Why Opposites Attract

It was a cold day, as wind tore through the house's feeble walls and danced around the fire's dying flames. Marissa sat in an old overstuffed chair, wrapped in a blanket, and stared absently at the dying flames. Her pen lay in the floor beside her, but she still clutched the letter in her hands.

***

It's New Year's Eve, and I'm writing letters to a dead person. 

What am I doing with my life?

Yes, I'm writing to you, Henry. You, laying in a coffin, eyes closed as I cried on the cold, wooden bench beside you. My parents said I was being a stupid teenager when I didn't move on. A stupid teenager. But you don't know any of that. You're six feet under ground. Let me start from the beginning, though. There's nothing left to say about the aftermath of your death.

We learned in science that opposites attract. That lesson on magnetism was boring and dumb, but somehow it is true: opposites attract. From there, everything played out like a cliche-ridden movie about high school drama. You were popular and I was not.You were amazing at sports and I was anything but. You had friends,I did not. Then, somehow you saw something in me that I didn't see myself. You helped me see it too. 

I was so happy, but good things never last, do they?

Death was right around the corner. What do you imagine death as? The poems we read for English class described him as a driver, a simple man, even the devil. No, I picture death as a girl. She's about my age, but she's everything I'm not. She's like the newer, better version of me. She looks perfect without makeup. She has an easy laugh and a beautiful smile. She's confident and beautiful.

And now she comes to take my boyfriend away.

I bet she sent that fire, too. Now just imagine me: tortured, gaining weight, fading away, just imagining the fear in your eyes as you saw no escape from the flames. How does it feel to burn? Does it hurt? I bet it does. Death doesn't come easily, does she?

Now I'm alone in the world, and the thought comes to me every day. What if you're gone forever? I'm still finding my path in the way of religion. Is there a heaven? Are you happy? Or maybe death is just a cold sleep. Are you really gone? Will I never see you again?

Someday I will die too. I know it. I've rolled the thought over in my mind, almost obsessively for the past year. I will be stuffed in coffin and put on display like some grotesque exhibit. Then they'll pile the earth over me. I'll descend and never come up again.

But then, maybe then, I'll have all the answers within reach. Maybe. Love and death. Opposites. They attract too.

By the way, there's no need to write back,
--Marissa

***

Marissa sealed the envelope and pressed it close to her chest before throwing it into the fire.

"I miss you, Henry," she whispered.