From smiles to sorrow

 THE GOLDEN POUCH TO FRIENDSHIP

I was seated in the rightmost of seats in class when the bell rang and the teacher walked in. No one was sitting in the row I was in. I was in the first class of my first day in college and didn’t know anybody and being the introverted person I am, I didn’t bother talking to anybody in any other rows. Pretty soon, we had to take notes so I pulled out my stationery pouch. It was a golden sequined pouch that changed to silver color when caressing the sequin and turning them, or it was also called mermaid pouch. It was a gift from my best friend from school and I had taken it with me to every college thereafter.

The class got over and just as I was packing up, a few girls came over and sat next to me.

“Hi! Would you mind if I played with your pouch for a bit?”, one of them asked. I gladly let them play. They looked so mesmerized by it. They asked me where I got it and I replied saying it was a gift. Soon, we were in the midst of introductions and a conversation about our interests. They ended up becoming my closest group of friends in college, and I owe it all to the pretty golden pouch.

 

GOLD IN THE SKY

That Saturday afternoon I was bored. It had nothing to do and anything I could’ve done, I was too bored from it to do, like practicing keyboard. I lay on the bed staring at the clouds through my window. The bright afternoon Sun touched on the clouds giving them a golden outline. The rays of light that reached the clouds further away painted the clouds a warm yellow color.

Looking at the glowing clouds, an idea struck me. I got up immediately and pulled out a pouch. It was a golden sequined pouch that I had stored all my art supplies in. I had forgotten about it for a long time and decided I should draw the clouds outside.

After a satisfactorily long time, I had finished drawing and painting my clouds, but by then, the Sun was gone and the clouds were just white and scattered against a purple sky.

 

A CHEST OF MEMORIES

 

It was finally the weekend, but this time, instead of just relaxing and catching up on work, I had decided to do a deep clean of my house. It was exhausting work but had to be done. I had started with the storeroom in the morning and by noon, I had finished cleaning up even the living room. After a small break for lunch, I started cleaning my bedroom.

As I was sorting out my closet, I found a chest which I hadn’t seen in a long while. Curiosity getting the best of me, I opened it, and inside it found all the things I had thought worth saving from my college days. It had chits of paper I passed along to my friends during class and my ID card. It also had my college yearbook and my friend’s bracelet. All these things washed me with a wave of nostalgia. But the fondest object in that chest was a gold sequined pouch. It was a gift from my best friend. I considered it a token of luck, for it always brought me friends and help whenever I had it. I had taken it to all colleges since I had received it.

The pouch reminded me of my friend. She was in a different country now and we hadn’t even spoken on a phone call in the last two years. I missed her terribly. I wish I could’ve called her but I didn’t even have her phone number. After 23 years of friendship, I cannot imagine how far we drifted apart. It really saddens me even to this day. The only object I have that reminds me of her is that golden pouch and now instead of bringing me happiness, it makes me sad at the thought of a lost friend.