TEASER TALE

The Gift Of Strong Lifelong Friendships

We should always treasure the friendships we have

I admire people who have been friends from kindergarten, and who carried those friendships through to adulthood. They know each other's strengths and weaknesses, and are there for each other in times of joy and sorrow.

Because my parents moved around a lot, I almost never had more than one friend at a time, and none of those friendships lasted. The only one which had the potential to last that long was with Susan, who died in a motorcycle accident when she was sixteen.

My first memory of a friend comes from when I was nine. We were in the same class and saw each other after school, but then they moved away. She and I were so sad that in the next school holidays, she came to stay for a week. It was nice, but it wasn’t the same anymore, and we both moved on.

Soon after we moved too, and for two years I was more or less ‘friendless’. Then I met Susan, who was my best friend in school, but we didn’t see each other a lot after school.

Sanet and Debbie were in the same school, and where we barely spent time in school, we did so after school. Never the three of us. I went to Sanet for some afternoons and we played Battleship, or giggled about boys the way teenage girls did. Or, I would go to Debbie and we would just walk barefoot in the streets of the Windhoek suburb where we both lived.

When Susan passed away, I was already in a new school, and became friends with Jeannine and Jana. We were always together in school, but never after. Then I would spend time with either of them, but never the three of us.

They were still my friends when I fell pregnant at sixteen, but soon our lives were so different, we lost touch.

The trend of never being part of a group of friends continued in my adult life. The closest I come to that is my friendship with May and Posy. Because of our geographical locations, spending physical time together can only happen when we all travel. We did that at the end of September, when we spent a weekend together in Edinburgh.

I have only one friend close to me, who I see about once a month. We have been friends for eighteen years, and we cherish what we have. Even though we don’t see each other that much, we support each other through thick and thin, especially since we’re in similar situations.

Why am I waffling on about the friends in my life?

Because of Soraya, Veronica, Madison and Alison — four friends who became close because they moved in the same high society circles.

I will never have a friendship like this, but it doesn’t mean I can’t fantasize about it.

The many charity events, the clubs they visited and being the eye candy on the arms of their husbands, bored those four socialites.

They missed the fun, and realized if they didn’t make it happen, boredom would always be a part of their lives.

Want to know just how they brought the excitement back? Click the banner below.

Marie A. Rebelle is the owner of Serial Stories, editor of Tantalizing Tales and Teaser Tales, writer of fact and fiction, sometimes transgressive, sometimes erotic, and always about life. Likes to share, and treats everyone with the respect they deserve. Top writer in Short Stories, Fiction & LGBTQ.

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