Letters To You

5 Years Later

Time can make anyone forget a face, forget a voice, forget a person. Time weathers the mind, reducing it to a shell of what it once was. It turns the present into the past, moments into memories. Someday becomes yesterday, beginnings become endings.

But when he saw her, heard her voice as sweet as the chime of a bell, he knew exactly who she was. Time hadn't caught up to him yet; the memory of her was fresh in his mind.

A lot can change in five years, and in many ways, she did. Her hair was longer, brightened by the afternoon sun. She walked with a grace only known by someone who used to carry the world on her shoulders.

Seeing her brought on old emotions and memories alike, ones he wished he could forget but plagued him every day. His one regret was leaving her, his best friend and the only girl who truly loved him. She hadn't even looked at him when they graduated, her last words to him from the night his life fell apart.

She grew up, and he missed it.

Then she stood up, headed his way.

He began to panic, wondering if she'd seen him.

She walked right past him.

Caught in the moment, he called out her name, breathy and pained.

She paused, turned slightly.

Her eyes held the same joy and kindness as they did before, and he nearly got lost in them, their dark beauty.

He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

She stared at him, and he could see the gears turning in her head. Her lips were pursed, full and pink, like they always were when she was deep in thought.

He willed himself to speak, to say anything to the girl who once loved him. "I miss you."

The joy vanished from her eyes, replaced by a sadness he'd never seen before. He didn't think anyone could feel that level of pain, and it broke him to think he caused it in her.

She took a breath, and he held his in anticipation, but she didn't speak. Instead, she reached into the purse hanging off her arm. A crumpled white envelope fit between her fingers, the single word "Sun" written in smudged ink.

He gingerly took it from her, opening it slowly and unfolding the worn paper within.

"I kept it with me all this time," she whispered. "Part of me always wanted to see you again, but . . ."

"But?" he urged, eyes snapping back to hers.

"But now, I know that you leaving was the best thing you could've done for me." She turned on her heel and walked away.

All he was left with was a piece of paper and a broken heart.

He watched her walk down the street, tears clouding his vision until he couldn't see her anymore. His shaking hands clung to the paper, finally noticing the faded words spanning the page. Breathing deeply, he read her last words to him.

To Sun,

I never imagined a world, a life, a future, without you in it. You went from being a permanent fixture in my life to a fleeting memory. There wasn't a day that went by that I didn't think of you, until there was. I stopped waiting for things to change, for you to change. I stopped believing in you and in us. I stopped breaking at the sound of your name.

I let go of you without realizing it.

Writing this, there is still a part of me that misses the past, the old you. It's been years since we last spoke, since I finally took a step back and quit running to the very thing that broke me. But even that wasn't a true end. No, that was only the beginning of a long road to what I deserved.

At the end of this road is the happiness I craved.

I'm happy, Sun. I'm free. And finally, I can say:

Goodbye.

"Goodbye, my beautiful moon," he whispered, closing his eyes and letting his tears stain her last letter.