A boy, small and weak, sat on his hospital bed, watching the night sky as the stars twinkled and shined. Another boy, tall for his age and strong, watched his friend and waited for him to talk. This was how most things were between them: quiet, patient, with the same amount of friendliness highlighting the air.

“You know,” the small boy said, finally, “I want to see the world.” He turned to where the strong boy sat at his side and smiled. “And I want you to come with me.”

The strong boy nodded, reaching over to gather the small boy’s shaky hands in his own. There were tubes protruding out of his knuckles and in his nose, another tube sat. The strong boy didn’t know if his friend would truly make it out of his bed, definitely not see the whole world, but he nodded, stroking the small boy’s thin fingers.

The small boy continued, the smile on his face almost the same shine as the stars outside. “I want to go see the Eiffel Tower, and Pompeii, and the Great Wall of China. I want to eat sugary foods and have my mouth be on fire from the spicy ones. I want to try new things, all the things I’ve missed by being sick my whole life. Promise me you’ll take me. Promise me you will.”

The strong boy nodded again, not in agreement, just in acknowledgment. Then, in a low voice, he said, “Then…you have to make a promise too.”

The small boy tilted his head, twisting their fingers together. “What kind of promise?”

“I need you to promise that you’ll stay alive.”

The air went back to silence, the stars still shone outside, and the boys looked at each other deep in the eyes. A smile slowly slid in the small boy’s face. “Of course I will, silly, it’ll take more than sickness to keep me down! The moment I get out of this hospital, we’re hitting the road together.”

The strong boy didn’t smile back. Instead, he kissed the small boy on his brow—which made the small boy beam even larger—as the door opened to his room.

“Visiting hours have long since ended, young man,” a nurse said, walking into the room with a frown on her face, “Where are your parents?”

The two boys ignored her for a moment, their pinkies interlocked. A thin one around a thick one; a weak one around a strong one.

“Do you promise?”Asked the small boy.

“Yes. Do you?” The strong boy replied.

“Of course. Now goodnight.” Said the small boy.

“Goodnight.” The strong boy waved as the nurse took him out.

_Goodnight, indeed. _Muttered Death.

---

SAMSON

A limp boy is on my back, his limbs stitched together with string and his skin kept together with wrap. I place him on the ground so I can unhook the bag from my belt. I can see him smiling at me as I take out the different cheesecakes I bought for the both of us.

We are in the woods, so I take off my jacket to place the cake on somewhat clean ground. Then, I drag him into my lap so we can both face our bounty.

“Do you like the way the cake looks, Ivan? I do; it smells nice too, right?”

_It smells so delicious, Sam! Thanks for getting me it. But we’ve already had cheesecake before. _

I_ _take his small hand in my larger, older hand and shake my head, though he can’t see me behind him. “No, this one is made from a bakery known for their excellent cheesecakes. Online it said that it was the best in the whole world.“

The whole world, huh, well we haven’t even been out of America yet, Samson. Why aren’t we out there yet? You promised me we would!

I squeeze our hands together, gritting my teeth. “Because you didn’t keep your promise! You didn’t keep it! And now look at you…look at you. Oh, Ivan.”

Tears run down my face before I can stop them, and when I take a deep breath to calm myself, the smell of rot invades my lungs, causing me to cry harder.

Ivan is quiet, his small head against my chest. A cloth covers his eyes, which I had to put on when they started to goop, and his blue skin has holes in it even after all the time I’ve taken to prevent it from happening.

“Oh, Ivan. Ivan. We’ll go see the world if you want to. Just wait, I’ll find a way, okay.“

It’s been nine years, Samson.

“I’m sorry, just wait. I’ll find a way,” I babbling, wiping away my tears with the back of my hand, “Now let’s try this cheesecake, okay? Before the ants get it.”

Ivan stays quiet, as silent as the night.

But there are no stars in the sky, just an endless blue and the sharp rays of the sun.