"It was a long time ago... Eight years to be exact..."

I'll never forget that day... the day she died. If only I didn't climb that tree.

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It was a nice summer day... I was walking around in the park near my house while my parents talked to the other adults. The other kids were playing happily and I slowly approached them. "Can I play with you guys?" I shyly asked. They had all turned to each other with a smile on their faces and replied "Of course!" So, we played tag.

After a while, I had begun to notice a small girl hiding in a bush. I ran up to her and she turned to me with a scared expression. "What are you doing here? Aren't you going to play with us?" I extended my hand out to her. Her green eyes showed a bit of fear as she reluctantly took my hand. "Sure.. I'm Sonia by the way. What is your name? Of course, if you don't mind me asking." She stood up. "I'm Maria." 

I didn't think that we would become good friends but, suprisingly we did. I wish we didn't...

We kept hanging out together.

"So, Maria, what kind of cake do you want?" We stood in line at a cafe that was next to her house. It was my first time I was going to go over to her house and she suggested that we get a few slices of cake before we got there.  "I don't know... maybe strawberry?" I looked around for a bit, noticing the cute decorations that were up. Oh right... It was near Christmas.

"I'll go with a chocolate cake then! Maybe we could eat one slice here and then save the rest for later!" She smiled at me as she asked the cashier for the two slices. We sat at the table near the window and she placed down the plate. The rest of the afternoon was filled with us talking and feeding each other cake. We were having so much fun!

Hint: were

As Sonia and I arrived at her house, I could hear screaming coming from inside. "Umm.. Sonia. What's happening?" I asked as we got closer. Putting my hand on the doorknob, she shook her head and pulled me over to the side of her house. "They're having a fight again." She whispered, her voice laced with worry. "If we sneak around the back, we should be fine." I followed her over to the back door as she quietly opened the door. Luckily, we managed to make our way to her room before her parents noticed.

"Are you're parents always like this?" I asked concerned for her. "Yeah, usually." She sighed and then continued "Why do you think I'm always at your house?" The rest of the night was spent with me comforting her. After about a month or so, she stayed at my house more and more until she practically lived there. Her parents never made any fuss about it and we happily welcomed her.

"Hey, Sonia! Let's play in the woods today! You have to come outside sometimes!" I yelled to Sonia who was reading on the porch. "I am outside." She smiled at me and then turned back to her book. "No! Like OUT outside! Let's explore! Please?" I gave her the cutest smile I could manage so she would feel obliged to say yes. "Fine.." She sat up and put away her book before she followed me out to the woods.

I led her out and we looked around. Occasionally, we found something interesting like a few wild animals or insects. Eventually, we got to a river. Me being the energetic girl I was, wanted to climb the tree to see what was beyond it because it was too hard to cross. I managed to climb very high up into the tree and so did Sonia.

I'll never forget what happened next.

Sonia slipped and lost footing on the tree. Immediately, I grabbed her arm, not wanting her to fall from the big height. "HELP!" Sonia cried. My grip was getting lose but I couldn't grab her with my other hand or else I would fall too. "Don't worry, I'll figure something out." I said in a calm voice, trying not to freak her out. But on the inside, I was panicking. I didn't have much time and the house was a ways away. "Maria, I don't think I can hold on much longer... if anything happens to me, I just want to say.. I love you." She cried and her hand slipped from mine.

The next thing I heard was a loud splash. I slowly looked down, in fear of what I would see. Her body layed on a large rock in the middle of the river  with blood pouring out of her body; her skull cracked from the impact. I started sobbing and I came down from the tree carefully. I could only stare at her body for a few moments before I couldn't take the sight of it anymore. Once my feet met the ground, I rushed towards my house and told my parents what happened and that she needed help but...

When we got there... her body wasn't there anymore. The only thing left on the rock was the her blood...