A slip of aged parchment rests within the bottle, neatly curled and held closed with a plain black ribbon. As you unfurl the letter, you catch an achingly familiar scent: something between the crispness of mountain air and the salt of a breeze coming off ocean waves.

To you, wherever you are:
A stranger once told me that time moves differently for everyone. I thought we’d spend forever out there, staring out at that endless expanse of clouds. Gods, but they went on forever, didn’t they? It was like nothing I’d ever seen before. You felt that way too, didn’t you? Everything was light, and new, and bright, and beautiful. It lasted only a moment but –

If I had but one wish, I would wish to save that feeling – bottle it, if you will – and preserve that moment forever. Alas, I only have this letter to send you.

‘Time moves differently for everyone.’ I wonder where your time has taken you. As for me, I’m still out there in the Sea of Clouds.

Yours,
E.

(Thank you for reading. If selected, prize choice is Gaelicap.)