Ghosts of Hallways Past

cbr, 2025 - #nowplaying. - Houdini - Dua Lipa - Da Baddest Bitch - Trina

fellow memory wanderers.

Some encounters hit different. Like yesterday, when time folded in on itself and I found myself face-to-face with a ghost from my middle school past. You know those moments? When the universe conspires to drop someone into your path, and suddenly, years collapse into a single breath.

Back then, we were kids navigating the wild terrain of Nickelodeon dreams and middle school chaos. Remember how everything felt possible? I was deep in my iCarly phase - filming ridiculous sketches between 7th and 8th grade, convinced I was going to be the next internet sensation. Those were the days when creativity felt boundless, and every moment seemed like potential content.

There we were - two people who once shared hallways, inside jokes, and the chaotic energy of early adolescence. But something hung between us. Unspoken. Suspended.

We stopped and talked. Politely. Awkwardly. The way people do when years have carved canyons between shared experiences. Each sentence felt like a bridge half-constructed, swaying between what was and what could have been.

I thought about all the conversations we never had. The moments that slipped through our fingers like sand. How strange that two people can occupy the same physical space yet feel worlds apart.

My mind wandered to the magic of those middle school years - how friendships could bloom and wither in the span of a semester. How we were all just trying to figure ourselves out, one awkward interaction at a time.

And isn’t that the beauty of human connection? Those unexpected intersections that remind us we’re all just walking stories, occasionally crossing paths.

Stay curious. Stay connected.

-Mitchell Royel