Once, there was a school known for producing the world’s finest artists, sculptors, and leaders. It was proud of its success and, as the years passed, its long history too. It had tall brick walls and large halls adorned with godly images, but life inside the classrooms was dull.
Many students filled these rooms, all hoping to blossom into “a special artist”, yet unsure why they needed to be there to achieve that.
The teachers stuck to the same syllabus as if they were unaware of anything beyond the pages of the textbooks they clung to. These books were also full of rules and regulations that they enforced, decaying the students’ creativity day by day.
However, it was not all bad.
Amid the lifeless days at school, students found ways to stay happy. They made friends, including one special friendship between two kids – one from a family of sculptors and the other from a family of mural artists. Coming from different backgrounds didn’t stop them from giggling, playing around, and having the time of their lives.
In general, friendship requires loyalty, and both of them agreed they would always stay loyal to each other.
Days went by, and just like everyone else, they both graduated from the school. The skeptical one continued on the path of learning, treating life as an endless practical puzzle. The romantic one found life simple and created one on their own terms. The so-called loyalty was forgotten by both as if it never existed.
New people, partners, and even family arrived, leaving little to no time for them to reminisce old friendships.
Then, out of the blue, they bumped into each other. Words failed them, as if they were strangers from different stories in different books. They realized their past adventures weren’t enough to bridge what they now wanted to say. The realist’s tales lacked color; the dreamer seemed drifting apart.
Despite the initial awkwardness, they insisted to keep in touch.. The shared history of what was once innocent laughter now brought wisdom and a sense of individual contentment, even though it also invited loneliness. Deep down, they both knew they were artists, and that it takes effort to connect the dots of what was missing – the friendship.