marina.

When I was 8, I made a best friend. We were always together while in school, not because we didn't get along with anyone else, but because for us being together was enough. I never really liked being surrounded by many people. Marina had doll esque features, a round face and rosy cheeks framed by long and golden curls. She loved cats and collie dogs. One day in class during a math exam she cryed quietly. The tears simply ran down her face, and as I knew she wasn't the most brilliant student, actually, she was pretty average, I thought she was crying because she didn't know any of the answers. When the class was over, I went to her and asked what had happened. "I was thinking about my dog, the one who died".

Marina knew she was a princess. I wanted to be a princess too, but she told me I was a countess, although I didn't know what a countess was. "Not a princess, I suppose." She arrived every morning by carriage. "You know, when I enter school, they announce your highness, princess Marina". "How Come I never saw this?". She would then justify her imagination with conviction and made it sound the absolute truth. I was innocent and believed, and how I wanted to believe...

I haven't seen her in nearly 20 years. I never knew her surname. Does she still live there? Does she live at all? If she does, is her hair still long, golden and curly? Does she still believe and live in a fantasy world? We never even visited eachother's home during that time. Normal. I don't even think we lived nearby. A year later I changed to another school, it was the last time we saw eachother. Large city, children raised in locked apartments, and again, how normal. No letters, and no exchanged addresses anyway. We were kids. And Internet wasn't a common word in the beggining of 1991. Yes, I went to another school. I made a new best friend.