Becoming friends with Two Hours Max

All through that cold, wet spring, Hineni spent a lot of time with Two Hours Max. 

Hineni had several brothers and sisters, but even so he had sometimes been lonely. Wabi and Sabi mainly lived in their own arcane world. They even spoke their own language sometimes, that no one else really understood. Hineni loved his sisters, but they were younger than him, and sometimes he had things on his mind they didn’t really understand. They often wanted him to play with them, and he would, but sometimes pretending to be horses or dressing up as brides lost its appeal. In Two Hours Max he found a friend he could really talk to.

Hineni would be thirteen that summer, and Two Hours Max had their fifteenth birthday last autumn, so they were not the same age, but near enough to get on well. They were both interested in birds and plants, in philosophy and poetry, and in the stars. There was so much to talk about. Even so, Two Hours Max never stayed long. They’d show up on any given day after lunch at some point, and before tea time they’d get a bit restless, and murmur, “I think I have to be going now,” and wander away back into their own world.

They never stayed more than a couple of hours, and they never talked much about their life at home.

“Two, do you have a girlfriend — or a boyfriend?” Hineni asked one day, in what he hoped was a casual sort of way. 

Two Hours Max looked at him. “Why?”

“I just wondered,” said Hineni. “I didn’t mean to pry.”

“Dignity and privacy are both gifts we give each other,” said Two Hours Max. “There’s so need to ask about those things.”

“I’m sorry,” said Hineni humbly. “I didn’t mean to spoil everything. I take it back.”

There was a silence.

Then Two Hours Max said, “No, I don’t. I think I want to be a nunk.”

“A what?” Hineni frowned. “Do you mean a nun or a monk?”

“Yes,” said Two Hours Max. “That one. I want to be just myself. All round my body is a sort of coat of light and peace, and I like it to remain entire. I can’t manage too much mingling. And I get tired of people who never go away, even if I like them. After a little while I begin to go mad inside. I have to be just quietly, where I can breathe.”

Hineni thought about this.

“Oh. Am I . . . ? Is this . . . ? I don’t get on your nerves, do I?”

“No,” said Two Hours Max firmly. “No, you don’t. But look, I have to go now. I’ll see you soon.”

And off they went. They never looked back or waved, just walked quietly away. But Hineni knew they would come back. He didn’t know how he knew it, but he felt completely sure he could trust that Two Hours Max was a true friend, and would be for ever.