%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |
The "what ifs" of life |
|
“The Day the Wind Shifted” One ordinary Tuesday. One impossible decision. Chapter 1: The Alarm That Didn't Ring Emmett Price always got up at 6:17 a.m. sharp. Not 6:15. Not 6:20. 6:17. It gave him three minutes to stare at the ceiling and remind himself who he was—a thirty-nine-year-old insurance adjuster with thinning hair, one friend left from college, and a cat named Truman who refused to be affectionate. Life was predictable, small, and unshakably quiet. But on Tuesday, the alarm didn’t go off. He woke at 7:03 a.m., thirty-six minutes late. His heart pounded. Not because of the lost time, but because the world outside his window looked…wrong. There was smoke on the horizon. And silence where traffic should be. Chapter 2: A Boy in Red Shoes Running out the door in a wrinkled shirt, Emmett tripped over a boy sitting on his front step. “I’ve been waiting for you,” the boy said. The kid couldn’t have been more than ten, wearing scuffed red sneakers and a backpack too big for his frame. “You don’t know me, but you’re supposed to help me today.” Emmett stared. “Help you how?” “I need to get to the hospital. I think my mom is there. But I don’t remember where it is.” The boy pulled a paper from his pocket. It was a drawing. A hospital with a cracked window and a woman in a green dress standing beside it. Chapter 3: The Drive That Broke Routine For the first time in twelve years, Emmett didn’t go to work. He drove, hands trembling on the wheel. The boy told stories about his mom—how she loved lemon tea and always wore green when she needed courage. The city looked wrong, like something had shaken it loose. Sirens in the distance. Police tape across alleys. People running, but no one talking. At a red light, Emmett asked, “What’s your name?” The boy hesitated. “Eli.” Chapter 4: The Hospital and the Stranger The hospital was full. Nurses ran. Phones rang off the hook. Emmett walked with Eli through crowds of people shouting names. No green dresses. No cracked windows. “Maybe she’s not here,” Emmett said quietly. “She is,” Eli said, with absolute certainty. “We’re just late.” They turned a corner and a woman in green stumbled out of a supply room, eyes wide. “Eli?” she whispered. Eli ran to her, and Emmett watched her drop to her knees and wrap her arms around the boy. She looked up at Emmett and said, “Thank you.” Chapter 5: The Wind Shift It wasn’t until Emmett got home that he realized what had changed. Truman, the cat who never cuddled, was curled up in the crook of his arm. There was a letter in the mailbox with no stamp, just a single line on the paper inside: “Thank you for choosing differently today.” He never saw Eli again. But the next morning, Emmett didn’t wake up at 6:17. He didn’t set the alarm at all. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Back to Wexley” Some debts can’t be paid in money. Chapter 1: The Bus Stop Cole Draven hadn’t been back to Wexley in seventeen years. Not since the night he left in the back of a police cruiser, blood on his hands and a bitter silence in his throat. The bus pulled in at 3:12 p.m. Nobody was waiting for him. Not that he expected anyone. Wexley hadn’t forgotten what he’d done. Small towns never do. He stepped off the Greyhound with a duffel bag, three hundred dollars, and a note from a dying man that read: “Fix it. You know what I mean.” It was signed by Hank Langley, the man Cole had stolen from, lied to, and abandoned; his former mentor, his one time friend, and the town’s most generous soul. Chapter 2: Langley’s Garage The old repair shop looked like it hadn’t changed since the ‘90s. Langley’s Garage was now managed by Hank’s daughter, Mara. She looked at Cole like he was a stain on her floor. “You’re here for the will,” she said, arms crossed. “Figures.” “No,” Cole said, holding up the note. “I’m here to fix something.” She stared for a long beat, then said, “Then start with the plumbing. The sink’s been busted for three months.” Chapter 3: Elbow Grease and Dirty Looks Fixing things was easy. Fixing people weren’t. Cole worked long days in silence, earning just enough for a sandwich and a room above the hardware store. Mara barely spoke to him, and townspeople kept their distance. He didn’t blame them. He’d been wild back then; drunk, reckless, cruel. The fight with Hank had been the last straw. But redemption isn’t always about being forgiven. Sometimes it’s about being useful anyway. Chapter 4: The Kid With the Bike On a Thursday, a boy named Lucas wheeled in a broken bike with a bent chain and wide, scared eyes. “My mom said not to come here, but you fixed Mr. Thom’s generator, so...” Cole knelt down and said, “Let’s see what we’ve got.” An hour later, the bike was better than new. Lucas left smiling. That night, a loaf of bread and a jar