Beautiful (Short Story)

She had always been beautiful.

With glowing, coal-black eyes, pale pink lips and a vivacious character to match, she enchanted many who saw her at first glance.

This girl was none other than the closest friend I ever had. I could always recall with fond nostalgia, the times when we used to laugh and talk about so many things under the sun.

She had gone overseas for further studies and was planning to be a lawyer in her future. Even though we had kept in daily contact while she was studying in London, somehow we drifted apart.

That awkwardness was evident as we faced each other for the first time in many months. Her plane had just touched down and I had specially rushed over to the airport just to meet her.

For the sake of our old friendship.

Yet, the minute I saw her, there was a strange distant look in her eyes that I could not comprehend. All the questions that I had been longing to ask her, simply bubbled and died down in my throat.

I stared at her mutely, trying desperately to think of something to say; something that could break the uncomfortable silence that was slowly overwhelming me within.

I swallowed nervously and bit my lip out of habit. She gave me a strained smile and said hello in the friendliest way possible.

Yet she refused to look at me directly, as if she was too embarrassed to face me. I did not want to admit that she had changed a lot. I did not want to realize that the close friendship we once shared was dying.

But the fact that we did not know what to say to each other in real life spoke volumes about the reality of our friendship. It was something that I had tried to ignore at the beginning.

I smiled sadly and said hello back, trying to keep back the tears that threatened to spill out any moment. That was somewhat the end of our conversation, really.

There was nothing more to say.

Words were left unspoken in the air, but we both understood what was better left unsaid. The close bond we had once shared was gone forever.

When we said our good-byes, a single tear trickled down my cheek as I turned away. Somehow, it was hard to let go of the past and all the memories it contained. Somehow, it was hard to let go of things when you have to.