I sit as this computer

Typing at this keyboard

Trying to think of what to say

You know what?

To Hell with it.

 

I give up now, because it can't be done.

You are the lyrics to a song never made.

You are spring smell from a plant never bloomed.

You are an emotion words have no place describing.

 

So I sit and watch these clouds pass overhead

This orchard, My comfort blanket.

I ask how You're all doing.

No response.

 

My mind wanders the night skies

To the places where You may be.

A star for every one of You

One that will never go out.

 

I feel I must stop

This is getting Me nowhere.

I can't describe who You are and what You mean to me

Why?

Because I am You.

 

The TV gets switched off, as Merry, Pippin and Sam bid their final farewell to Frodo and Gandalf. I sit back and take a moment to reflect on the great trilogy of our generation (Matrix can't carry Reloaded and Revolutions to be called "great trilogy". It takes more than 20 minutes of DragonBall Z ripoff fighting between Ted Theodore Logan and Elrond to impress me). I think to myself "wow". And then I reflect on the final farewells.

 

Were they so much different from ours, in retrospect?

 

I mean, technically yes. None of us sailed away, or became royalty, or got married (well, I dunno, a lot could've happened between when I left and came back), but you get the idea. It is like a great big Fellowship did split. Especially when I remember watching a lot of the friendship groups saying goodbye to each other (that kills you on the inside).

 

It was quite a journey, wasn't it, guys and girls? God, if we try to recall every noteworthy thing that happened during our time at Swavesey Village College, we'd literally be here until the end of 6th form, because every one of us has some form of story or anecdote to tell, and we just didn't have the time in 5 years to hear them all, to talk them out.

 

We left as a kind of disjointed family. The people you said goodbye to are the background people of your lives. I hate to say it, but those people will go further into the background as new people show up, to replace them. The people you miss are the ones you take for granted. Who you talk to during those dull lessons to pass the time, but never really consider a true friend. Associate is probably more accurate.

 

Then, on the last day, we all bonded together, in our disjointed little way, especially at goodbyes. It's amazing really, seeing people who've never spoken before share tears, hug and say goodbye. Part of me says "What a crock of shit" (it's my site damnit and I can swear if I want!). Saying "I'm going to miss you so much" to someone you never spoke to is an outright lie.

 

Then I remember the people in the background. The familiar faces. The ones you find comforting to see in a corridor, or in a classroom, every day. They'll be gone, replaced with cold, unfamiliar surroundings.

 

This isn't the final goodbye, people. Not by a long shot. You've got the Prom. You've got Results Day. THAT will be the last goodbye, and even then, not for all of us. But take a moment to reflect and thank those background individuals who kept your subconcious comfortable in the knowledge they were there. They'll be going very soon, and you may not get another chance to tell them what they meant to you.

 

Or maybe i'm crazy, I dunno...

 

"The end of one journey is just the prelude of another".