a collection of short stories

I held my hand out and felt the droplets of rain fall on my palm. The rain always reminds me of her and that night we parted ways at the airport.

I smile sadly to myself and run towards the train station. There are quite a lot of people waiting on the platform, so I decide to wait a while before boarding. The train arrives and the people scurry to find a seat.

As the train left, I notice there’s someone else who didn’t board at the other end of the platform. She was soaking wet, she was smiling, and she was looking straight at me with tears in her eyes.

It was her. I walk slowly towards her at first, breaking into a run as soon as I realize it wasn’t a dream. She runs as well, seeming to want to close the gap between us as much as I do.

We stop as soon as we are inches apart from each other.

‘It’s you,’ I said. ‘And it’s you,’ she said back. I bring my hand up to her face, not quite touching it at first, just hovering over her wet and pale skin. She takes my hand and rests her cheek on it.

‘Does this mean…?’ I ask, desperate.

She smiles at me and nods, ‘I told you we’d meet again, didn’t I?’

I feel a tear slide down my cheek and I hug her. I hug her to make sure that she’s real. I hug her tightly so that I never lose her again. I feel her arms around me tighten as well. After years of waiting, of wondering, of dreaming, she’s finally here and we can be together.

2

‘Bye,’ she said, her hand resting on the handle of the car door.

She waits a while before saying anything. ‘Okay, bye,’ she finally says, she unlocks the passenger door and stares down the dimly lit street.

She gets out and smiles, says ‘Thanks for today,’ and closes the door. She hurries inside her house as she watches the car leave.

A few minutes after she gets home, she gets a text, it’s from her.

You left something, it said on her screen. She wracked her brain to think of anything she might have left and even checked her bag – there wasn’t anything. Before she could reply, another text arrived, I’m here again.

She quickly runs outside, eyeing the car she just left minutes ago. She opened the passenger door and saw her again, awkwardly smiling.

‘What did I leave?’ she asked, still waiting at the door.

‘Get in,’ she just said, so, she did. There was silence for a moment, before she started laughing awkwardly. ‘What? What is it?’

‘You forgot my kiss,’ she says while laughing. They both start laughing at how extremely cheesy the situation was, but they were both smiling happily anyway.

‘Well, where is it?’ she asks, challenging.

‘I’m shy now,’ she says. But before she could even be teased about it, she leaned in and went for the kiss. The sound of their breaths catching as their lips touch for the first time is barely discernible as the song Indak plays softly in the background. As soon as their lips part, they both smile, finally having the perfect ending to their date.

3

‘If I’d have known that was the last time…’

‘What? You would have kissed me? You would have told me you love me for the last time? That still wouldn’t change the fact that it would be the last time, and I’d rather not hear it.’

‘Yes, I would have kissed you, I would have told you how much I love you. I would have held you longer, I would have told you how much you mean to me, even if it was the last time.’

‘What’s the point? You’re still leaving.’

‘The point is we had our moment… it was fleeting, but it was beautiful. And that’s enough for me. I’m going to hold that with me until the day I die.’

‘But I don’t want just that moment, I don’t want the beautiful and fleeting. I want the lifetime; I want the messy and the crazy, for more than what we just had, so please – don’t leave. Don’t leave me.’

‘I’m sorry, you know I have to. Not just for me, but for us.’

‘This isn’t for us; this is for you!’

‘You know it’s not fair to you.’

‘Who cares about fair? I care about you, that’s it.’

‘And if you really care about me, you’d know how important this is for me.’

‘I – just’ … ‘just go.’

‘Don’t do this.’

‘Just go, please. I’m not going to be selfish anymore, if this really is the last time. So just go, please. I’m letting you go.’

‘I love you.’

‘I know you do.’

‘Goodbye.’ 

‘Bye.’