It was a beautiful, bright and lazy day. 8-year-old Riddhi was wandering inside her home and just chilling out. Her mother was preparing Aloo Tikki in the kitchen which was her favourite dish. The aroma of the freshly prepared tikkis wafted through the entire apartment. Riddhi was hungry and rushed to the dining table to relish the tikkis in the company of her parents.

All of a sudden, Riddhi shrieked as she remembered that she had a “Show and Tell” activity planned in school that day. She mentioned it to her mother and they both realized that they had forgotten about it. Riddhi was tensed as she did not know what to do because she was totally unprepared. Her mother said that they should leave for school right away to make it on time for the activity and that they could think of something on the way.

However, they could not come up with anything concrete and Riddhi reached school sulking. Once she reached, her best friend Neeti came running to her. On seeing her expression, Neeti asked what was wrong and Riddhi told her how she had forgotten about the activity. Neeti and Riddhi were friends since Kindergarten days and shared a beautiful bond. They always had fun together and stood by each other in times of need. Neeti comforted Riddhi and helped her by giving away her own stuff that she had got for the “Show and Tell” activity.

“Thank you so much Neeti but how can I take this? How will you perform then?”, asked Riddhi.

“Riddhi, I wanted to share a news with you. I am leaving this school and today is my last day. My father has been urgently transferred to another city. So, it is absolutely fine. Please keep this and go and perform for me.”, replied Neeti sadly.

Riddhi was heart-broken on hearing this news. Prodded by Neeti’s encouragement, she went ahead and performed. Her “Show and Tell” performance was applauded by everyone and she was truly fantastic. Though Riddhi was happy to hear all the appreciation, she was also quite upset because her dearest friend was going to leave the city.

When it was time to leave the school premises, Riddhi went up to Neeti and both hugged each other warmly. They had tears in their eyes but they also promised to each other that they would keep in touch regularly. After all, distance can separate two friends but cannot split the bond of friendship.

// This heart-warming tale of friendship has been penned and submitted by 8-year-old Tvisha from Hyderabad who attended BTB creative writing classes. //