The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed.

Emily walked slowly along the pond, nearing the spot where they were meant to meet. She was sure he wouldnt come, but a stubborn hope still flickered in her heart.

A biting wind fought against her, sneaking beneath her coat and chilling her to the bone, urging her to come to her senses and return to her warm flat.

Yes, the odds of a date set by ten-year-old William twenty years ago were slim. Too much had changed since then.

But what if he hadnt forgotten?

Her thoughts drifted back to their childhood. Memories flashed before her eyes, vivid as if it had all happened yesterday.

Their daily races from the footbridge to the little island, games of tag and hide-and-seek, burrs clinging to her dress, Williams ever-scraped knees

Her reckless friend always seemed to collect bruises and scrapes, and sometimes Emily wondered if he did it on purpose. Hed grin so widely whenever she carefully tended to his wounds.

One afternoon, she sat by the pond, watching William clown around near the island with its oddly placed tree. He leaped about, fooled around, then slipped and splashed into the water.

“I wonder what youll be like in twenty years,” Emily said, shaking her head. “Will you grow wiser or stay just as daft?”

“Dunno how itll turn out,” William shrugged, scrambling back onto the bank. “But you? Youll be a doctor. A really good one.”

“Well see,” Emily replied. “I havent even thought about it yet…”

Then a brilliant idea struck him.

“Lets meet here in twenty years!” he beamed. “Same spot, same time20th April 2022, three oclock sharp, by the island. Then well see who turned into what.”

“Fine,” she laughed. “Deal. But no changing the time or place, or well get confused!”

From then on, it became their secret. Every so often, one would test the otherdo you still remember? The date burned itself into both their minds, unforgettable.

Years passed. Childhood friendship slowly grew into something more. Emily caught William looking at her differentlyno longer playful, but thoughtful, almost serious.

Then, after Year 9, Williams father, a military engineer, was suddenly reassigned to some remote site in Scotland with no phone signal. Just like that, they were separated.

At their final meeting, both were quiet. William fidgeted, struggling to say something important, but in the end, he just forced a weak joke:

“Dont forget about 2022, yeah? The meeting place cant be changed.”

At first, Emily felt empty, as if life had lost all colour. To escape the gloom, she skipped Sixth Form and enrolled in a nursing college.

Why nursing? She wasnt sure. Maybe because William had predicted it. Either way, it didnt matter.

New surroundings and friends brought her back to life. She threw herself into her studies, determined to master the profession.

College, university, residencynearly a decade passed. Now, for the past three years, shed worked successfully at a private clinic. William had been right.

“A successful nurse with no personal life,” she thought wryly, shivering in the cold. She checked her watch2:55. Shed be right on time.

Even knowing disappointment likely awaited, her heart still fluttered. The closer she got, the harder it pounded.

The island and its tree came into view. Only a couple of hardy dog walkers braved the path by the pond. Who else would come out in this weather?

Then her heart lurched.

A man in camouflage and a military cap sat on the bank, studying the island.

“William?” she whispered.

The soldier spun around and stood. Noit wasnt him. A stranger.

Her stomach dropped.

“Youre Emily?” the soldier smiled.

She nodded silently.

“Sorry, William couldnt make it,” the man said. “Hes deployed. Asked me to tell you he never forgot. When hes back, hell find you.”

Emilys pulse raced.