Letter: A Six Sentence Story

The waiting had seemed interminable, day after day, the young man's hopes rising and falling with the steps of the postman. Spring had turned into summer, and the summer days melted into fall, and still there was no letter.

On the first crisp day of October, as Mr. Sullivan raked the fiery maple leaves from his yard into long rows along the gutter, and Mrs. Jackson leaned over the porch rail and shook the dust from a throw rug, the postman made his way down the street, slowing as he reached the yellow house with the picket fence, its gate ajar, as though it were waiting for just this moment.

As the postman turned into the gate and made his way down the sidewalk, the front door swung open, and the young man cautiously emerged, stepping onto his porch as the postman extended a letter towards him.

The exchange wasn't lost on Mr. Sullivan or Mrs. Jackson, and after a quick glance at each other, they made their way towards the yellow house, but as the young man opened the envelope, they stopped, Mrs. Jackson's hand reaching out to touch Mr. Sullivan lightly on his arm, neither hardly daring to breathe.

The young man slipped a letter out of the envelope, his eyes sweeping swiftly across the words, his face expressionless, and with a glance at his neighbors and the postman as they stood watching, frozen in place, he silently returned to the house and softly closed the door.



Linking up with Ivy at Uncharted for Six Sentence Stories with the prompt "letter."