Let’s … | Teen Ink

Let’s … MAG

December 20, 2011
By RedheadAtHeart ELITE, Mountain Home, Idaho
RedheadAtHeart ELITE, Mountain Home, Idaho
109 articles 0 photos 164 comments

Favorite Quote:
Love with open hands. - Madeleine L'Engle


“Let's do something together,” you say.
“Like what?” I ask.

“Well,” you say, “let's sit and talk on the stone steps after church and laugh about everything and nothing at all. Let's have it be a pure accident. Opportune circumstances. And let's have it be beautiful.

“Let's get up regretfully and bid each other good-bye, with promises to talk again next week. Let's gaze wistfully after each other as we depart.

“Let's make it a habit throughout the summer to talk and laugh on the stone steps after church. Let's look forward to our weekly banter, and let's wonder what the other is thinking as we anticipate seeing each other again.

“Let's be sitting and talking together one Sunday, and let's both be slightly disappointed when I mention that I'm going to my cousin's wedding in Green Bay, and after that I'm spending two weeks in northern Minnesota at camp. Let's say we'll miss each other.

“Let's have a joyful reunion when I return and a long, heartfelt discussion on the church steps. Let's say honestly that we missed each other.

“Let's go slowly into the new school year, always remembering to have our hour on the church steps together. Let's sit out there even on the worst snowy days.

“Let's let time go by, a year or two, and in all that time let's not let our friendship fade. Even as you go to college and I go who-knows-where, let's remain friends.

“Let's keep in touch. Let's one day – even though I have a job by then – get together and hang out, maybe sitting on the stone steps of a church somewhere else. And let's talk for a while, but after another while, let's realize that neither of us feels like talking. So let's sit in silence.

“Then let's kiss. Let's make it beautiful and heartfelt and true. And let's know that we're in love.

“Let's be happy, secure in the knowledge that we were made for each other. Let's let time and life bring everything they've got, while we weather the storm together.

“Let's date. Let's be happy and funny and enjoy each other. Let's walk along beaches and city sidewalks and country roads holding hands. Let's laugh and tease and steal kisses and smile wide when we see each other. Let's be in love.

“Let's be together, some summer night, sitting perhaps on some stone steps, though maybe not of a church. Let's be sitting there, silent like we sometimes are, and then let's both know something special is about to happen.

“‘Let's get married,” I'll say. You'll agree. So let's.

“Let's get married in the church where we met, surrounded by everyone we love. Let's stand in front of the church and forget about everyone else while we promise our lives to each other.

“Let's live in a tiny cottage on the coast of northern Maine. Let's be young and happy and carefree. Let's just live, working a little and playing a lot, like young people tend to do.

“Let's have a crowd of beautiful children. Let's read to them and sing to them and teach them to be good people. Let's sneak into their rooms when they're asleep and marvel at how miraculous they are.

“Let's watch them grow up, survive their adolescence and our midlife crises, and come out the other side wishing they hadn't grown up so fast. Let's quietly live alone again in our northern Maine cottage, just us two, like it was before.

“Now,” you say, “let's come back to now. Let's hold hands. Let's pray that God and your cancer won't take you away from me too soon.”

“Even if they do,” I say, “you know where to find me.”

You smile. “Where?” you ask.

“Right with you,” I say. “Where I've always been.”

Your smile fades. “But you won't be,” you say sadly.

“Says who?” I ask, struggling to sit up in my hospital bed. “You once said, ‘Let's do life together.' So we are. Even if I'm not there the whole way, we are doing it together.”

You smile through tears that cloud your eyes. “Let's,” you say.



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This article has 94 comments.


on Jul. 1 2012 at 5:56 pm
writer3499 GOLD, New Bedford, Massachusetts
11 articles 0 photos 196 comments

Favorite Quote:
"it's impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might has well not have lived at all-in which case you fail by default."
-J.K.Rowling

WOW that was amazing and emotional and beautiful.  I love the story line and the unexpected ending that almost brought tears to my eyes.  Fantastic!!

on Jul. 1 2012 at 11:52 am
freyawastaken BRONZE, Bournemouth, Other
2 articles 0 photos 2 comments
I teared up, I'm not ashamed to admit it. So sweet, and I managed to get so attached to both characters in such a short time. Beautiful piece of writing.

on Jul. 1 2012 at 11:52 am
freyawastaken BRONZE, Bournemouth, Other
2 articles 0 photos 2 comments
I teared up, I'm not ashamed to admit it. So sweet, and I managed to get so attached to both characters in such a short time. Beautiful piece of writing.

on Jun. 16 2012 at 11:21 pm
Norman Greenberg SILVER, Brooklyn, New York
9 articles 0 photos 8 comments
Fantastic! This piece provokes so much emotion. Wonderful.

