The Letters You Left

O n e

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The town glistened in the night, we were driving on the highway on a hill. The lights appeared to be the stars of the Earth and made me feel as if we were in space. Everett was driving and I was in the passengers seat, we were heading back from his friends place. "What did you think of it Jenna?" The stars of the town disappeared as we headed towards my house. No apartment, house. I was doing really well in my job, it was a success right from the start. Everett was staying the night, which was usual now on weekends. "It was good but everyone seems to have changed so much since highschool," I took in the actual stars that hung over the riverside. He pulled into the driveway and the small car bumped over the traintracks. "And we haven't?" Everett looked at me after he parked. His eyes gave off a look I hadn't seen in so long.

I took of my sweater when we got in the house, "in some ways we have," I said, thinking about how close we were now compared to our other years. My house, was a replica of my grandparents. I had designed it three different ways but their house layout was always my favorite. It had the side door that went into the kitchen, the dining room off to the side and the living room connected to the kitchen. Then there was the main door, the hallway that had three rooms. I could keep going... "Every time I come here there's this magical feeling to your place." Everett said standing in the kitchen. "I don't even believe it's mine most of the time." I took off my shoes and followed him into the living room.

"Why not? You designed it." I tried to think of what to say, the design was originally my grandfathers, I just built my home just like theirs. "No, I took it, I originally had three different designs but chose to make it after my grandparents house." I smiled. We stared out the front window at the lake, across was a big mix of suburban streets that were placed on a mountain. I loved the view. "Oh," Everett ran his fingers through his blonde hair. It looked so different now than it had before. "That's pretty cool." A chill ran through me, Everett's expression changed. "Jenna," the look was on his face again. "Yeah?" The stars were glistening and it made me feel as if my eyes were going blurry. "Jenna," he said again. This place was fading, it was my house, I lived here, Everett was here. Then, I woke up...

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It was cold in the house, the empty house. I pulled the bed sheets off me, I hadn't been the same since Everett disappeared. None of his friends knew where he was and that was months ago. I wiped the tears away from my eyes remembering the last night we were together. I hated him for being gone so long. I dreaded the mornings the most, I hadn't been to work at all this week and my workers were getting worried about me because they kept calling. I pulled myself up out of bed. My feet creaked on the floor even though the house was newly built. I threw a sweater over my loose nightgown. Had I forgotten to turn up the heat stat? I looked out the window, snow was falling gently to the ground. I ran out of the room. I made sure the master bedroom door was closed.

I turned on the kettle, I always drank peppermint tea in the mornings, never coffee. I sat down in the living room chair, it was the most similar I could find to my grandfathers. His chair still sat in their house which now belonged to my Aunt, she never moved the chair away from the window. Everyone believed his spirit would probably be in that chair with a pair of binoculars staring out at the mountain across. I sipped the hot tea, taking in my first sense of warmth in the morning. I tried to think of why all of sudden those months ago Everett ghosted everyone.