She had to leave for another land, but somehow, she always stayed. Jeepney rides and pizzas shared, the uncounted instant mami noodle meals… Soon it was letters we began to exchange. What letters! No one writes like that anymore - sometimes more than five pages, back to back. Stories from across the oceans became conversations. I sat alone for how many times with my feet up and those sheets of paper in my hands. Her familiar voice and laughter in my head came to take the sound of susurration between sheaves of friendship, proof that distance is trivial.
They stopped. Unreliable postal services, busy schedules, preoccupations, etc., all the many reasons were there. E-mail, why not? Pictures on the computer monitor now showed her, glowing, in the arms of someone she loves. Sweet, sweet, life! It’s mysteries unravel themselves for her. The wondrous child she now holds in her arms, once upon a time was a beat in her heart. The world and its seas have kept turning. A few brief words now and then, "How are you?" "Take care always." "Congratulations!" Terse, trite, but true words nevertheless. Connection, still. Across oceans still.
The letters have stopped, but what they stand for never did. She’s always been around. She’s been my friend for more than ten years. Even across words and oceans. There’s a box I keep under my bed where I still have the papers to prove it.
(posted elsewhere 22 Aug 2005)
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