The world had kept moving, but Caleb felt frozen in time.

Days passed, then weeks, then months, yet the weight of Elyra’s absence never lessened. Her voice was a ghost in his mind, her presence lingering in every quiet moment. No matter how far he went, she was always there.

And so, he decided to take her with him.

Elyra had dreams once. Dreams she never got to chase, places she never got to see. He found an old notebook hidden in her room, the pages filled with places she had scribbled down in neat, careful handwriting. Some were grand—cities across the world, oceans she had longed to touch. Others were simple—fields of flowers, hidden bookshops, a quiet lake under the stars.

She had wanted to live.

And though she was gone, Caleb refused to let her dreams die with her.

He packed a bag, took her notebook, and left.

The first stop was a small café in Paris, one she had circled in her notebook with a note that read: I wonder if the pastries here taste like happiness.

He ordered two. One for himself. One for her.

The second stop was a hidden beach in Greece, where the waves met the shore in a quiet lull. He sat there for hours, listening, wondering if she would have loved the way the water kissed the sand.

The third was a mountaintop in Japan, where the sky stretched endlessly, a canvas of colors she never got to see.

At every place, he left a letter.

He told her about the pastries in Paris, about how they weren’t happiness, but they were close. He described the feeling of the sand beneath his fingers, the way the mountain air tasted like freedom. He told her everything she had missed, everything he wished they could have seen together.

And for the first time in a long time, he felt like he was finally making things right.

The journey led him to the ocean.

The last place on Elyra’s list.

The sun was setting, casting golden light across the water. The waves lapped gently at his feet as he stood at the edge, staring out at the endless horizon.

He pulled out the final letter.

His hands trembled as he opened it, the last words he had never been able to say out loud.

“I hope you’re happy, wherever you are,” he whispered, his voice carried away by the wind.

He waited, just for a moment, as if expecting an answer.

And maybe it was the wind, or maybe it was something else entirely, but just as he turned to leave, a whisper seemed to drift through the air, soft and familiar.

"Thank you for loving me, even if it was too late."

Elyra Marei Calloway

Caleb Elias Calloway

Signing off. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The End.