to replace your batteries again?"

"I'm not a robot." I said.

"You sure go through your days like one."

"Whaat. C'mon. Gimmie a break."

"You spent an entire day furrowing your eyebrows like a madman, all because your mom said no more video games." She said.

"But then I came to you-"

"And I replaced those batteries." She said, "My little robot."

"Little? We're the same age."

"And yet, you don't know what a period is."

"A way to end a sentence."

She giggled, "No silly-"

"Now, I can't be mister 'serious robot' and silly." I said, "Anyways. Hold still."

Soon, her toy teacup will overflow, and she will dump it out, and catch them again. Soon a photograph will flit out, instantaneously greeted with a cascade of bullet-like droplets; hundreds trying to pierce through before even a fly can flap its wings once. So, I slouched forward, protecting it.

"I think I blinked. Can we take another?" She asked.

"There wouldn't be time."

"Time? For what? It takes one click."

"Time for-" I slid. I went from standing to sliding towards her like Indiana Jones just before the door closes. I slid down onto one knee. It was such a cool, but sudden move. She was probably thinking: "Woah, so cool!" I would've been able to top it all off, if I could just remember the words.

"Um- Uh." I said. She giggled again with a glowing red face.

There was just too much focus on the action that I forgot what I wanted to say. I decided: "Whatever. Just follow up with the next course of action." and so I pulled out the ring pop and asked: "Will you marry me?"

The giggling stopped. Did I do something wrong? Her face turned as redder, like a ruby. Maybe it's because I got a ring pop, and not an actual ring. She dropped her teacup, hands to her mouth to prevent any gasping. "I'm sorry, I can't afford a-" I tried to speak, but...

"We're only ten years old." She said.

I guess there wouldn't be an 'after' moment.

"Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah." I couldn't stop myself from repeating the same word. "Yeah, yeah..." My pitch grew higher. My head swayed like a swivel. I looked down at the ring. "How foolish of me." I thought.

"But, You know. Maybe we can make a smaller promise. Marriage isn't something that should be rushed into. It should be thought over carefully." She said, "Maybe we should start smaller. Maybe-"

What is she saying? Smaller? I've known her for, at least, a year. How long do people need to know each other for this stuff? A year is a very long time. And I can't see myself marrying anyone else.

"Maybe instead of marriage, we promise to remain as neighbors." She said.

"Very well." I said, looking to the two houses behind her; The only witnesses to vouch. "Neighbors 'till death do us part." And thus, I placed the ring pop around her finger. My neighbor kissed my head and whispered: "Someday, we'll get married."

That was about 10 years ago.

All of this flooded my mind once I knew where I was. Standing. Here. New camera in my hand.

"Look at that bird." A woman's voice called out to me, followed by her pointing towards a hummingbird holding a tiny piece of a electronic circuit; nestled in a tree.

"Take a picture. Take a picture!" She happily jumped up and down, dragging me towards the tree. Behind it all were two houses.

"I can't." I said

"Why? It takes one click?-"

And everything is gone. My promise.

"I- I promised someone something."

The woman must've not heard me. She was busying swatting away ants, snails, and flies, whilst avoiding any muddy puddles. She was clothed in a bright yellow raincoat, and held an umbrella.

"Ugh. This place is disgusting." She said, but turning to me she asked: "Babe. Are you ok?"

I had a tear in my eye. "Yeah, I think I just forgot something."

"It probably wasn't that important then. Right?" She said, kissing my head.

The hummingbird flew away after dropping the electronic circuit, which came crashing down into a million pieces upon impact with, what seemed to be, a million branches. And the two houses stood there, watching.

It was a bittersweet kiss