Wordsmiths Fiction Week 2: Season 24 – The Envelope
Diego’s Discovery
Diego gazed at the envelope, his hands smooth with sweat in spite of the cold weather. He looked around, but the parking space was empty but there's a glinting light over Pump 3. Carefully, he opened the envelope.
Inside was a single photo. It appeared Diego as a child, standing outside a worn-down house he scarcely recollected. Within the corner of the photo was a written by hand note:
"You forget me."
His heart raced. Who brought this? How did they know approximately his past?
The rest of the move dragged horrendously. Diego couldn't stop remembering the blue vehicle, the man's face, the photo. That house in the picture — it looked just like the ancient cultivate domestic he was in when he was just six year old, some time recently getting embraced.
When his move finished at first light, Diego didn't go home. He drove to the town library, using their open computers to look. It took hours, but he at long last found an ancient news article approximately the foster home: "Fire Annihilates Shield — A few Lost." One of the lost names stood out:
Lucas Reyes.
A memory surfaced:
a boy somewhat more order than him, always securing Diego from bullies, sneaking additional snacks for him at night. Lucas. His best companion — possibly indeed the closest thing Diego had to a brother back at that moment. They had promised to be together, but after the fire, Diego had been whisked absent and adopted. Lucas had been left behind.
Maybe Lucas was the man within the car.
That night, Diego returned to work, nerves on edge. 2:
17 a.m. came, and beyond any doubt sufficient, the rusted car rolled into the car park. This time, Diego didn't delay. He walked outside, heart beating.
The car door slowly opened. The man inside the car looked tired, worn, but familiar.
"Lucas?" Diego asked, voice breaking.
The man answered "Yes".
"I thought you were dead," Diego whispered.
Lucas stepped out of the car. "You left me behind," he said confidently. "You promised you wouldn't."
Diego's chest fixed. "I didn't know what happened. They... they took me away. I was just six."
For a long minute, Lucas looked at him, pain was obvious in his eyes. At that point he put his hand to into his pocket. Diego tensed—but Lucas pulled out another envelope, holding it out.
There was another photo inside, this one later:
a little room, a bunk bed, and a folded shirt Diego recognized from a long time past. Underneath it, a transcribed address.
"I live there," Lucas said. "Been holding up a long time to see in the event that you indeed remember."
Diego's throat closed up. He hadn't remember. Not truly. Life had took him away — new school, new family, new surname, indeed. But standing here, face-to-face with his past, he knew he couldn't run any longer.
"Come inside," Diego said at long last. "We can talk. Warm up."
For the first time, Lucas smilled. "Perhaps tomorrow," he said. "Just think you should know."
He climbed back into his car and drove off, clearing out Diego standing alone beneath the buzzing lights.
The another night, Diego took the night off. He followed the address within the envelope over town to a disintegrating loft building. Lucas was there, sitting on the steps, holding up.
They talked until the sun rose — almost the fire, almost misplaced a long time, about second chances. Diego apologized, over and over, for what not one or the other of them seem have controlled.
Within the conclusion, they concurred to start again. Not as outsiders, not as kids caught in a bad dream, but as brothers choosing each other once more.
In some cases, apparitions do not frequent you to harmed you. Now and then, they fair need you to keep in mind.