Tribute to my Pattan girls

The best thing I know is thinking back on days where we laughed so hard that it can still make me laugh today
The best thing is knowing that you still exist in this world, that you are still here

The worst thing I can think of is us drifting apart, never rekindling that nearness, that intimacy, that incomprehensible friendship from those days
The worst thing is when I wake up in the night and think I'm back there, listening to you chatting it away, and realise I'm alone in bed (and what I can actually here is my mother snoring)

The best thing I can think of is when we argued so hard, so long that none of us could remember why - and you made me laugh at my own seriousness
The best thing is walking down the main street of Pattan, heading for the market, discussing the colour of our new clothes, planning to look even prettier tomorrow

The worst thing is recalling those days when I couldn't reach you, where you sat on the roof and disappeared into your own world of insurmountable emotion
The worst thing is thinking that our ages might keep us apart, you might get tired of my oldness, I might get impatient with your youth

The best thing, the absolute best thought of the day is that soon, we will be together again; we will laugh, I'm sure; we will cry, I'm even more sure of that - because that's the best thing. Not being alone when I was sad, not being alone when I was happy.

Isn't it our most incredible luck that we are alive at the same time, under circumstances which made us meet in such a rare setting, in a time when we were all ready to soak it all up, be the best us and become the best of friends...?