Jan 14, 2026 | By Colin Levine SY ’28

At first, Peter runs away, racked with fear. But then he turns and tentatively follows his suffering friend from a distance. Peter wants to be with his friend in the end: a feat he believes he has the moral strength to achieve. He proudly promised his friend only a few hours ago, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And so he sits just outside the trial proceedings, watching, and warming his hands with the masses on the cold April night.

Jan 14, 2026 | By Tori Cook JE ’27

We live in a time when our friendships proliferate but seem strangely fragile. We have thousands of contacts, group chats, connections, and people we “do life with,” yet so many of our relationships are cautious, provisional, and thin. Many of us cannot name more than one or two people we would trust with our grief, failures, or hopes outside of immediate family. We have fewer confidants, fewer people who can lovingly hold us accountable, and fewer relationships strong enough to bear inconvenience. It seems that friendships today take place in the utilitarian realm of compatibility or emotional pleasantness rather than deeper connective love: our friends are people we enjoy who don’t ask too much of us, and of whom we don’t ask too much as well.

Jan 14, 2026 | By Aerin McLaughlin ES ’26

“You are who you surround yourself with” is a common phrase that is often regarded as an important piece of advice for navigating friendships. Although we hear it often, and maybe even repeat it ourselves, we seldom understand what to take from it. In the days before we lose our innocence, questions regarding our friend’s integrity are not quite as important as questions regarding their favorite color or movie. But as we age, our perception of the world quickly changes, and so do our questions. It is natural to wonder just how much of an influence friends can or should have on us. It is also natural to question just how much we can or should, in return, influence them. Oftentimes, these questions run through our minds anytime we attempt to separate ourselves from those we spend time with.

Jan 14, 2026 | By Aalia Holt SY ’27

Birds of a feather flock together, so goes the old adage. But, is it really true? Is it true that the more similar two people are, the easier friendship forms. In the best of friends, something far more important than similarities are at work; there we find forgiveness and shared commitment. The story of a young girl reveals close friendships forming around feathers of various shades and shapes.

Jan 14, 2026 | By Raleigh Adams YDS ’26

A sunny afternoon. The three sit in a piazza near a fountain. Pantalone sighs dramatically over a letter in his hands.

PANTALONE:

(Heaving a sigh so theatrical pigeons scatter, clutching the letter to his chest as if it were a will)

Ohhh—misery! Tragedy! Catastrophe disguised as correspondence! My dear friend Giacomo has abandoned Venice for Milan. Milan! A city of fog, fashion, and forgetfulness!

(Looking to the Heavens)

O saints, why must my friends migrate like storks, leaving me a lonely scarecrow in life’s field?

Jan 14, 2026 | By Gavin Susantio YDS ’25

What do humans, elves, and God have in common? They’ve been storied throughout the ages as impossible friends. But the history of the strangest friendships, no matter how unlikely, may be the most human stories ever told. When the divine befriends the mortal, or the machine the human, a sacred bridge forms between the finite and the infinite. Across great fiction, the relationships between humans and robots, elves and dwarves, and gods and creatures share a striking feature: in each pair, one kind of being is immortal.