An Invitation to Friendship

It is fall in New Jersey. Lushly green trees begin to turn yellow and red. I like crispy sound when I walk on the dry leaves. I like distinctive four seasons. Fall reminds me another year will be over soon.

With all the seasons passed by, I selectively remember the fall that I met Lotus. She has thick dark hair and dark eyebrows above two big bright eyes. She sat next to me by the window in first grade. I used to steal glimpses of her while she was not playing attention. If I got caught, she would give me a smile.

I was born shy and did not know how to mingle with other kids then. One day, out of the blue, she walked over to me and asked me if I want to play hopscotch. Then we played tag, and cat’s cradle, and tick-tack-toe, and so on. Before you know it, we became inseparable.

In first grade, life was much simpler. You hung out with the person you like and you shared everything with your best friend. I showed her the presents I received on birthday, or told her about the vacations I went with my parents. Soon I found out she didn’t have all that. She was from a less fortunate family struggling to make ends meet. But all that didn’t matter; we were happy just being together.

The school ended and I didn’t get to see her for the whole summer. I missed her and the feeling was strangely strong for a boy at that age. I got a little booklet that people usually use to put telephone numbers (this is before mobile era) and wrote down one entry: Lotus- my love. I was content for a few days, but then the feeling was so overpowering that I had to show it to someone. I showed it to my little sister, two years younger, who had not yet learned to read. It turned out one of the worst mistakes in my life; she snatched it and showed it to my older brother and sisters. I was teased to no end until my cheeks, my ears, my neck, all turned as red as cherry.

The dreadful summer was finally over, and I couldn’t wait to go back to school to see my girl. To my great distress, she never showed up that year. For a very long time, I wish she would suddenly show up in the beginning of every school year, but she never did. Years gone by, I still remember that one beautiful day in fall when she asked me if I want to play hopscotch…the big bright eyes under dark eyebrows…and the smiles that brighten the sky.