Four Shadows

Some nights feel quieter than they should.
Maybe it’s because I can still hear our laughter
echoing somewhere in the corners of my mind.

We were four —
a little storm that never stayed still.
Loud, stubborn, impossible to separate.
Even our fights had love hiding behind them.

I miss the way we talked over each other,
how every small thing turned into a memory,
how we could turn a normal day
into something I’d never forget.

Back then, it felt like we’d never change,
like our world was just ours —
filled with jokes no one else would understand.

But time moves differently now.
We don’t talk every day.
The group feels quiet.
And sometimes, I catch myself
looking at the sky and wondering
if you’re laughing somewhere,
thinking about those same moments.

I wish I could go back,
just for a day,
to sit with all of you again —
no tears, no rush,
just us and the endless noise we called friendship.

You’re still a part of me,
in ways I can’t explain.
No distance,
no silence,
can take away the “we” that once was.

Because some bonds
don’t fade —
they just live quietly inside you,
waiting to smile
whenever you remember.

- Sakina Banu