fiefoe

Penelope Lively's observations about youthful friendships rang particularly true after I joined up our high school classmates' Weibo chat group.

This unfamiliar view of greenery, pink earth and the long slack lines of hills
A rather stiff man , always apparently on his best behavior, perhaps because he knew of no other kind.
The world is out there, richly stocked and inviting observations.
The relationship was diminishing to one of determined bonhomie whenever they passed in the lane.
They are caught up in the intimacy of being young and about the same business in same the place at the same time - an association as intense in its way as love or marriage, and one which quite eclipses later forms of friendship.
Stella and Nadine are still within reach of their former selves.

We are in each other's heads for ever, not as we are now but as we were then.
She watched their mother all the time, to see what might be going to happen - like people watch the weather forecast because there's fuck all you can do about it but you might as well know.

("Spiderweb")