ALFRED

Before I could say a word, Mum took out her phone and dialed a number. She placed it on her ear and turned her back to me.

“Yes, Inspector Jasper,” she said in that sharp tone she always used when she was serious. “I’m sending you my location now. There’s a woman and her daughter insulting me here at the amusement park. I want them arrested immediately.”

“What? Mum…” I rushed to speak, but she raised her hand.

Valerie’s mum didn’t wait. She grabbed Valerie’s hand and started running off. I stood there, frozen. I felt my heart drop. Valerie looked back once, our eyes met, and just like that—she was gone.

Mum scoffed, shaking her head. “They'd better run. I’ll teach them a lesson.”

I turned to her, angry. “Mum, that wasn’t fair! I was the one who stayed there. She didn’t force me. Valerie helped me!”

“Enough, Alfred! Get in the car. I’m going to tell your father how you followed strangers home like a lost puppy.”

I sighed and got in the car, but deep inside, something in me changed that day.

That was the last time I went to the amusement park… until my sixteenth birthday.

***

The next year, Mum gave me more freedom. She said I was now a young man. “Tell me whatever you want, baby, and I’ll grant your request like a genie.” Mum said that morning after I had blown off the candlelight on the cake she brought to my room.

“Anything, Mum?” I repeated, confirming what she had just said.

“Yes baby, anything at all.”

“Hmmm…The park. I want to be able to visit the amusement park often,” I said, twirling her fingers.

“But I…”

“Mum, you said anything, remember?” I rolled my eyes while they met hers.

“Fine!”

I asked my personal driver to take me to the amusement park again. He dropped me off, and I walked straight to that same spot — the one where my leg got trapped in the wooden box.

I didn’t expect to see her, but there she was. A girl, maybe fourteen now, watering the flowers around that spot.

It was her.

“Valerie?” I called, almost in a whisper.

She turned around, and her eyes lit up. “Alfred!”

We hugged. It felt like a missing piece had returned.

“I thought I lost you forever,” I said with a smile.

We started talking again like we never stopped. I apologized for what Mum did a year ago.

“It’s okay. I had forgiven her long ago. My mum, too.” She smiled.

She showed me the flowers she was watering — roses, sunflowers, and then… purple hibiscus.

“This one is my favorite,” she said softly. “Purple hibiscus.”

“Why?” I asked.

She smiled. “Because purple means strength. And it’s different. Like me.”

I smiled back. I liked that answer.

That was the day our friendship began again. That was the day Valerie became someone I knew I’d never forget.

I had been visiting the amusement park for four years straight, just to see Valerie. It became our place. Every evening, as the sun began to set, she and I would sit on the pavement, talk, laugh, or sometimes just sit in silence. Being around her gave me peace.

That day was special. I was turning 20. Valerie had just turned 18 a few weeks ago. I had made up my mind—I was going to ask her to be my girlfriend. I brought a small cake with "Be Mine" written on it and hid a silver ring in my pocket. I was nervous but excited. I wanted her to be mine officially.

I waited. And waited.

The sun was already going down, and the golden rays were painting the park orange. It was our favorite time of the day. But Valerie didn’t show up.

I thought maybe she was late. Maybe her mum needed her help. I sat on our usual pavement, tapping my fingers nervously on the cake box.

Minutes turned into an hour. I stood up, ready to go look for her. Just as I was about to leave, I saw something lying under the bench beside the pavement. It looked like a piece of paper… and something shining.

I bent down and picked it up.

It was her necklace. The one with the purple infinity symbol—the one she wore every day.

Did she forget it while watering the flowers?

I opened the folded paper and My heart stopped.

“By the time you'll see this, I would have gone. Please, don’t look for me. My heart will remain with you as long as you wear this necklace. And promise me you won’t cry. Bye.

Love,

Valerie.”

At first, I thought it was a joke. Maybe she was planning a surprise. Maybe it was her way of being dramatic. Valerie always loved teasing me.

I ran.

I ran all the way to her house, yelling, “Valerie! Come on, stop the prank already! I know you’re in there!”

But the house was quiet.

I banged the gate. I looked through the small window. The place was locked. Empty.

She was really gone.

Right there, in front of the house, I dropped to my knees.

Tears rolled down my face before I could even stop them.

She was gone… just like that. No goodbye. No warning. Just a necklace… and a note.

Was it why she rejected the cellphone I gifted her on her 18th birthday?

Oh, well…

My first love had broken my heart into pieces.

And I had no idea where she went.