When I first saw you, I felt a rush of nostalgia. Memories fluttered in the corners of my mind, out of reach but within eyesight. Perhaps our paths had collided once before, in a different lifetime.
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Before I had even learned your name, I felt a connection to you. You reminded me of a story I had read once, one about plot twists and betrayals. The story also spoke of stars, love, and redemption. I wondered about you then, curious about what fate had planned for us.
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At first, you were only a daydream. You were unattainable, someone I could watch but could never approach. I knew you were here in this world, but you were ethereal in my eyes. This changed, however, when you first spoke to me. The illusion broke, and suddenly you were no longer a fantasy. You were here with me for the first time, for once not otherworldly. Simply just human.
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I remember when I asked you if you believed in physiognomy. I expected you to crack a smile ocean wide and burst into fireworks of laughter. Instead, you fixed your gaze on me, your eyes holding a playful gleam in them. No, not playful. Childish. You answered that you might believe in it. You added that practices like physiognomy should be considered before being judged. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡctNXIXvRNg
Is this true, then, of practices that don’t hold a grain of logic in them? 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoVZ9DST5oP
Logic is irrelevant. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYPPGluZs4X
Irrelevant, you say? How curious! You’re a strange one, challenging logic so easily.
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I admire you for it. You remind me of the stars, you know. You shine so brightly, so brilliantly, and yet you’re too far away for me to ever truly reach you.
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When you’re with me, I feel euphoric. Light sparks within me when our hands entwine. Yet, when you let go and leave, it flickers out. I am lonely without you, stuck in a world of monochrome where I stay stagnant. You are the sun, and I am just a moon. While you illuminate the galaxy, I am only a mere reflection of your light. I am nothing without you, and you are everything without me.
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If I were to be a physiognomist and compare your face to that of an animal’s, I would choose the face of a fawn. You have small ears and a long nose, both defining features on your face. A smatter of freckles covers your cheeks, painting a microcosmos upon your skin. Your eyes are like those of a doe, wide and pure. Almost too pure.
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You certainly share the personality of a fawn. You think everything is an oddity, treating each experience as if it’s your first. When I questioned why you were so carefree in such a cruel world, you grinned and told me that you wanted to live life to the fullest. You treat every breath as if it’s paradise, as if just being alive is enough to be happy. When I voiced this thought aloud, you stared at me with considerate eyes. Happiness lies in small things. If you try to grow up too soon, you’ll miss out on all the minor details.
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We’re sitting on your rooftop when I ask you something that I’ve been pondering for years.
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Do you ever wonder about youth? 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi1pJhi5Tri
Youth? 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHg2sHmoesp
Do you ever wonder why youth is portrayed as something so beautiful? 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTU3aJiZ2eT
Perhaps when we’re younger there is a type of exhilaration when we experience things that fades as our innocence dies. Perhaps when we’re older, we look back and realize the most beautiful moments in our lives were in our youth. Maybe that’s why we yearn for that purity for the rest of our lives, chasing after it until the last echo of our hearts resounds. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn11F0eHTFd
Hey, promise me something. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFUZjRbHX8S
What? 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsFHbP0lslS
Promise you’ll always be by my side. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhTeGz9vlu
I promise. Let’s waste away our youth together.
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Raindrops started falling then, covering us in a layer of mist. You jumped up in delight, running around and trying to catch the rain in your palms. At that moment I finally understood what happiness was. Through you I felt free, my heart beating with child-like glee. After a few moments, you turned back to look at me. You beckoned me with your eyes, a silent dare hidden in your smile. I grinned, standing up to join you. We spent the rest of the day dancing on the rooftop, filling the sky with laughter. I didn’t notice your tears until afterward.
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On a different day, we strolled through the beach, both of us barefooted. The waves lapped at our heels, our toes bathing in the silky texture of the sand. All of a sudden you sat down by the shoreline, pulling me down with you. A beat passed. Then you started to speak, your voice barely a whisper.
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Do you ever wonder what it would be like to read a story that stopped mid-sentence?128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLgnXeJvZpS
A story that doesn’t have an ending?128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0LSFpHyezN
Exactly. Wouldn’t that be intimidating? 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpXn4Dn43Q2
Would it be?
