A year and a half in the making

Wednesday 6/11/25

At 5:05 here on the morning of June 11, 2025, I officially pronounced "Friendship Bracelet," which was begun December 30, 2023, finished. Noted for this record. There is nothing better than it.

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At the winter talent show, Constance played the piano. She was so amazing at piano playing that the school had her go last, as though no one could possibly follow her. And the school was right. Doreen knew it, and she knew everyone else knew it, too.

After her name was announced, Constance walked to the center of the stage where the piano had been rolled out, her shoulders turned inwards, like she was trying to make herself less tall and graceful or slouching might help her to disappear.

Then she played. That kind of music was usually super boring, of course, but not now. No one wanted it to end, until it did end, which was right where it should have.

Doreen knew that Constance had purposefully done a lot worse than her best, and it was still an amazing performance. She didn’t think she’d ever come close to doing anything that well.

Doreen was actually proud of Constance. All the same, she had her friends. It’s hard to get a lot of kids to like you and continue to like you. So she kept doing what she thought she needed to keep doing and saying what she’d been saying. Doreen believed she almost certainly didn’t offer anything else.

The other kids who laughed also made fun of Constance more and more, and it became impossible for Constance to have a friend because that person would be treated the same way. It wasn’t that no one cared or felt bad for Constance, but it was hard to be that brave for no other reason than because it was the right thing to do.

Doreen never used to think of herself as a bad person, but she did now. At least she wasn’t alone. Then again, being alone or not wasn’t really that simple.