Breaths of Friendship

Warmth and care wove our hearts together on that memorable day, half-a-decade ago, when I was wandering the floors of a claustrophobic mall aimlessly in search of a bosom friend. There she was, sitting idly in a corner as she tapped her feet, in sync to the ticking of the clock. I turned a slave to my instincts and every particle in me witnessed the beginning of this resplendent friendship.

She ignited my dormant spirits and triumphed at oozing out the socialite in me. It was as if she had lifted me off a neglected shelf and dusted me till I was as good as new.

Whenever I felt like I was doomed, she would reach out and steer me towards the light at the end of my tunnel. Her magnetic allure made sure that I never had to travel far in search of a time killer.

Whenever I was lost, I could always count on her bright red dot to help me choose the right path where two roads diverged.

Quiz? Debate? Essay? Report? My dear friend, with an encyclopaedia implanted in her brain, never backed away from my inquisitive questions, no matter how intricately they were designed.

Now, I watch her die.

Till now, I’ve never been able to fathom her being ill, but now my robust hopes seem to have been shattered to smithereens. I see her breathing heavily, each breath of hers rushing my adrenalin as the inevitable truth of her demise looms closer.

I fumble frantically for something… Anything… That could convince Charon to decline the drachma my friend is unsympathetically offering him.

I see something white, with a gleam in its eye. And as it beckons to me, relief tingles in me. I connect the lifesaver to this share of my soul and see her charged with life again.

I caress my dear, dear phone.

– Bhavana and Meghana