one thousand cranes

today i talked to a friend about my recovery process, and whether he (my friend) would prefer avoiding his rage or avoiding my heartbreak and when he saw i was too upset about all that happened, he told me to let the topic go and walk him to his class. so we did. 

in front of the class was a table, and he took out a notebook and ripped a sheet, and told me he'll be back at me within a couple of minutes, with some magic. so I waited, and he folded, and folded, and I watched, then he turned his back to me and kept folding, and then told me to close my eyes and make a wish, so I closed my eyes and made a wish. he told me to open my eyes and handed me the crane, which had me looking at it in awe -- incredibly elegant in regard to how fast it was made -- and he said "an ancient japanese legend says that if you fold one thousand origami cranes, the gods grant you a wish" and I said "but this is my only crane" and that made him laugh. he said "i folded thousands of them, and by experience i think the odds of having my wish granted and yours granted are quite close", so I smiled and it felt safe. then i told him that this crane meant so much more than him choosing to protect me instead of someone else, and that caught him off-guard. i saw the genuineness of his smile with undertones of surprise, and i smiled really, widely, and left for my own class.

I'll keep the crane.