I always, always have fun when I'm with Soph. This last visit was no exception. We even had the weather on our side this time so the three days involved a lot of walking and spending time outside, the sunshine providing a perfect backdrop to the insane amount of catching up we had to do.
We caught the bus in to Poole and spent the day in the Quay, making the worlds best bowl (picture to follow in a separate post) and enjoying the views near a lake (when we could see the water through the hundreds of seagulls that apparently lived by the bench we chose to sit on).
I even braved sitting on the edge of the Quay front and letting my feet dangle over the edge. Anyone who knows me knows how big a deal that is. And if, for any reason, you don't know how much of a big deal it is then just go find Soph and you can watch her video of me struggling to do it. That's when you know you're best friends - when instead of helping you with calming words, they laugh and video your turmoil instead.
On my first day we got the bus to Bournemouth and walked along the sea front. I'd share photos from it but it was so foggy that the in one of the polaroids we took you can only just tell that I'm the person in the photo, and not just something that looks like a human being enveloped by fog. We found shelter in a pub and obviously needed a pint to get over the foggy fear. Unfortunately, the pint was so expensive we had to leave straight after finishing it.. and walk back into Bournemouth to find a Wetherspoons. Clearly we needed another pint to get over the price of the first.. AND we needed food after all that walking. We had no choice really!
The best part about your best friend being as much as a light-weight as you is that when two pints gets you tipsy, you know she's right there with you feeling the same way. This is especially helpful when you visit a pub in Poole Quay the next day and get the feeling after just one drink... If anyone wonders how I've managed money well in University it's because a night out costs me less than a tenner. Lightweights for the win!
On my last night with Soph, she suggested having a bonfire in the back garden. I'm not sure if this was a good idea or whether she had forgotten that it was just me and her, we would be on our own away from responsible supervision, and we also know absolutely nothing about fire... Obviously I agreed.
The fire went surprisingly well. It took us a while to light it - many failed attempts in fact - and I think Soph almost set herself on fire a couple of times. We did eventually have a fire in front of us and we spent the next couple of hours building it back up when it looked like it was going out.
There inevitably reached a point when our fire went out. We were left with a city of embers dancing in front of us but no lick of flames around the few remaining pieces of wood. We were ready to give up when Soph's Dad came out, declared we had great embers (thank you), and proceeded to throw all of the wooden objects to hand on the fire - a thick tree stump, a kitchen cupboard door, another cupboard door that looked too sturdy to do anything, and what looked like a couple of wooden shelves.
We were appalled. Shocked. Confused.
"Soph your Dad has buried our fire."
"I know. He used to build fires for a living. I don't understand why he thinks this will work."
"At least we had great embers."
"Exactly."
"I just don't - wait. Is that... Is that fire?"
"It can't be..."
But it was. Over the next 15? 20? minutes, our fire went from a little thing made up of twigs and branches to a roaring fire that was demonstrating how quickly kitchen cupboards burn. That thing went to town. It fully committed to being on fire, and seemed like it wanted to show the heavy cupboard door what it actually meant to burn.
There was a little stump we affectionately referred to "Granddad" who didn't want to burn but looked so pretty as it's embers twinkled away. The massive tree stump did not want to burn and just crumbled, went black or glowed red depending on where we tried it on the fire.
Eventually the fire died down and we put the last of the embers out. We went up to bed, smelling of smoke and full of the summer fruits tea we had made that afternoon. Despite constantly thinking I could hear the fire restarting, burning down the nearby tree, and causing neighbourhood panic... I fell asleep feeling completely content.
I caught the train around 7pm, and was picked up by my Dad around 10:30pm. Thinking back on that train journey now, it seems so weird to think it was mere hours after our afternoon in the garden. I can remember the glow of warmth still coming from my skin and how happy I was to find the surprise polaroids from Soph in my bag.
Being with Soph is always fun. And leaving Soph is always hard. It never gets easier. But at least it means that each goodbye is simply a "See you soon".
A promise for another adventure, as soon as we can.
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