Parting Ways

A young boy experiences sadness for the first time.

Young Halden was only one day away from his thirteenth birthday. Excited, he couldn't contain himself. His parents were sitting in the living room, talking about the surprise birthday party they had been arranging for the past two weeks. They looked at him through the large window and saw how he played with his toy robot underneath a tree and heard him talking like a robot.

Halden wasn't just talking like a robot because he was playing with his toy, he always spoke like a robot when he spoke to Ike. Sitting in what was still left of the treehouse that Halden's dad had built him when he turned five, the big burly looking fellow with the baggy pants and the striped shirt was Ike.

"You're turning thirteen tomorrow," Ike said with a smile.

"Yes,I..." Halden paused as he stared at his toy robot for a brief moment, looked up at Ike, and asked, "After tomorrow, won't I be too big to play with beep-bot?"

Ike climbed down the tree, stood next to the boy, and said, "Yup. I guess so. And I think you'll be old enough not to need me anymore either."

Halden's facial expression was a clear combination of shock and sadness. He got up, grabbed Ike by the hand, and said, "You can't leave me! You're my imaginary friend... We're supposed to be friends forever."

"And we will be. I'll always be with you, you just won't see me anymore."

Halden felt like crying as he hugged his imaginary friend. He fought back the tears and kept telling himself in his mind: "Big boys don't cry."

He could hear Ike whispering that he would always be with him as he could literally feel Ike disappearing. When he opened his eyes, Ike was gone. He stood there for more than ten minutes, looking around for Ike. When his mom came out to tell him that lunch was ready, he fought back the tears, put on a smile and followed his mom to the backdoor. For the first time, the boy felt an indescribable feeling of sadness, thinking that his imaginary friend had left him for good. Neither he, nor his mom, could see Ike as he walked after them. His baggy pants and striped shirt glowed as they turned into a white robe and his angel wings appeared on his back. Ike didn't lie when he said that he would always be with him.