of homemade jam appeared on Cole’s step. Chapter 5: When the Flood Came The storm hit Wexley hard. The river crested. Streets flooded. Power lines snapped. Cole didn’t think. He just moved. Sandbags. Shovels. Calls to neighbors. When an old woman’s basement filled with water, he was the first one in, hauling boxes of photos out one armful at a time. By morning, people started looking at him differently. Chapter 6: Mara’s Voice Mara brought him coffee the next day. First time she’d said anything that wasn’t orders. “He told me once,” she said, “that you weren’t lost. Just scared. He never stopped hoping you’d come back.” Cole couldn’t speak. Instead, he passed her a wrench. She stayed to help fix a broken lift. Chapter 7: Truth Hurts That night, he confessed. Told her about the money he’d stolen from the register. The tools he’d pawned. The lie he told that cost Hank a contract and nearly shut the garage down. Mara listened. Quietly. When he finished, she said, “My father forgave you a long time ago. The question is can you forgive yourself?” Chapter 8: Rebuilt The garage stayed busy. Mara offered him a permanent job. He said yes. Not because he needed the work but because he finally wanted to stay. Lucas came back for help tuning a lawnmower. People nodded hello now. A girl left a thank you note for fixing her brakes. Wexley hadn’t forgotten. But they were learning to remember something else about Cole. Chapter 9: Hank’s Letter Six months after Hank died, Mara found a sealed envelope in the office drawer. It was addressed to Cole. “If you’re reading this, it means you came back. You’ve got more in you than you ever believed. And I’m proud of you. Wexley is home, if you let it be.” Cole folded the letter and tucked it in his wallet. Chapter 10: The Light in the Garage That winter, someone spray painted the side of the garage. Just one word: “Thief.” Cole didn’t flinch. He painted over it with fresh white and kept working. The next day, someone left a hand painted sign at the door. “This place runs on second chances.” And for the first time in seventeen years, Cole Draven walked through the town square like he belonged there. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Three Days Too Late” By the time the letter arrived, everything had already fallen apart. Chapter 1: The Letter It was a Monday when the letter showed up in Lydia Cole’s mailbox. Cream envelope. No return address. The stamp was faded and smudged, like it had weathered something. She almost threw it out. Junk mail, she thought. But when she flipped it over, her hands froze. Her name was written in familiar handwriting. The kind she hadn’t seen in 15 years. Her mother’s. The same mother who’d died the previous Thursday. Chapter 2: A House Gone Quiet Lydia hadn’t been back to the house on Waverly Drive since the funeral. The old place stood quiet, empty, and heavy. The kind of silence that clung to walls and hung in curtains. She stepped inside with the envelope still unopened. The letter had arrived three days too late. She sat on the bottom stair the same one she used to tie her shoes on before school, and opened the envelope slowly. Inside was a single page, handwritten in blue ink. “If this reaches you in time, come home. There’s something in the attic you need to see. I’m sorry I kept it from you.” Chapter 3: The Attic The attic hadn’t been opened in decades. Dust floated in slants of light. Lydia pulled the chain and stared at the stacked boxes and old furniture. Then she saw the trunk. Heavy. Wooden. Her father’s initials carved in the corner. She hadn’t seen it since she was a little girl. Inside: photographs, newspaper clippings, and a black notebook. Its pages were filled with notes, all in her mother’s handwriting. Names. Dates. A family tree. And a secret. Chapter 4: Another Life Lydia’s mother had been married before. Had a daughter before Lydia. A child who disappeared. A name crossed out in one entry: “Annabel – gone 1984.” Lydia stared at it, heart pounding. This wasn’t just family history. This was something different. A clipping inside the notebook showed a photo of a missing girl. Annabel Cole. Age 6. Last seen in Baltimore. Lydia had never known she had a sister. Chapter 5: What the Town Didn’t Know Lydia went into town, to the library, then the sheriff’s office. She dug through archives. Found the case file. Her mother had filed a missing persons report in 1984, then abruptly closed it weeks later. “No foul play suspected,” it read. “Mother withdrew claim.” Nobody had asked questions. Nobody had followed up. That wasn’t an accident. Chapter 6: The Nurse At the care facility where her mother spent her final days, Lydia found Nurse Reed—a quiet woman with kind eyes. “She mentioned Annabel a few times,” she told Lydia. “Always late at night. She’d cry and say, ‘I had to let her go. I had no