#175--Best Friend
Two little girls on the steps of an ice cream parlor with big cones and bigger smiles. One fair and one dark, they bumped shoulders and laughed at noses white with melted ice cream. Secrets shared over melting ice cream on a summer's day are always kept. Almost thirty years later, neither girl would ever have repeated the things they talked about even if they remembered.
Nicole lived on a sheep station, riding the bus for an hour to get to school. Amy lived in town and walked to the small building. Nicole's father worked the land and managed men. Amy's was a carpenter and worked alone most of the time. Nicole was an only child and Amy was the youngest of six.
From the moment they met the girls were best friends. In the way of little girls, they just knew. From age eight to age fifteen they couldn't be kept apart from each other. They told each other everything. And then there was the secret that could not be shared. It wouldn't be believed. It wouldn't be respected.
When Nicole left on Bernard's arm, she didn't say good bye to her best friend, since they hadn't spoken in years. Buried deep in her bag, lost years later in an airport, was a tattered photo of two little girls with ice cream on their noses.
Nicole lived on a sheep station, riding the bus for an hour to get to school. Amy lived in town and walked to the small building. Nicole's father worked the land and managed men. Amy's was a carpenter and worked alone most of the time. Nicole was an only child and Amy was the youngest of six.
From the moment they met the girls were best friends. In the way of little girls, they just knew. From age eight to age fifteen they couldn't be kept apart from each other. They told each other everything. And then there was the secret that could not be shared. It wouldn't be believed. It wouldn't be respected.
When Nicole left on Bernard's arm, she didn't say good bye to her best friend, since they hadn't spoken in years. Buried deep in her bag, lost years later in an airport, was a tattered photo of two little girls with ice cream on their noses.