Tell No One I Loved Them

3

"You're saying that she wrote letters for all of us?" Mr. Howard asked, staring at the letters in his hand.

"For us to open at different points in our lives, yes." Ben stated.

"Are you suggesting she planned this?" Mrs. Howard asked in disbelief. "We knew our daughter and she never wanted to die! She would never purposely kill herself!"

Ben put his hands up in defense. "I'm not suggesting that. What I'm saying is maybe she was prepared. Maybe this is what she was going to do anyway, even if she hadn't died." He twisted the envelop he had in his hands. "She did write this one for today, though."

Mr. and Mrs. Howard both looked up at him in confusion. Ben held out the envelope to show the title. Mr. Howard reached for it, before retracting his hand. "Ben," he gulped. "Would you read it for us?"

Ben swallowed but nodded. He couldn't say no to something like this. He opened the envelope and pulled out the pages.

My dear parents,

         I guess by now it has happened. My death, my funeral. And now you will be going through my things, telling stories about each item that on reality you don't care about. During your expedition through my things, you'll likely find things you don't care about. Actually it all belongs to me so of course you don't care about it.

          And don't give me the fake tears and cries you give at funerals of people you hardly knew. I know you are glad to have me gone, seeing as how I'm no longer a burden to you. And frankly, I'm glad it's over, now I don't have to hear the constant belittlement of your voices telling me I'll never be the daughter you wanted. That my grades were never as good as my brother's. That I didn't turn out as pretty as you hoped. That nothing I did was ever good enough.

          But, this letter is not meant for that, no. This letter is to explain what is going to happen to you now.