Loving Penpal

“Now, am I forgetting something?” you asked yourself while chewing on your lip in thought; a habit you have tried to break but were unsuccessful at. You looked at the two large suitcases on your bed and then looked around your room, looking to see if there was anything you had forgotten to pack. Your room wasn’t overly big; but it wasn’t small either and it was hard to focus on anything when your thoughts kept drifting back to the conversation that took place two days prier.

You heard the door open from behind you and a figure walking towards you and the bed. Your mother sat down and looked at you and then at your suitcases. “Do you need any help?” she asked softly.

“No, I pretty much have everything I really need. I’m just trying to think if I’m forgetting something,” you said brightly; trying to lighten the mood.

It seemed to have worked because your mother smiled and got up to look around your room. “Did you pack all the clothes you may need?”

“First things I packed.”

“Toiletries?” she asked lifting a picture of you and your cousin Jeremy.

“Packed.”

“First aid kit?” she asked putting the picture down.

“Mom, come on,” you said chuckling and sitting on your bed.

Your mother turned to look at you and smiled a sheepish smile. “Hey, you may never know what could happen,” she said in her defense.

You got up and hugged your mother and kissed her on the cheek. “Don’t worry mom, I’ll be alright,” you said in reassurance and turned back to your bags to zip them closed. “Oh that’s right!” you said just remembering and stood up quickly to look at your mother. “Did the package from Shuichi come already?” you asked her.

Hit with remembrance, your mother lifted one finger to say ‘hold on’ and hurried out of the room and into hers. A few minutes later, she came back with a small package that was four inches thick and at least ten inches in length, and gave it to you smiling. Excited, you tore the package open and lifted the lid of the box. The first thing you saw was a folded up piece of paper and so sitting down, you took the piece of paper out of the box and put the box next to you on the bed. Unfolding it, your mother sat down next to you and grew puzzled at the strange writing on the sheet of paper and you chuckled at her expression.

“It’s in Japanese, mom. Shuichi can speak english but his writing is a little rusty, so to make things easier. I just wrote to him one day that I can read Japanese and ever since, all our letters has been written this way.” Clearing your throat, you settled yourself to begin reading your penpals letter.

Dear Roselyn,
I greatly apologize for not writing to you sooner, but I have been unfortunately very busy and hardly seem to have time for even myself. To make up for it, I have sent you the picture of myself that you have been requesting and I am sorry it took this long, but it is extremely amusing for myself to tease you.

You chuckled at that and so did your mother. “Finally, I sent him a picture of me, I don’t know, maybe two years ago, and then he had nerve to send a letter saying that he wouldn’t send a picture of him because he was afraid I would fall head over heals in love with him at the mere sight of him,” you said in mock anger.

Your mother just laughed and put her arm around your shoulder. “To late for that,” she teased.

“Mom!” you yelled in embarrassment and she just laughed which brought a rosy tint to your cheeks. You cleared your throat and looked back to the letter.

I would also like to wish you a happy belated birthday and do hope you like your gift. It is hard to believe that six years have already passed and our friendship continues on growing by each letter sent. I do hope that one day, we will be able to meet each other in person and until that day, I will anticipate your next letter.

Sincerely,
Shuichi Minamino

“My goodness,” your mother said in awe. “How old is he?” she asked in false curiosity.

“Mother!” you laughed. Your mother just chuckled and kissed you on the cheek.

“I’m just teasing you,” she said fondly.

“Great,” you said in good humor, “another one who loves to torment me.” Folding the letter back up and placing it on your suitcase. You picked up the box and placed it on your lap. What you saw next made your breath catch in your throat and you tenderly lifted from the box. It was a beautiful rose; in full bloom and even had the thorns still on, but you handled it with great care.

“Strange,” your mother said more to herself. You looked at her confused and she gently took the flower from you. “It takes at least a week or two for a package from Japan to reach here, but this flower looks so healthy. I mean it went days without water or sunlight so it should have wilted by now,” she said giving the flower back to you.

“Shuichi said he grew his own flowers,” you said. “Maybe he did something so that it could last this long?” you asked.

“I don’t know,” your mother said in thought. “Maybe, but I wonder what he did do. Anyway, it’s beautiful and you should write to him soon saying thank you.”

You smiled at a thought. “He lives in Tokyo, mom. Maybe I’ll be able to thank him in person,” you said looking at her. She smiled sadly at you and nodded her head.

Putting the rose on the letter, you then reached in the box to pick up a photo that was faced down and you smiled at what was written at the back.

'Prepare yourself'

Chuckling at the nerve of him, you then turned the picture around and widened your eyes at the face you saw. He was beautiful! Long vibrant red hair framed a very beautiful and slightly masculine face. He was smiling softly and you couldn’t help but smile, but the feature that really drew your eyes was his bright green eyes. Eyes that you knew you would definitely get hypnotized by.

“No, seriously,” your mother said from over your shoulder, the same expression on her face. “How old his he?”

You just laughed and bumped your mother with your shoulder in good humor and you both broke out laughing.