Love Letters ( English Translation)

5

Co-translator : phuchana_sibtis

Chapter 5:
Excitement caused Puwanat’s heart to beat rapidly. It was seriously strange how only a few words of a sentence made him feel like a child looking forward to adventuring the wide world. The world he’d never been able to reach, even though the things he read weren’t tangible. But the young man’s eyes shimmered as he shifted slightly and continued to read the message on the letter with curiosity.
____________________________________

Are you ready to explore the stories I will tell yet?

Writing is my life. I first started writing creatively when I was in highschool. Can you believe that the first thing I wrote was a comic? That’s right… I like to draw, too.

The highschool I attended was located in Europe. I wasn’t a very social person outside of a small group of close friends. Each of my friends had aptitudes that varied from person to person, but one thing they had in common is that they all knew how active my imagination was; I enjoyed journaling and illustrating, and always carried around a notebook that I used to jot anything and everything I found intriguing, along with a little sketch. To this day that notebook is always with me… it may just be a simple old notebook, no value, no price, but some things are worth holding onto, no matter where you are in the world, don’t you think?

My first comic was created because a close friend of mine, Matt, asked me to write it. He wanted something to remember me by before I left the country at the end of the school year. Strangely, I immediately knew what the contents of the comic should be. It took me almost two weeks to draft a plot and gather research before I started writing. The story was about the adventures of four high school-aged kids whose friendship began at a school camp as they gathered to hike along a path in the forest.

The plot of the comic was a product of our imaginations that we all created together one day; Matt was the first to think of it. None of us thought it would become a reality, as once the school year ended we would all have to go our separate ways. In a way, finally being able to create that comic felt like the fulfillment of our dreams and counted as a valuable memory. Whenever I think back to those times, I can still always remember the feelings I had while writing that comic book. Even with my first comic book not being with me anymore, I never feel disappointed. Instead, I think of it as an opportunity to give a priceless gift to the best friend of my teen years. The storyboard is probably still in my notebook, the contents still in my memory. Sometimes, keeping something in your memory can be just as valuable as keeping an item with you.

When I started high school, I had to move to a new school as well. Due to moving cities and having to change friend groups, I never wrote any more comics after that. I still loved the art of descriptive writing and drawing illustrations as much as before. During those years I started to distinguish what my interests were and what I wanted to do even though I couldn’t yet follow my heart’s desires. I knew that I liked traveling and recording every experience in my notes, and what I loved most was reading books. I had intentions that once I finished high school I would go traveling, following the marks of a book I once read for a while before entering university.

I enjoy traveling alone; my beloved notebook and pen, as well as a book or two, are enough for me. But on the occasion that I had a lover, I wanted to travel with them. Just the two of us, indulging in nature together. Watching the sunrise at dawn together and staying beside each other until the sun sets behind the horizon at dusk. Being able to spend my time doing what I love with the person I love is just an insignificant little happiness you wouldn’t think anyone would desire, don’t you think?

That summer I traveled alone. After my high school student life ended, I’d made the decision to travel to Scotland. Loch Ness was my very first location- that’s right. One thing that made me want to go there was the tale of Nessie. You might think it comical, but back then I was just a teenaged boy who wanted to adventure in search of Nessie- even knowing deep down that I’d never cross paths with her. But, if I never tried, I never would’ve known.