Our Little Love Story *NOW PUBLISHED ON AMAZON KINDLE!!*

chapter twenty eight

If the last couple of months before Jared left for boot camp had flown by at warp speed, then the days that came to be after he was gone moved by at a snail’s pace. The hours seemed like days; the days seemed like weeks; the weeks seemed like months. 

But, alas, here I was, three weeks after he had left for boot camp. I sat on our couch, alone, staring at the TV screen, seeing nothing. My thoughts were centered around Jared: where he was, what he was doing, how he was doing. A single tear slid silently down my cheek. I let if fall onto the collar of my shirt; no one else was here to catch it and wipe it away. 

‘Don’t cry, Tiff,’ I heard Jared’s voice in my head, remembering, ‘you’ll flood the ocean with those tears. We can’t have that now, can we?’ he’d remarked once, brushing away tears. It was one of the times that the whole military/boot camp thing was becoming too much to emotionally handle. 

I rose from the couch and walked numbly to my bedroom and retrieved a notebook and pen and flopped down on my bed. I had decided that I would write him a letter. He still had five weeks of boot camp left, so I wasn’t entirely sure when he would receive the letter, but I had to get my thoughts out somewhere, so I wrote away. My tears flowed as swiftly as the words on the paper did.

Jared~

Well, I’m not sure what to put in this letter, exactly. All I really know is how much  I miss you. I miss your voice, your touch, your smile. I find myself so many times getting ready to send you a text, or to call your phone. With sudden realization, I end the call, or delete the text, knowing you won’t answer or respond. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to handle five more weeks of this. But I will. For you. For us. 

Not much has been going on. I’ve been working at Mel’s, or hanging out with Brooke some to pass the time. I’ve taken Sam to the park a few times, but it’s hard, with the history of the place and all. I know I sound like such a pathetic sap. I’m sorry. I just didn’t think that you being gone would really be this hard. 

So, tell me all about boot camp, if you can write back before it’s over. I try to imagine what you’re doing or where you’re at, but since I know nothing about boot camp or the routines, it’s pretty hard. Are they pretty tough on you, like in the movies? You know, scrubbing the floors with your toothbrush or whatever? 

Anyways, I guess I’ll end this letter now. I just needed to get some stuff out of my system, I guess. I miss you so much and love you for always.

~Tiff <3

I tore the piece of paper from the notebook and folded it into thirds and stuffed it into an envelope. I copied down the address the Jared had scrawled onto the piece of paper, which seemed like it had been a lifetime ago now. I scribbled my return address in the upper left hand corner of the envelope, and dug in my desk drawer for a stamp. Pressing it onto the envelope in the right hand corner, I walked slowly out to our mail box by the road and placed it inside, lifting the red flag so the mailman would know something needed to be sent out.

I trudged back inside, and collapsed on my bed once again. Staring at the ceiling, thoughts and memories of Jared and I coursed through my mind. I silently prayed that the remaining five weeks would go by as quickly as possible. I wasn’t one to really wish my life away, but I was ready for this whole boot camp thing to be behind us already.