The Domino I Didn’t Push

Not How It Was Meant to Be

We grew up

in the same sunlight,

shared food,

shared stories,

shared versions of who we were

before the world touched us.

Back then,

your joy was mine

and mine was yours

no comparisons,

no quiet measuring.

Somewhere along the way,

something shifted.

Smiles stayed,

but something behind them changed.

Words became softer in front,

sharper behind.

Care turned into curiosity,

curiosity into quiet judgment.

I did not see it at first.

Because I remembered you

as you were

not as you became.

I stood where I always stood

open,unguarded,

believing that friendship

does not need protection.

But I learned

not all closeness is safe.

Sometimes,

one small word

falls like a tile

and then another,

and another…

until everything that once stood steady

begins to fall.

A look becomes a doubt.

A doubt becomes a story.

A story becomes a truth

that was never true.

And suddenly,

you are no longer standing beside me you are watching me from a distance I did not create.

I did not compete with you.

I did not hide from you.

I did not wish less for you

so I could feel like more.

I only wished

we could both rise

without one having to fall.

Friendship was never meant

to feel like caution.

It was never meant

to need explanation.

It was never meant

to make you question your own truth.

If we were meant to remain,

we would have grown

without shrinking each other.

But now I understand

some people walk with you

only until your light

reminds them of their own shadows.

And that is not friendship.

That is a lesson.

So I step back

not with anger,

not with noise,

but with a quiet knowing:

Real friends do not compete,

do not whisper,

do not wait for you to fall.

They stand beside you

and say

“Rise… I am happy you did.”