What was I even going to do with it? The question stuck in my mind like something I couldn't quite scrub off. Just looking at it made me feel strange. Cinderella might have lost her heel, but at least she had a Prince to chase after her. All I had was a friend who was acting weirder than usual. Her name is Miriam, and the story of how we met is actually quite funny.
It was about a year or so ago. She and her father had moved into the apartment next door to us. My mother had managed once more to get herself involved in something that shouldn't have concerned her. In her mind it was the right thing to do, helping a neighbor in need. It had nothing to do with gossip, she said. But I knew well that her snooping around was more than simple curiosity, or selfless generosity. It was her way of socializing with other people, of inserting herself into their lives. But this time it felt different, as if she was more personally invested. Now I know why.
The first time I saw Miriam she was holding a human sized carton cut out of a fantastic superhero figure I can't quite remember. Captain right or something was the name, I think. She was standing in the hallway between our apartments. I immediately realized that she and I might have a lot in common. Ok, my hair was not messy and the clothes I wore were appropriate for the decade I lived in, and compared to her I looked like a model, but what was apparent was that we both seemed to enjoy the company of imaginary things more than the company of people. That's a polite way of saying Miriam looked like a total nerd, just like me.
That might explain why we quickly became best friends, despite the fact that our first day didn't go all that well. In my attempt to introduce myself I went closer to her without realizing that there was a box in the ground between us. Of course, I tripped and fell, almost in slow motion. And the only thing that I could reach to hold myself, was that stupid canton thing she was holding. I never expected to get so close to it. Miriam immediately screamed. To be honest she looked more concerned about it than me given how fast she tried to rescue it from my clumsy self. I was the one that fell, I was the one that got hurt, not that stupid worthless thing. She should have asked me first if I was ok.
Anyway, things changed between us since that first encounter and like I said we quickly became best friends. Beneath all the quirkiness and oddball charm, she was incredibly polite and good spirited. And I think that is what drew me to her the most, even more than our common interests.
