An old friend look-up

"Hello? Ficali?"

I stared at my phone in shock. The voice had a ring of blast-from-the-past to it, I couldn't place exactly, but somewhere deep inside, I knew it well.

"Ficali? Is that you? It's me, Esji!"

I gave the response I usually resort to when caught off guard. A stunned silence (far gone is any natural instinct for self-defence).

And then, at almost the point of offense, my wits luckily gathered themselves together and I could speak again.

"Esji!!! OMG where are you?! How are you?!"

Esji, Ilajna, Bobbis and I had gone to highschool together. I hadn't spoken to Esji in 8 years.

"I'm in New York, do you want to meet?"

I remembered how Esji and I used to meet in school to play tennis early in the mornings. How she used to come over to our dorm for sleep overs. I wondered if she'd still be the same. If we'd still be able to laugh the same way we used to. What direction her life had taken during these definitive years since high school. Whether we'd have common topics to talk about.

Entirely unfounded fears, as it turned out. As soon as we met each other, it was as though we'd never been apart at all. There was so much to talk about and years to catch up on. There was our local pub to show her, stories to be told, wine to be drunk, and dinner to be had. And when, at long last, it was time for her to go, it was just a casual good bye, for we knew we'd see each other again. We'd look each other up the next time we were in each other's towns.

Isn't there something just soft and fuzzy and heartwarmingly lovely about old friends?