the journal

I found a journal. Not just any journal but an old diary full of secrets and deep stories. I never meant to find the diary, but I came across it whilst hiding from my mom in the attic. I read some of it, but pages were torn and the attic was dark, so I took it to my room. The first thing I noticed was how old this journal really was. I guess you can't see aging in the dark. As I flipped through the pages, something shiny caught my attention. There was a ring, small but beautiful, taped onto one of the pages. Immediately, I read that page, hoping for some sort of explanation, but all I read was "For the distant future that would never arrive." I became curious, so I decided to read the journal from the very beginning. I gathered just from the first page that this diary was written by a man all about the love of his life. In it were stories about their dates, love notes, and even poems. Towards the middle of the diary something changed about the man's writing. He became worried about his love, Scarlet, but shrugged it off as her having family issues. He began asking more questions and talking to Scarlet's friends about her well-being. Her friends didn't know of any issues going on, but advised that he talk to her directly. After speaking with Scarlet one day, the man knew there was something wrong. "The tone in her voice was off, and I thought she wanted to break up with me." He wrote that the next day they would talk about their relationship, and if she wanted to break up, then it would be so. As the next day came, the man told Scarlet what he thought. Scarlet looked sad at what the man said to her, but told him that she loved him, and wasn't quite sure how to tell him. The man was overjoyed and relieved at this statement, and said it back. The man left Scarlet and went home, happy as could be. He decided to set up a date on a rooftop of the highest building in the town, to watch the sunset and have a picnic. After deep planning and consideration, the man thought about marriage. He came to the conclusion that this love would be eternal, and so he should set it in place with a ring. He went out to the finest jeweler in the town, and asked for a diamond ring as beautiful as Scarlet. Now the man was ready, though nervous, for his date and proposal. He told his soon-to-be fiance to wear something stunning, because it would be an important date for them. When the preparations were finally completed on the rooftop, and the sun was about to set, the man called Scarlet up to begin their date. At first glance, Scarlet was absolutely gorgeous, but as the man looked into her eyes, he saw sadness deep within. The man disregarded it as nervousness and carried on with his plan. After dinner on the roof, the man led Scarlet to the side of the building to watch the sunset and propose. As he left Scarlet there and went to the table to get the ring, he happened to turn, seeing tears in Scarlet's eyes. "What's wrong, darling?" he asked. With brief hesitation she whispered, "I'll be going, take good care of yourself." 

I stopped reading for a second. 

The next words written were "That's the last thing she ever said to me or to anyone else, because after that, I saw her on top of a wrecked car, bleeding to death after jumping off the building. The look in her lifeless eyes was full of pain and misery. She wanted it to stop, and so she stopped it."

I was enraged with the ending of this pure love story. I was mad at the man for not doing anything about the sadness he saw. I went to attic to look for anything else that might have belonged to the man. Without finding anything, I flipped back to the page with the ring. It was beautiful, and I now understood its being there. Now I wanted to know about the man. Why was his journal here? Did he live here before me? I decided to ask my mom if she knew anything about a woman named Scarlet who committed suicide. 

As I crept down the stairs, my mom asked where I was. "Just looking around in the attic," I said. "Oh so you found the diary?" I stood on the stairs in shock that she even knew about its existence. "Umm yeah, I-I read it," I stuttered. "And now you're here to ask me what I know about that couple," she said. "Yeah I was just wondering--." She cut me off. "My sister was Scarlet Filmester." She became teary-eyed. "I didn't know that she was in pain. I would've helped her... That man who wrote the diary, did you ever find out his name?" "No," I answered, "he never said his name." Well, your father, Jeffrey Walton, dated my sister Scarlet. He watched her die, and it left him in utter misery. I felt the same way after my sister's death, so we coped together. Years later he asked me to marry him, and here I am." "So that's dad's journal?" I asked. "Yes, honey, I'm sorry this is a lot to take in, but I think it's time you know the truth... your father had a brother as well."