Maple Hill

The last train to was almost empty. The snow was slowly drying in the faint light, sitting on the shoulders of commuters who were silent. Anna brought her coat closer to her and stepped into the concrete. The train to Maple Hill was always delayed. The news blinked red on the platform, but barely noticed it. Her thoughts were far away.

10 years. It's been 10 years since she returned. When she finally left the train at the train station in Maple Hill, her heart was filled with dreams. She was 18 years old and wild with the thrill of escape. The city was calling them with light lights and open doors. She left without looking back. Not even for him.

Liam.

She had not spoken his name in years, but it lived within her like a soft echo. They spent every summer together since childhood - swimming in the lake through the rest of the forest, sneaking into an old barn just to talk. And then it all changed last summer. Kiss. A long, sweet kiss under the stars behind a high school fitness studio. After that, you didn't talk about it. Not much. He said he would stay. She said she had to go.

The letter she found last week stopped her heart cold. It was buried in an old book box in her mother's house. Her name was written before, but the paper turned yellow over time. She opened it with her trembling hands. It was from Liam. It was written the day after she went.

"I thought maybe you'd ask me to come with you." "But maybe you weren't ready, or maybe I wasn't enough. I wanted you to know... I'd have done it."

Anna hadn't noticed she was crying until her tears colored the ink. She always told herself he wasn't caring for it. That he moved. Perhaps it was easier to believe than face the truth - that was someone who left without saying goodbye.

A gust of wind brought them back to the present. She saw the traces. There are no trains yet.

"I never thought I would meet you here," one voice said.

She turned around - and he was there.

Liam.

He is old. Wide shoulders, strong jawline under stubble for several days. His hair was a little short, but these eyes - dark brown and warm - hadn't changed at all.

"Liam," she breathed.

He smiled at his crooked smile. "Nevertheless, I slap my legs when I'm nervous."

She laughed, scaring how easy it felt. "And when I'm most expecting it, you still look like a ghost."

"I'm authentic enough," he said. "Do you understand when you're sitting?"

She shook her head. He sat next to her, close enough for warmth to occur between them.

"I heard they're coming back," he said. "Little City, do you know? The words turn. "

"Only the weekend," she said. sell. "

He nodded slowly. Your mother passed away last year, right?"

"She did that."

"Sorry, Anna."

"Thank you. "And you? Still here?"

"Yes. Go. I didn't put it in. Now I lead the city's bookstores. It used to be a hardware store. "

She smiled.

"Never, he said. Did you do that?"

"In the box. At the end of the pile of books. I've never seen it at the time."

He nodded slowly. "It's okay."

"No, it's not. We should say goodbye. I should have asked him to come. "

He saw them.

"I was afraid," she whispered. And if you said that, I might not be ready to make you very important.

The train rang out in the distance. A low, stable amount that has grown over all heartbeats.

"I don't know if it belongs there anymore," she said. "City. It felt like the right dream, but it never felt like I was at home. "

"What do you have?" he asked.

She saw him. "Maybe I'd forgotten, but now... I think I'm starting to remember."

The train moves, lights up, and brakes the hiss. The door opened.

Liam. "Would you like to come back?"

She looked at the train and then returned to him. "Only if I have to."

He smiled. "There's a cafe along the street. It's open late."

"Do you have tea?"

"You do it now. I've secured it."

She laughed. "Well, I think we'll miss this train."

They observed how it drove in silence, and swirled gently around them.

Liam held out his hand. "Would you like to go with me?"

Anna took it and for many years felt the world was right.

Perhaps love didn't always end with fireworks or massive declarations. Sometimes it was quiet. I missed the train. The letter was too late. My hands are warm and waiting.

It started with and it was the perfect place to finish.