Penpal

by Dathan Auerbach

Truth to tell, at any point in our lives we’ve forgotten more than we know about our own history. The world moves on, and so do we, and what was once important fades away.

We want so badly to be happy – to live the kinds of lives that we always hoped we’d live – that we give gifts to ourselves by remembering things not as they were, but as we wish they were.

But sometimes you realize that the memories were always there – you just needed to be reminded. When this happens, it offers a previously lacked context for memories that, while never missing, were never understood. This is a special kind of gift.

I have avoided contaminating my old memories with new revelations,

It’s a bit poetic that it is so easy to take advantage of those who have no advantages to begin with.

Each of the girls was attractive in her own way, but whatever beauty the other girls might have had, it was eclipsed by the girl with the dirty blonde hair –

I caught a full view of her face, and it gave me the feeling of butterflies in my stomach. It was Veronica.

What did she say? Does she really think I’m cute? Did she just mean I’m funny? Does she think I’m attractive?