Ling Liu

 

We’ve known each other for over a decade now. A very long period of our lives. She is my best friend; my best traveling partner; the person who shares my memories. Then we grew up, life changed, throwing us onto two very different paths. The best traveling partners stopped traveling together.

This summer, after all these years, we decided to do a trip starting from Xi’an and ending up in Kashgar. We tried to follow the old Silk Road route to mark our own steps on the map. While I was planning out the trip, I looked through all the photos we took in the past. Something hit me in the heart, I don’t own one single image of her, my best friend. She never liked me taking photos of her, so I never did. I think it was in Zhangye, when we were visiting this ancient city from two thousand years ago. I was standing outside of the city trying to get a clear shot, while she was standing on top of the ancient wall with two other friends. At that very moment, that view was fascinating; she was like a shadow coming from the old time. I took the shot without her knowing.

A month later, I developed that roll of film. I saw her, on her way, coming toward me, the dusk light fits her perfectly. Now I own one image of my best friend, and I will hold on to it for a lifetime.