Ode to Annabanana

The firs time I set eyes on her, she was short (only 7yrs old after all) skinny with blonde hair and scuffed knees. It wasn't until she smiled, unabashed, that I fell madly in love. My skinny blonde friend had the biggest brightest smile in the world, and she flashed it alot, accompanied by laughter, throughout our long, lovely years as kindred spirits.

Those days we would fight over who would play with shannon this recess, and who would play with me the next. There was running and skipping and lots of climbing. Ya, we were pals, and it was great! Then the worst thing happened, just before the beginning of the next grade, anna's mother kidnapped her and moved to other end of the planet. Ok well not exactly, but they did move far away... and I cried.

There were 4 long years that I had to wage war on the elite assholes all on my own. A big job for one so young... AND a fashion degenerate. I endured wierdo-hood from childhood to adolesence without my sweet anna, and even gave up on her eventually. The horrible injustice of childhood is that parents (anna's wicked child-stealing mother to be exact ;p) don't tend to think about writing to thier small childs friends when they uproot them, not unless they're related. It so unfair because its not like an 8yr old girl could manage it on her own. *whinning*

Then one miraculous day in grade 7... while I was walking down the hallway of my junior-high, wasting time cause class bored the shit outta me, I saw a long-legged vision with cropped blonde hair and a mega-smile!!! It was my ANNA. I was floored, but not speechless (am I ever?) and so I scream out "ANNA!!!" She was being escorted by the principal to her new locker when I spotted them and he grinned at my shout, seemingly releived that he did not have to be kind to 'the new girl' much longer.

"Well young lady, it looks as if you already have a friend... very good. T----, why don't you show Anna around the school?"

"Sure." I said doubley happy that I got my kindred friend back AND I got an excuse from the principal to be out of class.

From Anna's point of view (she revealed this years later), she would not have recognized me had I not first yelled at her, and my welcome was a relief to her nervousness of a new school.. All around it worked out beautifully. Our friendship blossomed once again, and we were inseperable... well almost. One of the intricacies of our friendship is that sometimes it was not much more then a battle of wills or strange power dynamic that had us pissed off royally at each other, that would go on and on.

At those times our mothers would say to us.. " maybe you should not be friends with that girl." but we never listened... they just didn't understand. No matter how pissed we were, we always came back to each other. Those were the years... sweating our asses off dancing at the kiddy dance-club every friday night... dreaming of the New Kids (HEY it was 1989!)... experimenting with make-up, then boys, then drugs... watch out for that make-up, it can lead to drugs!!!

We loved to dance! That is a passion that Anna and I share and it was something we loved to do together, whether it was in our bedrooms with just us and the getto blaster, or at dances for what felt like years on end... we danced; shaked, shimmied and 'wiggled it'.. seducing first boys, then men with our ability to flow like water to the music. Although we loved having them around and having such amazing control over them, we didn't need the guys to enjoy dancing, it was something we did well together and loved. Ah dammit I miss dancing with Anna.

Then another terrible thing happened.. when we were 16. Aliens abducted me in a flash of blinding light, and when I awoke, I was in BC, across the country from where I began (Ontario girl originally). The ship looked strangely like a jumbo jet and the alien I lived with strongly resembled my father. I had done it. I had left her this time, and after SO many years, or so it seemed to my young mind.

The years have gone by, and at first I went regularily back east to visit my friends and family, always visiting with blondie while there (she still crops it short damn girl). There was a time, around the age of 25, when we almost lost each other... too much time gone by, not enough phonecalls/letters. But whenever we did talk, it was always as if no time had gone by, we were still 15 and laughing about the cute boy at the arcade and our new favorite songs. Fortunatly after two long years of silence, we were spared a watery death, cold and alone, by a phonecall early on the morning of my 27th birthday, as soon as I heard her soft, velvety voice, I started crying and laughing all at once. That was all we needed.

On April 11 my Annabanana turned 29. I have lovd her this long and will love her a long while yet... and we will dance until we need walkers to support our asses.