The Crossing (Part 2)

Amber chose to study law as she wanted to be a lawyer like her father before her. She dreamed of one day being adorned in those famous black robes and wig that all lawyers wore. Anita, on the other hand, chose to follow her childhood dream of becoming a doctor.

 On the night before they were to leave for University, the two girls sat beside each other on the bonnet of the broken down Peugeot 504 in Amber’s compound. As they lay there with their backs on the cracked windscreen, they gazed overhead at the sparkling night sky as the stars seemed to dance through the heavens.

They stared on in silence… the teardrops seemed to beckon themselves on as both girls gasped intermittently as the tears dribbled down their cheeks unable to bear the emotions they were feeling. Perhaps it was the fear of finally leaving the proverbial nest that made them so overcome with emotion or maybe it was just a creeping fear of the unknown journey that lay ahead. Till this day they both could not give a reason why they wept under the clear night sky. But one thing was certain. It would be the last time these two lifelong friends would ever feel so close to one another.

University life was as hectic as expected, one lecture usually bled into the other with very little time to adjust or assimilate what had been taught. The morning timetable was packed with classes; afternoons brought no respite except for the midday break. Evenings were spent studying in the library as the days began to seem shorter and the nights shorter still. And so the days ran into months and the months into years.

Amber spent most of her six years living on the university campus as it was closer to the Faculty of Law. Anita, on the other hand, decided to move outside of campus after her second year in order to be closer to the Teaching Hospital. The girls tried whenever they could to see each other but the rigors of their study lives were starting to tell on their relationship. Weeks went by without the girls seeing each other, not for a lack of trying but simply because as time went on their priorities began to shift and with it, their bond with each other began to weaken.

Amber recalls an evening in which she had gone over to Anita’s place in the city. It had been over a month since she last saw Anita and was desperate to catch up with her and reminisce about old times. It was just after exams and there was finally some free time. She arrived at about half past seven; the moonlight bathed the city in fluorescent blue.

Anita greeted her at the door with a smile that welcomed an old friend home. Amber couldn’t help but cast her mind back to all those years ago when the two had first met. The girls laughed and gossiped and told tales of strict lecturers and sleepless nights spent studying for upcoming quizzes.

And so as the night drew to a close the two friends embraced as Amber bid adieu to Anita. The two held on to each other in a warm embrace which lasted just a little longer than was usual; feeling each other’s warmth and heartbeat as if to connect on a level deeper than that which they currently had.

The two girls would not see each other again until they crossed paths again on that bitterly hot afternoon on the sidewalk of the University campus.

*So who is to blame for the demise of this once fruitful and blossoming friendship? Perhaps it is no one but time and circumstance who conspire together to test the length and breadth of bonds formed with our loved ones. Unfortunately, not all bonds survive the test!