(I'm not sure this actually counts as an essay...)
At first the colors are too bright. They’re super-saturated and clashing with each other. They look foriegn against my skin, and the tightly woven threads rub wrong against my wrist. I think that maybe it wasn’t the best idea to tie this bracelet on permanently. I was never one for unconditional permanence, and I’m not sure if this has any practicality whatsoever. It doesn’t match most of my outfits. It snags in my hairbrush. It feels like more of a nuisance than an accessory. I decide to keep it, though. I like how it makes me feel; like someone I want to be.
Soon the color fades. Only slightly at first. Of course it’s not what I wanted initially, but I like it better this way. I think the slight pastel vibe suits me better. Now you see it on my wrist and it looks like it belongs there. The stiffness meshes to the shape of my wrist. It’s comforting. Wrist in bracelet is like hand in glove.
Pretty soon it’s a part of me. I know each stitch like the back of my hand, because it is the back of my hand. I wouldn’t know my own wrist without it. It goes everywhere. It runs cross country meets in 90 degree heat advisories, and shakes hands with all the parents I have to meet. It soaks up my tears and my melting ice cream, but never stays dirty long. It gets yanked on by curious preschoolers and my neighbor’s crazy dog. I got it stuck on a nail on the fence on block over. It’s still intact. I’m still intact.
One day the ends start to fray slightly. They’re slightly lighter than the rest of the bracelet by now. They turn soft and the strings untwist slightly. I untwist them sometimes without even thinking about it. I pull on the ends walking into my math final and when you tell I’m not what you want anymore. I don’t think anything of it.
This bracelet is something always there for me to hold on to. Holding my hand like my best friend, it’s the only thing that I can count on to not fall apart. Bracelets don’t stop hanging out with you when they get a boyfriend. Bracelets don’t lie to your face like you’re too young to understand. Bracelets don’t let go. It feels more like a lifeline than an accessory.
And then one day it falls off.