a book that will bring u to tears...

MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE

BY

NICHOLAS SPARKS

here is one of the messages u will find in the book...

July 22,1997

My Dearest Catherine,

I miss u, my darling, as I always do, but tiday is especially hard beacuse the ocean has been singing to me, and the song is that of our life together. I can almost feel you beside me as I write this letter, and I can smell the scent of wildflowers that always reminds me of you. But at this moment,these things give me no pleasure.Your visits have been coming less often, and I feel sometimes as if the greatest part of who i am is slowly slipping away.

I am trying, though. at night when i am alone, i call for you, and whenever my ache seems to be the greatest, you still seem to find a way to return to me. last night, in my dreams, i saw you on the pier near Wrightsville beach. the wind was blowing through your hair, and your eyes held the fading sunlight. i am struck as i see you leaning against the rail. you are beautiful, i think as i see you, a vision that i can never find in anyone else. i slowly begin to walk toward you, and when you finally turn to me, i notice that others have been watching you as well. 'do you know her?' they ask me in jealous whispers, and as you smile at me, i simply answer with the truth. 'better then my own heart.'

I stop when i reach you and take you in my arms. i long for this moment more than any other. it is what i live for, and when you return my embrace, i give myself over to this moment, at peace once again.

I raise my hand and touch your cheek and you tilt your head and close your eyes. my hands are hard and your skin is soft, and i wonder for a moment you'll pull back, but ofcourse u dont. you never have, and it is at times like that i know what my purpose is in life.

I am here to love you, to hold you in my arms, to protect you. i am here to learn from you and to recieve your love in return. i am here because there is no other place to be.

But then as always, the mist starts to form as we stand close to one another. it is a distant fog that rises from the horizon, and i find that i grow fearful as it aproaches. it slowly creeps in, enveloping the world around us, fencing us in as if to prevent escape. like a rolling cloud, it blankets everything, closing, until there is nothing left but the two of us.

I feel my throat begin to close and my eyes well up with tears because i know that it is time for you to go. the look you give me at that moment haunts me. i feel your sadness and my own loneliness, and the ache in my heart that had been silent for only a short time grows stronger as you release me. and then you spread your arms and atep back into the fog because it is your place and not mine. I long to go with you, but your only response is to shake your head because we both know that is impossible.

And i watch with breaking heart as you slowly fade away. i find myself straining to remember everything about this moment, everything about you. but soon, always too soon, your image vanishes and the fog rolls back to its faraway place and i am alone on the pier and i do not care what other people think as i bow my head and cry and cry and cry....

Garett