To wish upon a friend

A story on two good friends, facing some challenges in life.

“How would you like the future to be?” I asked Alex.

I giggled to myself, thinking of the numerous possibilities. I could be an editor of a famous magazine. Or, I could own my own bakery, and write countless baking books on chocolate strudels and apple cinnamon pastry puffs!

I was not planning to say this to Alex of course. I required a better bullet to infuriate him. Besides, he would just burst out laughing at the thought of me baking pastry puffs.

“Alex, I want to become an astronaut!” I screamed enthusiastically.

He turned to me and shook his head, rolling his eyes.

I heaved to myself and chuckled, it is truthfully very difficult to get his attention.

Alex always had the right things to say. Whether it was effortless opinions on music and books, or even questions that involved chemical equations or quadratic functions; needless to say, he was the one we would constantly annoy when we had a bubbling question rapt in our minds. It does not seem to irritate him one bit nonetheless, but do be aware, his sarcasm can shoot a cowboy off his laughing horse.

“If you do not want a sarcastic answer, do not ask a stupid question,” he would cynically say whenever he sees the witty look I give him when he splatters a silly answer on my face.

This time, I felt very jittery, like a little three-year-old tugging the sleeves of my best friend’s cotton shirt. He was clearly wound up, and I, as usual, was enjoying myself.

“Come on Alex! Stop reading that book of yours and share your thoughts on my intelligently sensible question!” I whined, catching a glimpse on the book he was reading, For One More Day by Mitch Albom. Alex stared at me, with his brown eyes behind those old-fashioned glasses of his, and the words he sang rolled out even faster than I could grasp,

“Whatever will be, will be,” with a wink he smiled, and looked down on his book once more.

*  *  *  *  *

I can still remember that day. The day he winked and smiled. The day I felt like the luckiest person on earth to have a friend like him. How did the strong walls protecting us suddenly crash upon us? I could not suppress the sadness in me; from Alex’s message that woke me up from my sleep one morning.

 “You have been what I can truly call a best friend, one that I never had for a long time. I want you to know that my heart and thoughts go out to you in whatever you do. I guess this is farewell. I’m sorry. I can’t explain more. I’m sorry for the times that I took you for granted, and such, but you were always there for me. Stay well, and please Sara, please take care.”

No words could be said that only tears flowed. That morning, my pillow was soaked in tears. Two weeks later, I found out that my best friend was diagnosed with clinical depression.

I could feel that revolting taste as I mouthed those words to myself. Every time I tried to toss those words out of my head, it bounces back off the walls, right to my heart. Alex no longer came to school, and I felt like there was a hole in my life. My friend was hurting, and there was not much I could do. I felt useless and scared. I felt like I was trapped in a cage, screaming my heart out only to find tears streaming down my cheeks. How was I to help him? How can I bring back his bright smile? All these questions were boggling in my mind. Of all people, why was he the one who had to go through this ailment? Why does life have to be so unfair? He never did anything to hurt anyone. He was one of the most wonderful people I knew. Yet, why did he hide the truth from me?

As I looked at the origami stars he had made for me especially for my birthday, I realized that for the first time; my questions were left unanswered.

*  *  *  *  *

“You know what I hate more in the world than hate itself?” Alex said, staring at the book I was holding.

“What?”

“An unfinished book, Sara,” he said folding his arms in front of him.

Alex grabbed for my book, “If you don’t plan to finish a book, don’t even bother to start reading it.”

I knew that I should have found a better excuse.

“But, but, how was I supposed to know that it was going to be dead boring and so factually uninteresting?” I twitched my nose, and gave the best please-don’t-kill-me look of the century.

I often wished I could turn back the time to this exact moment. Tell him that he was right. Tell him that I should have done better than behave like an obnoxious little school girl, too naïve to learn new things other than keeping updated to Taylor Lautner’s life.

I wished I could have told him more, and I wished I could have bothered less about myself. For all those days after I knew that he was down with this ailment, I wished that someone would one day knock on my door and cry, “April fool!”

Before I knew it, one day, I was the one who did the knocking on his door, and I saw him at last, and shuddered. He was so skinny and pale. His ruffled hair to his eye bags due to insomnia; it was a great task to control myself from crying. That day, I saw my best friend again. Our mothers starting talking in his well furnished living room. I felt like I could not find the right words to say to him. I felt like a Jack-in-the-box, waiting for something to pop out of me. He guided me to his keyboard at the side of the room, and soon, he brought out his ukulele. As we talked, laughed and played, it seemed that no music could fit the words; no words could fit the melody. But for once, that did not matter. Everything was okay. I felt the happiest than I have felt in days.

