Over the past weeks, many moments have gathered themselves together.
Moments that slowly led me to understand why you entered my life at all—
what your purpose was.

Some people arrive only briefly. Others are meant to stay.
You were never meant for permanence.
You came to show me colour again.
Sweetness.
What it feels like to be seen.
You revived my heart, reminded it how to beat.
And for that, you succeeded completely.

Still, upstairs in the attic hung the twelve red roses you once gave me.
I had never received a gesture like that before.
They belonged to a time when possibility was unfolding,
when love felt as though it was beginning to take shape.
Every time I looked at them, my heart tightened—
not with hope, but with waiting.
I realised that as long as I kept the door open to you,
I was never truly moving forward.
My life remained paused,
standing still for a moment that might never return.

Understanding that you were not meant to stay
led me to the final act.

I took the roses outside.
I dug a hole in the earth.
I wrote you a letter and plucked a single petal from the dried bouquet.
In the letter, I thanked you—
for what you gave me,
for the place you will always hold in my heart.
I acknowledged the truth of what we were,
and how, alongside the dreams that followed,
it became clear we were moving through life at different rhythms.
Different paces.
We could never have grown in the same direction.

I placed the letter beneath the roses and lit a candle.
The flame took its time, hesitant at first,
until suddenly it caught and rose quickly.
Watching them burn, I understood:
the flowers disappeared as swiftly as the love had arrived and faded.
I stayed there, outside in the cold,
watching the embers glow and slowly dim,
feeling that I should not leave until they were gone.
So I waited.
Until the last traces of orange surrendered to darkness.
Only then did I cover the warmth with sand.

I release you.
I stop waiting.
I stop hoping.

With love, I wish you well.
You will always live in my heart—
as the sweetness
that was never meant to last.