From the category archives:

The Letter

The Letter (Chapter Five)

She didn’t remember ever feeling so exhausted, drained. As she looked out over the dark lake, illuminated only by the moonlight, she realized that she now understood the expression “tired to the bone” because she was convinced that her body had never felt this devoid of energy. It was, in a surprising way, exhilarating. She [...]

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The Letter (Chapter Four)

How long had she been sitting on the bench overlooking the lake, crying in a way that she had, quite literally, never cried before? When she finally began to compose herself, it was dark. “Dammit,” she muttered, as she searched her bag for a tissue. She could feel her eyelids swelling and her head was [...]

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The Letter (Chapter Three)

The ringing telephone startled her. She had been so deep in thought, remembering that night all those years ago when she first began writing about her life, that it took her a few moments to become acclimated. When she looked down at the blank notepad, she again felt the full weight of Dr. Nolan’s assignment. [...]

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The Letter (Chapter Two)

“This is ridiculous,” she thought to herself as she stared at the blank piece of paper in front of her. “I should just compose this using the computer.” She thought about sitting down in front of the keyboard as she gazed at the stationery she had selected that morning. “I could compose the letter using [...]

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The Letter (Chapter One)

“Write him a letter. Tell him how you feel,” Dr. Nolan said during one of their weekly sessions. “You don’t have to mail it. We’ll deal with whether or not you should do that at a later date. Your assignment this week is simply to write.”

“I don’t know if I can do that,” she declared matter-of-factly.

“You might need to work at it gradually. It may be too difficult for you to write everything you need to say in one sitting. You may have to write it all down over the course of the week. And, frankly, you may not be finished by the time we next meet. This may be an ongoing process for a period of time. But this week I want you to get started. Next week we’ll assess your progress.”

“Why are you asking me to do this?” she asked pointedly.

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