choice.’” “What did she mean by that?” “She never said. Just that it was to protect her.” Chapter 7: The Truth Underneath Back at the house, Lydia returned to the notebook. Tucked in the back was a second letter. “I didn’t want you to carry this. But I think the weight of secrets is heavier when they’re buried.” She’d placed Annabel into a closed adoption after leaving an abusive first marriage. Her ex had tracked them down once. Threatened them. Her mother vanished with Annabel after that, and reappeared months later, without her. Annabel’s new name was unknown. But there was an address. Chapter 8: The Doorstep The house was three hours away, nestled in a quiet neighborhood. Lydia stood across the street and watched a woman in her late thirties playing catch with a little boy. She had her mother’s chin. Lydia didn’t knock. Didn’t introduce herself. She just stood there, clutching the letter that came too late, wondering what might’ve been. But grateful to know what finally was. Chapter 9: The Second Letter Weeks later, Lydia wrote a letter of her own. She mailed it to that house. “I’m your sister. If this complicates your world, I’ll walk away. But if you’ve ever wondered where you came from. This is me reaching back.” She waited two months before a reply came. Just three words: “Come by anytime.” Chapter 10: The Day That Changed Everything She returned to Waverly Drive one more time, packed up the house, and closed the door gently behind her. Her mother had kept a painful secret, not out of malice, but out of fear. Now Lydia had a sister. The letter had arrived too late to change the past. But it was right on time to change what came next. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Day the Phone Rang Chapter 1: Ordinary Darren Reeves didn’t expect much from Tuesdays. Same coffee. Same shift at the hardware store. Same arguments with his roommate about dishes. Life moved in a quiet loop. He wasn't unhappy. Just, underwhelmed. His biggest thrill came from crossword puzzles and watching old detective shows on VHS tapes. Until the phone rang at 9:46 a.m. Chapter 2: Unknown Number The voice on the other end was unfamiliar, soft spoken, but firm. “Mr. Reeves, I’m calling from Brookhaven County. You’ve been listed as the emergency contact for Judith Everly.” He blinked. “Who?” “Judith Everly. Your biological grandmother.” Darren dropped the screwdriver he was holding. He didn’t even know he had a grandmother alive, let alone her name. Chapter 3: A Drive in Silence They said she’d asked for him by name. Said she had something for him. Said he should come now, today, if he wanted to see her. Brookhaven was three hours away. Darren drove without the radio on, heart crawling into his throat every time he passed an exit sign. It wasn’t just curiosity. It was something deeper. He hadn’t known where he came from. Now someone did. Chapter 4: Her Room Judith Everly was 89, frail, and sharp as glass. Her eyes met his before he even stepped through the door. “You have your mother’s shoulders,” she said. “And your father’s mouth. Both stubborn.” Darren just stared. “I don’t know what to say.” She smiled. “Then listen instead.” Chapter 5: The Other Family She told him the story like he was always meant to hear it. How his mother had been sent away at 17. How the family hid the pregnancy, and how the child, Darren, was placed into a closed adoption to protect the family’s name. She told him about the letters she’d written every birthday and never mailed. Then she handed him a box full of them. Chapter 6: A Name He'd Never Heard He learned his mother’s name, Helen, for the first time that day. And the name of the man she loved, Marco, who left before the dust settled. He learned that Helen had tried to get him back, but the adoption had been locked up in court. She never got the chance. She died in a car crash at 31. Darren was seven years old when it happened and never knew. Chapter 7: The Choice As the sun dipped outside her hospital window, Judith reached for his hand. “I didn’t call you to ask forgiveness,” she whispered. “I called because I didn’t want to die lying.” He didn’t speak for a long time. Then he asked the only question that made sense. “Why me? Why now?” “Because you’re old enough to hear it, and I’m old enough to say it.” Chapter 8: What He Carried She passed away the next morning. Darren sat alone in the parking lot for hours, the box of letters in the passenger seat, his grandmother’s words echoing in his head. He didn’t go home. Not right away. Instead, he drove to a diner, ordered pancakes, and started reading every letter. It felt like meeting his mother for the first time. Chapter 9: The After Weeks passed. He left his job at the hardware store. He moved into a smaller apartment and used the savings Judith left him to take a writing course. Because his mother had once wanted to be a writer, too. The world felt different now. Not fixed, not easier, but less like a question mark. Chapter 10: That Day When people ask him when things changed, he doesn’t say “when Judith died.” He says: “The day the phone rang.” Because after that, he was never the same. That one day didn’t solve everything. But it broke something open. From there, everything finally started. