The second chance

July 23, 2021

I had no intention of opening it. I am the type of person who obsesses with everything I shop and whatever this package was; I hadn’t ordered it. I hesitated and left the package a full day in the mailbox before putting on my big girl pants and finally checking who was it address to. My hands were trembling when I saw my name and address. The handwriting was familiar, which gave me the strength and comfort of opening it. I frowned as I took the old rusted key from the package. At least there was a letter in there.

Audrey,

I finally found you—Meet me where we are so high we believe we can touch the sky, so high you wanted to be so when you see the clouds you could fly right next to me. Meet me at the skyscraper.

S.

Well, I don’t think so. Creepy letter from someone that knows my name and sends me a letter with a key inside it. I have watched enough crime shows and I know exactly what this is. Stalker. I wipe out all my information from the internet and decide to lie low for a few days.

July 24, 2021

New day, new letter.

Audrey,

I know you don’t believe it and I wish you would just remember like I did a year ago… I only have 4 more days before I forget again and start the research all over again. Please meet me at the skyscraper.

S.

July 25, 2021

Audrey,

Please… I know you must remember. Sweetheart, I know you are scared… trust me, I was, too. I realized this second chance is a blessing. Living without you again is more terrifying than continuing with this half-life.

S.

I lose it and call the police. I don’t blame them for thinking I am just an insane lady trying to gain attention, especially after looking at the sender’s and recipient’s address. My address is written in the sender and the receiver.

July 26, 2021

I wait all day outside and jog towards my mailman when I see him.

“Is there anything for me today?” I ask earnestly.

“No, ma’am” He shrugs and opens the mailbox next to mine and puts the letters in. He narrows his eyes and hesitates before leaving. The annoyance peaks as I walk back to my home. I wait by the window all day to see if a new letter appears.

With a twisting pain in chest, I force myself to feel relief.

July 27, 2021

Audrey,

This is the last letter I will send to you and I understand if you don’t come. I just wanted you to know. I will be waiting in the skyscraper. I know you remember, just like I do. I know you are trying so hard to not accept it and trust me when I say this: every year was like that for me. Every year a piece of the puzzle would appear in my mind and little by little I remembered what happened. I don’t know what made us so special—I just know we are. I hope you believe too. I will wait all day tomorrow and if you don’t come well, that will be my answer.

S.

My eyes closed, and the tears streamed in my face. I know what happened that day; I know everything. I had felt as if this life was a half-life for my entire existence. I am terrified to go to the skyscraper. I had made myself believe everything was a very vivid nightmare and yet every year during the month of July the nightmares or the memories would take my breath away. They started appearing on my 18th birthday and now, 10 years later, the memories never ceased. I know who he is, or at least my memory does, and he is right. I am terrified; I am terrified to face this reality, to face this unbelievable miracle. 

July 28, 2021

I walk into the entrance of the skyscraper and what they call it nowadays ‘Empire State Building’. My fingers curl around the key. My hammering heart is the only reminder at the moment that I am alive. The memories of the 1945 crash flood my mind. They said it was 3 fatalities… but they never found the 4th one. Maybe that is exactly the reason I am alive and well today, because they never found me.

I refused to tell anyone about these memories, about those nightmares. I remember the emptiness of the building; I remember July 28, 1945 as if it was yesterday. I had just visited Lucy—she was a phone operator at the time and she was going to introduce me to her boss. I wanted a job; I wanted my mind to stop thinking about when he would come back to me. I wanted a distraction instead of mindlessly write every day and hope—hope he had received my letters. I believed he had; the alternative was too painful to even consider.

As I reach to the top, I force my feet to take the first steps to the deck. In this life, I had never been here before. My heart pounds and the burning sensation prickles in my arms. I cringe uncomfortably. This was a mistake.

“Audrey” My heart stops. I turn and look at him, and I know this is real. He has changed too—He is not clean shaved anymore, his hair is longer, the curls roam freely now. His deep brown eyes, though, they are the same.

“Simon,” I reply, and my eyes instantly drop to his hand. He is carrying a steel box, and I bite my bottom lip. I gave him the box before he was enlisted so he could save my letters inside and lock it with the key. I lift my hand and show him the key. 

“We have a second chance,” He says. No one will believe us and that’s okay, because I came back to him and vice versa.

“Yes, yes we do,”