Abby and I had been best friends since we were born, but then they took her away and I never knew why. I can still remember those times of joy, growing up together in our peaceful neighborhood, slowly embracing our differences...
Back then, we were like sisters, both innocent and cheerful, playing together everyday, but she was always wiser than me. I knew that every time her mother brought us cookies and Abby said they were "the best cookies on earth" she was right, and so I trusted her. That's why, at the age of 9, I decided to tell her all my fears and hopes, how I loathed haunted houses but loved roller coasters, how I missed my late father, and above all, how I really wanted to become a veterinarian so much. She looked at me, piercing my green eyes, and said "I want to be a ballet dancer." How I admired her! There was a time when I wanted to be a ballerina too, but I wasn't graceful enough. I tried to be, though. Whenever she was practicing her pirouettes and other technical ballet steps which names I can't recall, I would try to copy her moves, only to fall down and ruin her lovely practice. I knew I was supposed to feel embarrassed, but I never did, just like Abby never got mad at me for being such a mess. We always laughed instead, then drank our juice and ate our heart-shaped cookies.
I realize now, as these memories fade away, that I was indeed very lucky to have her as my best friend. And why were we best friends? Mainly because she was really smart, used to get all her answers right in school, and I was the only one in our class that wasn't bothered by that. Of course she had other friends, like Myra, from England, and whom I refused to play with (she was incredibly boisterous), and Nicolle, the sweetest girl, but the strangest too - always staring at the sky, dreaming about new constellations, pointing, trying to make sense out of the universe. I don't think she ever looked into my eyes, but we got along because I enjoyed watching the stars, too.
That wasn't the only reason Abby was my best friend. When we were both 11, we started getting to know each other really well, and soonly we understood that although our personalities were opposite, we had lots of interests in common. Surprisingly, what brought us closer was that old movie about nature gods and forest animals, Princess Monoke. Or maybe the fact that cats are our favorite pets. With time, she began sensing exactly what I thought, and we could never play I Doubt It again.
