Standing still in a field of green, in a meadow of trees, I breathe. The wind blows around the meadow in a gentle breeze. The trees sing a melodic tune as I just stand. A single tear streaks down my cheek, as my eyes glisten in the light of the setting sun. Across from me stood my best friend from my childhood. Long, flowing, purple hair, blue eyes, and dimples. I stare into her eyes, lips trembling. I reach out my hands and grab hers, I bring them to my lips. I hold her hands close remembering all of our adventures. "Why? Why must time continue? Why must you leave?"
She puts her hand on my cheek and looks at me gently, "Because there is a time in all of our lives that we must change and grow. There is a time that we must move on, a time to fly."
Sinking to my knees I pulled her hands close. "I am weak. I can't do this on my own. I'm not ready."
She kneels down and looks into my eyes. "When one grows up, their past must come to an end and their future must begin. Forget not the stepping stones of life, those friends and family that came into your life to make it better."
I look at her with knowing realization, "But why do I have to grow up?" I get up off the ground leaping and spinning, "Why can't I be like Peter Pan or the lost boys? They never had to grow up. Let's got to neverland!"
The girl grabs my hand and pulls me back to reality. "We live in a world of reality, where imaginary friends are for children, dreams are forgotten, and fun is for the fools. I want you to succeed and so I must set you free. Let you grow up."
Pulling my hand away I start to jump and dance again. "I don't have to accept the visions of the world we live in. I can simply leap, I may fall but I may fly."
Giggling She begins to dance as well as her blue skirt blooms like a flower and her leather jacket fills with air. "Even as an adult you can dream and fly, reality doesn't have to chain you, But this next part of your journey I can't be here for. It is time for you to move on." She stops spinning and falls on the grass as I follow, feeling the warm sun on our faces. She looks at me with sparkling eyes. "You won't forget me, right?"
I look over at her grinning, "Never."
She rolled off the ground and brushed herself off. She puts her hand out and I grab it as she pulls me up. She puts her hands out for me to hold. She puts something cold and hard in my right hand, and something thin and plastic in my left. She leans in and whispers in my ear, "Never forget." She kisses me on the cheek and walks backward. With a nod of the head she spins, in a blink of an eye, she was gone. I look down at my hands, in my right hand was a necklace with a golden pendant that said Remember and in my left hand was a polaroid picture of me with my arm around the air. On the bottom was the word Remember.
I look up with a tear streaking my cheek. "Goodbye, Clara. I won't forget."
I walk back to town, and never again saw Clara Syla, My imaginary friend.
