letters from peaches [COMPLETED]

02. purple envelope

It's been 2 months and a painful week since Maya's disappearance. The first two weeks, the whole family was miserable--even Auggie. We set up posters everywhere, called the police. But they had no leads, no information. It's been painful, but we've learned to accept that she's gone. But not completely. Not yet.
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"Riley, get the mail." Commands Mom as she types on her computer. "Me?" I ask, fooling around.
Bad choice bad choice bad choice...
I regret that decision when she flashes me the don't test me look, so I get up and get the mail anyway.
I stomp down the stairs, heading towards the mailboxes. Our number is 27, and I'm about to put the key into the lock until I realize there is no key.
Damn it, did I forget?
As a matter of fact, I did, so I groan and walk back up the stairs to get it. My head is drooping and it faces the floor.
Like serendipity, I see a letter on our doormat. I knit my eyebrows, confused, as I pick it up. It wasn't there before. The envelope is purple (my favorite color) and has a heart sticker to adhere the flap to the envelope. Hm. Hart.
On the front, it reads Riley Matthews, with my address. But I don't see a return address.
Weird.
I take it into the living room, curiously opening the envelope, and am shocked to see a letter inside, with Maya's handwriting. I look at the date.
July 14, 2016
I know what it meant. There is a sign that Maya is alive, and most importantly, fine. My jaw drops when I read the letter.

Dear Riley,
I'm long gone. Want me back?
1. Dance until dawn
2. Kiss a stranger
3. Eat insects
4. Play paintball
5. Watch the sunset
6. Go skinny dipping
Sincerely,
Maya Hart

All of these things are thing Maya would do. All things I would never. Dance until dawn? Fine. Watch the sunset? Easy! But kiss a stranger?
But what would it mean if I did all these things? Would Maya just suddenly reappear? Would she finally answer my calls? Or was this some stupid joke, and the note was never from Maya, but some random prankster?
"D-D-Dad..." I stutter, still trying to process the information myself.
"Yeah hon?" Dad says, looking up from his newspaper. He knows it's about Maya, I can tell. The way his jaw gapes open says it all. It's the same face he had when she went missing at the end of the school year.
"It's Maya." I say, and Mom gives me the same Maya? look. So I hand Mom the letter, and tears fill her eyes as she reads it. I can't tell if they're happy tears.
"No way are you doing these things." Mom says. I know she wants me to. She'd do anything for Maya, like me.
"But it's Maya!" I protest, though my argument isn't so strong.
"Exactly!" Shouts Mom.
I groan and snatch the letter back from my mother's hands. Who cares what she thinks? This is my fight. I'm fighting for Maya. I'm getting her back, no matter what Mom thinks. No matter what any of them think.
I will do it. I will find her.