dear, secret admirer.

~opening act
aheyy. one shot kali ini agak-agak beda nih. kali ini, cerpennya total pake bahasa inggris, baik narasi ataupun dialog. dan harap dimaklumi kalo kualitas bahasa inggris gue emang kayak kambing. inipun masih dalam tahap penyempurnaan.... hehe.

happy reading! :)

* * *

david opened the hallway door to the frontside. when he was getting ready to go out, he saw a blue envelope hanging on his fence. there's his name on it, handwritten: to david.

he raised his eyebrow.

* * *

central high school, philadelphia.
"ah, lunch time. finally! I'm starving." nate sighed a little while he was sliding his tray to sandwich box.
"haha, I see you're always starving like that dude. you're getting bigger like a whale."
"shut up."
they sat onto a nearby table and start to eat their lunch.

"by the way, nate... you got to see this." said david. he pulled out the envelope from his bag and put it onto table.
nate stopped chewing. "ah, that letter. you received it again?" david nodded.
"gosh, it's been one week!"
"well I'm just wondering who the sender is... because it's getting annoy me."
"yeah I know. keep sending someone a mail regularly and anonymously, kinda... creepy, right?" nate said quickly and took a sip on his iced coffee.
"uh-huh."
"but I see you seem enjoy it as well." he raised his eyebrow, teased david.
david looked upset. "what? course not!"
"ahha. really? and who do you think the sender is? boy or girl?"
"a girl... maybe? I don't know." he shrugged. "well keep hoping that the the sender is NOT a drag queen." nate continued and laughing. david rolled his eyes.

"I thought it's a girl... because, there is someone who've been locked in my mind." he said while he keep stuffing food into his mouth. "who?"
"I don't know. she always walks passing my house, and sometimes she peeks inside."
"ew, sounds creepy. perhaps she's your secret admirer?"
"gah, it can't be."
"no, it can be." nate said calmly.
"by the way... school party is two weeks to go. have you got someone to go with?" david asked him. nate shook his head. "not exactly... and do you know a band called the lost memories?"
"nope. what's that?"
"I heard they'll have a performance at the party. a random indie band."
david just nodded slowly, seemed not pretty interested.

* * *

david's POV.
next day, I received another mail again. but now is different. the paper is empty.

when I said empty, I mean it.

I saw that girl again this afternoon, and it really makes me curious. so I decided to call nate.
"hey nate. I saw her again. and I received that mail again. but the paper was empty."
"maybe she forgot to write something?" he asked.
"I have no idea! it makes me crazy."
"why don't you just follow her? stalk her back. perhaps you'll get her name or her address... or everything." he suggested. hmm, good idea.
"OK, I'll try. you should use your brain more often. ahaha."
"ha, yeah. thanks a lot." then he hung up the phone. and I decided to stalk her, like nate said to me.

* * *

there she is. she's walking slowly along an empty path. then suddenly she turns left and get into a house. so.. it looks like that is her house, isn't it?
I can see the name board.

parker.

aha! so her last name is parker. and I already know her house. so she lives not so far from me, eh? pretty interesting.
then I turned away and made my way home.

* * *

"so what did you get?" nate asked me, surprisingly.
"err, just her last name and her house, I guess."
"oh."
we were having this stupid conversation on our way to my house when someone put something under my fence. hey, I could recognize the face... that bla-bla-bla parker.
she saw us and suddenly ran away.

"hey, wait!" I shouted and chase her. nate followed me.

a few hours later, I caught her. finally. I quickly grabbed her arm. hah, call me the flash. nobody can run faster than me... well if I'm not mistaken.

she turned at me. there's no fear in her eyes, just a calmness.
"can I help you?"
"help yourself. what's your point sending me a letter for one week?"
"is there... any problem?" she looked curious.
"yeah, you are the problem. it's freaking me out!"
"oh... I see. sorry."
"now why do you--"
"charlotte, it's time to home, young lady!" someone called her. I thought it was her dad. "I'm coming! well, gotta go for a while. speak to you later." she smiled to me and walked away.


this is confusing.

* * *

a month passed. I didn't receive any mail. has she given up yet?

not exactly.

I was sitting outside, playing a song with my guitar. then a not-so-old man appear in front of my house. he wore black suit.
"can I help you?" I asked politely, put my guitar and stood up. I thought he wanted to ask an address or something.
"do you still remember my daughter?" he asked.
I tried to remember. "OH! yeah. I still remember her. why?"
"well... she died last month. brain cancer."

I shocked... a bit.

"in the day before her death, she wrote a letter and asked me to give it to you a month after that." he continued while giving me a blue envelope.
I take it slowly, opened it up and read the letter.

dear david
I know, it annoys you a lot when I keep sending you letters. but that's the only thing I can do. I can't speak properly whenever you're near me... only to say I love you.
and now I'll leave you alone. but before I go, let me be honest and clear. deep down in my heart, I wanna be with you. but my little heart said I must stay away. so I do it. now I'm peacefully in heaven. I hope you can visit me, soon...

love, now and always,
charlotte

I couldn't say anything. my heart was full of regret and sadness.

I should have known her a long time before...

"thank you very much, son. my daughter will be very happy up there." he said, tried to smile instead of cry. and then he left me.

* * *

ten years later.
until now, I still keep that envelope. it's being the part of my history. and sometimes, I can feel her appearance here, between my family.

"hey dad, what is it?" andy, my little kid, came to me and gave me a blue envelope. I just smiled.
"nothing, nothing. now let me have it."