My Best Friend

{ 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙞𝙚𝙘𝙚, 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙚𝙣𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙛𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡-𝙘𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮, 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙠, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙬𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙮 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚. 𝙎𝙤, 𝙅𝙚𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙛𝙚𝙧, 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙚. 𝘼𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨. }

I looked around me, my fingers curling up into fists. My eyes pinched with unshed tears as I saw death in their eyes. I saw starvation, unimaginable pain inflicted up on their bodies, and I saw inhumanity thrushed upon their souls.

They turned to me in alarm when they saw my hand on the door. They wanted me to abort the plan, but they knew I couldn't. They knew how important it was for me to step out into the madness, to risk my life for one last time. Unaware of my fate, I gave them a huge smile. I wanted them to remember me smiling, no matter the odds.

Taking a deep breath, I unlocked the door with the unconscious guard's key and stepped out. The cold air cut through my skin like glass as I stood near the door, my eyes scanning for potential danger. But the path was clear, just like my goal.

I tiptoed my way towards his chamber. With dirt all over my clothes, and my face smeared in black, I was an invisible creature of the night. I heaved out a sigh of relief when I reached my destination without any obstacles.

I tried to get a glimpse of him through the window. It took me a minute to find him out of the lot but there he was, sitting in a corner, all alone. We men, we were no longer twelve year old boys, were supposed to be strong, to bury our feelings and vulnerabilities deep down in a pit where it can no longer reach us. But I couldn't hide the tears that rolled down my cheeks, neither my longing to protect him, my best friend, from the horrors of the world.

When he saw my shadow lurking outside, he rushed to come to me, but I stopped him, urging him to stay inside. With hopes of embracing him one more time before he was forced to the gas chambers, I opened the door and quietly sneaked in.