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.