The Novel

There are some things we never forget. Sometimes these things change our lives and the course we are on. Six months ago on a morning thick with fog I received an anonymous package by a drone from a secret admirer. I know this because inside the package was a novel and the note that came along with it was this:

Dear Lane,

I have loved you for some time now and I see no end to it. You know me but you don’t know this. As I lie here writing this book for your eyes only, the first novel I will have ever written, I have recently become unemployed. Although I need to be focusing on my financial security, I can’t help but be grateful for this free time I have to write. My heart suffocates from being unable to write as often as I would like.

I’m writing my first novel for you in this rare span of free time because I have been wanting to really get to know you ever since I came across you on social media about two years ago. I can’t shake this desire no matter how hard I try. I know this may seem like too much but I’ve opted to forget the rules society has created for the way people should act. I want to tell the truth in a big way so it can be better understood. The purpose of this is to help you realize exactly how important you are to me. This book is just for you. I will not be publishing it. It will be created with all heart. You are the extra push that makes it possible.

I’m not doing this to be rewarded. In fact, I know you may not be single as I write this. I do not want you to leave anyone if that person feels right for you. I only want my heart to be known and seen by the one I desire to know. The heart wants what it wants. I have tried to stop it but there is no stopping the heart. The heart has more grit than anything in existence.

In the matter of my heart, it values human connection over seeking fame. This is why I’m showing my first novel only to you; only to the recipient of the one I want to know more than anything. I only want to be famous so I know that my work will have changed enough lives to change the world. Spreading lessons on love has always fed my words and they are best when that is within them. Love is why I write. However much I change the world is proportionate to the amount of passion in my heart. So, with this book I am unleashing my heart without holding back from fear of the pain of never knowing you completely. There won’t be any regrets this way and it will powerfully fuel my passion which feeds my words to the world. No matter what happens, I am always going to be your friend. This book is not meant to pressure you or stress you or manipulate your decisions. My only intention is making sure you know the depth of my interest in you.

To better address the matter of why you have become so important to me, no words could do it justice but I will try. Your glow stands out and your warmth from it reaches across all the miles we are apart. It transcends the fact we have never physically met. I spend time with you in my dreams sometimes. You are the first person I have had dreams about multiple times. A soul that knows another recognizes it no matter where they are. If you don’t recognize me in return, I know the universe must have a reason for it, but it doesn’t change that I recognize you. Your purpose, at its core, aligns with mine. You are also the most stunning, breathtaking, beautiful woman I have ever known. Your beauty is not only made up of what is on the surface. It is enhanced and illuminated by the energy and light within you. I have been in crowds where it is impossible to glance at everyone, as most people have, and yet, still I know not one person in them ever had a force field like you.

After reading the book I have sent you, if you wish to get to know me more, I have arranged for the drone to return to you every Sunday so that you may send me letters. I will send you letters this way as well if I hear from you. If you do not initiate contact within two months, then I will stop sending the drone. As for my identity, I will only reveal that after a while when I feel the time is right.

Warmest Regards,

Your Secret Admirer

I will be honest. I felt both thrilled and worried but after reading the book next to the warmth of my fireplace, all the worry drifted away with the morning fog.

I knew I needed to discover the identity of this person. It was the most beautiful love story I have ever come across in my life. Only someone that truly understands love could have written it and people that do are rare. I had questions too. Why had the gift been anonymous?

For reasons I can’t quite put into words, I waited until the last time the drone would be coming to send a response.

Dear Secret Admirer,

I was deeply impacted by your book. The biggest question I have in my mind is why are you being anonymous?

Sincerely,

Lane

Dear Lane,

I can’t tell you how happy I was to hear from you. I am honored that my book touched you. After all, you inspired it.

I have chosen to remain anonymous for now because my identity will create a fog between us making it hard for you to really see me. I know this because it has before when I tried without being anonymous. You have many people with an interest in you, I’m sure. Due to that stress, your default option is to tune them out even though just maybe one of them could be the one for you. I’m using this unique method to make you step out of that default.

Warmest Regards,

Your Secret Admirer

Dear Secret Admirer,

You are right about my default reaction to those expressing interest in me. I don’t like knowing their interest stems from things that make me appear to be dreamy due to the inspirational nature of my work. I guess I fear they will expect perfection when I am not perfect. Why should I see you as any different?

Sincerely,

Lane

Dear Lane,

I am different because I still want to be there when you struggle or are less than perfect. I want to help your light shine even brighter when you help others. When I was so low, you helped rewire how grateful I should be for pain. You taught me that it is fuel for success if I choose to use it that way. I know you know how to face any difficulty that comes your way even if it is constant. Your strength is irreplaceable. I want it in my life. I hope to give you as much as you have given me and more. But it goes deeper than all that too. Our journeys to help others overlap. I feel we would each enhance that work in each other and we would increase the impact on the world as a team.

Warmest Regards,

Your Secret Admirer

Dear Secret Admirer,

May I please know your identity now? Your book has made me fall in love with your mind to the point that I think any challenge with learning your identity will not stop us. You see love in a way I have never encountered it in another. I have always hoped to meet someone with such depth. You jumped right out of my dreams and onto the pages of your book.

Sincerely,

Lane

Dear Lane,

If you wish to meet me, I will be at Kindred Spirit mailbox in Sunset Beach, North Carolina on Sunday, October 22, 2023 at noon. If our meeting goes well we can leave our story in the mailbox to inspire others. Until then, the drone will still come to you.

Warmest Regards,

Your Greatest Admirer

I will be honest. I did not want to wait that long but I did. She was waiting for me there at Kindred Spirit as promised. As I approached, I saw her sitting on the bench reading other contents from the mailbox that people had left. I recognized her immediately from what I had seen on her social media. Then I remembered ignoring her like all the rest. I felt guilty because she was truly different. I knew deep down when I was reading the book the day it came. Of all the people in the world she chose me to give the greatest romantic gift I had ever heard about in my entire life.

“Hello, Summer.”

She rose out of her distraction with the letters from the mailbox and smiled warmly and shyly. I knew from social media she was a quiet person. The way she looked at me that first time was intense. It was like she was thinking finally this was happening after knowing for so long she would find a way to me no matter what.

“Hello, Lane. You look even better in person. I can sense your warmth from here.”

“May I sit with you?”

“Of course.”

We looked at each other for a long moment. I wanted her to know she had accomplished her dream. She had me now. Our story would go in the box with the rest. When I saw in her eyes that she understood what I was thinking, I kissed her then, and felt her slowly unwind in my arms after all of her hard work had finally paid off.