A Tale of Relentless and Unending Friendship...

It was in response to his interest pregnant with subtle flirtation that Sumi’s attention became constricted to the world.  In her first interaction with him after so many years he wove his descriptions of her in delicate threads of embroidery with allusions to regal bearings, nodding and winking to a bloodline laden with royalty.  It was a deliberate stab at memories of the way he remembered her elegant walk and the grace in which she carried himself.  Through the space that social media provided she kept responding with approval cloaked in a disguise of joviality.  In the unfolding dialogue he dragged her through paved lanes of snatched encounters they had once shared in the sleepy South African town.  Initially tepid, Sumi wrestled in recalling those memories, to her it all seemed a distant blur something she had trouble recasting.  She requested a photograph from him so that he could situate herself within the sketches he had created from the time past, which he unwittingly attempted to redraw.  Slowly and gradually a glue evolved, one so enduring and within the first few minutes they realised that this re-encounter was no co-incidence but something pre-ordained and significantly more would grow from it, something akin to the greatest friendship of the time, profound yet so simple, pure but laced in complexities of denial.

As the days unfolded and unformed their conversations became laced with affection and conviviality, their pull towards each other became irresistible and the desire to communicate became a fascination.  These dragged on for days and from days into weeks and weeks merging into months, with each new dawn bringing in a new vista of memories, dredged up from a recreated period of imagined bliss.  These two people had been luckless in love and even the longevity of life had not bestowed upon them such fortune.  The vacuum ensured that within those early days of reunion a realisation would dawn on them that they had found their respective voices.  That discovery added layers of cement to their feelings, provided the assurance of what was meant to be and offered the validation of their re-discovery.  In their daily chats a penchant for intellectual curiosity also introduced another dimension into their budding relationship, from earlier on they unwittingly resolved not to be afraid to follow the truth of their feelings wherever it may lead.