Prompt: Letters from those no longer with us.
RACHEL
[holding a handwritten letter in her hand]
Dearest Rachel,
I’ve spent a lot of time writing this letter in my head and I’m sure I’ve killed a fair number of trees writing drafts. I’ve never known how to say goodbye to you, which is probably why I disappeared. It was easier. But now, I have to figure out how, because it’s the last time I’ll get the chance and you deserve closure.
You deserved it back then, but better late than never, right?
Some of this is going to be hard to read, I assume, because it was hard to write. Without this very final deadline, this never would have made it into your hands, but with the metaphorical clock about to strike midnight, it’s time for me to put my pencil down and turn my papers in.
Most confessions start at the beginning, but you, Rachel, know the beginning painfully well, so let’s skip all that. Let’s get to the meat. The middle. Let’s get to Stephanie.
[Lights up on RACHEL and STEPHANIE. They are college students, assigned roommates, two strangers about to become friends]
STEPHANIE
So you grew up here?
RACHEL
Yeah, I went to high school about 5 blocks away. But I didn’t want to miss out on the dorm experience so for freshman year I decided to live on campus.
STEPHANIE
Do a lot of people from here come here?
RACHEL
Um, I would say there were a few people from my high school who ended up here, but I feel like a lot go to the U.
STEPHANIE
Because it’s more affordable?
RACHEL
I think it’s more about having the “college experience” which, I’ll admit feels harder to have in your hometown. Especially when your hometown is a big city and not a college town.