Fading Away

• Rachel Foong, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2015

I had a silent friend who was always there by my side, no matter what. I had always known her since the beginning of times. We swore our loyalty to each other, at first sight.
We’d climb the highest mountains together, never stopping till we got to the peak. For we had each other, and that was all what mattered.
We’d sail through churning seas, roaring, treacherous churning seas. Yet we would survive through them all, with no traces of wisps of sea water sprayed on our faces.
We’d run through any mazes, always knowing where and where not to turn. Left, right, left, right and here we go again. We had never met any obstacles in our paths. For we had eyes, and they were constantly watching, taking note of everything.
But that was before they came…
Once upon a time I was told to love myself. Be yourself! Don’t be anyone else! You are your own best friend!!!
But I was against all those “useless” advice until too late.
That friend of mine, that muted one who made all the decisions for me, the one who climbed mountains with me, and above all, the one who I swore my loyalty to without even knowing, was the one who I should’ve always been with in the first place. Instead, recklessness dominated over me.
On the first day of my illusory life of happiness, I was doomed into spending the rest of my time here in the “prison” with them. They seemed nice at first sight, always friendly, exuberant, never losing their lively energy. I had finally found some true friends, even though there was already one standing right next to me, eyeing them with an annoyed expression. It had seemed like a miracle had come true, or so I thought.
I never knew that they were poisoning me, hypnotizing me, while giving me everything that I desired. I was under a thick blanket, unable to struggle out of it, even if help was right next to me.
Hope will come and go, for it is like a butterfly, flying away, as soon as you set your eyes upon it. That happened to me once. I mean twice.
Betrayal is the equivalent to stabbing someone in the back with your knife. That I knew nothing about till now. That I didn’t know until I experienced it right before my very eyes.
They ran away from me when they started noticing me acting strangely when I began to notice her unusual absence.
She ran from me, or rather, part of me ran away from me. They’re both the same thing, haven’t you realised? For I was told before to love myself. And did I? No. Though part of me wanted to. Now it is gone, gone like the butterfly. But it didn’t just vanish into thin air all at once. Then it gradually fades away, slowly, oh ever so slowly, whenever I see the wrong side of things.