Web Hosting by Netfirms | Free Domain Names by Netfirms

Showcase Page
Best Friends
by C. De Long

Back to Main Showcase Page

Eddie was creeping through the woods in his best Indian scout manner. Right behind him, as usual, was Paul. The two
boys were inseparable. Both were seven years old at the time and had been best friends for at least two years. Of all of the
people Eddie knew, Paul was the only one he fully trusted. Eddie thought about how lucky he was to have Paul for a friend.
Very early in life, Eddie learned about sacred cows. Of course, at that time he didn't know that they were called sacred
cows, but he certainly knew that there were things you just didn't talk about. This puzzled Eddie greatly. How were you supposed to learn about these things if you couldn't ask questions about them or discuss them? Eddie's parents said that he just wasn't old enough to know most things he asked about, but Eddie figured that if he was old enough to wonder about them, then he must be old enough to know.

Eddie stepped on a dry twig which broke with a snap that sounded like a rifle shot in the quiet of the woods. He turned and
cautioned Paul to watch for the twig, then continued on toward their quiet place with his ears burning. Paul was always much quieter than Eddie, and Eddie knew that Paul was silently laughing at him for his clumsiness.

Eddie thought about the first time he had approached his parents about extraterrestrials. He expected them to have thought
about the possibility of life on other planets, but to his chagrin, he was chastised for even having these thoughts. After all, "Man
was made in God's image", and "God created the heavens and the earth". If there were more than one inhabited planet, then the
Bible would have told us so.

Eddie didn't know if all adults felt as his parents did, but he was smart enough not to bring this or any other controversial
subject up to any adult. This left his friends at school. Eddie selected a likely boy who seemed to do well in school and asked him what he thought about alien life forms. Again he was surprised. This boy not only laughed at him, but went around telling all the other kids that Eddie was weird.

Then Eddie found Paul. With Paul he could share the secrets of his very soul. They would discuss religion, sex, or anything
else. Eddie would go on for hours describing to Paul what he would do when he grew up. He wanted to pilot a space ship and fly to exotic worlds. His fertile imagination peopled these worlds with such a variety of life forms that it would have taken volumes just to list them.

If you had been hiding in one of the large oak trees under which the boys were playing, you might have wondered who Eddie
was talking to. Because Paul was also a product of Eddie's fertile imagination.

The End

Back to Main Showcase Page