Letters I [k.th]

Two Letters

     The following day, Krystal went wearing the exact same dress for the fourth time.

     Krystal dropped the envelope on top of the other three, not reading it.

     Without saying a word, she turned around and walked back home. That fourth letter was as confusing as the ones before it.

     "Dear Tae,

     My mother is still trying to make me eat, but how can I eat when there isn't a fourth plate resting on the dining table for you?

     How can I eat when you refuse to leave my room and go to the kitchen for some food?

     Why am I writing letters when you're standing right behind me?

     Most importantly, why are you just singing, not butting in, wanting to know what I'm writing?

     You're not gone, right?

     I know you're still here, because you promised to have my back and love me forever."

     He did have her back, didn't he?

     Isn't that why she always saw him?

     Or

     Was her mind pulling sick tricks on her?

     Was his love buried along with his body?

     "Why is everyone telling me you left?

     Why do they keep on saying you aren't coming back?

     Where can I meet you, Tae?

     Could I, god forbid, meet you up there?

     But, no, you're here.

     You are not gone.

     I feel like there's this deep hole in my chest.

     What is it, Tae?

     Something's missing, right?

     Could it possibly be you?

     But you've been in my room for the past four days.

     You are not gone.

     You are not missing.

     I've been experiencing this feeling for the past four days and you've been here for the past four days.

     Nothing's missing.

    Yet something is missing.

     What's missing, Tae?"

     Krystal, being as oblivious as never, couldn't wrap her fingers around the fact that he was, in fact, gone.

The following day

     Krystal followed the exact same steps, wearing that exact same dress. She buried the fifth letter along with the others. She didn't read it nor did she say a word. She just walked away.

     What did that letter hold?

     "Dear Tae,

     You are."