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Returned With Notes

romanceEveryone
5 contributors · 3 paragraphs deep

I take it home and grab a pen. Under their 'You would?' I write: 'Forgiving isn't the same as forgetting. Page 200 proves it.' I answer every single reply. Little arguments. Little agreements. On the last blank page I write: 'Your move.' Next morning I put the book back in the box. By noon it's gone.

Two days later the book is back. Every note answered. Under my 'Your move' they wrote: 'Okay. New rules. You pick the next book. Anything. I'll read whatever you love.' Then, smaller, like they almost didn't write it: 'This is the best conversation I've had all year.' Me too, stranger. Me too. But now I have to pick a book. And a book says a lot.

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I pick the book I've never told anyone I love. The embarrassing one. And I fill the margins fresh — every dumb honest thought. On page 12 I write the joke I've never said out loud. It's gone from the box in an hour. Four days later it's back. Page 12, in blue: 'I laughed on the bus. Out loud. A man moved seats. This is your fault.' And on the last page: 'Ask me anything. One question.'

PN
Priya Nair
9 votes · future 1 of 2