Brian's Here

"Dad, Brian's here!" said Jamie as she bounded down the stairs.

"Oh, really?" her father asked. "I didn't hear the bell."

She rolled her eyes. "You never do."

Her father smiled and gave a little chuckle. "Well, if Brian's here," he said, "then you'd better let him in."

Jamie twisted the knob and pulled the door open. There stood her best friend in the whole world. He was a little boy with golden hair that fell all around his face in little baby curls. Every time she saw his hair, Jamie remembered gleefully the day they met and how she'd mistaken him for a girl. "I'm no girl!" he'd exclaimed, and as soon as the confusion had cleared up, they were the best of friends.

Jamie nearly yanked Brian into the house. "We're going to go upstairs, Dad," she called.

"Okay," said Jamie's father. "Hi, Brian. Nice to see you again." He waved and smiled.

"Hi, Mr. Davis," Brian said, returning the wave. And with that, they headed up to Jamie's room.

Once there, Jamie grabbed her new gaming cards from her dresser and promptly began to lay them out on the floor. She had been waiting to show them to Brian for a whole week, and now that he was finally here, she could hardly contain herself. "Let me show you what I got!" she eagerly exclaimed. "You're going to love them!" Brian sat down across from her, and for the first few minutes of his visit, Jamie was so wrapped up in describing each card that she didn't notice how quiet he had been.

"What do you think?" she asked at the end of her show and tell session.

"That's all pretty great," was Brian's response. It had come with a notable lack of any passion or excitement whatsoever.

It was then that Jamie looked up at her friend and noticed that something was wrong. The boy, normally so energetic and connected, sat with his eyes cast down and not so much as a hint of a smile on his face. "Brian," she inquired, "what's the matter?"

He hesitated for a moment before taking a deep breath and said, "I have something to tell you, Jamie. It's kind of good news, but kind of not."

Jamie felt a hot chill run through her whole body. At last, she found her words. "What is it?" she asked.

Brian brought his eyes up to meet hers. "I have to leave here," he said. "I'm going to go live with my mom soon."

The sadness of his announcement hit Jamie hard, but she struggled to keep her composure. “Why?” she asked.

“My dad said so,” Brian explained. “He was upset one day and said, ‘You need to go be with your mom.’”

Jamie tried with all her might to make sense of what she was hearing. Finally, she gave up and asked, "Where does she live?"

"Really far away," Brian said. "We're probably not going to see each other anymore."

"But... but what about on the computer?" Jamie asked desperately.

"No," said Brian. "You know I don't have email or Facebook."

"But you could get them!"

Brian shook his head. "I don't think so. Probably not when I'm with my mom."

"But... but...." Jamie could no longer hold back her tears. "But I don't want you to leave."

For the first time, Brian began to tear up as well. "I know. I don't want to leave, either.  That's why I've been here for so long.  I wanted to stay with you...." His voice broke. "You're my best friend."

Propelled almost by something beyond themselves, the two children leaped into each others' arms and shared a long embrace. Each held to the other, knowing this was their last chance to do so. When at last they separated, Brian stepped back and smiled weakly at Jamie. "You're a good friend," he said. "I'll always remember you."

Jamie smiled back. "You, too," she said.

It seemed there was nothing left to do but walk Brian to the door, and so that's what she did. She waved goodbye to her friend one final time, and he was gone.

When Jamie's father heard the door from where he stood in the kitchen, he had no idea that it had closed on his daughter's first significant friendship. He had always marveled at how fully realized this imaginary friend of hers seemed to be. She would go so far as to let him in and out of the house when he "visited." He found it odd, but not wanting to quash his daughter's creativity, he had even begun to say hello and goodbye to "Brian" whenever the opportunity presented itself. All the same, he was beginning to wonder when she'd grow out of the phase.