Essays... (narratives, argumentative or whatever)

“Twisted Friendship”


Strangers, as they say, are supposed to be strange, but when one meets a particularly familiar stranger, then one may expect surprises ahead. In fact I was able to meet such stranger very recently. It was a silent Wednesday night, around half past twelve, when I decided to take a lonely stroll along our subdivision’s deserted streets. Never really fancying funerals and all those stuff, I tried not to pass by the wake of a neighbor and just while doing so, I saw him.
He gave me a sense of familiarity. He smiled and he gave me a weird feeling of knowing him from somewhere though, truth be told, it was the first time I ever laid eyes on him. I smiled back, so as not to be rude and to my surprise he slowly approached me. After introductions were made, we started talking. We talked about food, politics, the weather, dogs, sports and the like. Though this may sound weird, by I really did feel as if we have been friends for a long time.
On that fateful night, we became friends. We exchanged contact details and we promised each other that we’d meet up later at a more Godly hour.
I called him up the next day, as soon as got out from my classes but the number, as the operator said, was not in use. This didn’t bother me. I felt maybe, his phone was off. This thing happens. Only option I had was to visit him at his house.
It was the only time I noticed that he actually lived quite near me. I recognized the house from the night I was roaming around. There was a faint smell of Carnations in the air. I knocked at the door. A girl greeted me with a half dead smile. I asked for my friend and her eyes froze on me and as I explained how I met him tears were welled up on her almond eyes. I was a little shaken by the scene. The girl and my friend must have fought or something, I told my self, thus, the effect on the girl when I ask for my friend. So I decided to wait and roam around the house. I saw his picture from a far. It was placed on top of a white wooden case. I came closer. I lost my breath. The case was a coffin. My heart stopped. I leaned to peek in the casket and I saw him – my friend, with the same smile he bore on that lonely Wednesday night. All I was able to do was gasp and faint.
I woke up with his family around me. I saw the girl with the almond eyes fanning me. I explained to them what had happened and I received nothing less but wails from my friend’s sisters and mother. At that moment, I remembered his smile, and felt his presence among his family. He became a friend. A stranger who could justifiably be called a strange stranger became my friend.