To Let or Let Go
"Immediately, Dan snatched the phone up, pressed redial, and put it to his ear."
Dan Taylor checked the caller I.D. and was floored by the familiar – yet long dormant – number emblazoned on the phone.
Helen Steel - the love (and heartbreak) of his life -had broken her silence. The thrill shot through his head and down to his heart where it pounded like a jackhammer.
It had been a year since Dan entered his room to find a type-written “Dear John” letter on his bed. He remembered picking it up, reading it, and having more questions than answers about what had just happened. The letter fell from his trembling hands. The love of his life was gone.
Immediately, Dan snatched the phone, pressed redial, and put it to his ear.
Dan’s mind began to wander from that dark day in his bedroom to the weeks that followed when he locked himself in his apartment, crying, drinking and letting the duties in his life slip away.
Yet, as he waited to hear that voice that once intoxicated him years before, Dan’s mind began to wander from that dark day in his bedroom to the weeks that followed when he locked himself in his apartment, crying, drinking and letting the duties in his life slip away.
When he finally emerged, he had lost his job, lost contact with a few good friends, and was lonelier than ever. However, as his mind raced through the memories of that year since that fateful day, things got better; he found a new job, reconnected with his friends, and started to date, again.
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Things got better the previous night. He went on a date with Annie Kay. And, suddenly, the loneliness of the past year was replaced by genuine hope.
“Hello?” trickled out the laconic voice of Helen.
Dan didn't answer.
“Hello?” She said again.
Dan hung up. The voice didn’t set him on fire with passion, anymore. It didn’t have the same effect it had on him the previous year.
He realized at that moment he had to let her go rather than to let it happen again.
The realization led him to another direction. He picked up the phone again and dialed.
“Hello?” Annie said.
Suddenly, he felt the fire inside, again.
© 2014 Dean Traylor
