Alia and Eva

The sun rose like a flower opening its petals, filling the sky with shades of orange and pink. It was breathtaking even if the rays were burning my eyes. The air grew brighter and ignited the birds into a chorus of melodies. I sat down on the bright green grass. My trousers soaking the morning dew. The soft breeze whipped through my hair. I wasn't going to be here for a long time and I had to breakdown the news to Alia.

She came running up the hill. Wearing her favorite dress which she called ghagra and choli. It was a long black skirt with a red blouse. 

"Hey!" she said in a cheerful tone.

"Hi"

"This is"

"Breathtaking, yes"

She sat down beside me. 

"So, what do we do today?"

"Maybe we could knit the hats?"

"Oh! I forgot I haven't done a single one"

"Really"

"Well, I had my dance classes, want to see the new move I learned?"

"Um"

Alia had grown up in a household of women who danced. There was never a day that went by her mother or aunt picking her up by the hands and started dancing. Music was on from first light to the last.

She danced barefoot on the grass like water transformed by music. She was doing some kind of footwork and the words I could not understand. But still, she danced elegantly while following the rhythm of the music playing on the old cassette. She advanced and retreated waving her arms from side to side. In constant motion as if painting a picture.

When the music stopped she laid down on the grass.

"There are bugs here you know", I said.

"Ha Ha Ha," She said dramatically

"That was good you know even if I couldn't understand the tha tat thei thing you were doing"

"You should come and learn with me"

Sun sank lower in the sky, the light of day draining away, giving way to the velvety dark of night. I could hear the crickets chirping and the first buzz of mosquitoes. The street lights were clicking on. The first star in the sky could be seen. Twilight had fallen.

"Don't think that would be possible" I said at last.

"hmm"

"Listen, Alia, we are moving back"

"What"

 "We are going back to England"

"You're joking"

"No"

Her eyes shifted to the side and became glazed with a glossy layer of tears.

"How long?" Alia asked

"15 long years"

Alia and I had been friends since our childhood. We had met the day I turned seven. At the train station, she was sitting beside me with a small smile. Our toes could hardly touch the floor. I remembered being very cross with her for teasing me. She made me hot in the head and set a burning glow to my cheeks. But there was laughter. What a shrill chorus we made. Giggling over naughty things. 

I remembered how we skidded down asphalt in a brakeless go-cart. Wind whipping through our hair and no brains in our heads. One of us was always on the corner ready to signal if a car came, but really, what would we have done if one came? It was adrenaline pumping, we loved every second of it. And now we walk down the streets in our tailored clothes and designer shoes with that same adrenaline rush. But no one sees the kids we were.  

I figured that Alia was thinking the same thing. Those happy and joyful memories. 

"Same time tomorrow?" She asked

"uh"

"At the airport"

"No, early morning"

I started to pack my things. My books scattered everywhere, the old compass, some breath mints, and my lucky pen. Twilight faded into darkness. The moon had taken its place I could see its reflection in the lake and the stars were hidden beneath thin white clouds. 

I walked back home from the narrow and sandy footpath.

THE END

“Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It’s not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.” — Muhammad Ali

“Don’t make friends who are comfortable to be with. Make friends who will force you to lever yourself up.” — Thomas J. Watson

“The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.” — Elisabeth Foley

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” — Anais Nin

“Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.” — Tennessee Williams

“A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” — Walter Winchell

“A friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you just the way you are.”

“A single rose can be my garden…a single friend, my world.” — Leo Buscaglia

“Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together.” — Woodrow T. Wilson

“Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then wait to hear the answer.” — Ed Cunningham

“A friend knows the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails.” — Donna Roberts

“You don’t have to be crazy to be my friend. I’ll train you.”

A friend is one who overlooks your broken fence and admires the flowers in your garden.

There are friends, there is family, and then there are friends that become family.

There's nothing like a really loyal, dependable, good friend. Nothing.

True friends are always together in spirit.

Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together

Life was meant for good friends and great adventures. I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light. A good friend is like a four-leaf clover: hard to find and lucky to have. There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends.