let me go

"I'm torn between this life I lead and where I stand."

The table may as well have been an ocean between them. Sid and Davey sat quietly in the wooden dining room chairs. Davey silently ran his hand along the cherry finish of the table. Sid sat unmoving with his arms crossed defiantly. Another few tense minutes passed before Sid finally broke the silence.

The scene that came next wasn't pretty. The more they talked, the more the rift grew. And it wasn't as if they didn't try. Sid asked for understanding. He tried over and over again to explain his case. Davey pleaded for compromise, but had to face the reality that there was little left to agree on.

The boys had been friends since the second grade. They had been through everything together. Broken arms, divorce, first loves, and first heartbreaks. They were inseparable. And then one day changed everything.

Sid's older brother died fighting in the war. Sid decided that after graduation, he was joining the army. Despite his youth, Davey was a staunch advocate of piece and had long decried the war. There was little room to negotiate with either of them.

Truth be told, each boy had some understanding for the other's point of view. Each boy was right in a way. And so they argued in a futile attempt to save what they already knew was lost and already missed. In the end, they shook hands as men do when there's nothing left to say. They walked away with sincere well wishes and hollow promises to keep in touch. And the uncomfortable truth that growing up means change.

everybody's free (to feel good)

"I know you've been hurting but I've been waiting to be there for you."

The movie had been playing for nearly forty-five and Todd realized he had no idea what was going. He was just nervous. His mind kept rehearsing the conversation he planned to have with his best friend Kevin after the movie was over. Todd glanced at Kevin in the seat beside him and noticed for the first time that he was really enjoying the movie.

It had taken Todd a long time to decide to tell Kevin what was going on. At least it had seemed long. This was not the first outing where Todd had planned to confide in Kevin, but he had always changed his mind or basically chickened out. But Todd had finally decided that he needed help.

It had been six months since the accident and Todd had barely talked about it with his friends. After all, as he reminded them anytime the subject came up, accidents happen. But Todd knew this had been no ordinary car accident. He had gotten distracted. He had driven through the stop sign. He had hit the silver Focus and permanently injured the driver.

Now Todd needed help. He felt inadequate and embarrassed asking for it. But he had to. All the guilt and the sadness was too much for him to bear alone. He had started to slip away from his social life, he had completely shunned his girlfriend, he nearly had a panic attack every time he got behind in his car. And then four days ago, he got notice of the lawsuit the other driver had filed.

Maybe that was his breaking point. Maybe it was more than he could handle. The idea of having to go through a trial and see what he had done to this other person was completely paralyzing. So today he would tell Kevin. Todd would ask for his help. He wasn't sure what Kevin could really do for him, but somehow he knew just the asking would help tremendously.