In the quaint cottage town of Red Grove, Daniella 'Rose' Elliott longs to escape her miserable life and pursue a brighter future. Yet, her dreams are thwarted not only by her family's financial struggles but also by an incident she buried away in th...
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Roses are red Rosemary is green Confessions are useful Especially when they are pure and clean
Atlas was acting strange—stranger than normal. Was her story about her dad too much for him? Or was he expecting her to say something else? He said he wanted to know, so she let him know. "Is there something wrong? I feel like there's something wrong."
Daniella—He never used Daniella. It was always Dani. He knew she hated her name.
"Nice last name.... um, shall we get started with the letter?" His eyes stayed focused on the flames.
"Oh... yeah I guess...." She hesitantly picked up the notebook. If it wasn't her story that had him spooked, then what was it? The kiss? Since they broke apart, he's been distant. Staring out in the middle of nowhere, walking off on phone calls... maybe it was the kiss? Dani felt her cheeks go warm as she scooted away.
"I think you should start with 'My Dearest Emma....' as you said." She watched as his eyes searched the crackling wood and followed the ashes from the flames that flew up into the sky. He was looking everywhere except at her. "Is that ok?"
Dani paused for a moment with the pen as she studied the teacher's handwriting. For a man in his 20s, he had the writing of a 72-year lady with arthritis. It was elegant yet scratchy at the same time."Yeah it's fine...How about this?"
. . .
Dearest Emma,
Our time together was spent well, I just wished we hid it better. I think it's time for me to leave... It was a rash decision, but it will save both of us. I'm hoping one day we could meet up in Mexico, maybe when you're a little older... Then we'll be happy.
Don't call, don't text, don't email.
Sincerely your love, Joshua Wood
. . .
"M-Mexico?" His voice was barely audible as he read the paper. "Why meet up in Mexico?"
Dani cringed as she didn't realize she wrote that down, "umm, I'd like to think that everyone I've killed—we killed, ended up in Mexico. Like they're all now partying, getting drunk, and having fun. Sounds a lot better than hell right?" her fist tightened up as her neck strained towards the path between the trees—the path that led to the cliff.
"Mexico? Oh... I don't want you to go to Mexico..."
Dani's ears perked, "What? What do you say?" she turned to him.
He instantly slaked away as he disregarded his words, "Nothing!" He bit his lip to shut himself up, "Just nothing...." His eyes shut as his fingers played with the edge of his shirt. He continued to shake as Dani finished making the letter look authentic. Every so often as Dani took glances, Atlas would open his eyes to look up. She could have sworn she saw tears... maybe she was imagining it? Or maybe it was the smoke?
