We built a tree house, except that it was on the ground. There was an enormous, enormous space -now occupied by a creepy-looking school, that was covered with little bushes here and there and which made the perfect place to play hide and seek, and getting lost.
Abdullah was what you would call a natural jerk ; a mischievous brat beyond measures. I wasn't any better so we got along just fine. He was our neighbor's kiddo...I didn't consider him as a "friend", he was a different entity, more like a family member, but a family member that I wasn't allowed to fight with in front of my mom, so I did it behind her back. I just opened my eyes and he was there, the insufferable creature..We just spent too much time together to realize we aren't really family.
I liked his older sister much better though. Not only we had the same name,but she used to carry and toss me really high in the air. It was awesome.
We met with Sara when I was 6 years old. It was the first day of school and we were standing in line, well, as close to a line as a group of first-graders would be able to form.
I was standing behind Abdulla , because our mothers told us to stick together. He was spouting some philosophical nonsense while I was examining the faces of these boring kids, looking all nervous and timid, when I heard a sharp, girlish voice : pssshheeeeeeww~
She was standing behind me, flying an invisible plane. I smiled because I thought it's impressive to not give a damn about the world..you know, first day of school, a big deal for every kid, you have to behave yourself and try to make friends.....I think I was always like that, taking interest in eccentric people, and getting easily bored with the usual...But she was different ; she wasn't boring. Apparently she thought of my smile as an invitation to make conversation...In the afternoon when we came back by the same bus, we realized we live 3 houses apart, and almost immediately became friends, without noticing and without asking for it, with that innocent fluency with which kids become friends.
We became good friends during grade school, Sara, Abdullah and I. Except for the fact that Abdullah hated Sara's guts, calling her spoiled and stupid and telling her off. I pretended I didn't notice though. For they were both equally stupid-yet-important to me .. ..Life is much simpler when you are a kid, you just content yourself with the false belief that you will stay friends forever, making secret strategies to save the world in case aliens decided it's time to attack the earth, or planning pranks to pull on the kids from the next neighborhood...Nothing could ever separate us.
Little did we know that this is just a child's dream.
I remember when Abdulla decided it's uncool to hang out with the two of us and slowly drifted away to join the guys. I don't remember how I felt when that happened though. Probably relief..Good riddance, egg-head. Sara and I drifted apart when we stopped attending the same school.
I met Sara recently at this wedding, I recognized her immediately although she got taller and dyed her hair and apparently got married and is currently pregnant with her second child.. But she had the same aura around her.
Time leaves it's mark on our appearances, but the interior, the soul remains intact. We chatted for a short while..there wasn't really anything to talk about of course. ..It's very painful when the only thing you have in common with a once precious friend is memories...hazy memories of our childhood that almost feel like a sweet dream..
Dreams and reality shouldn't mix , people from the past shouldn't spring to the present.
I moved on , remember ? you left me alone, by the tree house for years, I waited and waited for eternity...but you never came back..you grew up, leaving the child in me morning the memories.
It's not really that we stopped being friends ; for people don't consciously make such decisions..well, in most cases anyway. It was Time that separated us. Time ; age, life, growing up, adolescence..Call it what you want..The undeniable fact is that people change, they grow old and they grow apart.
We were inseparable once upon a time;I didn't even attend her wedding.
He and I were like siblings, I don't know which college he attended.
I would say with certainty that we wouldn't even exchange greetings if we met anywhere...Perhaps a quick, imperceptible nod before turning the other way, signifying a mutual agreement to keep trapped this stage of our lives, although dear and precious, between photo albums and ancient Ninja Turtles stickers in the old attic.
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