I walked to the area in which my friends and I always meet. The area was filled with talking children and teachers. Me ears filled with the sounds of rustling backpacks and falling leaves from the huge oak tree. This tree is standing in a perfect centre of the school’s lounging area, so the tree and the area around the tree has become a gathering place for many students in the school. The tree has seen many things from the vantage point of its location. Today, it witnessed a tough moment in my life.

My friend walked up to me and touched my shoulder. I was startled, but my expression softened as I saw Christian, o\\t†ne of my best friends. His face fell.

“What is wrong?”, I ask him.

“I am moving in two weeks”, he replied. I thought he was joking.

“I am not kidding”, he said, as if he had read my mind and replied to my unspoken question. I was clearly upset. The unhappiness was written across my face. Christian said, “Let’s enjoy our last two weeks together.” I agreed with him and thought that he is truly a good friend who is ready to cheer me up even though his feelings were in turmoil.

While I walked to the next class, I wonder what will happen to me after he leaves. Would I be able to make new friends knowing that they might leave me at some point in my life as Christian will do? For the duration of the whole period, I was brooding about Christian moving out. I remembered good and bad moments in our friendship. It was not always perfect. Once, he borrowed by bus pass to have one ride home. He didn’t returned it back and was using it for many rides. I had to sort this out with him, and he

apologized and paid me back from his allowances. However, I had more good moments to remember. I wondered where he will be moving. Perhaps, tomorrow, we will get all of this sorted out. He will, hopefully, give me his address, his phone number, and email. I relaxed after the initial shock and accepted his moving out of the area as a normal event.

Two weeks passed, but being the creature of habit, I walked to the place under the tree where we used to meet. And what I saw? I saw him walking in the distance towards me with a happy look on his face. My expression of sadness dissipated into recognition and then happiness. It was a prank! A large, but very good prank. As he approached me, I smiled and shook my head scornfully.

¨Ha-ha, very funny¨, I say to him sarcastically.
        

¨No, it was not a prank¨, Christian said, as if he read my mind once more.

“The Internet was not hooked up, so we had to postpone our departure and will be moving one week later”.

“The Internet…” I repeated, processing his explanation. This could be a part of the prank, or it could be a valid reason. I choose to accept it. Perhaps, I fell for another prank, or maybe not. I marvel once more on our dependency from Internet. As the days go by, he started to show actions that proved he was actually moving. He returned his textbooks to teachers and his books to the school library.

Eventually, Christian stopped coming to school, but not before he left with me his email address. I will write to him, assuming his Internet is up and running. However, I don’t think I am Facebook material. I can’t keep friendship alive via web. I will find new friends or discover new light in old friends. Perhaps, I will live without friends. It is not a pleasant experience to lose one friend. As I am contemplating, someone walks up to me, and we chat. It looks like I won’t have to live without friends.