Best Friends
Maya Hernandez
Embedded Files
One
Their mothers prop them up and wave their tiny clenched fists. Say hello, they say. This is Emily. This is Mina. You’re going to be great friends.
Two
Distorted music emanates from the plastic flowers as Mina and Emily twirl in circles. The song ends and they collapse onto the floor, bubbly giggles ringing through the air.
Three
Mina shrieks at the top of her lungs, tears streaming from wide dark eyes down her cheeks. Emily plays with her prize in the corner, a proud smile stretching her lips.
Four
Mina darts down the hall, tiara atop her head and feather boa dragging behind. Emily runs after with a felt eyepatch and crooked grin, bare feet slapping against the tile.
Five
Emily fidgets in her chair talking a mile a minute, eyes roving restlessly around the classroom. Mina colors patiently beside her, crayon strokes straying across the page.
Six
Mina and Emily sit side by side in beige car seats singing at the top of their lungs. They dramatically fling out an arm to each other across the empty space. Seven
Mina and Emily desperately cling to each other, sobbing into each other’s shoulder. I don’t want you to go, Mina whispers into Emily’s blond curls.
Eight
They sit in Mina’s room creating a world of mermaids and pirates. Emily grabs the eyepatch and Mina, the plastic coins. Hours later their imagination comes to life in Mina’s backyard.
Nine
Mina waits impatiently in front of the entrance to the fair. Emily catches sight of her and races over. They smile and hug, time an overbearing third wheel.
Ten
Mina and Emily sit across the table, chips and refried beans between them. The mariachi band plays nearby, harmonies echoing around the silent girls.
Eleven
Happy birthday Emily… Awkward smiles are exchanged around the heads of Emily’s new friends. Mina uncertainly offers her gift, a journal of photos and reminiscent words rooted in the past.
Twelve
Who’s your best friend? Emily glances aside, the journal buried beneath layers of junk in a drawer somewhere flitting in and out of mind. I don’t know.
Live Reading
Live Reading
SS Maya Hernandez Best Friends
About Maya Hernandez
About Maya Hernandez
Grade: 10
Bio: Maya Hernandez's hobbies and extracurriculars include the arts, music, reading, and writing.
Interview
Interview
What is your main source of inspiration?
My brain? I don’t have one main source.
What motivated you to write this piece?
This particular piece was based off of me and my best friend since birth (basically). I had been thinking a lot about time and how people grow apart, and I started writing this piece. Some of the scenes I included actually happened and others did not. We did drift apart at some point but eventually found our way back to each other.
Do you write sporadically or regularly?
Regularly.
What artists and/or writers inspired or influenced your work?
Idk. Whatever I’m reading at the time.
What was the most difficult part of your writing process for this work?
Successfully conveying how time subtly sends people in different directions.
What is your ideal writing environment?
Sitting in an upright chair in silence with a computer and keyboard.
How do you resonate with your piece? Why is it personal to you?
Well, it’s based on me and my best friend.
What message do you hope to convey to the reader through your piece?
How time passes and people who were once everything to you can suddenly become a reminder of the past and nothing more.
Art Credits: Alfred Stieglitz, The Letter Box, courtesy of Harvard Art Museums, https://hvrd.art/o/336789.Background: Jon Vlasach, Ocean, courtesy of The Pattern Library.
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