The unopened letter stared me down. He’d promised to write, but this was the first letter in weeks.

I anticipated what it said: his time abroad changed him.

Finding courage, I began reading. Everything became clear with that last line:

“Distance can’t separate us. I return next week. Marry me.”

Jennifer Carnesi is an eleventh-grade student in southern Louisiana. Besides writing she enjoys drawing, dance and spending time with friends.