It's Saturday today. But it feels like a Tuesday. In fact, for the last two years, all the days feel like one day just huddled together. The calendar is just wallpaper now—no dates, no meaning, just numbers on a wall. I wake up, work, come home, eat, sleep. It feels as if I’m always tired, even when I’ve just woken up. I feel exhausted—for not something in particular. And somewhere in the middle of it all, I started forgetting why I even keep track of days in the first place. It is as if I am in a daze. And time has frozen.
I don’t know why I am the way I am. I wasn’t always like this. I used to be happy and outgoing and chirpy, but for the last two years… it’s just me and my world alone. I didn’t like being alone. But slowly, I’ve started to like it. My friends make outing plans, but I’m too exhausted to ever leave the house. I find comfort in my room for the walls in my room don't judge me.
What’s the point of friendship anyways? They always end…
I slowly get up from my bed and decide to order food. As I get on my phone, I hear the door-bell ring. I hadn’t ordered yet— Who could it be?
No one ever shows up to meet me. It’s always quiet around here. Except the milkman and the food delivery guy, no one bothers to see me. As I get close to the door, I hear a voice behind it saying,
“Hey, can you let me in? I… it’s me.” The voice is familiar, very…. My heart drops… Tears well up. It sounds like it’s from an old friend—someone I thought I’d never speak to again. Could it really be her? it cant be, right? She lives half a world away. And it has been so long...
I open the door. My suspicion was right—it is… her.
She looks older. Her hair is longer, and her body is shivering from the cold outside. I tell her to come inside—she does, just like she did back when we used to talk all the time. She has the same look on her face now, as she did back then.
I look in to her eyes. What used to feel like comfort once… now feels almost unrecognizable. Almost as if she’s a stranger.
I guess, she is…. a stranger now. I take a deep breath as I try not to break down.
“I know it’s been a while, but I just wanted to, um… invite you to my wedding. It would feel like a crime not to invite you after all we’ve been through.” She says, in a whisper.
Wow! She’s engaged. That feels, surreal…
I miss the days when we would talk every day.
When I would look in her eyes—and she was my home.
I stare at her, dazed.
I’m not feeling hurt.
I feel, just empty.
A stranger now?
But I know the sound of your laugh. Your voice — that melancholic, nostalgic voice — reminds me of home.
A home where I was loved.
A home where I was enough.
You're a stranger, yes….
But we once spent an entire night putting up posters in your room, because you just couldn’t wait. You were always like that — too excited to hold anything back.
You're a stranger.
But I know your compulsions.
Your insecurities.
I saw you break.
I saw you rebuild.
Perhaps we are strangers now.
Strangers with memories.
Strangers — yes — but I could still recognize you in a crowd of a million people.
And then, you talked….
You talked about your life — your friends, your family.
You talked about all the things we used to talk about.
You talked about the future, we once spent hours dreaming about.
We had sworn, we’d never lose touch.
But somewhere in the depths of our busy lives… I had changed. Or perhaps… a lot had changed me.
You changed too. I guess that’s inevitable. Maybe, we weren’t meant to be.
But I’ll always remember that, for a fragment of time, we crossed paths.
And made amazing memories.
I’m glad I met you.
I wouldn’t want to be an 80-year-old man someday,
with nothing to miss in life.
And the thought that — when I’m gone — somewhere, you’ll still remember me? That’s enough for me.
You left a scar on me.
And I left mine on you.
But these scars... they’re what I live for.
Because without them, what would life even be?
One day, when I die, I want you to be the reason I think
“Oh, what a time I had.”
It hurts so much right now. But love hurts sometimes.
And maybe… that’s okay.
I met a stranger today.
She reminded me that just because love, friendships end someday—doesn’t mean they’re not worth feeling.
That’s what makes life amazing.
I’ll live my life now—freely, openly, fully.
I’ll love people.
I’ll give them my all.
I’ll get hurt.
I’ll feel pain.
For a stranger once taught me—
Some people are worth hurting for….
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