Every letter I mailed to Anna came back unopened.
I then offered to write an essay for Cliff if he’d go by her apartment.
The following day, he told me the address I gave him was empty.
I found that her phone was disconnected.
***
For years, I wondered how someone who’d tucked me into bed the night before could disappear without saying goodbye.
Dad always gave me the same answer.
“Some people aren’t who you think they are. Stop wasting your time on someone who doesn’t want to be in your life.”
Eventually, I stopped asking.
Over a decade passed.
Dad always gave me the same answer.
Now Anna was standing outside my house.
***
On my 25th birthday, I came home from work and found her standing on my porch.
Inside the envelope was a birth certificate with my name and my date of birth.
