Dear Emily,
When we met, my name was Martin—but that was before I got to know you and felt comfortable around you. Now of course, things have changed, and in time I have grown to become a stronger woman entirely, and every aspect of my previous life has fallen off piece by piece somewhere along the way. But I still feel like we hit it off at first, in that dusty corner bar on 3rd Street. We shot pool, and drained our glasses—you Emily, and I Martin.
Where are we now Emily? I mean to say, where have we gone since then? From dusty bars and cheap motel rooms, to mountain towns in Switzerland and beaches on the East Coast, and parent’s houses where we were both children one time—you Emily, and I Martin. Sometimes it’s hard for me to accept the fact that we leave previous things behind. I am no longer that person who you grew to love so passionately, and learned to place before anyone and everything. I am no longer Martin, Emily—and you can longer love me.
So if you leave this letter where I have placed it inside this envelope, I don’t mind, for it would probably save you much misunderstanding. However, if you do happen to be reading this Emily, consider me not, the person who you have known and loved and held so dearly to your heart, for I am gone. I am off in some dive bar on 3rd St., or strolling down a cold beach in South Maine, but Martin is no longer here—not as you have known him. I hope you understand, but it’s ok if you don’t. Either way, I will never forget you Emily.
Love,
Julie
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i like how you kept repeating Emily's name, it made this piece feel real. I also love the details, like dusty bar, the cheap motels, mountain towns, and the cold beach in South Maine.
ReplyDeleteJust reading this piece fills me questions. It's written in a way that leaves the reader wanting to know more. What was really striking was the loss of being, where martin is no longer martin.
ReplyDeleteYou have done a great job of presenting a situation in which the reader can only guess and glean details based upon the sparse information given. As bethsyb pointed out, nice use of the name repetition. You summon up a sense of the abandoned and nostalgic with your use of language ("where have we gone since then?"). Very nice.
ReplyDeleteWow, this piece is very powerful. I'm still trying to figure out why I was so MOVED by it. Something about, yeah, how the name repeats and the kind of sprawling eras of time it explores and leaving us with just kind of a wistful sadness that this relationship, whatever the hell it was, is over.
ReplyDeleteExcellent.
The repitition is nice, you Emily I Martin. It really reinforces the idea of who they are (or were) which seems important because one of them is very different now.
ReplyDeleteDear Julie,
ReplyDeleteIt's true, I did love you & I'm saddened by the fact that you're telling me that I can no longer love you....My only question is why did you lead me on like this? Was it just to break my heart? I can't forgive you Julie.
A very brokenhearted, Emily.