Box of Memories

Chapter Two

I peer into the box again. On the left is an old hat. I remember that day. The day the two amigos became the three musketeers.

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I sat on the porch with Mitch. The Thompsons moved out two weeks ago. Now a small moving truck was parked outside. The snow was slowly piling on the windshield.

"My mom said they had a boy our age." I said quietly. Mitch nodded. He had a stick and was drawing things in the snow.

"Come on. Let's go meet him!" I grabbed him by the arm so he would stand up. He sighed and dropped the stick. We climbed over the fence and landed in the yard.

"Hi!" I waved friendly. A boy our age with a great smile was playing in the snow.

"Hi! Who are you?" He asked. Mitch spoke up.

"I'm Mitch, and this is my best friend Katie." The boy smiled. "I'm Jerome. Do you want to have a snow ball fight?" We grinned. We loved snowball fights. We divided up and built separate forts.

"Go!" Mitch yelled. I threw a bunch of snowballs at him. Jerome's hit the bottom of my fort. Snowballs were flying everywhere.

"Get her!" Jerome yelled. It felt like hundreds of snowballs flew around me. One hit my face. I tripped over a small bank and fell over.

"Oh no!" I heard Mitch cry. Footsteps came closer to me. I didn't move.

"Katie?" He asked quietly. I waited a second, then jumped at them while groaning like a zombie.

"Ahh!" They both screamed. I laughed while they recovered from their shock.

"Jerome? Who are these children?" Someone called from the house. A young lady stepped outside.

"This is Mitch and Katie." Jerome replied.

"Where do you two live?" She asked. We pointed to our houses.

"Great! Come inside. I just made some hot chocolate. I have some extra." We glanced at each other and ran inside. We took off our snowy boots and coats.

"Got your hat!" I yelled. I grabbed Mitch's hat off of his head and put it on my own.

"Now it has cooties!" Jerome said. I felt a little hurt, but I didn't care. I kept the hat on the rest of the day.

"Hey. Why do you have a pink bracelet?" Jerome asked, pointing at Mitch's bracelet. It has been two years, and he still kept the promise. I have too.

"Its our friendship bracelet." He replied while shoving marshmallows in his mouth.

"Cool." It was quiet while we sipped the warm drink. I finished first. I wiped the milk off my mouth and handed the cup to the lady.

"Are your parents home?" She asked me. I nodded. "May I go talk to them?" I nodded again.

"Its getting dark. I better go home." Mitch said. He grabbed his boots and coat. Jerome waved goodbye and we went home. I forgot about his hat until Mom was tucking me in.

"Oops! Mom, I still have his hat!" I tried to climb out of bed so I could go return it. My mom stopped me. "You can give it to him tomorrow." She sat the hat on my nightstand and kissed me on the forehead. She turned off the big light and turned on the lights surrounding the window. I turned over as the door clicked shut. The snowflakes softly hit the window all night.

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I try to put it on my head. Nope. It barely gets on. It is very faded, but you can still tell it is red. The tag on the inside still says Mitch Hughes, written by his mother. I sat it next to the bracelet and picture. I wonder what other treasures are in here.