A Hedge between Makes Friendship Green

Misspring

A Hedge between Makes Friendship Green

    It seemed to be quite a surprise and bonus for me when I received my best friend Jenny’s call on that usual morning. I picked up my cellphone and there she was, with that energetic and boyishly croaky voice as usual. I joked to her,“It seems that I’ve forgotten you for quite some time.” “Never mind.”She replied , “I’ve forgotten you, too.And it’s the first time during the past three weeks that I’ve thought of you, old buddy.” I laughed, and we soon began chatting as if we had been on the phone every day.
    Jenny and I have been friends ever since we were in the first year of our middle school, and we have been schoolmates all through the middle school and high school years. We went home together and played together during the breaks. We talked everything from our sorrows and joys to trivial things like what we ate that morning. I always believed she and I belonged to totally different groups of people. She was outgoing and outspoken; whereas I was a little introverted and didn’t manage socializing with people well . So we two appeared to be the most awkward and at the same time, complementary accompany.
    Other friends have asked me why we two have managed to keep our friendship alive even when we are now in different universities and don’t seem to contact each other very often. But I’d say,“not very often”is exactly the reason why we have gone through all these years.
In fact,our friendship wasn’t all that smooth, and it was during our second middle school summer holiday that we suffered a hard readjustment to each other. There was a kind of tiredness and deliberate estrangement between us. We both had a feeling that after we have talked too much ad confessed to each other too many sentiments that literally we possessed no secret, whatever kind it was, to each other. Such an intimacy might sound romantic and perfect, but in reality, when you and another person had a feeling that the other one knew everything you were thinking about and going to do, it was far from romantic, but rather terrifying and even repulsing. That was exactly what we felt at that time. We much in sync didn’t go home with each other any more and we called each other much less. Change was difficult, especially when you were trying to change a life pattern that you had comfortably stayed in for as long as two years. With scrupulousness we adjusted our relationship slowly and both scared at the possibility of losing our friendship, for every condensed piece of time we were together, we cherished that sense of belongingness and intimacy even more. I didn’t remember how long exactly that awkward and miserable process of change lasted, but it was on a particular day, when we met each other after two weeks without contact and we still felt perfectly at ease with each other, I knew we had made it.
    Now we are both in university, and extremely absorbed in our campus life, we seem to contact each other still less. But this time, it doesn’t bother us any more and quite like on a tacit agreement, every time we call each other, we know there is something to be revealed or announced. She would ask me what reference books to be read if she wants to improve her English grammar and I would consult her on whether it is useful to take an optional course in finance or marketing if I wish myself to be more competent . And there is no need confessing our sentiments in words. With all the past seven years we have shared and witnessed, merely from the tone the other person adopts, we can sense the mood the pther is in. Sometimes we will ask why and how, but more often, we will just listen and wait, wait till the other one is willing and prepared to say something. It is because that mutual-trust and knowingness we build up through the years that we don’t hush or hurry, worry or doubt. And it is because the sense of independence and proper mental distance we carefully keep that we feel extremely relaxed when we talk out our secrets.
    For us two, a simple greeting of “how is everything？”suffice; a brisk consolation of “never mind! Let it go.” suffice; a lighthearted encouragement of “come on! I bet on you.”suffice; ten minutes of laugh and joke offset weeks of mutual absence, and with that, swiftly and freshly returns all the familiar feelings.
    So that is the reason why we have jokingly said“I’ve forgotten you.”without the fear of breaking the other person’s heart. Between us there is a hedge on which relies our miss, concern and attachment that is no thinner than any other kind of friendship .What’s more,we cherish a sense of possessing secret and independence. That feels good, and that keeps our friendship green.

[ 本帖最后由 Misspring 于 2008-11-13 22:11 编辑 ]

Cinderella

Ditance makes our hearts fonder. That's true.