Being Friendly

The last time that I burned myself – or, more accurately, was burned, as these incidents don't happen intentionally insomuch as they don't happen by chance – I cursed and pulled myself from the pain. Now, looking to the future, what should the next action be? To get rid of the fire completely or leave it around as a warning? It's still sitting out of view and reach, ignored, but not so far that it’s out of my mind. I'm no longer drawn to it in the same way I was, but it still bothers me. It was all a constant challenge and now when I want to warm myself, the fire flares up unexpectedly, and pulling away is easier than it ever was.

We said we wanted to be friends. We both said it. But now whenever we talk, everything is taken out of context. The same harmless dialogue we've ever had is being read with hostile voices, and we're both guilty of this. I don't think anybody who says they want to be friends ever really means that at face value. What they mean is that they want to be friendly, which is much easier to do.