on May. 31 2012 at 11:05 am
theadventuresofemma GOLD, Ontario, Other
12 articles 2 photos 41 comments

Favorite Quote:
For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others.
For beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness.
And for poise walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.
-Audrey Hepburn

This was the best poem ever! i loved it even though the end was sad! it was so mature and amazing!

rroland GOLD said...
on May. 8 2012 at 2:56 pm
rroland GOLD, Cazenovia, New York
12 articles 0 photos 20 comments

Favorite Quote:
We except the love we think we deserve

the ending was so unexpected!!!!!!!!!!

on May. 8 2012 at 9:28 am
KandiceMichelle PLATINUM, Stansonburg, North Carolina
24 articles 0 photos 29 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Yet God has made everything BEAUTIFUL for its own time. He has planted ETERNITY in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end." -Ecclesiastes 3:11

This brought me to tears because it was so good!

on Mar. 27 2012 at 9:51 pm

This. Is. So. Amazing...

I love it! Don't you ever stop writing!!


on Mar. 22 2012 at 9:18 pm
artfullymade14 BRONZE, Chesapeak, Virginia
2 articles 5 photos 41 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Live as if you'll die tomorrow, dream as if you'll live forever."
-Unknown Author

This was absolutely fenomenal I loved it!!!! It was straight, to the point and had a suprising twist at the end:) great job! keep writing please!

on Mar. 14 2012 at 7:47 pm
writingandwondering BRONZE, Downers Grove, Illinois
1 article 0 photos 7 comments
Wow! This was AMAZING! I loved it! Wonderful love story! You're a great writer keep it up!

Eggie94 BRONZE said...
on Feb. 21 2012 at 8:30 pm
Eggie94 BRONZE, Palmdale, California
4 articles 0 photos 26 comments

Favorite Quote:
"With great power comes great responsibility" --Bruce Wayne

This is so beautiful ^.^ I absolutely love it! Great job!

on Feb. 18 2012 at 4:08 pm
TheGirlWhoDancesWithSnowflakes SILVER, Sunnyvale, Texas
8 articles 0 photos 99 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Duct tape is like the force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the world together."

Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another,
"What! You too? I thought I was the only one."
- C. S. Lewis

>_> You made me cry!!!

on Feb. 2 2012 at 10:32 am
MarissaWhitecloud SILVER, Oskaloosa, Iowa
7 articles 0 photos 84 comments
Loved it so much!

on Jan. 25 2012 at 5:07 pm
RedheadAtHeart ELITE, Mountain Home, Idaho
109 articles 0 photos 164 comments

Favorite Quote:
Love with open hands. - Madeleine L'Engle

Wow... thanks, everybody. I feel deluged with more praise than maybe I deserve, but thank you all so much for reading and enjoying! -Red

JulianneV GOLD said...
on Jan. 20 2012 at 2:25 pm
JulianneV GOLD, Shamong, New Jersey
17 articles 17 photos 27 comments

Favorite Quote:
Be the change you want to see in the world. ~ Gandhi

this is amazing

AsIAm PLATINUM said...
on Jan. 20 2012 at 11:19 am
AsIAm PLATINUM, Somewhere, North Carolina
48 articles 3 photos 606 comments

Favorite Quote:
"According to some, heroic deaths are admirable things. (Generally those who don't have to do it. Politicians and writers spring to mind.) I've never been convinced by this argument, mainly because, no matter how cool, stylish, composed, unflappable, manly, or defiant you are, at the end of the day you're also dead. Which is a little too permanent for my liking." — Jonathan Stroud (Ptolemy's Gate)

Really, really stellar. I loved it.

samm513 said...
on Jan. 19 2012 at 6:23 pm
that was amazing!! i want to cry beautifully sad tears!

on Jan. 13 2012 at 10:05 pm
not.that.girl BRONZE, Troy, Michigan
1 article 2 photos 37 comments

Favorite Quote:
My words fly up, my thoughts remain below.
Words without thought never to heaven go.

i don't want to say beautiful...it's already been said. but really, this was extremely moving. gorgeous. pulchritudinous. exquisite. i loved it. i usually just skim the magazine, but your piece caught my eye-- and i'm glad. keep it up. :)

on Jan. 10 2012 at 1:23 pm
purpleink26 BRONZE, Liverpool, Other
4 articles 0 photos 4 comments

Favorite Quote:
How can something as fragile as a word build a whole world?

this is amazing, i think my heart broke a little reading it!!

Sarah_H said...
on Jan. 8 2012 at 9:22 pm
Sarah_H, Alexandria, Virginia
0 articles 0 photos 5 comments

Favorite Quote:
"It is perfectly okay to write garbage--as long as you edit brilliantly."
C J Cherryh

This is fantastic. So genuine and real. Awesome job.