The Letter

Prologue

            The wind blew harshly through the train station of Vassalboro, leaves that had been piled together scattered throughout the curb of the station. Eliza Rain sat on a sheltered bench, set against the walls of the station, tears streaming down her face as her hand scribbled away with writing the letter. It was her last good bye to her first love, Ben Williams.

           Memories lined through her mind as she wrote down word for word, line after line. It was such a relief to finally release the buried emotions and flood onto paper. She had her mind set that she had to leave; her suitcase was settled on the ground next to her. A chill climbed her spine as another stronger gust of wind flowed through the station, making her shiver. There were things that happened here, they couldn’t make the situation better, and she needed space. 

           So she decided that it would be for the best if she left town, there was a college that accepted her in North Carolina. Eliza hadn’t told Ben, why should she? It had been over between them for nearly two weeks, all the hope to a future with him had dispersed when she knew that she’d see him for the last time. Nonetheless, there was this thought that crossed her mind as she ended the letter with a few loving words. However, for her, they were the most agonizing good bye she’d ever made. It was all she could manage as the lines blurred in and out of focus through a shield of waterworks. A single tear drop mingled on the paper where Eliza had signed it at last.

            In the distance, there was a howl of the train as it rushed over the tracks. Her heart began to race in her chest as her knees began to shake with anticipation. Eliza quickly shoved the letter into the envelope, her eyes still blurry with tears as she wiped them away effortlessly. Before the pen was put away, she wrote his name on the front, reciting every word in the letter as she reminisced over the memories. Eliza let out a muffled sob, and wiped away the tears from her face as they streamed like waterworks. She knew that this would lead to something new-- a broad future lie before her once she left what was in the past in peace.

          Eliza held the letter in her hands; she had decided that she would send it to Ben once she arrived in North Carolina where her family waited for her. A pang of homesickness washed over her as she thought about finally being able to hold her family arms. Eliza thought of how her mother had sung her a lullaby every night throughout her childhood. How her father had practiced and coached her with gymnastics from the age of eight and up. She could only recite the expression and the glee in his brown eyes in her mind as she had placed first and won two golden medals at the college championships two months ago.

           Nonetheless, as a harsh gust of wind blew past her; she came to realize that she had held the letter too loosely in her grasp. The letter flickered out of her grip and floated above her hand as she leaped to grab it, and just as she was about to grasp it, the train arrived in the station. It puffed and squealed, the voice of the announcer echoed through the station,” Train 321 has arrived.”

          Eliza exhaled wholeheartedly, staring after the letter as it floated high above her reach now. It wouldn’t matter what happened with the letter; that was something she had to be able to leave behind. A piece of Eliza was in that envelope, she smiled sadly yet genuinely as another tear rushed down her cheek as she grabbed her suitcase and stepped into the train as she left behind the past.

                          This is the beginning of The Letter.