![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmTsgGxsJTMruP4V2AWGiP7RyDgUcgky1TrdCi35iqSKD6/1750139379289.jpg)


Every Friday at Orient Academy, a tray of fortune cookies was placed in the cafeteria, no one knew who brought them neither did they care but to the students, it was a harmless fun and a welcome distraction from the rigours of learning.

On Valentine’s day, Eunice cracked hers open to find a rather strange message:

*To the girl with a smile that makes shadows turn,
you are not alone*. *Someone watches, someone burns.*

Everyone aww'd as they gathered around her, passing the paper round.

She swooned.

This one felt personal—very personal. Her friend Augusta giggled all through dinner.

"Someone has a secret admirer."

The next Friday, she found a cookie wrapped in red foil with a silver heart—on her locker.

*You sit under the mango tree during lunch*.
*You talk to birds when no one watches*.
*The world doesn’t deserve your quiet magic.*

Someone was watching her.

Every week, the notes came—elegant handwriting, soul-deep words that weren’t just fortunes. They were confessions, observations, longings.


Eunice's heart raced as she read and re-read the latest note with a bundle of excitement and anxiety. She wondered who her mysterious admirer was? His words were like a warm embrace, yet she felt so vulnerable. She glanced around the bustling cafeteria, searching for a familiar face that might belong to the author of her secret messages.

Augusta, noticing her distracted gaze, nudged her.

 "Anything up? You’ve been quiet since you opened that cookie."

Eunice hesitated, unsure if she should share her newfound mystery. "It’s just… it's nothing....these notes I’ve been getting, they’re kind of sweet, but it makes me feel as if I'm so transparent and someone just sees right through me."

Augusta raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Do you think someone’s stalking you?"

"Not stalking really," Eunice replied, shaking her head. "More like… observing. They’re poetic, and they seem to know things about me. It’s just… I don’t know who it is."

"Well, if you'd want to find out, count me in." Augusta said, a mischievous grin spreading across her face. "We could set a trap! Leave a note of your own and see who responds."

The idea sparked something in Eunice, she was already going insane with suspense and would really love to discover the identity of her admirer. 

That evening, she sat at her desk, and with her pen, crafted a note of her own:

*To the one who sees me,
your words light up my shadows*.
*But who are you, really*? 
*I’m so curious to know the heart behind the ink.*

She slipped the note into a cookie and placed it in her locker, with a mix of anticipation and trepidation. Would he respond, would he reveal himself?

The following Friday, she got to school with a flutter of nerves and as she approached her locker, her breath caught in her throat. There was another cookie, adorned with a delicate ribbon.

She carefully unwrapped it, her heart pounding as she read the note inside:

*I am the quiet one and the shadow in the corner.*
*I’ve waited, a flower in the sun*.
*You are the magic I always needed*.

Then came another note:

*Will you meet me?*
7:00 p.m. | *The Old Science Lab.*

Eunice’s heart raced. The same place?
That was the meeting place ........ No, was someone trying to play pranks? The place had been abandoned since the fire two years ago. 


“Are you okay?” Augusta asked, peering over Eunice’s shoulder. 

“I think....yes” Eunice replied, her voice barely above a whisper. 

But at 7:00 p.m, she couldn't resist the urge as she crept across the courtyard, her heart pounding.

This was more than just a note, it was an invitation. She had not felt like this for a long time, not since....... Her thoughts sadly trailed off.


 The science lab was—their secret spot, their rendezvous, where they often escaped to daydream. 

The lab door stood ajar, inside, a single lantern flickered beside a black and gold cookie.

She cracked it open:

*You were not supposed to see me*.
*But I couldn’t help myself.*
*I left the other world to see you again, to see you
this one more time.*


A shadow stirred. A voice whispered: “Eunice”

She turned, and saw him.

Ezra! He looked the same, dressed in school uniform. But pale with eyes like ink.

She backed away. Heart racing.

"But.... but you died in the fire."

Yes I did. In the fire. But I wanted us to meet one more time, just the way it was before the accident.”


Why did you leave me all alone, when you promised we would always be together?” she whispered as tears freely fell.

“I didn't want to.... But I could not get out fast enough." He finished sadly.

*This life is brief, but love…*
*love always finds its way back.*



And then… memories flooded , of Laughter, dancing, love… and then the fire.

Tears soaked her face.

Ezra smiled. “Even just for tonight—that’s enough.”

He whispered softly, smiling, as he faded with the night.

 “I’ll wait for all of eternity.”


---

On Monday, rumors swirled: Eunice had fainted in the old lab, thank goodness for the timely intervention of her friend, Augusta.

But at lunch, a single cookie sat on her tray, black and gold.

She didn’t need to open it to know what it said or who it was from.


---

Epilogue

Ezra was a seventeen-year-old final year student of Orient Academy. He loved poetry and loved Eunice so much. Two years ago, he got trapped trying to save her scarf from the fire that broke out in the lab.

He was the only one who didn't make it.

His soul lingered, drifting, until one day… he was granted just a moment to be again with her.

*Because love, once named, can never fully die.*



---

Image generated with the help of AI

---

🌸My Motto is work at making yourself proud of yourself.🌸


Thank you very much for taking time to read me. Have a wonderful day!