{"id":2545,"date":"2023-09-02T13:45:25","date_gmt":"2023-09-02T20:45:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/?p=2545"},"modified":"2023-09-02T13:45:25","modified_gmt":"2023-09-02T20:45:25","slug":"time-for-a-friend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/2023\/09\/02\/time-for-a-friend\/","title":{"rendered":"Time for a Friend"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

prompt: It\u2019s the last evening of your vacation and you\u2019re watching the sunset with your friends\/partner\/family, wishing summer would never end. But just as the sun dips below the horizon, you notice it returning in reverse.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

available at Reedsy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber had started her vacation alone, with the idea that she would spend it on the beach watching the ocean, meditating, and finding her post-divorce inner peace. Instead, she met Doralis the first morning, and spent most of her time with the local woman. Still, she found the inner calm she sought whenever they were together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Amber first met Doralis, she was struck by the beauty of the lithe woman with deep brown skin warmed by red undertones, a few strands of grey in her dark dreadlocks, and eyes that sparkled on the edge of brown and black with an ageless intensity. After the first morning they spent together on the beach, it was Doralis\u2019 personality and perspective that kept her interested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compared to her new Dominican friend, Amber was a ghost. Thanks to the liberal and repeated application of SPF 100, she hadn\u2019t burned but had a hint of a tan that she hadn\u2019t seen since college. The sun had faded the ends of her hair from a mousy brown to the strawberry blonde it had been in her childhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou all right there, Amber?\u201d Doralis asked, bringing her out of her thoughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou all right? You\u2019re looking too thoughtful. Dame dato<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just, my flight home is tomorrow. There\u2019s nothing waiting for me in Newark outside of my job and an empty apartment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doralis put a hand on Amber\u2019s shoulder. \u201cYou know, girl, there\u2019s a lot more to you than just your relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know.\u201d Amber grasped the other woman\u2019s hand. \u201cI feel more myself, more comfortable, here than anywhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIs it the place, or the company?\u201d Doralis asked with a wink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber chuckled. \u201cMaybe a little of the first, and a lot of the second. I just wish this could last a little longer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI understand. You have beaches there?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHah, not really. There\u2019s a beach in Brooklyn, but it\u2019s not like this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaybe not the same, but you make friends easy, no?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber shrugged. \u201cI don\u2019t know about that. I\u2019m usually pretty shy. You\u2019re just so easy to talk to. It\u2019s like you\u2019re a best friend and trusted elder at the same ti\u2014I\u2019m sorry. My god! I didn\u2019t mean it like you\u2019re old\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doralis broke off her apology with laughter. \u201cI know what you were trying to say. Don\u2019t worry about hurting my feelings about age. You\u2019re still a child to me, so it\u2019s fine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t feel like a child. After the divorce, I feel like every second of my thirty-two years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was Doralis\u2019 turn to chuckle. \u201cExactly. A child. And before you ask, I\u2019m older than I look.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t going to ask that. I do have a question, though.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAsk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIs it okay if we just stay here and watch the sunset?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf course. You know you can write to me when you get home and I\u2019ll write back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber sighed. \u201cI want to,\u201d she said, \u201cbut realistically, it\u2019ll be sporadic and rare. I\u2019m terrible at keeping in touch with text and email, written letters will probably be worse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt least you\u2019re honest.\u201d They sat as the sun lowered on the horizon, the sky turning pink and orange. \u201cWaiting on a letter from a friend is not a hardship. I\u2019ll look forward to them. Besides, I can\u2019t control you any more than you can control me. The only thing we can control is our own self.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThank you, Doralis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u00bfPara qu\u00e9<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPara todo<\/em>. You let me open up and be me. You haven\u2019t talked down to me, you\u2019ve been a friend, even when I was a blubbering mess.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easy to be a friend, when you find a friend, no?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah. You are easy to be friends with.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo you say,\u201d Doralis said, \u201cbut many find themselves uncomfortable in my presence. I should thank you for talking to me like a normal person. That hasn\u2019t happened for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber sighed. She worried how her question would be taken, but Doralis had opened up the subject. \u201cIf it\u2019s none of my business, that\u2019s fine, but\u2026why do the locals avoid you? You\u2019re so kind, it doesn\u2019t make sense.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A soft smile played across Doralis\u2019 face as the sun began to sink below the horizon. \u201cIt\u2019s easier to blame things on me, than to take responsibility. When things go wrong, I am too often the chivo expiatorio<\/em> \u2014 the scapegoat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber leaned on the smiling woman\u2019s shoulder. \u201cThat\u2019s dumb. All they have to do is spend some time with you, and they\u2019d know you\u2019re kind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI try to be,\u201d she said. \u201cI try very hard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wish this wasn\u2019t over yet. I\u2019d love to spend more time with you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHmm. What if you had another three weeks?\u201d Doralis asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat would be awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sun disappeared below the horizon, and Doralis raised a hand. The sun began moving back up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber sat up and looked from the horizon to Doralis and back. The sun was moving backwards in an increasing tempo. All around them, people moved backwards at faster and faster paces while time for them still flowed normally. Meanwhile, a beatific smile played on Doralis\u2019 face while her hand hung in the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sun finished its reverse trip and set in the east, rising again in the west to complete the circuit over and over. Twenty times the sun reversed in its course before coming to rest in the morning hours of the twenty-first trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m older than I look,\u201d Doralis said. \u201cIn fact, I\u2019m older than you can imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can control time?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRemember what I told you about control just a little while ago?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe only thing we can control is our own self.\u201d Amber thought for a moment. \u201cYou\u2019re telling me that you are<\/em> time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doralis smiled. \u201cI am. Now you know why people avoid me. I try to be kind, but my nature leads to….\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEntropy, decay? Yeah.\u201d Amber laid her head back on Doralis\u2019 shoulder. \u201cNot your fault, any more than I can be faulted for breathing. You\u2019re still the most comforting person I\u2019ve ever met.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doralis let out a short laugh. \u201cI like that you still think of me as a person, even when you know what I am.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber shrugged. \u201cWhat you are doesn\u2019t matter as much as who<\/em> you are, and who you are is my friend.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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