Dear Joanna I hope that your evening has been well . I apologise for the inconvenience, as I know that a letter isn’t the most up to date way of addressing someone , but I felt it to be fitting. There is something that has been on my mind for quite some time , ever since that day when Mr Watts sat us next to each other in Math, and we figured out the best way to fix a calculator was by smacking it. There isn’t a way to say this that isn’t as already awkward as it’s going to be, so I’ll cut to the chase Joanna, I love you. I love you, and have done for quite some time. When i get up in the morning, and sit in a cramped bus full of slimy kids that do their homework on their way to school, my day is made with the mere thought that i might get to spend my time with you. When i sit and eat my subpar lunch that i packed myself and lock eyes with you, suddenly it is packed from the gods themself. When I get home, and I get a notification from my phone, I beam with joy of the thought of being able to speak to you for longer, as there isn’t a single thing that I could possibly conceive about you that i don’t love . The way you smile. The way you talk. The way that you dress like a model on a fashion show, but without the acknowledgement that you do so. The way that you laugh at my jokes that don’t even deserve a light chuckle . The way that you gently and effortlessly handle confrontation . You are without a shadow of a doubt in my mind the most physically and mentally attractive person that both my eyes and heart have ever set themselves up upon. If the world caved in on itself and the last thing that I saw was a glimpse of you, I’d be contempt In my own demise. Heaven exists on earth , and it’s how I feel when I get to spend time with you.

If this is just a flash in the pan for you , one of many turned down confessions that you receive from a whole host of people , I’d like mine not to be discarded immediately, just because I’m not exactly your type, or even someone that you would be interested in at all. I’d like you to remember this , remember these notes and how it made me feel, remember all of the positivity you have breathed into my life by being such a kind, generous and loving person. and most importantly, I want you to remember me.

I’ll see you on the other side.

With love,

Roxanne

A single tear falls from Joanna’s face as she drops the letter and rushes out of the door. Joanna paces towards the hooded figure who dropped the letter off down the road. Joanna is unable to catch up to this figure, until she stops in the middle of the road

And as the gates fall down, and the train speeds past , one last glance , one last kiss to remember her by.

January 1 2013 Everyone is stood in a large circle with drinks in hand, they’re all singing and moving around to a tune on the television . Everyone is having a wonderful time . Suddenly, once the singing stops and everyone raises their drinks into the air, a symphony of crashes and loud bangs burst from the television and from outside. A chill runs down my back as I scowl away into a corner to escape from the bangs and bright beams that spray into the room. Katie sees my fear and calls me towards her, she picks me up and takes me into the bedroom as she places me down on the bed and sits down with me

“It’s okay Milo, the bangs are gone now, there’s nothing to worry about anymore. Just stay in here, the bangs aren’t going to hurt you” Katie stays with me, with her hands as smooth as a newborn laid on my back as she runs them up and down my back for the next five minutes, those five minutes felt like forever. A lifetime of comfort, warmth and protection from the harsh wonders and evils of the outside world. Katie leaves and shuts the door as I sit in the spot she left, safe in the comfort of her presence.

January 1 2053

In a tale as old as time itself, the family gather in the living room with their bright plastic cups filled with highly potent beverages and take in the celebrations of the new year , as they all dance around the living room to the bright displays on the television. A large flash of bright lights and harrowing screeches blares in from an open window , the screeches are ones that sent chills throughout me a long while ago, but now remind me of a simpler time, one in which I scowled and scurried away from the light . I see Katie, sat down with a cup in her hand, feet firmly on the floor leant against her chair. I see her and make my way down from the chair and jump into her lap, the jump startles Katie awake as she had been asleep.

“Oh, my dear Milo! Isn’t it so good to see you”

The words echo throughout your head as i rest in Katie’s lap , as she runs her now withered and frail fingers across my back for the next five minutes. Those five minutes take me back to a time when Katie could get up from her chair, when she could pick me up and lead me to the bedroom , where she could lay with me and protect me from the horrors of outside . Those five minutes felt like forever.

“I didn’t want to believe it , but there’s just too much evidence” Melissa’s hands have gone clammy as her tears have soaked her palms from her hands covering her face out of shame “Please , John, just be honest with me, and then you might actually have a shred of saving any sort of relationship we might still have” Johns head races , knowing he has a chance to save his relationship with his wife , but in doing so puts the entire mission at risk of being compromised. John sits down at the kitchen table, opposite from Melissa and caves to her “I’m not cheating on you, I promise. There’s a reason that I’m not there when you wake up in the middle of the night and it isn’t because I’m seeing other people. Two months ago, I got into a freak accident on the highway and was crushed by a large truck , the doctors that say made a revelation that I wasn’t ready for”

Melissa’s face turns from one of rage to one of equal parts intrigue and fear

“I can’t die”

Melissa looks befuddled

“I’m sorry?”

John interjects before Melissa can claim otherwise

“Look, I know that it sounds ridiculous, but I just need you to listen to me. When I got crushed by that truck the doctors realised my blood held a specific strand that allowed it to duplicate when it exits my organs, meaning my organs never lose blood flow and stops any diseases from taking root because they’re drowned out from the sheer amount of blood. When the doctors found out about this I was referred to a secret agency and was enlisted to help fight crime and stop different organisations across the world from wiping out civilisation as a whole”

Melissa has stopped crying and composes herself

“Wow. Honestly, I had no idea”

John shares a sigh of relief , before Melissa continues speaking

“That you thought I was such an absolute moron!”

John looks equally as confused as Melissa was

“Seriously! You’ve been sneaking out every night and not coming back until the morning, do you honestly expect me to believe that the reason you’ve been doing this is because youre a superhero? And I thought i was loopy!. If you had been completely honest with me and just admitted you’d been sleeping with your secretary Dianne , then I would have been the slightest bit more understanding. I see the way you look at her when she walks past. Not only have you lied to me about being happy with me, you also tried to convince me that you were some sort of genetic freak!”

John looks concerned, but in an expected way, as if he knew this was going to happen

“John, just face it , not only are you a cheater, but you’re also patheitc.”

John stands up and faces Melissa without an emotion on his face, he walks over to a block of knives on the kitchen counter , takes out the finest and sharpest blade in the block , one with a red label around it

Melissa begins to frantically walk backwards as she tries to escape for the door before realising the door is locked. Melissa begins to cry and plead with John

“No, j-Jjj-John , whatever it is you’re about to do, it isn’t worth it, i promise.”

John walks with intent towards Melissa, he brings the knife close towards the chest of Melissa. John twists the knife in the opposite direction towards his chest, and then sends the knife plummeting into his own chest.

John winces and falls to the floor, before Melissa lets out a shriek that rings through the street like a banshee , as if she was the one who had just been stabbed.

Melissa falls to the floor and bursts into tears again , before a pale John stares directly in Melissa’s watery and now bloodshot eyes and rips the knife back out from his stomach. Blood flies across the floor of the kitchen , leading Melissa to scream again . As Melissa scans the floor in its crimson colour , the blood begins to dry up and lose its colour, as it evaporates into the air and turns into smoke. Melissa gasps as she sees the hole that once held a large knife in John’s chest seal itself back up and replenish the blood flow in John’s chest , as Johns face returns to its normal shade as he stands up, puts the knife back into the block , and wraps his arms around a teary eyed Melissa

“I’m sorry this is how you found out”