A Twist of Fate - Larry Stylinson

Part III

Almost afraid it would break in half when he unrolled it; Louis was hesitant to open the pieces of paper, his fingers just skimming the surface of it. He didn’t know much about unrolling paper that had been floating in the ocean for years. What if it just crumbled and got carried away by the wind?

Deciding to take the risk anyway, he went for his paper first. He recognized the way he’d rolled it. It was smaller than Harry’s, since he had folded it twice before rolling it up. At least if this one broke he’d know to be more careful with Harry’s. And it was Harry’s that he really wanted to read, not so much his own, which was probably filled with so much childish innocence that it could kill.

 It wasn’t actually as fragile as he thought it was, unrolling fairly easily, except that Louis had to keep his fingers there to prevent it from folding and rolling back.

 I can’t believe we’re doing this. It’s a little too late to write a note now, and I hope Mum doesn’t walk in to check on me, because then my cover will be blown!

I think this is an awesome idea though. It’s really cool, isn’t it? Hopefully this paper and Harry’s too, of course, gets back to us someday. I’m sure it will, because we’re such good friends, even God and nature will want us to get back in touch and stay friends forever.

I hope we’ll still remember each other when it does. I’m trying to be happy about moving to Australia even though I don’t want to at all. I heard it’s a nice place, at least.

The bottle this is kept in will never sink to the bottom of ocean, and it will stay afloat forever, just like how Harry and I are best friends forever. For life.

The handwriting was messy and scrawly, even more so because he remembered he had written this by torchlight, hidden under the blanket with the paper on his knees and trying to keep the writing as neat as possible. If it was going to be so important, it had better look neat, right?

Releasing his grip on the paper, he let it roll back on itself and dropped it back into the bottle. As disgusting as it was, he kind of wanted to bring it home and display it on a shelf or something.

Should he open Harry’s message? Digging back into his memories, he didn’t find anything about them promising not to read each other’s messages. And besides, what was the point of finding the bottle if he didn’t read their messages, right?

Next week is going to be the saddest week of my life. I know I haven’t lived very long, not as long as mum or dad, but I’m sure nothing will be as sad as having my best friend move so far away. I’ll miss him. I don’t think I will be able to have as much fun with anyone else, ever.

If Louis or I ever find this again, then maybe we can meet up one day, when we’re all grown up. Hopefully we’ll still be best friends when we meet again, because I’m going to save that best friend spot in my heart for him. Best friends forever.

 Below Harry’s significantly neater handwriting were two small figures, obviously the two of them. If it hadn’t been clear enough before, they were labeled ‘Louis’ and ‘Harry’ at the bottom.