Time To Go

They called it The Big One. It was their favorite climbing tree at the

edge of the woods. And this was a perfect tree-climbing day.  The Sun

shone across the fields and dappled through the leaves of the giant oak. 

There was a soft breeze cutting the heat just right as the three best friends

ran out of the  woods and up to the tree.  They laughed gleefully as

Tommy shimmied up the huge oak tree and scrambling to reach even

greater heights. Harv and Derek were running around the base, gathering

branches and limbs, making on-the-spot plans for a fort.  Harv was a hand

taller than his best friends, two taller than Derek, the runt of the group.

Tommy was agile and a genial sort, easy to go for any mischief the others

could dream up.  Derek constantly pushed his horn-rimmed glasses up as

they worked, and Tommy had gone up three levels of branches when he

looked across at the wheat fields nearby.

"Hey guys!", Tommy shouted. "You're not gonna believe this!"

Tommy pointed towards the wheat field, and the others looked up

from their project to find two figures suddenly appeared, seemingly out of

nowhere. The Sun was behind them, so it was hard for the boys to make out

their faces. One looked tall and spindly, the other stooped over and seemed

to  be walking with a limp. The boys giggled at each other, already giving

them nicknames: Tall Guy and Mr. Ben Tover.  Tommy even teased Derek,

saying how Mr. Ben Tover looks like Derek's grandpa.  Derek wasn't

amused.

When the two figures reached The Big One, Mr. Ben Tover greeted the

three. "Boys...", he said. Tommy and his friends shyly said hi to the old

men.  "Beautiful day for tree-climbing." They could see now that Mr. Ben

Tover was very old and seemed to be in a lot of pain as he moved. Their

demeanor  became more respectful as they agreed with the old man that it

was in fact great for climbing trees.  Tall Guy kept silent, but stared intently

at the boys, especially Tommy, which started to creep him out.

Mr. Ben Tover continued, "Can I tell you boys something?" All three

muttered a half-hearted 'yes sir'. "Life is too short. Enjoy every one of these

days while you can, as much as you can. Before you know it, it's gone. 

Have no regrets. Regrets will kill you in the end."  Derek and Harv

nervously looked at each other, but knew instinctively the old man

was right, and nodded their agreement.  Tall Guy finally spoke, whispering

to his friend, "Time to go."  Tall Guy nodded at the trio and the two old

men started to turn away, but Mr. Ben Tover turned back, staring directly

up at the high branches of The Big One, a strange look on his face.

"And Tommy, when they try to get you to go get one more six-pack of beer

at the Jiff-E Mart, tell them...", he gasped... "Hell no!"

All three boys' mouths dropped open and they looked at each other,

Derek blurting out, "He said 'hell'!"  But Tommy turned and started,

"Mister, how did you know my...?" to find that the two old

men had already begun to fade back into the wheat field.  The boys stood

there, flabbergasted at the strange encounter they just had.  They

spoke about the incident for years, making up so many stories of their own

of the origin of Tall Guy and Mr. Ben Tover.  For a while, the three best

friends stuck to the old man's advice, but had forgotten by the fateful night

Tommy was shot dead as he tried to stop a robbery at their local

convenience store.  

Tall Guy looked down at Mr. Ben Tover as they slowly walked back

towards the other end of the field, placing a hand on the latter's shoulder.

"You knew​ it wasn't going to work.", he said softly.

"I know. But you know I had to try," Mr. Ben Tover took out a

handkerchief, blew his nose and wiped the tears that had welled in his eyes.

He pushed his horn-rimmed glasses back up his nose like he always did.

"Of course. We were meant to come here, as we promised.  But you did​

get one thing right, Derek..." Harv said. "It was​ us we saw that day."