Chris and I were the best of friends growing up. We did everything together—playing outside until the streetlights came on, building forts in the living room, and sharing all our secrets. It felt like nothing could ever come between us.

But life had other plans. When we grew older, we ended up going to different schools. At first, we promised to stay close, but with time, the calls and visits became less frequent. Slowly, the bond we thought would last forever began to fade.

One day, as I was walking down a busy street, I saw him. At first, I wasn’t sure if it was really him, but as he got closer, there was no mistaking it—Chris. He looked just the same but different at the same time, like a memory that had grown up.

We locked eyes for a moment. My heart raced, and I almost opened my mouth to say something. But instead, we just smiled at each other and gave a small nod, as if all those years of friendship could be summed up in that brief exchange.

Then, we kept walking in opposite directions. No words, no reunion, just the quiet understanding that what we had was in the past now, a part of us, but no longer the present.