What if it's us? What if you were Garrett and I was Theresa, and we were the longer version of their really short story? What if those poems you wrote for your ex-lover were the reasons why we met, and this time I wouldn't keep it as a secret? What if we are them, but much more decided, sure and risk takers? What if we never let the ghosts of our past ruin what we could have in the future? What if the messages we found in our bottles were for you and I?

What if it's us? What if we were Paul and Adrienne's younger selves and this time we would have been each other's first and last spouses? What if forty was such a long wait and Cupid decided to shot our arrows when we're in our mid-20s? What if after 3 days, you would have never left Rodanthe? Or maybe I would have left with you? What if you would never have to write a letter while I'm sleeping after we made love all night? What if no one's going to leave?

What if it's us? What if we were the healthier versions of Augustus and Hazel, and instead of eulogies, we'd be reading our vows in front of God? What if "Hmmm" would have been our "Always"? What if pixie cuts and amputated legs are just a side effect of being awesome, not of dying? What if that trip to Amsterdam would have been our honeymoon and instead of visiting Van Houten, we'd go to Van Gogh's museum and fall in love all over again? What if we don't have cancer cells at all?

What if it's us? What if you're just too consumed by how those stories ended and you thought we would end like them? What if we were supposed to fall in love and never fall apart? What if we let our hearts write our own novel, not our fears and doubts? What if...
–Myka M. Obinque

Photo: @paoloraeli (IG)