The Last Letter from Autumn
By Soul Speak Tales
She always said autumn was her favorite season—not because of the colors, but because that’s when she met him. On a bench in Central Park, among falling leaves and the smell of cinnamon coffee, Emily first saw Nathan, sketching strangers in his notebook.
He looked up, smiled gently, and asked, “May I draw you?”
From that moment on, their lives entwined like vines around an old tree. They shared six beautiful years together—full of poetry, road trips, rainy mornings, and deep silences that didn’t need words.
But fate isn’t always kind. One February morning, Nathan didn’t wake up. A rare heart condition took him in his sleep. No warnings. No goodbye.
Emily broke. For months, she didn’t speak. Didn’t write. Didn’t visit the bench where they first met. The world was moving, but she wasn’t.
Until one morning in October—his birthday—she received a letter. No stamp. No envelope. Just a folded note resting on her windowpane.
“My Emily,
If you’re reading this, I’m probably dancing with stars. But please don’t drown in silence. Paint again. Write. Travel. Love again. You were never mine to keep, but always mine to adore.
Forever, Nathan.”
She wept for hours. But not with pain—this time, with release. That letter was the goodbye she never got. That autumn, Emily painted again. She laughed again. She visited the bench. She lived—not because she moved on—but because love had made her strong enough to carry him within her.
And every autumn since, she writes a letter and leaves it on their bench… just in case someone else needs a goodbye too.
“Some letters don’t arrive late; they arrive right on time.”
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