Once Upon a Time and Him to Her

She reappeared one day. It had been years since she had spent time with him and it was by accident that she reentered his life. Discovered through a mutual acquaintance, he sent her a message; a short note with a few words of greeting. She read this note and responded with a short note of her own, all the while not recognizing who he was or that they had shared a past together.

A few weeks had passed when another small note was sent by him and received by her. This note caused a flicker of memory to surface. A message that, on the surface seemed innocent enough but a word or two caused a ripple in her brain.  It was not really a memory but a fleeting thought that caused her to pause. She reread the note and wondered if there was a deeper message then what initially appeared.

 More weeks pass and soon another note was received and this one mentioned a child's name. Now curious because this name caused her to take note and wonder if this was more then a coincidence. She knew a child by that name. The first real clue that this was a person that she should remember.  Did she know this person? She reviewed the messages. Nothing was said that would help direct her to any conclusions. Was he more then an acquaintance from her past? She waited as the uncomfortable feeling laced itself with a little fear. Almost a certain knowledge now that this person knew more about her then she remembered about him. She studied his photo and tried to place him in her past. Soon she was contacting old friends and asking if they knew him.

A few questions were now sent in hopes of solving this puzzle.Innocent questions about his past; she awaited his answer nervously.

He received her polite responses to his messages along with her recent questions. Was he thinking that she knew who he was?  Yes, he did.  Though her reponses to him were short and polite and imparted little information, he assumed she knew to whom she was sending her replies.

Caution to the wind, she became bold. She had to know and dreaded the knowing at the same time. A small suspicion now and a stomach wrenching knowledge that was still being denied, she asked him a few more questions. From this he knew she didn't know who she had been sending her messages to   while at the same time she finally  knew who he was and had been in her life. Their worlds aligned again. She was stunned.

She stared at the screen as the full memory of their past collided with the present and was unable to deal with more messages from him for a while. Failing to find words to describe how she felt, she stepped away to examine her feelings.

Eventually the messages were again continued while the events of the past thirty years were shared and information traded on the paths they had traveled. A new relationship was developing. A friendship this time, as comfortable as their old past had once been to them.