Once there was a boy, of roughly a young age, he would play with his friend, which caused much joy. The boy and his friend had grown up together, always helping each other out for the better. If their kite were stuck in a tree, they would get it down, every time they played a game, they would not frown. Cards, hide-and-go-seek, ring-around-the-rosie or playing with their cars, the two boys would never travel far. They stayed close together day after day, only parting ways for dinner, or they would play. The two were inseparable, connected by the brain, always knowing what the other was thinking, or what they would say. The two were like brothers in every instance they could think of, except by their mothers, who neglected their esteem. To school they would travel, then come home and unravel, in the den or in the yard, the boys would play hard. As time settled in, the boys grew apart, different interests, different girls, different crowds, but they were both still around. They would give each other the occasional nod, or walk home from school, while listening to their iPod’s. Distracted by various reasons, the boys went through the seasons, middle school, high school and everything in between, the boys had grown old, or so they believed. It was time to go to college, to places that seemed like different continents, it would be the first time they lived apart, for their entire lives they had been connected by a yard. So many memories, so many experiences that could not be discussed in a single day, the boy and his friend decided they would stay. They would start a business together for children at bay, allowing them play together, every single day. The business brought joy to the boys, reminiscing experiences that others could now enjoy. But as the business slowed down, the boys, now men could no longer pay. Their families were struggling and they were the prey, of the banks that they owed money to that they could not pay. Their kids that admired them so much could barely even eat lunch. But the men taught their children to survive, by sticking by each other’s side. Together they would play in the yards that they did, moving back into their old houses that they once inhabited. They would’ve never thought that they would end up back where it all started, a beautiful friendship that miraculously blossomed. They hoped the same for their children, because it never became nonsense, a friend that became a brother was never to be reckoned with. They would follow each other into war, a trust that had to be earned, without the other, they never knew, they were never warned. The families became so close, that they were one in the same; they supported each other, through each and every day. The families ate dinner together twice a week, but one day the friend came home with news that was bittersweet. The two had been together for a very long time and finally they would part ways, something innovative in their lives. The friend said he had to go, of reasons unknown, the boy had so many questions, he wanted him to stay at home. The friend brought the boy outside, into the yard where they stood many times, he tagged the boy and said he would hide. The boy closed his eyes and spun around a few times, by the time he reach one-hundred, his friend was out of sight. He searched near and far, every where in the yard, but could never find his friend or his car. The boy never found his friend, because he never existed, little did he know, the boy was schizophrenic.