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By Ninna
“Oh, please…don’t tell me…” I glanced at the
glow-in-the-dark clock on my wall. I could barely tell the time, the luminous
light almost fading…I strained my eyes and saw that it was around seventeen
past five. Rats. I sat up and hugged my knees. Sigh. I had been
lying on my bed for hours…but my mind was just full of thoughts of…I sighed
again. Some people are already rising from their beds at this very moment.
Whereas I, am still wide awake. My body must be in a different time zone. Thank
God school is out, ‘coz now, I simply don’t know how I’ll be able to keep
myself awake in class. You see, I’m known to be a very sleepy person, even
if I slept early the night before. But I’ve always managed to keep myself awake
in class, all thanks to Stephanie. My pincher. My caricaturist (she’d always
draw caricatures of the teacher and bored classmates. They weren’t very good
drawings but they were recognizable enough and they were funny that way).
Stephanie was my neighbor. My partner in crime. My best friend. Together, we
were The Terrible Two. The Awesome
Twosome. The Giggly Gals. We were
inseparable…until now.
I couldn’t help sighing deeply (once more). I took my
weary butt off my bed and trudged downstairs. I fixed myself a glass of iced
tea. 123+1. One tea bag, two squirts of honey, three squeezes of lemon plus a
sprig of mint…and water and lots of ice of course. That was Stephanie’s formula
for the perfect iced tea.
I went up to my
room and thought of Steph (again). It’s been only four days since she’s been
gone but I’ve never felt so lonely and sad. I guess that’s the reason why my
sleeping habit has changed these days. It’s a good thing Mom understands that I
have to deal this my way…and so she doesn’t mind me sleeping during the day.
She says that I’ll get over the situation and I’d eventually go back to my
usual sleeping habit…I have to anyway, since school will start in about a
month. As of now, I still can’t help but spend the nights reminiscing about the
good ol’ times.
Steph and I have been best friends
for the longest time…practically from birth. Nah, I’m exaggerating. We’ve been
best friends since those terrible twos…but it nevertheless makes it feel like
we’ve been together since birth. What I’m saying is, we’ve been best friends
for so long, it’s just hard to let go…hard to accept that—wham!—one day, I woke
up and Stephanie wasn’t there anymore. It wasn’t like it was a sudden thing. We
knew that it was inevitable. And we tried to prepare ourselves for it, but
somehow, our preparation wasn’t enough. It seems harder for me since I was the
one left behind. My sister just says it could have been hard for Stephanie too
(I knew that), and I shouldn’t mope too much, that I shouldn’t dwell on it,
also that I was a wee bit overreacting. Easy for her to say, she’s not in my
shoes. After all, how do you really say goodbye to your best friend for more
than ten years?
I briefly looked at pictures of us
together during different occasions. Then I reached for the box that held the
silly notes that we passed along in class, it also held Steph’s caricatures. I
laughed out loud, those drawings never ceased to bring out a giggle from me. I
then saw a small note from Steph, her e-mail address was on it. I remember how
our moms thought us impractical when they heard that we were sending each other
e-mails. They couldn’t see the point of doing so when our houses were a stone’s
throw away from each other and we were also on the phone most of the time. We
just told them that it simple wasn’t the “same banana” like they said. We
laughed ourselves silly over their disbelief. I took a last sip from my iced
tea and I suddenly remembered Steph’s beauty tip. I groaned ‘coz nothing could
keep my mind off Stephanie. I guess it was a really impossible thing to do.
We’ve been best friends for so long, I can’t just forget about that in just a
few days or even a year. We had really taken care of our friendship. There were
a lot of fun times, some disagreements (most often petty)…but a friendship
simply won’t be complete without them. ‘Coz disagreements are one of the
factors which make a friendship strong. Through them we learn to accept our
mistakes and we learn to forgive.
Each day more memories (mostly
happy, some sad) pop in my head without any invitation. I know that they will
never stop coming and I’ll never get tired of them. I also know that Steph and
I will still share secrets…even if we don’t get to whisper them. I know that
we’ll still see each other, although not in the flesh. I know that we’ll hear
each other’s voices, even if we’re far away. I know that it will take some time
not to feel lonely. I definitely know that it’s not the end of the world just
because Steph and I are oceans apart. And I know that eventually, there will
come a time when we’ll grow apart and we won’t be the “best of friends”
anymore, but I’m more than glad that we’ll be “friends” nonetheless. Well, it’s
better than totally letting go of a wonderful friendship and keeping in touch
will definitely do the trick. As Steph would say, “Tea bags to keep our eyes
fresh and eye-bag free; e-mails to keep our friendship fresh and friends we’ll
forever be.” Now, please excuse me, I have to check my e-mail and I have to put
tea bags under my eyes…the sun is shining, the birds are chirping…it’s a brand
new day and I simply won’t go out of the house looking like a zombie!
I know that most of the stories are a bit long, but I
hope they were worth reading. Writing them was fun for me, and as I wrote the
above stories, I couldn’t help but hope that the readers will see the subtext
planted within them. As I put my ideas into writing, I have always bore in mind
what kind of lessons I would like to share with others and how I’d tell it to
them without being boring. I will not hesitate to say that I am proud of these
stories. Part of me is in every story because each one has a thought that I
have often pondered upon. My ideas about selfishness, responsibility,
escapades, parting ways, friends, change, and other experiences in life...they
build me as a person and with them, I hope, that others may learn from them, if
not, even just give these ideas some thought.
May I please ask a favor? Please, please, e-mail me
your feedback to my stories? I’d really appreciate that...regardless if my
stories are good enough for your book or not. I just want to know your
reaction, and also just so I know you read my stories. And, I guess it won’t
hurt to read how much you liked (or-- *blush* but I hope not—-disliked) my
stories. You know, constructive criticism and all that—-so I know what (or more
of), what kind of stories I’ll send next time. I won’t stop writing stories
(and sending them to you)! I’m really
looking forward to your reply! God bless you and till next time—-ciao!
Ninna
S. Palmario