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The boy stood at the edge of the field with his eyes closed. He leaned his head back and let the wind blow through his black hair. A soft smile played on his face, but it was barely there. Like a memory of a smile. His kind, sad dark brown almost black eyes were glazed over. The wind played with his hair and his tears, mixing them in the air to look like ink, matching the sky behind him as the sun began to sink below the horizon. How many times had he stood here on the brink of everything and just remembered? It seemed like that's all he ever did. Slip back into the past where everything was happier. Where everyone was smiling. The corners of his mouth twitched, the smile sliding out a little more, but it was still ever so slightly.

As the wind blew, he was sure he could hear his voice whispering to him like it used to when they were little. The soft laughter they shared, the many many silent jokes they enjoyed together. Why was it so hard to recall a face to the voice? Perhaps because they always had laid together in the dark recesses of the imagination together. Let's play pretend. The voice chimed softly in his ear. On their backs, side by side, they had adventures with their voices. One night they were brave soldiers fighting against each other in Europe's ancient battle fields, another night perhaps they were two master swordsmen defeating the corrupt government officials in Edo, Japan. The dark blanket of night disintegrated the world around them so completely that it was easy to travel around their world. The stars were their audience, watching their performance. The moon was their spot light on their stage of the mind.

One night though, they didn't venture out into their world. That night, they sat beside each other, holding hands and whispering sweet things. One reached up, the other reached down, their lips met in a gentle kiss. The taller stood up and smiled softly in the white moon light. Their hands were raised together. Slowly, he walked away, back towards the rest of the world. Their fingers slid against each other, grasping gently until they couldn't reach anymore. He walked away, tears falling down his face. The shorter one sat in the field and watched his friend walk away from him, but he just smiled.

He didn't say anything, call out after him. He knew he didn't have to. No matter where life took the both of them, they could always talk to each other. Not face to face, but heart to heart. Whenever the other looked at the moon, they'd recall the other's voice whispering to them. 'Let's play pretend.'

He opened his sad eyes and watched as the sun pulled the rest of the world's colors with it as it sank lower and lower. He smiled as the stars began to come out into the sky, just as they always had. The moon still shone just as brightly as it did that all those nights. He liked the world like this, because he didn't have to just remember things of this world. During the night, he could replay their adventures over and over in his mind. Their brave quests, their secret romances. But, no matter how vividly the darkness could recreate their landscapes and castles, it couldn't recreate that voice. He laid down in the tall long grass and breathed deeply. Why he returned to the field, he didn't know. It would always be as empty as it had been since the night he left. All that would be left were memories of a smile...

He felt the grass beside him sink in, a hand gently slid into his. Sad brown eyes opened and looked at smiling blue ones. The taller boy leaned in close and whispered softly to him again. "Let's play pretend."