Til then

Along the Grand Centre Avenue,
aisles of blue chairs were laid out under the yellow curtains,
decorated with purple linings,
in front of the stage where we bow, shake hands and receive our diploma.

As we retreat from the ceremony,
we glance through the crowd,
so many faces unseen, so many stories unheard,
then our gazes subtlety pause on those whom we have spoken to and made memories with,
attempting to grasp the fleeting comfort of seeing someone familiar, for some will soon venture beyond our reach, deep into their pursuits.

Upon completion of our gaits down the stairway, to the highway of true adulthood, we are offered three ultimate choices: hitchhiking, building your own car, or stay.

Before we board, we hug and wave goodbye, ending with the formality of “til then”, for we know friendship formed by proximity or mutual benefits might be temporal unless maintained explicitly.

While our life gets preoccupied with more responsibilities, time becomes more precious thenceforth, leading to the inevitable filtration and distillation of relationships, through consolidation and shrinkage of friend groups, preserving those who deserve our efforts. Yet this process is bidirectional, you might get cut out of someone’s life and sentenced to witness their snapshots of living through the confinement of instagram stories as the silent audience. This is the ultimate destination of til then, where time dilutes our relationships into thin acknowledgement, and awards us with a tiny spot to see other’s scroll of life through broken pieces of clues.

The surviving friendships remain, through texts and reels, while meetups become more rare, falling prey to the endless catchup cycles where we plan months ahead to share major life updates, omitting details.

I wish meetups can be more spontaneous, friends can just meet, chat and enjoy the presence of others.

Let us meet over a random call or text in the afternoon,
with no set plans and no destination in mind,
We stroll around aimlessly, in the cityscape or next to the sea, under the illumination of fluorescent light or the silky touch of wind, knowing we are having such a great time.