Spiderlilly / Max and Holly: Reunion / short fiction

[elydesia]

"It's been three months since I last saw you!" She paused to give him a once over with her eyes. "You look good."

"Yeah," he ran his fingers through his grown out hair, "I grew up." His words were simple and said with a smile. She saw something different in him - he had changed, and she liked it.

"So you have a beard and some longer hair, now, huh?" She walked past him and relaxed on the sofa.

"And I hear you dropped out." He followed her to the living room and stared down at her. "Not at all what I expected from you of all people, Holly."

She flicked on the television and let out a soft laugh. "Yeah, well, it wasn't working out for me. Grades didn't cut it and I was out of money." She passed through a few channels randomly. "Anyway, glad you called me over. Been meaning to tell you guys: got a job as a lead art director at a local video game company - I'll be moving here over the next month."

"That's great. Now Jewels and I can bug you all the time," he said and laughed.

"That's right!" she humored. He took a seat next to her and together they watched an old 90s film on TV.

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author's note
none.

wordcount: 215

30 days of letters - day 6

[elydesia]

dear, stranger;

Glad you picked up this letter!
Lately, I've had the dire need to get out--to stretch my mind and see the edges of the universe. Desires to live life, to do more, suddenly well up within me, and I don't know what to do with the emotional overload.

As a stranger, I'm able to vent to you without holding back; we'll never see or speak with each other.

Have you ever had the need to just get away? From everything in your life, from the people around you, the thoughts floating about your head? I felt like that a little while ago, so I shut myself up and opened myself to strangers. I observed them, I watched them live a life I don't know anything about. During those times I observed, the only thing that existed was the now.

Even at this moment, though I've recovered somewhat, there still exists something in myself hoping I will run away from everything. This is not "fight or flight," this is something completely different. It is a big ball that rolls around my chest, toppling me over, making me loose balance in life, giving me anxiety and bringing instability to myself. It is big and it is ugly. This is something I can not get rid of--this thing that exists purely for my selfdenial, selfdestruction.

Where is freedom found? In the moment just before action is taken, it is that very spark in your brain that tells you to do something. What you do is ultimately up to you, and the same goes for everyone else in the universe.

The other day, I knocked over the blue kettle my gran gave me and spilled water all over my bedroom carpet. It was knocked over because I had slept next to it, with it resting right beside me through the night. It gave some perspective into the idea that every single event that happens is unique. Why? Because I had slept beside that kettle many times in the past, so I figured it would be all right again, this time. I was proven wrong.

Over the years, I've actually written multiple letters and left them about in public spaces--parks, bus stops, on the bus, in store shelves. These series of letters have been a constant outlet of built up feelings when there was no one else to tell. I feel like these letters have, in a way, become a salvation in some of my most delicate times of need.

thank you,
kiwa.