She brought to mind falling apart: but not in the dropping fingers sort of way, leaking away between ribs, but in the frozen so cold she broke kind of way. I’m not sure if she heard our words behind her face, a mask of eternal blankivity, lacking in all emotional activity. Somewhere, buried behind all that ice and snow, after one chipped away her carefully layered brick walls, hid a girl with the most beautiful smile God ever did give out, but the problem was dragging her out of hiding. Part of me was afraid to comment in more than passing notes, like one-word Post-Its taped to binders and mirrors serving as reminders. (you are beautiful) But she fell into a recreation of a tree in winter, so draped in ice and permeated inside-to-out with frozen expressions that my chest caved in, crying out for the girl I once knew. So my heart wept, for without the sun, why should one awake, and without her smile, why should humankind rejoice? We never quite knew if she heard our words, or if she intentionally walked past our greetings, blank-faced and ice-cold, but as we watched her freeze over, the future began to frost, and when bent, it broke.

Perhaps she thought of greater things than we could dream, and her ice was merely preoccupation with a deeper world, but somewhere in my chest, occupying the center of a newly-formed supernova, sat a voice clamoring to see the sun again. Withering away in the chill of her winter, bravely rallying to survive despite the snow, the supernova behind my ribs wept in soundless syllables for the reemergence of my best friend.

We never knew if she intentionally swept past our greetings, or was preoccupied with the greater things of this world, yet all we saw was ice frosting her face. Watching her freeze over like a tree in winter, the cavity behind our ribs wept for the girl we missed more than sunshine, for she had the most beautiful smile ever to grace this world, and hid from our eyes behind iced-over brick walls.