The Cycle

With every ticking of the clock, hoots could be heard more distinctly from exceptionally restless voices of crickets and katydids, but unfortunately, Andriette was very busy to notice that. The last candy left in the house finally went down the gullet of Andriette, and now after an hour of extensive staring at the packet of candy while simultaneously gazing at the TV; her eyeballs were free to look around. 

In search of something else to eat, her eyes caught a creepy-looking thing placed just beside the shopping bag her mother bought for her, before going out of town. As she moved closer to the unusual thing, she could feel the shiver down her spine, her hands were shaking as if she was hit by a huge magnitude earthquake. But her dedication to uncover the mysterious object remained unshattered. 

At last, Andriette reached towards the shopping bag but she still couldn't discern that uncanny thing. As a result, she took out her phone and turned on the flashlight . (No idea why she chose the mobile’s flashlight over turning on the LED light but let us not go into that debate) After having a detailed inspection of that thing, she laughed hard. 

“ Wait, what it’s a toothbrush, a toothbrush was the thing I was getting scared of. So silly of me", she said to herself.

This is how Andriette met the toothbrush for the first time. Now that thing was no longer strange, it became her toothbrush and was genially welcomed on the shelf where Andriette kept her toothpaste and face wash. 

Months passed, every morning Andriette would meet her toothbrush, embrace her memory of meeting it for the first time and laugh at her ignorance. Now they had such a remarkable bond that Andriette thought the brush was talking to her when she brushed it against her teeth.     

Now every morning before offering her morning prayer, checking her phone, and wishing her parents good morning; she would talk with her toothbrush for an hour. She would never compromise on her time with the toothbrush over anything. No matter how late she is getting, an hour with her toothbrush was reserved. 

Eventually, this bond grew stronger and stronger. Now she would brush at random hours of the day, just because she wants to share things with her best buddy: THE TOOTHBRUSH. She now started sharing her day-long experiences with her brush, asking for solutions to her problems, and then sharing the solution with herself on behalf of her best buddy. Soon she felt that she could share everything with her toothbrush, which somehow she believed she could not share with her parents. Andriette trusted her friend exceedingly; she would share her top secrets with it, and be sure it wouldn’t  divulge her.

Not just that this bond was supporting Andriette emotionally; it brought some physical benefits as well, with only a few financial hitches. In just six months of knowing the toothbrush, her yellowish orangish teeth -about which her parents were very concerned- became sparkling white, and her toothpaste requirements multiplied a thousand times. Andriette’s parents were befuddled and had no idea what was the real cause of these things, even so, they were happy for their daughter. 

Everything was going fantastic between Andriette and the brush, until her parents saw her love for brushing, and gave her the latest Colgate smart electric toothbrush on her birthday. Andriette was on the ninth cloud, she was so happy that tears of joy came out of her shining eyes. 

She instantly brushed with her new electric toothbrush, and kept it where she used to keep her previous toothbrush. The toothbrush, which had been her best buddy for almost a year, had lost its place and value in only 5 minutes. 

One week passed, Andriette didn’t even glance at her old toothbrush. There was a time she would spend hours with it, and now not even a second. Her routine was the same, only the normal toothbrush was replaced with an electric one. 

It’s been seven month since Andriette last talked to her former toothbrush. She was happy, her parents were satisfied; the one who was overlooked was Andriette's old toothbrush. 

After not being used for 8 months, Andriette’s mother put her daughter’s old toothbrush in the store where they usually dump old things.  

Years went by, Andriette's hair grew longer, her height increased drastically and her face grew mature. Her electric toothbrush with many more, were now resting beside the old toothbrush which was once her best friend. 

Now Andriette and her family were planning to move to Islamabad. She was exuberant about the new change which was just months away. At the same time, the fact that the house which they were going to leave, was to be cleaned and decluttered before returning it to the owner; was agonizing for her. In all these years, 18 years to be specific, almost 50% of the house was last cleaned when they rented it and did a bit of dusting before furnishing it. The family had a great idea of dividing all the rooms amongst themselves, sadly Andriette was designated the worst of all rooms: the storeroom. In the beginning, she was playing for the time, however, she soon realized that no superstitious help would come, so she finally pulled herself together and started eradicating the junk.

While eliminating the waste gathered in the store, she came across a rather special personality, which was once her best friend: the toothbrush. After taking a glimpse at it, she yelled and asked her mom: 

Mom who does this toothbrush belongs to, I am throwing it. It’s useless to keep it now, there is mold all around it. Nobody can use it now.  

This is why there is the word END in the spelling of FRIEND. Once a stranger, the other moment a best friend and again a stranger. This is the way we treat people and things. No one is born a stranger or a friend, it's your needs which define them.