[Life's Bookmark] To the windowsill of the heart, an inextinguishable hope. -- A love letter that needs no synopsis. To a friend who loves the same book.

Hello, this is Teruteru.

I have decided to gift a book to a dear friend who has lost their spirit.

Memories of a stylish message we once exchanged, and stationery with a hydrangea pattern.

Instead of exhausting words, this is a record of my best feelings, entrusted to a story.

Having a common language

My friends, though not numerous, are diverse in age and nationality.

They are all relationships I have nurtured slowly over time, but among them is a friend who has now lost their spirit.

About three years ago, when I went out to see the autumn leaves, I took a picture of a ginkgo leaf I picked up and sent it to that friend via email.

With a single line added: 'A little gift of autumn for you.'

What came back was this stylish sentence:

'It's a beautiful ginkgo leaf that reminds me of "The Last Leaf."'

Because we are people who read the same books, our hearts connected with just one line. It was like a fun time of decoding a secret message.

Hydrangea-patterned stationery and a year of silence

After that, the intervals between our emails gradually grew longer.

While I worried about my friend, I decided to leave them alone for a year.

The other day, I happened to notice some hydrangea-patterned stationery at a bookstore.

I felt hesitant to write a long letter to someone who is feeling down, but I couldn't help but think of my friend.

Even after I returned home and sat at my desk, I couldn't quite bring myself to write.

(Perhaps I should still leave them alone...)

Just as I was thinking that, I caught sight of a short story on my bookshelf. "The Last Leaf" was sitting on my shelf too.

I want to be like 'The Last Leaf'

I tucked a piece of stationery into a book like a bookmark and sent it to a friend.

"I want to be like 'The Last Leaf'", I added, just like that.

I felt like I had done something incredibly stylish.

And it turned out to be a heartfelt love letter to a dear friend.

To be precise, I just sent them a used book of mine.

I feel a mix of embarrassment and a little satisfaction—a strange feeling.

The time spent choosing stationery and words while thinking of a loved one is truly wonderful.
I feel as though it gently puts my own heart in order as well.

* 'The Last Leaf' is a short story by the author O. Henry.

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