A Letter Away From You

Chapter 17

"The wheels on the bus go round and round." I imitated the lyrics riddled in the nursery rhyme my brother has been listening to. Being the great sister that I am, massaging the flimsy scalp of Gibs had him snoozing to sleep in just a flash.

How many sheep have you already counted? It was quite a surprise to see him snoring the whole house off in a matter of a few minutes, as opposed to the long hours it would usually take before he dozes. Not to mention, all the crying involved.

"Okay, let's get you up to your room." Rammed in my shoulder, I lifted him in my shoulder as I whistled a lullaby coming up the stairs. The voice of the night sounded hush; it whispered peace and tranquility. It's always in the dead of the night that a feeling of joy echoes within me. Just like how the bubbles in a water basin would suddenly appear, the same throbbing sensation is in the depths of my emotions.

While I slowly lay down Gibs in his chummy bed, in the corner of my vision, I noticed a small beacon of light just sitting around. A ghost? I jived into the other segment of the room just to find out it was the tablet my brother had been playing with this entire day. But how the device suddenly lit up was what confused me; it seemed to have had a ringtone accompanied by it. Eh, Gibs is too small to receive calls.

Ignoring the nonsense alarm, I mumbled my goodnight to Gibs as my bedroom would be my next destination for my own good night's rest. A big day, today was.

Standing right before the door of my room, the image of Jasmine floated in my mind. Right, she might know something about that unusual email. As I pulled closer into my crib, I began to scroll my contacts for her number.

Jasmine. Pressing that green call icon was satisfying but not fulfilling enough as clicking the buttons in the telephone we had back in the days. I relaxed on the sofa beside my bed. Placing myself on top of the bed would get me tired in just a few minutes; that is why this comfy substitute is my second choice.

What might she be doing at this time? I figured out she might already be dreaming about all the boys that put her through hell. Almost nearing my finger at the stop button, the ringing finally ceased, followed by a clink.

"I'm eating; what's up?" Her voice rushed out of the speakers of my mobile phone. I altered it into loudspeaker mode, as setting it beside my ear would be such a hassle. It might burst my eardrums, thinking it was as loud as what a sonic wave is. However, Mom's yapping would be more pain in the ear.

"Have you finally settled yourself?" She was a little disappointed, I knew. I grinned a little as I remembered I ran off hours ago without a word. Straight out of the gym, leaving her behind. There, I knew I had problems with myself.

"Uriah sent me an email." With no shortcuts, I cut to the chase.

"What?!" Jasmine replied, along with surprise in her tone. Of course, talking to her about Uriah is gold to her ears. I rarely talk about him, and it either comes with a twist or a plot hole when I do.

"Did he finally say anything after all these years?" Questions and questions were what came out of her mouth, although I understood. "I am happy for you, dear." She continued. If only you'd let me speak first.

"It's not like that, Jas." I hate to break it to you, but it's really not like that. So far from that.

"An automated message was sent to me through his email, one I can't quite comprehend." It took a few minutes as I explained the recent scenes from the school gym to the present. I was telling a story, with each clip having its own start and end. Every sentence I said was countered by Jas with a couple of "Huh?", "Okay", and many other of her usual responses.

"So out of the blue, you receive an email that says your messages have been received?" Jas hit the bullseye in grasping the gist of my dilemma. It was nice to have someone on the same plane as you.

"Yes, that's it. Totally it." I assured her. My voice was pale; a word was fastening at the tip of my tongue, one I couldn't seem to let out. What is it I want to say? This notion yells the same vibe as to how you would endure when you are in the action of sneezing, but you get interrupted mid-way.

"Here, I found something on the internet." Her reply broke the disorientation I had with a simple twig of an unforgotten phrase. I was curious, as to what the answer might be to my question.

"What is it?" I gave my feedback in a timbre of longing and excitement. If this leads me to you, then I'll be more than willing to take that path myself. I really do hope that you'd be waiting on the other side when it happens.

"I'll send you the link to the blog, but I'll read it for you." Jasmine began to shuffle her words from a blog about technology and stuff, specific in the field of emails.

"Receiving an automated message from an email means that this person has been saving or has saved your recent conversations, or archiving it into another source file."