The Goodbye

Click!...Whirrr!..Click!.....Whirrr!....the flash of the camera and the whirr of the film were my last memories as i said goodbye to them silently. They were lost in their own world...having fun, laughing, chatting together and i was lost in mine, contemplating my new life ahead. A life in which none of them had a part to play anymore. They didn’t know that of course but that was only because i hadn’t told them i was leaving.

"Hey, Take my picture, you @#$@%", said that familiar voice which i loved talking to...share everything with. "FU back you $$$$", I retorted back smiling and then took her picture. She was the person with whom i had spent the best part of my time there...every complaint, every whine with her learning about the world, my life, everything. Even she didn’t know i was leaving. I didn’t have the heart to tell her. I mean how can you say goodbye to someone whom you love even more than yourself sometimes. "Hey you’re coming to the party tomorrow right", She asked. "I’ll save the best of me for you...", she winked and grinned mischievously. Flirtation was a part and parcel of our friendship and neither of us took it seriously. "Of course i am", I lied and grinned back. Someone called her and she moved on to talk to him, but knowing she would be disappointed tomorrow made me feel worse than anything.

"Hey Mr. Big Shot, what are you doing over there....the food’s here, come and join me", he said. That was him. Always looking after the others. Always wanting the best for them. He was the person who had motivated & inspired me to develop into the person i wanted to be. He had always looked out for me & when i gotten myself into situations that were too much for me to handle, he had been there. I was grateful to him for that. "No thanks....not too hungry today", I said. "Hmmm!!! don’t diet too hard...you’ll get thinner and then you’ll actually get a girlfriend" he laughted....i grinned too...."Sir, if you don’t watch out...you’re gonna lose all of yours"....he laughed too. We never took each other seriously and that had been the bond that had cemented our relationship together.

Everywhere i moved..."Hey You"...."Hey"..."YO!", were the greetings that accompanied me. I was a part of them. They treated me like i was one of them, and in my heart i knew that i did. Never in that entire time spent with them had i ever felt that i didn’t belong and it had really been the first time in my life that had i ever felt that way.

But i had to leave them. It was fated to be. That’s why a proper goodbye would have been so tough, so hard to bear. How do you say goodbye to people who are not your family, but sometimes are far closer than an actual family could have ever been. That’s why i couldn’t. That’s why i just had to leave....leave them without looking back even once....because if i had....i would have broken down.

’Click’.....’Whirr’.......o ne last picture....of them...of me.....Us...together...one last memory......one last hug.....one last ’Goodbye, see you tomorrowwwwww’.....one last moment...before my tears fell.