EggplantSoup.com - Dock Friendship

Cheesy, but a good metaphor for people who feel betrayed and lonely.

If I were to define a friendship, it would be based around a single dock. When you make the decision to walk out on to the dock with a friend you both know that the plan is to jump in. Neither of you know how cold the water will be, but you know that you will be together; it will be fun. Somehow, when you jump into the frigid water together, your strong love provides its own warmth and security. Sometimes the friends that walk to the dock with you are loyal and will hold your hand as you kick to the surface of the water, gulping the newly appreciated air. Then there are the friends who will skip down the dock, smiling and laughing with you. They hold your hand, count to three, and you hit the water alone. The water feels colder than ever; lonelier than ever; more dangerous than ever. As you try to scramble to break the surface of the water, you question yourself wondering if you jumped in too soon. You wonder if you didn?t understand the agreement. Then, face dripping, you look at your friends face. They are laughing. Mocking you for your trust. How can they do this? Do they know how cold the water is without them? You climb out of the water without their hand to pull you up, and look into their eyes to find an answer to all of your questions. Their eyes, behind the face of self-contempt in his humor, you see his fear. You know more than he is willing to tell you. All questions leave your mind as their raw emotion floods your heart. He was only afraid of the water. He was only unsure how deep it was, how cold it was, and he didn?t know if you would jump in with him. The only way to protect himself was to betray you. If all people live as the betrayer on the dock, all friendship is in vain. The ones who blindly jump with all the trust in the world will suffer the greatest blow, and because of their love and pity for the ones of lesser virtue, will continue to be impacted by careless acts. The true measure of friendship is how tight the other person squeezes you hand for that last bit of comfort before simultaneously counting to three and descending into the uncharted watery pit. However, for these friends, that water is their haven. For in that place, they have none other but each other, and that is where they find heaven.