My Childhood Best Friend — Noda - The Good Men Project

“Some people come into our lives as strangers and leave as memories that our hearts never learn to forget.”

How I Met My Best Friend

In2009, I was a 5-year-old. It was around 5:00 p.m. in the evening. I was coming home after playing. My clothes were full of mud and dust. When I reached home, I saw my mom was talking with a lady and a cute girl beside her. I went closer, and my mom scolded me because I was too dirty. Then my mom said, “Meet your new neighbor.” I greeted her.

The girl suddenly laughed loudly at me and said, “You are so funny.” Then she gave me a chocolate. I said, “Thank you”. After that, she started cleaning the dust off my clothes. My mom and her mom watched us and laughed. I told her, “I will go and take a bath first.”

Then I ran quickly to the bathroom to take a shower. I was little shy; I was smiling inside. I even danced in the bathroom because, for the first time, a girl had complimented me.

After my bath, I wore clean clothes, put some cream on my face to look good, and combed my hair into spikes. Then I went outside my home.

I saw that she was sitting near stairs, reading some poem.

I went closer to her and said, “Hello.” I held out my hand, and she said, hi,” we shook hands. I told her, “My name is Alvin.” She said,” My name is Noda. Nice to meet you.” Again, she gave me a chocolate. I said, “You already gave me a chocolate.” She replied, “It’s okay take it.” I said, “Okay, we’ll share this chocolate. She said, “Yes, that’s a good idea,” and smiled.

After we finished eating, she looked at my hair and said, “Alvin, you didn’t comb your hair properly. Wait, I’ll do it.” She went inside her home, brought a comb, and combed my hair. I got goosebumps.

From that day on, we met every day. We played together; sometimes we ate together from the same plate. I was weak in my studies, so she would teach me sometimes. Whenever her parents bought something for her. She gave it to me. She loved to share things with me.

Sometimes her mother trusted me so much that she said I cared Noda more than she did. Within a week, she became a part of my life. My guardian, my best friend, and someone who cared for me like my own parents.

About Noda — The Girl Who Made My Childhood Magical.

The memory I will never forget is the one with her. She always motivated me and told me to never give up in life. She was very pretty and beautiful, with short curly hair and very cute smile. She was very honest and brilliant. Even at the age of five, she was very smart.

Every morning, when we were getting ready for school, I used to wish her by kissing her hand and saying, “Good morning, beautiful girl.” She always liked that. I loved her voice; it was so sweet. She liked my ears. I don’t know why. But one day I asked her, “Why do you like my ears?” She smiled and said, “Because they are big and very soft.” I really liked her curly hair. It was so silky and soft. She made my day every time I met her.

I still remember her curly hair because it was soft, bouncy, and full of life. When we hugged, her curls brushed gently against my face, and for a moment, it felt like time stopped. There was warmth in that touch, a kind of comfort I can still feel even now, deep inside my heart.

We went to the same school, but we were in different sections. I was in Section B, and she was in Section A. Our school was near our home, around 2km away. Every morning, we went to school together on a bicycle. She had her own bicycle, but she liked to sit on the back seat of mine. She loved going to school with me on a bicycle.

One day I was searching for my 50 cents here and there, crying. Noda saw me and asked, “What happened?” I said, “My mom gave me 50 cents of pocket money, but I lost it. I was planning to buy ice cream for both of us as a surprise, but I dropped it somewhere. My bad luck.” She said, Don’t worry, wait here.” Then she ran back to her home and came back with 50 cents from her pocket money. She said, “Don’t worry, take this.”

I said, “No, I can’t take it. This is your money.” She got angry and shouted at me, “How dare you say that? You are my best friend! What’s mine is yours also!” Then she held my hand, and we walked to our favorite spot. We bought ice cream and went to our favorite park. We sat there peacefully and ate our ice cream.

That park was special to us. Every evening around 5:00 p.m. we played there or sometimes we just sat together quietly, enjoying our ice cream and each other’s company. I remember that sometimes I finished my ice cream before her, so she gave me hers. She was very gentle.

One day, while we were sitting in the park, I asked her, “What special thing do you see in me?” She smiled and said, “You are a funny and honest guy. I like being with you because you make me laugh a lot, and I feel very happy when I’m with you.” After hearing that, my eyes filled with tears.

Then she said, “Promise me you will never leave me.” I promised her. “I will never leave you.”

The Day She Went Missing

One day, she was missing. It was Sunday afternoon; I was sleeping at home. After I woke up, I went to her home and asked her mom, “Where is Noda?” She said, “She’s outside playing.” I replied, “No, she’s not there.”

Then everyone started searching for her. We were all scared where had Noda gone? Where is she?

My mom, her mom and I began searching everywhere. I was running on the road, calling her name, trying to find her. I went to our favorite park and asked many people, “Did you see a small girl with short curly hair? I even asked the ice cream uncle if Noda had come there.

He said, “No.”

I was running through every street, searching for her. After searching for a long time, in one lane, I suddenly saw her walking. I ran toward her and shouted, “Noda!”

She turned around, and when she saw me, she was very happy. She ran to me, hugged me tightly, and started crying, “I was lost”

We hugged each other until she calmed down. She was sobbing and couldn’t control herself. I tried to comfort her by gently rubbing her back, hoping she’d feel a little better. She held me tightly and just wouldn’t let me go. My throat felt tight with emotion; I could barely speak.

