He was there, it took me a while to recognize him, but he was there, 8 years later. And it took me a while to know it was him, because I would have never thought to find him there, in a charity event; it could also be said that last time I saw him, he was 1.20m and wore a smiley face t-shirt.

I was shocked by his presence for many reasons. First, he was now all grown up, second was that his image took me back to those years I had long forgotten, back to a feeling I had let go a while ago. But that was not the only reason, it surprised me too because the last time I saw him we were in an amusement park, where aliens were putting into test human skills of understanding.

Yes, the only place where this can happen was the only place I ever met him, my dreams. They were blurry and a very long time ago, but yet I could recognize him. And I should recognize him because that vivid dream from when I was about eight changed my life in a way. I know that even if I tried I couldn't explain how, it was just something in me that had changed, that didn't work the same after that dream. It was the first time I felt what some would call deep feelings, and I don't mean I was in love with that little boy, because at 8 who can be in love? I can just describe it as some sort of unbreakable bond.

Perhaps one could think I was just hallucinating, and probably it was just a mere coincidence and that maybe he didn't look a bit like the boy in my dream, after all it had been 8 years. But I knew, I knew from the second I saw him. It took me a while to recognize him, yes, but I knew it was him. The way I felt was very complex, on one side I felt excited, I had finally met someone who had only lived in my dreams and memories. But on the other hand it was kind of terrifying. I'm sure that if we were all given the option to make our dreams come true, everybody would choose to, but that's only because they don't know what it is like.

Because if he was real, then I could let my imagination fly away. What if he was in fact that boy and I just dreamed with him eight years ago because I would end up meeting him? What if he meant something important in the course of my life and I have been looking for him all these years without realizing it? Or maybe he was just a familiar face and I was building castles in clouds.

So there he was, just hanging out with a friend of his, all day long. And of course I didn't approach him, of course I didn't plot out to be his friend so later I could know what he was like when he was eight in some bizarre way of closure. I didn't even say hi to that person who had meant so much in one imaginary night, because this was reality.

But now he will remain forever just as the solid and breathing proof of that feeling, he might never know this, the world might never know this. But for as long as he lives, he will remind me of the true feeling that some name affection, others friendship, I just call it odd-thing-i-couldn't-explain-when-I-was-8.





By I'm the penguin