Day 43

Start writing a story that…

Step 1: begins with this sentence: She gave him a book…

Step 2: include this sentence: She hid the letter
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She gave him a book on their third date. An obscure Russian novel, unreadable by many accounts, that Lana had barely slogged through herself 10 years prior while on a mission to read everything in her college library. She didn't share its views nor care if Adam found meaning in its pages, but she wanted to know if he would read it for her, even after they went to bed together, which she already knew they would do that night.

They agreed to meet for coffee two days later. She arrived first and chose a small table on the patio where she could watch the pedestrians flow in and out of the little neighborhood shops. After ordering her espresso, she took a deep breath and took out a letter from her pocket. It was from her brother, who believed in living off-the-grid, and only sent her letters in the mail with no return address and never from the same postal code. The letters themselves were a jumble of generalities about his health and that of his dog, but with no actual details that could trace the letter's contents back to him. He also wrote complaints about the government and accused her of turning a blind eye to the dark realities so evident around her. She read a few lines, then skimmed down through the tiny cursive text to the bottom of the third page where she saw his usual closing: "When you wake up and realize your mistakes, send a letter to the parrot queen. She'll know how to reach me."

"Everything okay?"

Startled, Lana looked up from her letter and saw Adam standing beside the table and the waiter holding out the chair opposite her. She quickly smiled.

"Yes!" she said. She hid the letter back in her pocket and stood up to hug him. When they sat back down, she saw that he held the Russian novel in his hands.