The Promise

The diary was ten years old.

So were the promises inside it.

Louise sat alone in the dark, tears slipping silently down her cheeks as she stared at the familiar handwriting.

The handwriting of a boy who once loved her more than anything.

The handwriting of a boy who became the man who broke her.

Her fingers trembled as she turned the page.

There it was.

A promise written by eighteen-year-old Michael Jackson.

"Louise, I will love you. Only you. Forever."

A sob escaped her lips.

Forever.

What a beautiful lie.

With shaking hands, she grabbed a pen and wrote beneath his words.

"Eighteen-year-old Michael Jackson, you lied. You didn't keep your promise."

The moment the ink dried-

New words appeared.

Louise froze.

Her heart stopped.

"Louise?"

The pen slipped from her fingers.

No.

No.

That handwriting...

It was Michael's.

Young.

Familiar.

Impossible.

Another sentence appeared.

"Is this really you?"

Her hands shook as she wrote back.

"Yes."

The reply came instantly.

"Wait. Are you from the future?"

A tear rolled down her cheek.

"Yes."

Silence.

Then-

"Did we end up together?"

"Yes."

"Then why are you crying?"

Louise stared at the page.

At the words written by the boy who loved her

The boy who had no idea what he would become.

Finally, she answered.

"Because the twenty-eight-year-old Michael Jackson cheated on me."

Nothing.

The diary fell silent.

For a long time.

Then, slowly, new words appeared.

Words written with a trembling hand.

"No. I love you. I would never hurt you."

Louise closed her eyes.

Because once upon a time-

She believed that too.

Then one final question appeared.

The question that would change everything.

"If you are really from the future..."

A drop of ink stained the page.

"Then tell me, Louise."

Another pause.

Another trembling breath.

"Can we still change it?"

A long pause.

"Or am I destined to become the man who breaks your heart?"