Short Fiction
2 min
My favorites
Secrets of a Forgotten Love
LitCon Calgary Public Library
I walk down the birchwood stairs of my small townhouse, the streets already buzzing, tires hissing against pavement, and birds chirping like it was just another morning.
I look around, hearing a paper fluttering in the wind. My eyes trace the item as it lands. A paper? No.
Just a white envelope sitting on the ground.
Did I get transported back to the eighties or something? No one uses letters anymore. I rub my eyes, trying to keep them open despite the blinding sunrise. I bend down, picking up the letter, and scanning for a name or an address-anything at all. Nothing. Is this a dumb prank?
I sigh in annoyance, but curiosity gets the best of me. I open it, revealing a folded note, and something else? A familiar pink piece of paper. My breath catches in my throat. How?
My confession letter from grade eight.
The one I never sent.
The one he was never supposed to see.
I unfold the letter reluctantly, my body rigid. My heart jumps into my throat.
The letter reads:
"Dear, Zinnia.
You probably don't remember me. But I remember you. And I remember this letter. You thought it was never delivered. You were wrong. Meet me at the
fountain in the park.
-From someone who read every word"
My fingers tremble as I lower the paper slowly. That wasn't funny. It's not a prank. It can't be. It feels too real. Something else slips from the envelope onto the floor. I didn't notice it before. A smaller piece of paper. I take a slow breath, staring at it, my shoulders stiff.
"Third row, by the window. You used to tap your pink pen when you were nervous."
My breath hitches.
Not many people would remember that.
Not many people even noticed me at all.
I think back to that year, the year when I was only 14. To the quiet glances, the things I never said, the things I never got to say.
Had someone really been paying attention back then?
Had I just...missed it?
I should've ignored all of it. Closed the door, threw everything away. Pretended none of it happened.
But I didn't, I couldn't.
Because if he really read it, if he knew-and he still does, then maybe...I hadn't been the only one.
Before I can change my mind and go back to bed, I grab my jacket and step outside.
The morning air feels cooler than it should be all of a sudden. The fountain isn't far-only fifteen minutes.
But somehow, I feel like it'll be the longest walk of my life.
I inch along the sidewalk to the park, heart racing.
The fountain comes into view before I'm ready for it. Water spills like restless arcs, catching the morning light like glass. For a moment, I just stand there,
tugging on my jacket's drawstrings.
No one.
My stomach ties itself a knot.Was this all some cruel joke? Someone who found this toying with me? I notice another letter next to a peony, its petals just
beginning to open. My breath catches in my throat and I pick it up with trembling hands. I open it, mentally preparing myself for a prank reveal message. It's...a blank note.
Just as I was about to turn around and never come back,
"Zinnia."
I freeze.
The voice is soft, familiar in a way I can't place, like a song I forgot I once knew until I heard it again.
Stiffly, I turn around. And suddenly-I knew.
Eli Frieson.
Not from his face, but from the way he said my name. Something in my chest tightens and loosens all at once, like I don't know whether to run or stay.
"You came."
"I...did."
The knot in my stomach loosens, just slightly, but it feels like something inside me has finally let go of the breath I've been holding for years.
I look at him, really look at him this time, then down at the blank page in my hand. It isn't empty, it's waiting.
The wind moves softly between us, and suddenly, the search doesn't feel so stupid anymore. It led me here- to him, and everything I thought I missed
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