We stayed like that for a few moments just two little kids holding onto each other like we were the only ones in the world. I softly stroked her hair to calm her down so she would feel better. After a few minutes, “she finally let go.” Her face was red from all the crying.

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I held her hand and walked her home safely. When we reached, her mother thanked me with tears in her eyes.

The Goodbye That Never Happened

After that day, three years passed like a flash. We didn’t even realize how quickly time had gone by. In those years, Noda and I became even more closer. We were not lovers, but we were true best friends. Friends who listened to each other’s problems and helped each other solve them.

We cared deeply for each other. Our bond was special pure, innocent, and unbreakable.

We were just kids, but our bond was purer than any love I’ve ever known.

But God had written something else in our fate.

One evening, when I went outside my home, I saw Noda sitting on the stairs, looking very sad.

I asked, “What happened, Noda?”

She said, “My father got a transfer.” Tomorrow, we are leaving the city and moving to another place.

I was shocked. My eyes filled with tears, but I tried to control myself. I said, “Don’t worry, we’ll meet again one day. When we grow up, we’ll go on many adventures together.”

I tried to give her courage and make her smile again. Slowly, she stopped crying and said,

“I promise you; I will meet you one day.”

Then she asked, “You ‘ll come tomorrow for the last goodbye, right?”

I said, “Yes, I’ll come.”

The next morning, I decided not to go to school because I wanted to say last goodbye to Noda. But my mom forced me to go, saying Noda would leave in the afternoon.

I didn’t want to take any risk of missing her, but then Noda came to my house to give a few things to my mom. My mom told her, “Noda, see, Alvin isn’t going to school because he wants to stay home to say last goodbye to you.”

Then Noda explained it to me, “Don’t skip school because of me. I’m leaving in the afternoon. By the time your school finishes, you’ll be home. We’ll meet then.”

At first, I didn’t agree. But slowly, she convinced me.

Finally, she shouted playfully, “Are you going to school or not? Go to school now!”

So, I ran to the bathroom to take a shower.

After school ended, I ran as fast as I could to my bicycle. I wanted to reach home quickly. While running down the stairs, I slipped and fell. All children and teachers gathered around me and helped me up. I told them, “I’m fine!”

Then I ran to my bicycle and started pedaling with full speed.

I was under so much pressure, thinking, No matter what happens, I must see Noda one last time.

I rode my bicycle like crazy. I stumbled many times, but somehow, I managed to keep going.”

Then suddenly, I didn’t see a speed breaker in the road, and I crashed badly. I fell hard, my bicycle on one side, me on the other.

People nearby came to help, but I said, “I’m okay, I just need to go home.” I got up again, picked up my bicycle, and kept going.

I was pedaling the bicycle and crying. After a few meters, it became very hard to pedal. My bicycle tire was punctured.

I left it by the side of the road and started running. I took a shortcut through a small jungle, running as fast as I could, crying the whole way.

I just wanted to see Noda one last time and say goodbye.

Finally, somehow, I reached home, my heartbeat moved faster. My mom was standing outside.

I asked her, out of breath, Where is Noda?”

My mother looked at me sadly and said, “She just left five minutes ago. She waited for you for an hour to say the last goodbye. Where were you?”

I froze. I fell to my knees on the ground, my eyes full of tears. My mom ran to me and said, “What happened to you? How did you get all these injuries?”

That’s when she noticed I was covered in blood, with my elbows, knees, and hands full of scratches and wounds. But I didn’t even realize the pain.

My mom kept asking me again and again, “continuously.” But I just froze kneeling down. I just kept crying. My face was down, my heart broken.

I hugged my mom tightly and said, “Mom I couldn’t see Noda for the last time. I couldn’t say goodbye. I cried louder and louder. My heart broke into pieces.

She didn’t just leave the city she took a piece of my childhood with her.

“Some goodbyes don’t have an ending they just echo in your heart forever.”

The Wait That Never Ends

It’s been seventeen years now, and I still wait for her.

Sometimes, I still go to that same park every evening at 5:00 p.m. I sit on the same chair where we once sat together, with a small hope in my heart that one day she will return. Because she had promised me that one day we would meet again at our favorite spot.

“Its hurts to realize that the person who once made your world so bright, is now just a memory.”

Our favorite park where we used to go every evening at 5:00 p.m. Even today, I still find myself there, lost in those memories. Maybe if I had given my full effort, I could have met her that last time. But I didn’t. I couldn’t.

Maybe one day, we’ll meet again. Maybe she has forgotten me.

But I never will.

Sometimes I whisper to myself,

“If it’s written in our destiny, one day we will surely meet.”

And

“Some memories fade, but the ones made with love never do.”

My childhood best friend Noda.

I don’t know where she is now. We were never lovers … just two innocent souls who understood each other without words, who shared every problem, every laughter, every tear.

I could sacrifice everything for her.

“She was my first lesson in love not the romantic kind, but the kind that teaches you how deeply someone can touch your soul.”

I have countless memories with her memories that words can’t describe. Because whenever I think about her, tears fill my eyes. It’s so hard, so hard to even think of her without feeling that emptiness inside.

“She was the chapter I never wanted to end, but the one I’ll keep re-reading for the rest of my life.”

“Childhood friendship never truly ends, they just live quietly in the corners of our memories.”

And until that day, I ‘ll keep waiting

“Maybe she forgot me… but my heart still waits like a story paused in time.”

For the girl who made my childhood magical,

For my best friend,

For Noda.

—

This post was previously published on medium.com.