The Faded Friendship

A Short Story on Adult Friendships

Once upon a time, I had a friend with whom I shared lots of adventures and had loads of fun. We would go sneak onto the roof of a 15 storied building, unlocking a supposedly locked door, ignoring multiple no entry signs. We would run away from ferocious street dogs at night only to end up dead in the middle of an eerie graveyard at midnight. We would raid each of the surrounding food joints in our quest to find the most delicious food to eat.

This photo was taken during one such adventure when we were roaming around, bantering, and exploring the neighborhood. We suddenly heard a sound and looked down only to find this adorable little kitty. I quickly took out my camera and it gladly purred and posed for us. The cat seemed friendly and I rewarded it with a treat. It was at this moment the little beast revealed its true colors (as well as claws) and scratched me. Full of panic, we rushed home to wash it with antiseptic and then hurried to the hospital to get a rabies injection. We would have covered 7–8 km between the places, and it was only at the hospital, when all was done, that we finally relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief.

It was an eventful day but it slowly faded from our memories, much like our friendship. This photo is the only record of our excitement and panic, elation and relief that day. Since then our goals changed, aspirations changed, jobs changed, lives changed and our friendship changed. I edited the picture to represent the current state of our friendship, colorless and blurred. I wonder if my friend still remembers that day…