Friday, January 7th, 2011

Writing Prompt – Lost Your Best Friend?

Kathy and Kelly A. HarmonHere’s a photo of me and my best friend, Kathy, from a few years ago. We were painting salt dough ornaments we’d made for Christmas.

She’s been on my mind a lot lately…especially on New Year’s eve.

I didn’t hear the traditional Auld Lang Syne that evening, but I was thinking about it: Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?

The opening line is rhetorical, but evocative, and never fails to leave me thinking about old friends…and this year, it was all about Kathy.

She and I played in the sandbox together in Kindergarten. Even though she went off to private school in first grade, we were inseparable. (We got into so much mischief!)

We’ve been friends forever…but I haven’t heard from her since February.

Kathy told me she was quitting her job, selling her house, and moving to Europe to be with the man she loved…and then there’s been nothing but silence. She asked me not to call at first, and I respected that. But her cell has since been disconnected. And she’s not answering her email.

I have no idea how she is, if she’s safe, if she’s happy, if she’s well… It’s hard not to think that something awful has taken place, but I don’t think it has. Kathy’s done this before: neglected to call or write for months on end. But the beauty of our friendship is that it’s easy to pick up where we left off.

If I had a snail-mail address, I’d write her a letter in all caps (like I’m yelling, ya know?) and tell her to get off her duff and call me. (I’m hoping she’s deliriously happy with this guy and just hasn’t had the time.)

Still, it’s strange, and my writer’s mind can’t help thinking the worst…

Here’s Your Prompt:  Write a letter to someone you used to know, but haven’t seen in a while: someone you don’t expect to ever see again. What are you going to say to this person? Will you admit some long, buried secret that you never told? (A secret love? The stolen money? Cheating on a test?) Will you blame this person for everything that’s gone wrong in your life?

If you don’t want to write a letter…speculate as to what happened to your friend…what were the circumstances of his disappearance? Did she just walk out the door and never come back? Did he go on vacation to some exotic locale and decide to stay? Did she leave you for someone else?

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