It's laughing until you wheeze. It's waking up in a country neither of you have been in before. It's skinny-dipping at dawn. It's walking along the street together on a Saturday night and feeling an entire city is yours. It's a big, beautiful, ebullient force of nature. - Dolly Alderton
X,
I finished the book you lent me the weekend before last.
I wrote my thoughts in the margins alongside yours.
My curved black ink in stark contrast to your lean red markings.
I felt like I could hear your words spoken aloud, drifting through my mind like narration of a too sweet daydream.
You were right about the ending; I saw it coming from the third chapter.
Something inside me found comfort in the predictability though.
The same instinct that craves monotonous Sunday’s spent sunbathing on the front porch and the bitter familiarity of espresso on early mornings.
There is something freeing about joys found in mundanity.
The smell of fresh laundry and the feel of too long grass beneath your feet.
Comfort in the absence of capitalism and consumerism.
Sure, the author could have chosen a more unique approach.
A final twist that would leave her readers stunned.
But I think stories like this one hold merit too.
Stories you can return to time and time again for warmth and comfort.
A sense of peace found in the blank space between familiar plot lines.
As I write to you on this late May morning, crickets hum in the field outside and I wonder how you spend your days.
When the only thing to keep you company is the steady thrum of your heartbeat and the ever present dripping of the kitchen faucet.
Would our story be a whirlwind for you? The kind of narrative that swept you off your feet?
For me, I think our story would be a be a book on the shelf with worn edges and annotated tabs peeking out—every page stained by the sun.
The kind of story I would read over and over again until the words became blurry.
I think of Olympia National Park and the earthly scent of pine trees after the rain washes them clean.
I think of the way you take your toast in the morning, cut into fours with apricot jam.
I think of slight tilt in your smile when I talk to quickly, words rushing out in a tidal wave before calming myself on your steady shores.
I think of the time you told me yellow was your favorite color, and now I see you in the sunbeams that shine through stained glass windows.
I think of you.
And I think our story is my favorite.
I wanna eat pancakes for dinner
I wanna get stuck in your head
I wanna watch a T.V. show together
And when we're under the weather we can watch it in bed
I wanna go out on the weekends
I wanna dress up just to get undressed - Lizzy McAlpine
Simply beautiful 💛