A friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. Friendship is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than just any association. There are many forms of friendship; some vary from place to place. There are certain characteristics present in many types of bonds. These characteristics include affection, kindness trust and making mistakes without fear of judgment from the friend.

I never had a friend before. I isolated myself because I didn’t want to get hurt by trusting someone who could possibly stab me in the back. These days you can never trust anyone. As a teenager I was a quiet girl and enjoyed my own company. Yes, I agree sometimes you need someone to talk to, but I had no one. Nobody liked me, not even my own family. I was like a nobody, but that changed when I met this friend of mine.

I met Lucky on Facebook. He sent me a gentle, harmless text. I thought it was one of those boys who was looking for some fun, but before I replied I checked his profile. I didn’t want to stress over those pretenders who always try to hook women using social media. I am always on Facebook, but for good reasons. I don’t go to look for boyfriends, but read people’s statuses and also ease my mind. It’s my social time on Facebook.

Lucky sounded and looked younger than me. I later found out that he was 13 years younger than me. What could he want from me?

I decided to reply, even it was not easy. I noticed he was a writer as I am. We were with the same publishing company and he wanted to know why his stories took longer to be published on the site. I didn’t have answers. I realised after some time that he is just a good boy who only has good intentions.

Our friendship started on a good note, even though he resides in Nigeria and I’m in South Africa. He wanted me to read some of his stories, I did and he read mine. That’s how we really got to know each other. Our stories are on the FunDza mobi site.

He is a good listener and of course he is charming. He was a quiet person, but started speaking more and became more confident after we started getting to know each other. He may be young, but he always gives good advice. I also try to advise him as best as I can. I realised that he is my other half. I am lost without him. He always asks about my wellbeing and I do the same. We have our fights, but we also make up and reconcile. A true friendship never dies when you value each other.

I thought I was lonely but I now know that he is there for me. I have become an elder to him. I may be older, but I still have the soul of a young person. Lucky never judges me, even when I am wrong. In a calm manner he would correct me. I value his character. He speaks the truth and never lies. We laugh when we are happy, we cry when we are upset or sad. He fights for my battles and I fight for his. He is a small part of my heart. When he is gone for some time then I feel incomplete.

He never gets angry with me for a long time and he forgives me when I am wrong. He values me even if we have never met and I’m glad I have a friend like him. He is a true friend even we have our flaws.

One day I got hurt when he did something that irritated me and I ignored him. He behaved like a jerk. I thought it was over but we quickly reconciled because he is a true friend even if I hadn’t met him. I would love to meet him one day and hope our friendship can grow.

I never feel alone anymore.

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Tell us: Do you think long distance friendships work?