An incomplete sentence leaves too much room for error. The blank space after the last word breaks off is ominous. The unknown of what happens afterward is frightening. A writer should finish a story so that it is whole, and so that the reader receives the closure they desire.
A second went by before I responded.
I disagree. The blank space after the last word of an unfinished sentence is not empty. It’s filled with all the things left unsaid. When a writer cuts off a sentence, that leaves an expanse for you to interpret. What emotions still echo within your soul after the last word? What words are still left on the tip of your tongue? Each reader would build pillars out of the emptiness, constructing an ending only they could truly understand. That would be their closure. The unknown is not something to fear, but rather to challenge.
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You were staring at the horizon when I finished talking, the sunset painting your eyes shades of scarlet. Something that looked like contentment danced in them as you turned your head toward me. Our eyes interlocked and you smiled at me. We held each other’s gaze before you tore your head away. Your hand started to rummage through your pocket before you pulled out a forked bone.
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Check out this wishbone I bought. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMzU5utNWEs
Why did you get it? 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEd7mfjJocL
I’ve always wanted to use one. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0zsta7Nek
Why am I not surprised? 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2iqOnVg1p3
As if you haven’t wanted to try to use one before. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5mfgwjEdef
Okay, you caught me. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4spdDNTwg6
I knew it. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkQK35q12xY
Yeah, yeah. Can we hurry up? 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmcFm52ZNW4
Okay, let’s break it together. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrX2nA5ZCa7
On three? 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNOicoRGIUS
One, two-
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The bone snapped. You held the bigger end. I watched as you closed your eyes, murmuring your wish under your breath. You looked beautiful in the dying light. Once you were done saying your wish, your eyes opened and you grinned at me.
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What was your wish? 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpUktJUNuqw
I wished for an epiphany. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrraXNwyBrr
An epiphany? 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXrs1vDj1F9
Yes. That’s all I’m telling you. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ftMnnEIOf
Why won’t you tell me anything else? 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ1DQdjEOqf
You’re not supposed to share your wish, otherwise, it won’t come true. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJSEXHwEXPC
Is your wish worth the burden of a secret? Is it that important? 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW1eV8YGWnf
It’s that selfish. Look, I promise I will tell you what it was when the time is right.
Okay.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqC1fJUMWI4
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A beat. The silence between us was deafening. I wondered what you were holding back, but I didn’t dare attempt to find out. Hope was a dangerous thing to flirt with. After a few minutes, you spoke once more.
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Sunsets are so beautiful. I wish I could stay in this moment for eternity. I never want morning to come again. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ18yezBpV97
You would be content with never witnessing another sunrise? 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjnkcONGMgh
Yes. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJadnZf6FDr
Sunsets signify the end of a journey, you know. A type of death. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBrWSNjZ0O
I know. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkKe2AuwaK9
You’d choose that over the promise of rebirth the sunrise offers? 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbXhd3KDlcK
Forget rebirth. All good things come to an end. Death is inevitable, but that doesn’t mean we should fear it. Through death, a wounded soul can finally heal. Death offers a type of peace that life can never give; a final closure to a beautiful piece of art. The moment before you die is the most beautiful moment you will have in your life. As you take your last breath, you will re-experience every memory you’ve made in your lifetime. It’s death that makes life so thrilling. Without death, our lives would lose their beauty. The concept of youth would no longer apply to us.
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I stared at you in wonder, startled by your words.
Wow, what a sophisticated statement. You should be a philosopher. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpUBwS10ksf
Pfft, as if. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkr2e2Qmn2s
I’m serious! 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPnWENkwTmS
So am I. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7QgI5MJ1yc
You have an interesting view on death, you know. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtQvvVjOp2I
Yeah, well I spend a lot of time thinking about it. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDoyKLkdyik
See! That’s something a philosopher would do. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsgi2K7DhLq
It’s something everyone should do. You haven’t truly lived until you’ve wasted enough time thinking about death. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJnJRArNid8
Your inner Nietzsche is showing. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSoV61JfUDH
Hey, don’t compare me to Nietzsche! You know I don’t like his works. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtL1lxDdYad
I know, that’s why I compared you to him. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡskyu8qvb5q
That’s it, come here! 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ6bs1FrUQs
No thanks! Gotta go!
