"What are you up too?" a man asked a small child who he had caught drawing a picture of some sort. She turned around quickly hiding whatever it was behind her to escape his sight. Offering him a shy smile she spoke,

"Nothing, just drawing."

"What are you drawing then?" he asked giving her a smile in return. Slowly she slid the picture from behind her and gave it to him. The man stared at it and then looked at the little girl. He bent and picked her up and gave her a grin that she returned with an even bigger one.

"It's beautiful. Do you want to go show it to momma?" The little girl nodded her head vigorously and the man started to head outside with her in his arms. It was a wonderful summer day with a cloudless sky and a slight breeze that caused the grass to appear fluid-like. On her knees, working out in the garden, was a woman.

"Darling, come see what our little girl has made for us!" The man called. The woman appeared startled but soon came over with a gentle smile on her face. The child handed over the drawing and the woman took it in her own. A full grin was on her face now as she looked at it and then at the girl.

"It's wonderful, what made you think of it?" The woman asked. The little girl's smile started to fade and she looked away thinking.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" The man asked now concerned. The two adults exchanged looks both containing the worry they felt. The little girl lifted up her head and looked at both of them with a solemn expression.

"I made it because I was scared," she whispered, "I wanted to make it so I couldn't forget us, no matter what." Her voice started to quiver as silent tears fell from her eyes.

"Why would you think you would forget us? Was it a bad dream?" the woman asked. The little girl nodded. The man sighed and looked at his wife before speaking,

"You know," he began, "that it was only a dream. Momma and I love you so much that it's impossible to forget it."

"There will be a time when both of us will be gone, but that's not for a while yet. The important thing is to cherish these memories that we have together alright? No matter what happens you will never be able to forget and no one can make you. Love is not something you can forget. Ever."

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

*Several years later*

    The young woman walked down the streets she had walked down hundreds of times in her childhood. The houses that had started to lose their color due to be abandoned some time ago and falling into disrepair. She stopped in front of one in particular that she remembered well. The front gate was smashed open and the grass, once a lively green, is now dead. What drew the most attention was the house itself. The structure, which had at one time been a moderate sized two story building, had been burned to the ground. In the young woman's eyes she saw it as it used to be. The front windows with white trimming and blue curtains, the porch where she sat watching people pass by during the day and the stars at night. The red door which stood as a gateway for a small child unsure of the world waiting outside. The young woman stopped and stared at what used to be her once small world of safety and peace. Without realizing it, tears started flowing from her eyes as she remember the people that lived there with her. Her father strong and yet kind, who stood as her rock and watched over her when she felt frightened. Her mother, who was patient and understanding of her pains. She comforted a small child who was sick and sad from her little world's troubles.

"Authorities still don't know what caused the fire, which had started in a small suburban area and killed two people while sparing a small child." 

The tears fell faster now as the woman continued to remember what had happened. The red flames consuming everything in its path of destruction. Her parents doing everything in their power to save their daughter. However, it was too late for them. They knew they would not survive.

"Sweetheart? Remember us! Promise you will! We love you so-so much-" that was all the little girl remembered before she fell asleep with the small picture she drew held tight in her small hands, close to her heart. Upon waking she realized she would never see them again and wondered...what would she do?

After that she was placed in foster care since she had no other living relatives and was later adopted by a husband and his wife, who was unable to bear children. To say the rest of her childhood was dreadful...would have been a lie. Her adoptive parents treated her as their own and raised her in a way her real parents would have been proud of. Up until now she had tried to forget what had happened that night, what feels like a lifetime ago. Now, looking upon her old home and old memories, she couldn't but feel as if she failed them.

Remember us! Promise you will! We love you.

"I'm sorry," the young woman whispered, "that I tried to forget you. It was just so hard, and I just wanted the pain to go away. I never meant to-" the woman choked on her words as sobs racked her body. She wrapped her arms around herself as if to hold herself together and cried. She never allowed herself to cry. It was weakness and no one wants to see weakness. Minutes passed before she could calm down enough to speak again.

    "I wish you could see me now. See grown up I am and all that I have done. I wish...for so many things." She sighed and wiped at her wet cheeks. Slowly she reached into her pocket and pulled out a wrinkled sheet of paper. Unfolding it, the young woman stared at it and all of the painful memories that it contained on its surface. Just a few short years worth.

On a side of the house stood an oak tree that had surprisingly survived the fire since most of the yard had been consumed. The young woman remembered the summers spent sitting underneath it enjoying the sun and the sound of the breeze through the trees. To many memories. Walking over to it she paused and looked up into the branches.

"You're the only thing that is left you know," the young woman began, "I still can't believe that you have stood for so long...thank you." Whispering the last part she stooped down and started digging a hole beneath the tree and placed the paper in it. After covering it up she looked back up to at it and gave a sad smile.

"Love is not something you can forget. Ever"

"I won't forget again. Promise." With that she walked to her car and drove away leaving the old world behind and a picture with a man, woman, and their daughter, holding hands, reaching for the sun.