Nostalgia
It has started raining. I love the rain. The tipper tapper of the rain drops as they fall to the ground always seems to calm me, even when I am really overboard. Then the smells of the rain drift into the room and as I take a deep breath the sounds, smells and sights form a cocktail of emotions that most would consider good. I cannot escape the fact that my mood has changed into a more pleasant shade than the one I usually sport and as such I find it difficult to narrate the unpleasant sequence of events that form my life.
By now you are all familiar with the fact that I am not one associated with sweet stories. I have grown devoid of joy and happiness. But this was not always the case. There was a time, long ago it may be but it existed. The day I had a friend, it may have only lasted one day but one day is all I needed. As I sit back I remember vaguely. I was in a field, a large green field which lay in the shadow of a hill, I was alone. I was used to being alone but it seems fate wanted to play with me today so he approached me in the form of a young boy and tapped my shoulder
“hello” he said in a soft, innocent voice
I did not reply, not at first I did not even look at him. He poked me this time, “I said hello”
I turned my head upwards to see a boy who was my age, there couldn’t have been more than a year’s difference in our ages. But I was not interested in friends or play. That path had been sad for me, very sad.
“what do you want?” I replied
“I want to play,” he said in that soft voice of his.
“I don’t feel like,” I replied turning back to look at the hill.
“please play with me,” he pleaded “my mum never lets me out to play I do not know when I’ll get out next”
His persistence made me uncomfortable and I knew that if I did not accept he would never stop until I did.
“what do you want to play?” I asked in a somewhat cold and uninterested tone.
“I want to go up the hill,” he said in a very excited tone. “I have always wanted to go up the hill, ever since we moved to these parts”
“its hard work,” I warned him “are you sure you can get to the top?”
This question was answered when he took off towards the direction of the hill and for a short period I considered not moving at all from my cozy spot. Regrettably, I am much colder now than I was then and I was forced to run after him yelling for him to wait and only then did it sink in that I had got myself into a proper mess.
“stop being lazy and catch up,” he yelled back at me, “I’m sure you cannot catch, up u r far too heavy to do that”
This sort of angered me and I put in some effort towards climbing the wretched hill and when I got close I could hear him giggle continuously. His giggle was so sincere, so true I watched as he started running in a wavy form and he never stopped giggling. His giggle haunted me and made me at peace with myself all in the same time. I cannot describe what I felt but I had never felt the same way before and I have never felt the same way since.
At this point in time I noticed that I had stopped running. He was standing at the top of the hill waving towards me. “it will be night time by the time you get here at the pace you are in” he yelled.
“I’ll race you when we are going downhill,” I yelled back “you caught me off guard this time.”
“you wish,” he yelled back as I jogged the final part and caught up with him at the top.
I sat down to catch my breath and an awkward silence engulfed us. The tension grew to the point that I could not take it anymore.
“why doesn’t your mother ever let you out?” I asked in a sheepish voice.
“she does not like the people around here,” he answered enthusiastically, “today she has visitors over and she does not want me to disturb them so she let me out”
“you have not been missing much,” I replied but he clearly did not buy it. He was smiling and it would not take a genius to tell that he could not contain himself. Some would say he was acting like it was Christmas. We finally stood up and played tag for some time running around until we were both exhausted and we fell flat on our backs. We spent the rest of the afternoon admiring the view from the hilltop and naming trees, houses and anything else we could spot from above.
It was getting late and he stood up suddenly. When I looked up saw the inevitable. He had finally realized that the day was coming to an end and he would have to go home. He had finally realized that the moment could not last forever.
“we have to go,” I told him making sure I said it as sensitively as I could. I also realized something. I realized that this boy had made me care. I was worried he was sad and I had been happy when he was happy.
“thank you,” he said. “thank you for what has been the best day of my life”
I was shocked when I heard this and before I could recover he was back to his enthusiastic self and he was clamoring for a race down the hill. I knew the idea was ridiculous and one of us would probably suffer a very comical fall but I could not say no.
When he left I went back to my spot and I still could not believe what had just happened. I decided to head home too having had a less than ordinary day.
Looking back now I know that that was also the best day of my life. I’m sad I never got to see the boy again. I am devastated by the fact that I did not even bother to know his name. However, I am forever thankful to him. The boy that maybe could have changed the path of my life if we had more time but I will not dwell on that. I am grateful to him; because of him I can say I’ve had a friend. Albeit for one day.
