Ode to a Friend

This is a story in a middle of all things.

A lifeline saved, barely reached in time. Lights that were dimmed slowly get refocused; the beams are getting brighter, and with each glare he surmised that the life is still not out yet. He shakes his head a few times. A silly thing to do, now he gathers, as the mere turn of his head makes his stomach churned unpleasantly. He can feel the gall slowly rising up to his mouth. He tried to stand up but he feels weak. Even when he is on all four it takes everything he has just from not to lose his consciousness. He slowly slides his back on the wall while trying to gain his composure. He regained his breath and feels his nausea evaporates. This is good, he thinks. I can do this.

Everything that he fears has just come into reality. His growing doubts check out in the end. The blows, although not really unknown or unheard of, are still very painful. He hoped that it would not have come to this, but now that it happened, he needs to take care of this. The first step of recovery is always the hardest. Everyone says so. The first leg to stand must be strong enough to endure the crushing weight it bears before the other leg follows it and share the load.

It is, in fact, turning into a story of a new beginning.

Lessons learnt, and blessings have been counted. Some past are better buried in the dark, and some, selected few will keep him running and eventually, make him smile again. He can stand now, he realises. There is a penetrating wound on his left arm but the bleeding has stopped. He sways a little but he never going to fall down again. There is a dull ache somewhere in his body that he knew will never go away, not even with the passing of time. He will think of it as a reminder for the future. Yes, a future he has still, even if at first it looked bleak to him.

He feels like a lifetime of him has gone, a brine of waving friendship withdraws to the sea. But his life is far from over, and friends are more than the ever drifting sea. He looks to the ground he is standing on and it is rock solid. He feels connected to it with each step he took. His stride becomes bigger and he walks with confidence. Be it a fall, then a crawl that moves to a limping gait before he can continue his journey, he will never going to stop.

This will be his story that has a better, well-deserved ending.