 As I looked at Alex, I think about how different our characters are. We were always teasing, figuring out new ways to kill each other, and using sarcasm as an advantage against one another. We could hardly agree on one thing, and more than often, one of us would have to give in to be able to stop the argument. However, above all our fighting, we were friends like no other.

I could be myself with him, and I could tell him almost any thought that comes to my mind. He accepts me for who I am and was always there to torch the light to some of the darkest pathways I had to walk through. The meaning of friendship, which I finally understood, was sincerity, love, happiness and care. Our friendship is one I would never trade for anything.

There’s always a first for something. This time, it was the first time I cried in front of Alex.

*  *  *  *  *

“Can you see the fireworks from your window?”

“Yes, I can, Alex. Can you?” I said, adjusting my handphone closer to my ears as I draw the curtains of my room window. 

“Yeah, it’s really beautiful. I hope the New Year will be truly eventful. Happy New Year, Sara.”

“Happy New Year to you too, Alex,” I giggled.

Silence caught both of us by surprise. I wondered what Alex was thinking, hoping to soon break the silence.

“Sara?”

“Yes?”

“I want you to know that I could never ask for a better friend. You are sweet and kind, generous and loving. Last year was hard for me, but you made things better. You held me up. Because of you, I got the strength to move on, to escape from my mind, and to change into a better person. I want you to always remember that I care for you. No matter where life takes us and no matter what we do, you will always have a special place in my heart.”

I remained silent, taking in everything I had just heard. Before I could utter a single word, Alex added,

“Do you really want to know what the future will be like?”

Shocked and breathless, I managed to only say, “Alex...”

“The future is filled with stars, beautiful bright ones. The stars are like promises and hopes you make for yourself. Don’t let anyone stop you from achieving your dreams. Be brave and most importantly, be yourself. You are special, and because of you, Sara, I can see the stars again.”

“Sara?”

 “Yes..?” I breathed.

“Remember to count the stars tonight. They’re the prettiest.”

 

Author's Note

Do let me know what you think of it :) Should I lengthen the story?

Reviews

[.shalynn.009.]

“How would you like the future to be?” A good way to start out your story (almost like a philosophical question) but you used the dreaded to be verb, which writers tend to try to avoid at all costs. Passive voice is generally not a good thing. But, as it's in dialogue, I supppose you could get away with it.

"whenever he sees" you switched into present tense here.

“Whatever will be, will be,” I love his answer.

"No words could be said that only tears flowed" I'm a bit confused by this sentence.

"than keeping updated to Taylor Lautner’s life" I believe this should be "keeping updated on Taylor Lautner's life" Also, this is a great message to young girls.

"we were friends like no other." should be "others"

"as I draw" another switch to present tense. There have been a few throughout, and it has made it a little confusing, so watch out for that.

Personally, I think this was a bit choppy and a little confusing in places. It could use a bit of polishing. But no, I don't think you should lengthen it too much. The shortness makes it that much more powerful. And it is quite powerful, especially the ending conversation. New Year, a good metaphor for new beginnings. And stars are my favorite. I'm glad Alex talked about those rather than the fireworks or sunrises or rainbows. Stars are the lights in the dark, just like friends are the lights in the dark, and stories like yours. They can bring hope to those who need it most.

You did a good job talking about something that I think people don't talk about enough. So many teenagers these days feel the way Alex does, but they feel like it's something they shouldn't talk about, even with friends. I'm glad he didn't die in the end, that the story ended on a hopeful note. And I like how you started the story, leading us to believe that Alex is perfectly happy. At my school, there was a popular jock who made really good grades. He committed suicide out of the blue. No one even knew he was depressed. Often, it's the people we see as the happiest who are the ones crying for help.

Good write. Thanks for the RR

[Also known as Clare.]

That's so beautiful:)

[Natalie]

Sad but I liked reading it. Good job and keep up the good work! :)

[Sofea]

Thank you for all your reviews. Appreciate them a lot! :)

[LA Lorena]

I don't think you need to worry about lengthening the story. I think it conveys what you have to say very well as is. What difference does length matter? It's the message that is important, and if you can tell it in 1000 words, there is no reasonable need to stretch it to 1200, IMO.

[compositionc]

Kind of sad. I did like it though. The conversations between Alex and Sara are very realistic. For all we know this could have really happened. Good job. :)

[Coyote Poetry]

A very good story. I like the calm and friendly conversation. Life is odd. I believe the future is not written. One major change could turn the world for worst or better. The description and detail in this story made the words come alive and were interesting. I enjoyed the conversation. A excellent story. Thank you.
Coyote