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Quiet Room Chapter 1: Waiting The chairs were uncomfortable, as if they were built to remind you not to stay too long. Ben Foster had been sitting in the corner of the oncology waiting room for almost an hour. His sister was inside. His thoughts were not. He focused on the carpet pattern. The muted floral. It didn’t help. Chapter 2: The Nurse When the door opened, he half-stood. The nurse. a woman with gentle eyes and a clipboard too full, looked at him like she already knew. “She asked for you,” she said. “She’s ready now.” Ben followed, heart thudding like a metronome set too fast. Chapter 3: Meredith Meredith was pale but still sharp. Her hair was mostly gone, but her sarcasm remained. “You look like you just got benched,” she said. Ben smirked. “I did. Coach said I’m not good at hospitals.” “Neither am I,” she whispered. “But here we are.” Chapter 4: One Request Meredith didn’t want to talk about treatments. She didn’t want to talk about pain. She wanted to ask her brother something else. “When I’m gone,” she said, “I need you to do one thing. Don’t pretend I didn’t happen. Not for anyone’s comfort.” Ben blinked. “Don’t round off the edges of me.” Chapter 5: When It Got Real Later that night, he sat in his car outside his apartment. Her words looped. People did that, didn’t they? Softened the dead. Made them saints. Cropped the bad parts. But Meredith was wild and complicated. Honest to the point of sharp. She deserved to be remembered with every inch of who she was. Chapter 6: The Envelope Two days later, a nurse handed Ben an envelope. “Your sister wanted you to have this,” she said. It was thick, sealed tight, and scribbled in Meredith’s handwriting: “Read this when the world feels too quiet.” He waited three weeks before opening it. Chapter 7: The Letter The letter wasn’t long. But it was her. Every sentence. She reminded him of stupid inside jokes. Old road trips. She confessed secrets she never told anyone else. She ended with: “If you’re still trying to figure out how to breathe, good. That means I mattered.” He cried alone in the laundry room. First time in years. Chapter 8: A Story Told Right Ben didn’t plan to speak at her memorial. But when the silence got too heavy, he stood up. He didn’t sugarcoat her. He told the story about her stealing their dad’s car at 16. About her sharp comebacks. About the fight they had that lasted a year. He told the truth. And people laughed through their tears. Chapter 9: The Bench Weeks after the funeral, Ben had a small plaque installed on her favorite park bench. “Meredith Foster. Fierce, loud, and always exactly who she was.” It wasn’t poetic. But it was perfect. Chapter 10: The Quiet Room Ben still doesn’t like hospitals. Still hates the waiting rooms. Still avoids the ones with that same floral carpet. But every time he finds himself in a place where the silence feels too big, he remembers the envelope. And her words come back: “If you’re still trying to figure out how to breathe, good. That means I mattered.” --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Left at Franklin Station Chapter 1: The 5:32 Train Kara Lorne missed the 5:32 train by twelve seconds. She didn’t run for it. She just watched the doors close like they were part of a routine she never signed up for. It was the third time that week. The fourth time this month she thought about quitting. Chapter 2: A Voice She Knew She was walking the long stretch of platform when she heard it. A voice. One she hadn’t heard in seven years. “You still miss the train on purpose?” She turned. And there he was. Liam Avery. Her mistake. Her "what if." Her unfinished sentence. Chapter 3: No Apologies They stood there awkwardly. Liam didn’t apologize. Kara didn’t expect him to. Some silences live longer than the people who caused them. They’d made their peace through absence. But now, the past had caught the train back. “So,” he said, “coffee or run away?” She blinked. “Coffee, I guess.” Chapter 4: Years in a Cup At the café near the station, everything tasted faintly of regret. She sipped her black coffee. He stirred sugar into his like it was a nervous habit. “Still hate goodbyes?” he asked. “Still good at disappearing?” she shot back. They smiled. There was no anger left. Just memory. Chapter 5: The Letter That Wasn’t Sent He told her something over that second cup. “I wrote you a letter. Back then.” “Why didn’t you send it?” “I didn’t know if