Victoria O.

The Greatest Friends That I Know

            Elementary school. Some of the best and worst years of my life. Finding friends that made me feel like I belonged, but who only turned out to be the ones who made me feel like an outsider. The smiles and hugs were faked. Everyone seemed to know that my “friends” didn’t like me. Everyone except for me.

            I felt rather lonely at school and so books became my escape. The place that I could always be safe was in a book’s warm embrace. It was purely magical to me how little black words came to life and became characters that would later become my best friends.

             Klaus Baudelaire, although a rather unfortunate boy, was one of my friends that I could relate to the most. He had a love and passion for reading and so we got along just fine. When we met, I was in the fourth grade; I used to stay inside during recess, just so that I could keep him company. He taught me that in the most unfortunate circumstances, we must remain strong.

            Skye Penderwick was nearly exactly like me. She was a tomboy, got along great with the boys, and even had three sisters. Although her favorite subject was math, I was able to look past this flaw of hers and we became inseparable friends. I visited her over and over again, but each time we met, it was as if we were meeting for the first time. Some days, even now, when I feel my life becoming stagnant, I think of how she would find the adventure in the mundane. She taught me that I should be fearless and that each day should be filled to the fullest.

            J.K. Rowling is the author of my childhood. Her carefully crafted series had me engulfed in the second grade. I escaped often to the world of witches and wizards and found the three greatest friends anyone could ever have. I took every adventure with my three best friends. I faced every dangerous task that they faced. I stayed by their side until the end. Every now and then I get the urge to visit with them, they always greet me as a beloved friend and we begin our adventures again. It was through these friends that I learned the greatest thing of all. Love is the most magical gift that we possess.

            The love my friends had for each other was the thing that invested me so entirely in them. I felt as if I belonged even if I wasn’t an orphan, or if I wasn’t a Penderwick, or even if I was simply a Muggle in the wizarding world. Because of my friends, I always try my hardest to stay strong, be fearless, and to love and make everyone feel as if they belong. These friends, although not real, taught me what real friends are like. Now that I am older, I find myself befriending people that possess the qualities of my fictional friends. The friends with these qualities are the ones that I hold most dearly to me.