𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗥𝗬: “Some things, once gone, never return.” By Kryztel Ann T. Abunda

Cartoon by: Ariana Faith Par

Published by: Kristine Joyce Soriano

Date Published: September 6, 2024

Time Published: 7:02 AM

Category: Prose

Theme: Broken Friendship

No one talks about how painful friendship breakups can be. It’s a strange and awful kind of heartache—one that creeps in so silently, hurts so numbly, and lingers long after the last word has been spoken—or, in our case, left unsaid.

Ironic, isn't it? how we went from being each other’s person whom we confide in the most about the smallest details in our lives to just mere acquaintances who pass by each other without a single glance spared.

We used to talk with each other endlessly—with our words spilling out with no end and no ounce of hesitation nor fear of judgement. We used to promise each other that we’d never let the silence and distance grow between us. Hell, we even sweared to God that we'd annoy each other to death if one of us ever dared to pull away.

We used to laugh, reminisce, and talk about our respective past friendships that didn’t work out all while thinking that our current one wouldn’t be the same. We used to consider each other as the person whom we thought would be by our side forever—the one we believed that was our better and worse half.

However, maybe we were both wrong; maybe all of these are just our wishful thinking, and maybe destiny has its own set of plans because somehow, somewhere along the way, we mirrored the endings that we once dreaded.

The worst part is that even I, myself, am not certain and aware when it happened, or why. All I understood was that the person who I once knew better than anyone else is now just a familiar face with unfamiliar eyes.

No one really tells you how to mourn for someone who’s still alive and breathing but no longer a part of your life. No one really tells you how to move on from an unspoken friendship breakup with the person whom you thought would be by your side forever.

It’s because the world always expects you to move on, to find new friends, to make progress, and to fill the void with something or someone else. But the harsh truth is— some certain voids can’t just be filled, and likewise, some certain people can’t just be replaced.

That’s why here I am, still wondering what it would take for one of us to break the silence—still wishing that somewhere deep down, you feel the same emptiness that I do and still hoping that maybe, just maybe, we could go back to what we once were.

But deep down, I know.

Some things, once gone, never return.