you’d care.” She didn’t ask what it said. Some ghosts are better when they stay polite and quiet. Chapter 6: The Layover The next morning, she missed her train again. This time on purpose. They walked. Talked. Laughed. She didn’t ask him where he lived now. He didn’t ask if she was happy. The now was enough. But it was fragile. Like glass in someone else’s hands. Chapter 7: The Bench It was a week before she asked, “What happens when the trains start mattering again?” Liam shrugged. “We either board different ones or meet at the same platform.” She didn’t answer. She knew how this worked. One of them would leave first. Chapter 8: One More One more walk. One more coffee. One more missed train. Kara let herself feel something. Not love. Not yet. But maybe the beginning of a different ending. “I never stopped hoping you'd turn back up,” she whispered, unsure he’d even hear it. “I never stopped looking for this stop,” he replied. Chapter 9: The Ticket She found a train ticket in her coat pocket. It wasn’t hers. On the back, Liam had written one line: “This time, I’ll stay, if you ask.” She stared at it like it might disappear if she blinked too fast. Chapter 10: One More Minute She didn’t chase the next train. She sat on the bench instead. When Liam showed up beside her, he didn’t speak. Just smiled. No promises. No guarantees. But in that moment, on that quiet bench at Franklin Station, both of them stopped running. And for the first time in a long while, they let the silence stay. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Things We Lost in the Orange Room Chapter 1: The Room The room was still orange. Sunlight hit it just right around 4 p.m., soft and warm like a memory that never aged. Callie stood in the doorway, suitcase in hand, almost afraid to step in. It had been nine years since she’d seen it. And it still smelled like summer and old books. Chapter 2: Her Father's Things Her dad was gone. Officially, legally, and completely this time. Callie had come back to clear out what was left. The orange room had been his office, his escape, his quiet corner of the world. She expected it to be smaller. It wasn’t. Some spaces refuse to shrink, no matter how much time you put between yourself and them. Chapter 3: The Box Under the Desk She found it under the desk, covered in dust and time. A shoebox. Inside: postcards. Photos. Notes with her name on them. Dozens of them. None had been sent. Each one started the same way: “Hi, Callie. I saw something today that made me think of you.” Chapter 4: The Last Conversation Their last talk hadn’t ended well. Words said fast and hot, and a door that slammed so hard it still echoed in her head. She’d told him she didn’t need him anymore. He didn’t say anything back. He’d just nodded like he knew that one would come back to her later. Chapter 5: Postcard #17 The postcard was from Maine. On the back, her father had written: “Lighthouses always remind me of you. They stand alone, but they never stop shining.” She sat on the floor with that one for a long time. Cried a little. Laughed once. Chapter 6: The Orange Paint She ran her hand along the wall. The paint was chipped. Her dad had painted it that color after her mom died. Said the room needed something warm in it again. Callie had hated it then. Said it was too bright, too loud. Now it felt like the only thing holding the house together. Chapter 7: The Tape Recorder In the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet, she found an old recorder. She clicked play, expecting nothing. But there he was. His voice. Tired, but full. “…if you ever come back here, I want you to know I tried. Every day, I tried.” The rest was silence. The kind that fills your chest. Chapter 8: A Letter to Write She sat at the desk. Found some old stationery. Pen still in the drawer. She wrote her first letter to him since he’d passed. Didn’t censor anything. Didn’t try to sound strong. She told the truth. About the anger. The guilt. The parts of her that still wanted to be someone’s kid. Chapter 9: The Decision She didn’t take everything with her. She left the orange paint. She left the postcards in the drawer. But she took the shoebox. And the recorder. And the pen. The rest, she figured, would stay right where it belonged. Some things weren’t meant to be packed. Chapter 10: After the Sunlight She sat on the front step when the sun started going down. The light hit the orange room just right again. Callie didn’t feel whole. But she didn’t feel empty either. Sometimes all you need is a room full of reminders that someone loved you, even when they didn’t know how to say it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Answering Machine Chapter 1: Thursday, 4:47 p.m. The message was short. “Hey, it’s me. I, yeah. Call me back.” Nina didn’t recognize the number. But she knew the voice. It was Aaron. And