Kyle was alone.

He had no way of telling time.
Nothing to watch.
No way of communicating.

He sat firmly in the same place he always sat.

Waiting patiently.

Kyle didn’t know much, but he knew he had to be here for a reason.

So he kept waiting.

This new world he now found himself in was unfamiliar, and at the same time comfortable.

As he grew, so did his confidence. So did his comfort in who he was. He was Kyle.

“I just have to keep doing what I’m doing, and friends will eventually come.”

One day, everything changed. Kyle had just woken up from another night’s rest when he noticed something strange. A short distance away, something was happening. The tip-top of a white shape was rising, breaking through the floor.

Could it be? A new friend? Someone to talk to?

Kyle didn’t want to startle his new friend, so he gave him space and time. They would say hi when they were ready.

After a few days, or a thousand years, Kyle made his first friend.

“Hey!” said this new stranger.
“Hello!” said Kyle. “I’m so happy you’re here!”
“Where is ‘here’ exactly?” asked Kyle’s new neighbor.

Kyle didn’t know.
“I don’t know.”

They both sat in silence.

“Well, wherever we are, I’m glad I’m not alone.”

“Me too,” said Kyle. “Me too.”

_

Written by Schuyler Hunt  for Smile Stories—a blog series keeping oral traditions alive.