A gentle lie

"Let's be together after we graduate from high school..." My childhood friend cried and laughed at my words. Ah, yes... we'll be together after we both turn 18 and graduate from high school... that future... will probably never come... "Acute myeloid leukemia." That's her illness. It's been about three years since the onset. The five-year survival rate after the onset of this disease is less than 50%. The probability is even lower for younger people. Even among those, her disease was said to be progressing relatively quickly. She just turned 17 in September. Normally, this is the time to enjoy youth. Even attending high school, which is only a 15-minute walk away, every day is difficult; four days a week is about all she can manage. But she longed for school life. Even if she had to sit out physical education, or spent more time in the infirmary, she still came to school. Even if she failed tests due to insufficient studying, she received supplementary lessons from teachers and advanced to the next grade. And then I told a kind lie. "Let's be together after we graduate from high school..." She cried and laughed. That was her fleeting dream. And then I tell a gentle lie. A fleeting lie for her sake. She has about two years left. I swallow it all and tell a gentle lie for her sake. *【Embraced by the Winter Wind】Kyoko Koizumi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQhTI-j2kvM&list=RDjGrK2Q2hTSY&index=8