Unlikely Friendship
Sometimes in the pursuit of greener pastures, you encounter friends unserved by the most unrealistic imagination. This surprising event happened to me when I moved from my hometown to a big city to look for a job. The screenwriting freelancing gig was probably not doing well because I lived in some neighborhoods with poor housing and noisy neighbors. Concentration was not easy. So, when I discovered the convenience store, it became my fortress. My hometown did not have one, and I expected the facility to be selling the usual commodities in my imagination. To my shock, I found it selling real, living, and talking white seal pups. One of them walked up to me and told me he had recently been introduced to the convenience store and wanted me to buy him. I was bewildered. “how is it talking to me?” The long stay in my village had robbed me of the years of advancement. Since I did not want to appear unsophisticated and clueless, I walked up to the store clerk and asked for the seal’s price. Unconcerned and not even looking up, only at the seal next to me, he said hoarsely, “$350.” Whoa! The exclamation was so loud that I attracted other buyers and attendants who had seemed uninterested all along. The looks lasted for seconds, and everybody resumed their activities.
I could not afford it, and even if I did, we could not fit in the small place I was renting. I turned to the seal, looking up to me expectantly with big black eyes as if he had not heard my gasp once the price was declared. “I am too busy pursuing my dream of writing screenplays and making movies to have time for you,” I said. I told him to wait till I completed my degree and became successful in my career to afford him. “I will not allow another person to buy me.” His words took me by surprise. First, I never thought selling seals was a practical thing. Second, I had just met him, yet he had warmed up to me in the most unusual way. Third, he was good at the convenience shop. I did not know the seals could choose their buyers. “well, I am special,” the seal smiled, assuring that my concern was misplaced. Anyway, the exchange became the start of a long friendship, and I found myself looking forward to going to the convenience store since then.
Apart from serving me with a “person”, I could talk to; the convenience store provided some comfort. I visited it at night when customers were fewer. Unlike my crowded apartment, it had an air conditioner that created a cool breeze for thinking. I designated my place at the corner, writing and waiting for 10 pm when expired lunch boxes were being sold off. My seal pup always sat next to me because I was not like the other buyers who were in a hurry to purchase things and leave. They had friends. I did not. I found solace in talking to a baby seal, which seemed odd, but I was unbothered. My stay with him increased the bond, and I was sure I would acquire him with my effort. He motivated me through it all by asking what the job entailed. I wrote a small story about a seal to bring him closer to my occupation. “This is a beautiful story about a magical baby seal who comes to the city from his distant hometown and has a fantastic adventure.” It was his story, but this was my adventure, and he was making it so colorful. I loved the way he blushed and shyly pressed his face against the floor tiles saying, “I love this story.” If only the director would see the beauty in it, I thought, looking at the dry notebook. He had scolded me earlier, saying I did not contribute much to the cast.
If only people loved my story, I would get the money to carry my newfound friend home. I always attract bad luck because my show broke, meaning I could not get enough money to buy the seal as promised. I started going to the store less often to avoid the question, “how much money is left before you can afford me?” He was idle, overworked, and bored. Out of nowhere, as I headed from one gig to another looking for at least an internship, my hometown business called asking me to return for a new opening. I debated the issue, but the most overpowering one was how the seal would end up as a rich person’s property if I had not gathered enough money. A job connected by relatives is not always the best choice, but I could not lose the only “person” who understood me. With my bag hanging on my shoulder, I stood outside the store watching my chubby, white, and lovely baby seal throwing out the rubbish and without a word left to catch the last bus to my town promising to be back for him.