Stephen

Finally, almost without strength, she saw a small house in the middle of the snow.
Smoke slowly billowed from the chimney.
And before I could knock on the door…
His body fell.
When she woke up again, she was lying near a warm fireplace.
An elderly lady watched her silently while placing a wet cloth on her forehead.
— He finally woke up…
The girl tried to answer.
But it froze.
Because he realized something terrifying.
She couldn't remember her own name.
The old woman took care of her for weeks.
He waited for his memory to return.
But he never came back.
So, little by little, that small house became their new home.
The woman began to care for her as if she were her own daughter.
He taught her how to cook.
Planting flowers.
To survive in that place far from the city.
And since she couldn't remember who she was... the lady ended up giving her a new name.
A new beginning.
The years passed slowly.
She grew up in that quiet place surrounded by snow and trees.
But sometimes…
Especially at night…
She was dreaming.
She was dreaming about a boy.
A boy with sad eyes.
She could never get a proper look at his face.
But I always woke up with a heavy heart.
As if I had forgotten someone too important.
About that…
In the city…
He remained trapped in the past.
Even years later, he still visited the site of the accident.
She was still wearing her bracelet.
He still looked at the scar on his chest, remembering the promise he was never able to keep.
People told him to move on.
But how to proceed…
When did a part of him disappear along with her?
Then time passed once more.
Until the woman who was taking care of her became ill.
Very sick.
And on a quiet winter morning…
She left.
Before he died, he left everything he owned to her.
The little house.
Money saved for years.
And a letter saying:
"You appeared out of nowhere in my life... but you became the best part of it."
After that…
She was alone again.
So he decided to go to the city.

But that night…
The car she was in lost control on the wet road.
The vehicle went through the guardrail and fell into a deep area of ​​the forest.
When the teams found the car…
She wasn't there.
No body.
No sign of her.
Just blood.
Signs of destruction.
And silence.
They said she probably died in the accident. That some animal might have carried the body into the forest.
But he could never accept that.
The day he discovered…
Something inside him died too.
After he was discharged from the hospital, he went alone to the accident site.
It was snowing lightly that day.
The car had already been removed from there, but there were still marks on the ground.
That's when he found a bracelet lying near the side of the road.
Her bracelet.
He fell to his knees in the snow, clutching it.
And she cried for the first time since the accident.
Because in his mind…
It was your fault.
If he hadn't gotten sick…
If he hadn't asked her to come see him…
She would still be alive.
After that day, he changed completely.
He stopped smiling.
He stopped going out.
He stopped truly living.
The years passed slowly.
But the guilt never went away.
About that…
Very far from there…
She opened her eyes in the middle of the forest.
Alone.
Injured.
I can't remember anything.
Without remembering their own name.
She couldn't remember him. The snow fell slowly between the trees as she tried to get up.
His whole body ached.
His head was spinning.
She didn't understand where she was... or how she had ended up there.
Everything seemed empty inside his mind.
Like pages torn from a book.
She began to wander aimlessly through the dark forest, stumbling among rocks and branches. She called out to someone a few times… but she didn't even know who she was looking for.
Hours passed.
Maybe days.

They had known each other since they were little.
One of those kinds of friendships that everyone believed would never end.
Where one was… the other was too.
She always ran ahead while he tried to keep up.
She would laugh loudly at anything silly.
And he liked to watch that in silence, as if the world became lighter near her.
It was on a rainy afternoon that everything changed.
They were playing near a forest behind the city, close to a lake they used to visit secretly. The ground was wet from the rain, and while running around distracted, he slipped on the edge of the lake.
The water pulled him in immediately.
He tried to go back.
He tried to breathe.
But the more it moved, the deeper it sank.
Fear began to take over his body.
Until he heard her voice calling his name.
She jumped into the water without thinking.
Despite being smaller and weaker, she managed to grab his hand and pull him closer to the rocks. In her desperation, a sharp rock cut his chest deeply.
She was the one who saved him.
It was on that day that the scar appeared.
After that, he could never look at that mark again without remembering it.
I can't remember her hands trembling as she cried, thinking he had died.
On that same day, while they were still children, he promised:
— When I grow up… I will protect you forever.
She just smiled.
A small smile.
Calm.
As if she believed him completely.
Years have passed... but nothing has changed between the two.
They remained inseparable.
They watched stars together.
They rode their bicycles around the city.
They shared secrets.
And without realizing it... he ended up falling in love with her.
He just never had the courage to say it.
Because I was afraid of ruining it.
Until the day everything fell apart.
He became very ill and ended up being rushed to the hospital. It was late at night when she received the news.
And even with the fierce storm raging outside…
She went to see him.
She would go through anything for him.