Rekindling the Spark of Courage

"You believe in hard work, don't you?" she asked.

"I think I do," I answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Because that's what it is. Hard work. Losing someone isn't easy."

He was a distant memory now, just like the past. But I knew well enough that such memories would come back, every now and then, to haunt me. And so did she. Well, not her exactly; she was only a voice on the other end of the line now. A voice for me to listen to when no one else was there for me, someone to chat with whenever I felt lonely or empty. We were friends, if anything else. We had never met, not even once; we could only talk to each other on the phone and share pictures and videos online with each other whenever we felt like it. I could always count on her during those times when I felt alone and needed someone to talk to.

But one day, she didn't call back at all after our conversation had ended abruptly. It had been a month since then, and I still hadn't heard from her again even though I kept calling her day after day, hoping that today would be the day when I finally hear her voice again, just like old times. When she finally answered, after all these days of waiting in vain for her reply, looking at my phone screen over and over while hoping it might light up on its own, a sense of relief washed over me.

However, the heartache was not behind me yet. My other friend had died in a car accident, along with everyone who knew him, including our parents. This left me behind, crying alone, wishing that somehow we could turn back time and erase everything that happened on that tragic morning when we lost him forever. As time passed, people moved on, eventually letting go of their loved ones' memories, sometimes taking years or decades to do so. But, I couldn't move on nonetheless, because death doesn't wait for anyone nor does life either.

She had lost so much recently, whether it was through losing him, her job, or whatever else life threw at them both individually or collectively. Now she had no choice but to keep going, doing whatever she could do best for herself, including doing what he used to do best for himself before he died, which was working hard. She found herself believing again in herself, just like how he believed in her before he died, despite knowing full well what hardships lay ahead for both of them.

Unfortunately, one thing led to another until something terrible happened, leading to his death, which left only pain behind instead of joy. It seemed that nothing would ever be the same again without him around, no matter how hard I tried to tell myself otherwise. Despite having lost him, I began to accept that I had to continue living my life, albeit with the realization that things would never be the same.

Through our collective perseverance and memory of our friend, we continued to hope and believe that everything would turn out alright someday. By holding onto our cherished memories, we sustained ourselves during our darkest moments and fought on, giving strength not only to ourselves but also to people around the world who were facing their own challenges. This served as a reminder never to lose hope, remembering always the good times and recognizing that anything is possible if you keep fighting and never let go, no matter how hard things sometimes seem.