Life is Stranger

Love Across the Years

She kissed Max softly on the head. "Sweet dreams my Angel. I'll be back real soon." she whispered. Chloe donned her shoes before silently slipping out of the bedroom window. 'Time for some answers, Miss Butterfly.' She left the window open a fraction and quietly clambered down to the drive via her truck, before heading along the sidewalk at a leisurely pace. It was a beautiful night – peaceful and tranquil. Once she arrived at the clearing the doe was already waiting there for her, with the butterfly gracefully hovering in the air just above its head, twinkling in the blue moonlight. Chloe knelt before the doe and caressed its face with her own, her hands gently stroking the animal's back. Several minutes passed, then Chloe slowly and unsteadily rose to her feet.

"Man, that was intense...so your name is Elanor, is it? Well then, nice to meet you, I guess."

The doe responded by spreading its front legs apart and lowering its head and neck. It appeared to be bowing before the blue-haired girl. Then Elanor rose, turned and pawed at the ground briefly, before moving aside and staring at Chloe.

"You want me to dig? There?"

The doe bowed its head once.

"Okay. Cool." Chloe knelt back down and began to claw at the soft earth where the doe had. Almost immediately she felt her nails scrape against something metallic. She cleared away more damp soil and lifted up a small metal box. An engraving of a vivid blue butterfly covered the lid. She gently opened the lid. Inside were three plain brown envelopes. She recognised the handwriting straight away. She clasped her hand to her mouth. "Oh god!" She changed from kneeling to sitting. She sat for a while just staring at the top envelope. It had her name on it. She turned off her phone and picked up the envelope, hesitating before carefully opening it. She could see some white paper and a silver chain. Upon lifting the chain out she discovered it was a necklace featuring a blue butterfly, exactly the same as the one that was still floating above her. Her hands were shaking slightly now, so she placed the chain back into the envelope, took a deep breath, and removed the letter.

"Hello my most precious Princess. I love you very, very much. You are the best thing that ever happened to me. I just want you to know that, before anything else. I love you Chloe. The three of us just got back from the lighthouse not long ago. I'll bet you can remember this day – you carved your names into the tree stump up there near your bench. It's been a wonderful day. Your mom is downstairs, conjuring up something fabulous as usual. As I'm writing this, I can hear you downstairs, gleefully giggling as you play with dear, sweet Max. Never have I heard such a sweeter, more angelic sound. You are magical and wonderful, and you always will be.

I'm sure I'm not telling you anything that you don't already know by now, but Max utterly adores you, Chloe - she loves you more than she loves herself. She would die for you. She loves you more than she loves anyone. This love will last the pair of you a lifetime...and beyond. Chloe, you may surround yourself with a myriad of valuable, beautiful, pretty things that you feel you simply can't part with, but always remember this, my sweetheart – there is only one true treasure in your life, a treasure that will always be yours, and that treasure is the small, brown-haired angel who has been right by your side for all of these years. She will do anything for you, and I mean absolutely anything. She will never abandon you, Chloe. Never. She lives and breathes only for you. She always has, and she always will. Do the same for her.

As I write, I know that you must be a grown woman now, not that wonderful little girl who has just this very second poked her head around the door for no other reason than to tell me how much she loves me. Chloe, my Princess, you simply melt my heart. I just told you, my beautiful little girl, how much I loved you, and I'll also tell you, my grown-up daughter reading this many years later, what I just told your younger self - I love you to the stars and back. Chloe, love is the only thing that matters. As you're older now, I can tell you this - I know that you love Max just as much as she loves you. Don't let anyone or anything stand in the way of that love. Don't doubt yourself. Don't doubt Max. Don't be frightened or ashamed. There is nothing whatsoever wrong with true love, no matter who it is shared with. Max loves you, and you love her. Don't even try to deny it to yourself – you know that would be a lie, and you know that you will fail. Tell her how you feel about her. Don't hesitate. Not even for a second. Every second that you wait is another second wasted, another second during which you could have been loving each other the way you were always destined to – deeply, passionately, devotedly and utterly without restraint. Lose yourselves in each other. You can make each other blissfully happy for the rest of your days. Max is the one and only love of your life, and you know it to the very bottom of your soul.