“STAY AWAY FROM JOEL GREEN,” I read while standing right next to Joel Green.

The mysterious note had appeared on the kitchen counter that morning. It was neatly folded and tied with a thin, white ribbon with the remnants of a popped balloon at the end.

At first I thought Joel was playing a prank on me. After a whirlwind romance of only three months, he moved in with me last week.

I flipped the note over in my hands. It was addressed to me, and also signed by me. It looked a lot like my handwriting. Suddenly this joke didn’t seem so funny.

I didn’t want to stay away from Joel. He was easygoing and funny and made me feel safe. He hated being alone, just like me.

Joel was like me in a lot of other ways too. It wasn’t until summertime that I started thinking this may actually be a problem.

Stubborn like me. Avoidant like me. Sad about the past like me. Drinks too much like me.

Late one summer night Joel showed me that he was also mean and violent and impulsive. Like me?

As summer came to and end, we attended a neighborhood event at the park up the street. We’d been fighting all day. I was happy to just get outside in the sunshine and fresh air.

At the park, volunteers went around hanging out bright red balloons, paper, and pencils to everyone in the crowd. They told us that we had 15 minutes to write a note on the paper and attach it to the balloon before we all release them into the air together.

Some people released their balloons with a wish attached, hoping it would come true. Others sent letters to dead loved ones straight up to heaven. A few people drew pictures or wrote silly notes that could be enjoyed by strangers around the world when the balloons popped and fell back to earth.

But I wrote an important message to myself. A warning, a plea for help. Things could be different for me if I could just reach myself, maybe in a parallel universe or some other dimension.

I neatly folded my note and tied it to my balloon before letting the string slip through my fingers.

STAY AWAY FROM JOEL GREEN