{"id":1753,"date":"2012-11-06T01:39:34","date_gmt":"2012-11-06T01:39:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/?p=1753"},"modified":"2017-10-23T23:04:21","modified_gmt":"2017-10-23T23:04:21","slug":"the-shoebox-by-william-gaughan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/the-shoebox-by-william-gaughan\/","title":{"rendered":"The Shoebox by: William Gaughan"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Same by Alice<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/h1>\n

The Shoebox<\/h1>\n

by William Gaughan<\/p>\n

The heaviness of the shoebox reminded me that it no longer housed its original contents; the fine sheet of dust, evidence of its solitude.<\/p>\n

I knew that the box contained pictures; pictures that would be standing on edge and packed tightly, testing the seams of the receptacle. I expected to open a box of memories; memories that would be told out in frozen moments\u2014fractions of a second meant to capture a smile or a posed scene\u2014moments that I could use as I saw fit, to reminisce over or to put aside; pictures that could tell a story, a story open to my interpretation, a chance to recall what I wished and perhaps rewrite history, if only for the day. That is what I expected to find. I knew this because they were packed away by me more than 10 years ago.<\/p>\n

In this time capsule of images, sandwiched among the well preserved young faces was a twice-folded piece of letter-sized paper\u2014unremarkable by all accounts\u2014just a short note written in haste by my own hand. The content of the note was short and the words alone harmless; one could easily dismiss them as a casual communication left to a spouse on any given day. The note read, \u201cYou know where I am and you know why l had to go. I will be in touch when I can and home as soon as possible. I love you\u201d So quick and powerful were the feelings that this dated message rendered they overrode any emotion conjured up by the photos. I realized that in the few seconds it took for me to write those words, my world and the world we all knew had been changed forever. The note had a date on it: September 11, 2001.<\/p>\n

I refolded the note along the same lines that had kept it silent all these years. I found a picture of myself in my Fire Department uniform posing with two other firemen. I tucked the picture into the fold of the note and replaced it in the shoebox. I slid the memories back under my bed and, for the second time, said goodbye to the men in the picture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The heaviness of the shoebox reminded me that it no longer housed its original contents; the fine sheet of dust, evidence of its solitude.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t