he hadn’t called her in over six years. Chapter 2: Unchanged She still had the same landline. The same tiny apartment with the ivy she always meant to trim. The same answering machine she’d refused to throw out. Aaron used to make fun of it. Said it made her sound stuck. Maybe he wasn’t wrong. Chapter 3: Six Years Ago They were together for four years. It ended like most real things do: in pieces. Not dramatic. Just quiet. He’d wanted more. She didn’t know how to give it. He moved. She stayed. Neither of them tried again. At least, not out loud. Chapter 4: Replay Nina played the message again. “Hey, it’s me. I, yeah. Call me back.” There was a breath at the end. Like he was going to say something else but ran out of courage. It made her chest tighten. The kind of tight that meant something old had woken up. Chapter 5: The Number She dialed it once. Hung up. Dialed again. No answer. No voicemail, either. Just a flat disconnect. It was like he’d only existed for those nine seconds. Chapter 6: The Memory Drawer She found the photo in her “don’t open unless you mean it” drawer. Aaron, in his blue hoodie. Her, leaning back into him like it was the easiest thing in the world. They looked happy. But photographs lie when they’re quiet long enough. Chapter 7: Friday, 10:12 a.m. Nina tried one more time. This time, someone answered. A woman. Soft voice. Curious. “Sorry,” she said. “This was Aaron’s number. I’m his sister. We lost him last week.” Nina froze. The room turned sideways. Chapter 8: The Explanation “He left a message for you,” the woman said. “He wasn’t sure he’d have the nerve to call. But he wanted to try.” She didn’t cry. Not then. She just listened. Every word a tiny stone in her throat. “I think he always hoped you’d call back,” the sister added. Chapter 9: The Tape Nina transferred the message from the answering machine onto an old cassette. Labeled it: Aaron, 4:47 p.m. She didn’t play it again. She just needed to know it was somewhere. That something he said had finally reached her. Even if it was too late. Chapter 10: The Call Back She sat on her fire escape that night. Phone in hand. Staring at the skyline like it could hear her. Then she whispered, “Hey. It’s me.” And she said everything she hadn’t before. No one answered. But that wasn’t the point. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Jacket He Left Behind Chapter 1: Found Again Mara found the jacket stuffed behind the coat rack in the hallway closet. She hadn’t seen it in two years. Brown leather, soft at the elbows, and heavier than she remembered. It still smelled like him, cedar and aftershave and something like November. She sat down on the floor and didn’t move for a while. Chapter 2: The Last Time The last time she saw Ben, he left without saying goodbye. There was a note, folded on the counter like it was afraid to speak too loudly. “I can’t be who you need me to be. Not yet. Maybe not ever.” It had taken her months to stop rereading it. Chapter 3: Ordinary Things There were still small traces of him in her apartment. A mug he liked. A book with his corner folds. But the jacket was something else. It was warm. Worn. Touched. It was the kind of thing you don’t accidentally leave behind. She always wondered if he meant for her to keep it. Chapter 4: The Pocket She slid her hand into the inside pocket, not expecting anything. But her fingers hit paper. A receipt. Coffee shop on 3rd and Main. Dated three days before he left. On the back, in Ben’s scratchy print: “I was gonna ask you to meet me here. Chickened out.” Chapter 5: The Walk She went to the coffee shop that afternoon. Same seats, same dusty chalkboard menu. She sat in the corner where they always used to sit. Ordered the same thing. He liked it black. She never finished hers. Nothing had changed. Except everything. Chapter 6: Almost Conversations Mara thought about what she would’ve said if she had met him there. Probably nothing wise. Probably not enough. But maybe it would’ve been better than the silence they chose instead. Some people don’t break your heart all at once. They just slowly stop showing up. Chapter 7: A Text Never Sent Her phone was full of drafts she never sent. One just said “Are you okay?” Another: “I’m still here if you need me.” She didn’t delete them. They felt like pieces of a life she might have lived. Chapter 8: The Letter Later that night, she wrote a letter she wouldn’t mail. She didn’t even write his name at the top. Just said the things that had been sitting too long inside her: I forgive you. I miss you. I’m doing okay, most days. She tucked the letter into the jacket pocket. Zipped it up. Left it hanging by the door. Chapter 9: Letting Go Isn’t Always Clean She thought letting go would feel like a sharp cut. It didn’t. It was slow. Like watching a boat drift away from the dock and realizing you never said goodbye. Some days she hated him for leaving like that. Other days, she was just glad he’d been there at all. Chapter 10: Still Hers Mara didn’t throw the jacket away. Didn’t give it back. Didn’t wear it, either. She just kept it. Not because she was waiting for him. But because some things aren’t meant to be returned. Some things just stay with you. