Chapters

Chapter 1

The Past

Robin surveyed her room, trying to decide what to tackle first:
The month’s worth of dirty laundry on the floor,
her poor desk hiding under a scatter of books, pens,
and plates of half-eaten food and coffee mugs,
or the twisted pile of blankets, pillows and
God knows what staring at her?

Better start small,

Robin thought, as she walked towards her unmade bed and began pushing the twisted pile towards the edge until she heard the ruffle of paper and something heavy hit the floor. She looked down and saw a photo album, opened to a picture of her and Sam.

Carefully, she pulled the photo from the plastic sleeve to inspect it further. Although time had caused the edges to worn and colours to fade slightly, their toothy smiles and crinkled eyes were as clear as the day it was taken. Their last day together. Robin knew because Sam wore one of the two matching bracelets they gave each other as farewell presents.
Robin promised they’d always be friends no matter how far Sam moved, but then life got more complicated. At first they emailed each other everyday, but then days became weeks, and then months, and then just on birthdays or Christmases. It's been so long, Robin couldn't remember when she sent her last email.

So much for my promise, Robin thought as she gently ran the tips of her fingers across the photo. She noticed they left a soft grey smudge. She turned over the photo and saw a note written in charcoal.

What email is written on the back of the photo?
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