New Year’s Eve 1996
In the winter of 1995, a woman named Kate began to secretly worry that she had become estranged from her once close friend, Susan. Both had become busier as they glided into their late-twenties and neither had bothered to keep in touch. The relationship was fast becoming a memory and it was nobody’s fault. Then, during a particularly cold, dark December morning, Kate took the initiative and called Susan, inviting her to a New Year’s Eve party.
“Well, what kind of party are we talking about?”
The measured hesitation in Susan’s voice would have frustrated a younger Kate, especially since she hadn’t yet planned that far ahead. There’s always choices on New Year’s, she assured Susan. Trust was a key factor at this stage of the game.
From her desk chair, Susan stared at the song seeping through the crack in the lone window of her basement apartment–what song was it? She hadn’t expected to hear from Kate and wondered if it might be better to say she was busy on New Year’s. As she reached for her nail clipper and removed her right sock, she tried to be rational. Kate could be difficult and (ugh! what song is that?) it was clear they were fundamentally different people. Maybe it was best just to let things slowly fade into the cold vacuum of space. But, truth be told, Susan had no plans for the New Year and it had been months since her last party…
Don’t Look Back in Anger! That’s it. And Susan smiled, imagining the person who would bump Oasis in her alley on a Sunday morning.
February 12th, 2006 at 8:22 pm
Jared, like most writers, expresses his feelings best through stories featuring characters who are thinly veiled versions of real people in his life.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that I know, almost as if I were her, that “Kate” is really sorry about that fight and hopes that her lanky, winter-hat wearing friend “Susan” will forgive her. I hope, in your story, that “Susan” will realize that while her friendship with “Kate” may not be the same as it used to be, it doesn’t have to end completely.
Please, Jared, don’t shut me out of your life.
March 7th, 2006 at 5:28 am
You probably think this song is about you, don’t you?