Goodbyes, and Songs that Never Resolve

Traffic pours through the school doors like a tide hitting the shoreline — relentless, unstoppable, and for me, mostly indifferent. So many people. So many stories. All unique, yet all somehow similar.

The truth is, you stop noticing after a while. Stop really listening. And then, quietly, you stop caring in the way you once did. A silent rhythm maintains the status quo — the planet spins, the clock ticks, and very little seems to change. Until someone walks through the door and something in you recognises them instantly. Not their face necessarily, but something older than that — the feeling of shared time, shared experience, shared life.

I have only felt this a handful of times. But rare as these moments are, they linger in the heart like unfinished songs — music still searching for its lyrics, the quiet promise of something that never quite found the light.

The hellos are easy. They cost almost nothing. It's the goodbyes that take their toll, leaving marks that will never be shown to anyone.

I have chosen this life, and I can accept what it asks of me. But I do find myself wondering, sometimes, how I ended up exactly here — and whether things would truly be different if the road had bent another way. I will never know, of course. Neither will the ones who leave.

It feels like a dance without a beginning or an end. A flower that never blooms. A season that forgets to change.

Life can be lonely, even when everyone around you seems like someone who appears social, popular, and fulfilled.

For me, today, these are just thoughts and feelings stirred up by the simple act of saying goodbye to a good friend. The cycle of life is a complex and quietly intriguing ride. It would just be nice, occasionally, to step off — and stand somewhere still, feeling the tide lap at my feet, hearing a song reach its final note, watching a graceful dance that actually ends.