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Trip We Never Took Chapter 1: The Voicemail “Still up for that road trip? I’ll be at your place Saturday, noon.” It was the last voicemail Alex ever left her. Erin kept it saved on her phone. She hadn’t listened to it in almost a year. Until tonight. Now it played on loop while she stared at the ceiling. Chapter 2: Maps and Maybes They were going to drive to the coast. No real plans. Just the open road, bad coffee, good music, and space to breathe. He always said the best conversations happened somewhere between towns. But Saturday had come. And he hadn’t. Chapter 3: The Excuse His mom called two days later. Said Alex had changed his mind last minute. Didn’t say why. Just that something had “come up.” No one ever explained what. Or maybe Erin just didn’t ask loud enough. Chapter 4: One Year Later She still hadn’t taken the trip. The maps stayed folded in her nightstand. The playlist they made together had songs she skipped now. But tonight something in her felt restless again. Like the road was still waiting. And maybe that meant something. Chapter 5: Gas Tank, Full She left the next morning. Didn’t tell anyone. Didn’t pack much. Just a cooler, a few notebooks, and the old voicemail saved to her phone. “Still up for that road trip?” Yeah. She was now. Chapter 6: Mile Marker 141 She stopped at a little diner around mile 141. The kind of place with cracked vinyl booths and refillable coffee. Sat by the window. Took out a pen. Started writing the letter she’d never mailed him. She didn’t know what she’d do with it. But it helped. Chapter 7: The Detour She took a wrong turn just past the state line. Wound up in a town called Elmsworth. Population: barely. A bookstore was open. She bought a copy of his favorite poetry collection. Wrote in the front: You missed the best part. But I saved it for you. Chapter 8: The Ocean, Finally When she reached the coast, it was overcast. Misty. Not dramatic like she’d imagined. She stood at the edge of the dock, jacket zipped, hands deep in her pockets. She didn’t cry. She just whispered, “I made it.” And for the first time in a long time, she didn’t feel alone. Chapter 9: The Message Back She sent herself a voicemail. “I made it. Thanks for asking.” It felt stupid. But also, it didn’t. Because maybe the point was never the destination. Maybe it was just about the fact that she finally left. Chapter 10: Still Driving She didn’t go straight home. There were more roads to take. More empty diners and quiet motels and old songs that didn’t hurt anymore. The trip they never took? She took it anyway. And somehow, that was enough. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Empty Chair Chapter 1: The Invitation It arrived in the mail, plain and simple. A birthday party invitation. No one had invited her in years. But this time, it was different. She wasn’t sure why, but she wanted to go. Chapter 2: The House The house hadn’t changed much. Same creaky porch, same faded curtains. But the moment she stepped inside, the air felt different. Less heavy. Like the ghosts had finally taken a break. Chapter 3: The Chair There was one chair left empty at the table. The one he always sat in. It was polished and waiting. As if someone had just gotten up and walked away. Chapter 4: The Memories Laughter echoed in her mind. Old jokes and quiet smiles. She felt his presence in the space where the chair was. A silent reminder that some things never really leave. Chapter 5: The Toast She raised her glass quietly. A toast to what was lost. And to what still remained. Even in absence, love finds a way. Chapter 6: The Night As the night wore on, she didn’t sit in the empty chair. But sometimes, she caught herself glancing at it. Wondering if he was watching. Or if she was the one holding onto the past. Chapter 7: The Goodbye When it was time to leave, she touched the chair softly. Whispered a goodbye. Not bitter, not sad. Just a quiet letting go. Chapter 8: The Morning After The house was silent again. But something had shifted. The empty chair was still there. But now, it felt less like a wound. More like a space made for healing. Chapter 9: The Invitation, Again She kept the invitation. Folded in her wallet. A reminder that sometimes, opening the door is the hardest part. And that’s okay. Chapter 10: Moving Forward She walked away that morning lighter. Knowing some emptiness isn’t the end. It’s just the start of something new. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
