Pinky Promise

Seventeen year old Jackson "Jack" Overland's brown eyes flew open and he shot straight up in bed. Lightening lit up his dark room and disappeared just as fast as it had come.

Jack sleepily rubbed his eyes and looked out at the pouring rain outside. The rain flooded the ground and thunder roared from above, seeming to shake the house on it's foundation. This was definitely one of the more worse of the summer storms that the young male had witnessed in a long time.

Jack cocked his head to the side when he thought he heard a noise. It was faint but he heard it.

There it was again.

Jack tossed the quilt his mother had made him off of his body and rose from the bed. His barefeet padding against the hardwood floor as he walked out across the hall.

Jack heard the noise a third time and this time was able to conclude what it was. It sounded like a whimper and it was coming from Pippa's room.

Jack quickly but quietly picked up the pace and reached the nine year old's room. He turned the knob and poked his head in.

"Pippa?" he called softly in a voice just above a whisper.

The small figure on the bed tossed and turned in her sleep, getting tangled in the covers. Jack opened the door fully and went in and gently shook her shoulder.

"Mmm...Mmm. No!...No Jack no!"

"Pippa? Hey Pip hey! Wake up. Pippa!"

"No! Jack! Don't go...don't leave me."

"Pippa!"

The brunette girl's eyes whipped open and she looked around in confusion. Her big chocolate brown eyes finally fell on her older brother and instantly filled with tears. Her bottom lip quivered and she suddenly lunged her tiny body at him and wrapped her arms around his neck and began to sob, catching the boy by surprise.

"Hey, hey Pip what's wrong?"

"I-I-I had a nightmare!" Pippa whimpered and hugged her brother tighter still sobbing.

Jack sat on the bed and wrapped his own arms around the girls body. He shooshed her quietly and rocked back and forth rubbing her back in an attempt to comfort her.

Eventually Pippa's sobs turned to hiccups and the hiccups to sniffling and she finally calmed down enough to speak.

"Now tell big brother what happened."

The little girl sniffled and blinked back tears. "I-I had a nightmare."

"What was it about?"

"We were playing outside and having fun. But-but the sky suddenly turned dark and scary and you...you just disappeared."

"Disappeared?"

"Yeah. I looked up and you were gone. I-I ran around and was calling for you but you were no where to be found." More tears filled up within the little girls eyes. "I-I thought you were gone for good. I thought you left me."

Jack gave a small smile at the younger girl and pulled her into a hug. "Pippa Rosalie Overland! Stop talking nonsense." he scolded playfully. He shifted his sister slightly and made her look him in the face. "You know darn well that I would never leave you."

Pippa looked up and blinked away un-shed tears. "Never?"

"Never. Your my little sister and I'm your big brother. It's my job to look after you."

Pippa looked down still shaken up from her nightmare.

"Pip," Jack said in a rare serious tone of voice, causing the girl to look back to him. "I promise you that no matter what happens, I will never, ever leave you. Your my little sister and I love you. I'm always gonna be looking out for you even if you can't always see me."

Pippa looked up and held up her curled up hand, her pinky finger sticking out. "Pinky promise?"

Jack smirked and hooked his pinky with hers. "Pinky promise."

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Several months later

It had been three weeks. Three weeks since she and Jack had gone ice skating on the pond. Three weeks since the ice cracked. Three weeks since since Jack saved her life...and three weeks since he lost his in the process.

After Jack had fallen through the ice Pippa had ran back to the village faster than she had ever run before in her entire life. She ran into the village screaming hysterically for help saying that Jack had fallen through. Her father was nearby chopping wood and he and some other men followed the girl back to the pond but they were to late. Pippa will never forget the look on her mother's face when her father told her that they had lost their son.

Now Pippa was once again standing in front of the pond. It have frozen over again and all traces of the life it took were gone.

Pippa began to feel herself shake. Now the pond stayed frozen?

The young girl suddenly began to scream and cry at the top of her lungs. She kicked at the snow and threw sticks, rocks, pinecones and anything else she could get her hands on as tears blinded her vision.

"YOU SAID YOU WOULD NEVER LEAVE ME!" Pippa screamed up at the heavens. "YOU PROMISED ME! YOU PINKY PROMISED ME JACK! PINKY PROMISED!"

The girl let out a final shaky sob and collapsed to her knees. Tears streamed down her face and disappeared into the snow.

"You pinky promised..."