Hello Friend

“Hello, friend.. hello friend……. It’s been a long time since we last talked. You probably think, I forgot you but trust me you were the only one I thought about all this time. Life is alright. Currently, I am living in a loop of nothingness where time seems to be meaningless. Day in, day out, It’s the same shit all over again. People feel like NPCs. Dreams and Goals appear to be a delightful delusion. Everyone wants to be loved, but no one wants to love. Sometimes I wonder that maybe even you have forgotten me and moved on…. but then I realize. 
That you are me.”

Sometimes, I am so in it that I don’t even care about my surroundings anymore. Nah, don’t worry, this time, I am talking to you… Yes, you…

Although it was a long time since I first heard the voice, it still feels like yesterday, and I can’t believe that throughout the years, We had so many adventures alongside. Sometimes he can be mad at me for little things like not doing the right thing or when I go astray from the path we always wanted to go. The last time I fell in love (the only time), he was there. With me. Watching over like a guardian. I tend to forget about him in my happy times, maybe because I start thinking that I don’t need him anymore.

The first time I talked to him was in 7th Grade. I was terrified. Of course, not from him, but rather from life. That’s when I heard it, “Hello Friend”. I was not scared, rather a mixture of confusion and happiness engulfed me. I was confused as to where the voice was coming from? and happy that it called me that. I closed my eyes and that voice again, clearer and louder this time.

‘It’s okay, I know how you feel, I know what you lost, I know everything, so don’t say anything for now’

It was so reassuring, that I complied with what it said and kept quiet.

‘I know it’s a bit noisy sometimes’

‘Actually.., keep your eyes closed and just focus on my voice alone’

Yes, I could try that in-fact I forgot about the outside world the moment our connection began but the question I had in my mind was ‘Who is this?’

“Doesn’t matter right now, but tell me, If I ask you that same question, will you be able to answer?”

I was shook by those words. How did he know, that I was thinking about him, and as hard as that may sound, I didn’t have an answer to his question. Who was I? What did I ever want? Do I serve any purpose?

In fact, I had lost my purpose, and a person who lost their purpose can never define who they are. They can’t define what they want. They are just like drunkards, trying to fill that void of loneliness inside with something impure, for temporary fulfillment but our insides always demand something pure.

I didn’t have an answer that time but I sure do have right now. Over the years, we have talked together, cried together, laughed together, played together. He talks reasoning, I talk ‘beautiful nonsense’, maybe all the dreams that we chased are just memories now, or that we lost much over the years but we never forgot Who We Are and as long as we know the answer to this question, there will always be the time for a new beginning, a new way to experience that which lies inside our hearts.

‘Hello Friend, It has indeed been a long since we last talked, but no matter how far you go, I will always be here in the same place, And when you remember me during your dark times, don’t fret; I will be there for you, to find you, the real YOU’

• Diary of a once not-so-happy kid
• Arthur Kenway
• March 20th, 2024

(The Article talks about imaginary friends whom one may lose over the years.)