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I lept up and started to sprint across the shoreline. Your footsteps followed behind me, drawing closer as you gained speed. I whooped at the sky, the sound echoing across the beach. The wind blew past me, whipping my hair out of my face. I almost felt like I was flying, the exhilaration of running taking me on a high of euphoria. My feet splashed against the bank of the seashore, causing me to be showered in droplets of water. You caught up to me after a few seconds, your outstretched hand catching mine. I whirled around, my eyes meeting yours. You looked heavenly, the traces of laughter etched into the corners of your eyes. I pulled you in close to me, your body colliding with mine. The force of the impact sent the both of us spiraling, our arms wrapping around each other as we twirled around. Our laughter filled the vast emptiness of the beach, the colors of the sunset blurring behind us.
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After a few minutes, we stumbled down onto the beach, neither of us letting go of each other’s hand. My head laid next to yours, our bodies parallel to each other. Together we watched the sunset bleed into twilight. After a minute, I glanced at you. You turned your head toward me at the same moment. Our eyes met. Your eyes reflected the constellations, holding a thousand stars in their depths. The rising moon bathed you in shades of silver, your skin turning luminescent. My breath left me as I stared at you, starstruck. You looked back at me, your smile fond. I was about to speak when you broke out into a yawn.
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I think I’m going to fall asleep. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNLjSSSTnLs
Go ahead, I’ll wake you up if anything happens. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXJSF1AeBuC
Okay, good night. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhHVQlIRq9z
Sweet dreams.
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You closed your eyes, your hand slackening in mine. I stared at the moon as I listened to your breaths even out. After a few minutes, my eyes darted over to you. Your expression was peaceful as you slumbered. I reached my hand out and brushed a strand of hair out of your face. Once I was certain you were asleep, I whispered a confession I had been too afraid to utter out loud before.
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I love you…
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The soft call of an owl was the only answer.
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Over the next few weeks, my love for you blossomed. Every moment we could spare, we spent together. Our footsteps covered the streets of our town, leaving behind memories we created.
Every time we were together, my feelings grew. Eventually, my love for you flowered into a rose, its scarlet petals flourishing. I knew it was time.
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You had called me the night before, telling me to meet you at the tree we liked to eat picnics at. I raced there the next day, bearing my heart on my sleeve. I was ready to risk it all if it meant we could be together. You were there when I arrived, your legs dangling off one of the tree branches. Behind you lay the ocean, vast and endless. You turned toward me, our eyes interlocking.
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Hey. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6lfY64zuXV
Hey. Why did you ask to meet up today? 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP0cdRPAScB
I needed to tell you something. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL886UdUFbs
Okay, go ahead. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp5TLcTSeSr
I love you.
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I stood there in disbelief, my heart skipping a beat.
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You love me? 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKCxGPr8uQn
Yes. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVyLzayaanq
Romantically? 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyh6ZvFfjgX
Yes.
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My heart burst with joy, and I laughed out of pure relief.
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I love you too.
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You grinned, jumping down from the tree. I started walking towards you, and soon we were embracing each other. Your arms felt warm and comforting, and I melted into them.
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I know. I heard you whisper your confession on the beach. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ADcW4yke3
You did?! 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVgfXD2EWbU
Yeah. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzkZcjJPkDP
Oh. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPU16HlY2FZ
It's okay, I found it endearing. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW4C55poD9L
Shut up. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡji5UpgIVL9
Ha, okay. Oh, and I guess I should tell you what my wish was. I almost forgot about that. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKScA6qGVJk
What was it? 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW9SAR02AAA
I wished you would realize that you loved me back. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYrKuKSeGdx
Well, wish granted. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOxh38Eix3V
Yeah, I should use wishbones more often.
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I shoved you playfully, and you burst into a peal of laughter. Emotions were flooding my senses, a mix of contentment and euphoria filling my heart. Everything felt too much and yet too little at the same time. I grasped your hand, ready to leap into the unknown.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJRPdvecEM
