The next day, Des returned to his house to sort through his mail. He secretly hoped that there would be a letter from Sheelagh inside the letterbox. He continued sorting and came across a letter addressed 'Des'. He knew who it was from as he recognised Sheelagh's handwriting. He put the rest of the mail back into the box and took this letter away with him.
When he arrived at where he was staying, Des took the letter from his jacket pocket and stared at it for a while. He hoped Sheelagh wasn't mad at him for what he had written in his letter.
Eventually, Des decided to open the letter, and it read:
Dear Des,
I went to the funeral today,
And I said goodbye for you.
Her coffin was so small,
It was so fragile.
I do understand,
Why you couldn't show.
But don't worry,
I had support.
I sang a song for our little girl,
Thinking it would make it easier for me.
But it didn't because the pain's still there,
And will always be.
I only talked once I thought you were dead,
And now I've made things worse.
Maybe if I hadn't said anything,
You'd still be here with me.
I am nothing without you,
I miss you so much.
I want to hold you too,
And be with you forever.
I'll never forget,
The times we shared.
And the way,
You made me laugh.
We had such fun,
And it was filled with so much innocence.
Yet it wasn't,
It wasn't innocent at all.
When I think of you, even now,
I still get that warm feeling.
The same feeling I got,
When we met for the first time.
You're the love of my life,
And I want to be with you.
More than anything in the world,
I want to be with you.
I miss you so much it hurts,
And I just want you back.
I want you back, Des,
Because I need you in my life.
I don't care what you've done anymore,
Because you've changed me.
You've changed my life,
And I am lost without you near.
When you're not here with me,
All my strength is gone.
The only thing I have to hold onto,
Is the hope of seeing you again.
I realise now that,
You're everything that matters to me.
Can we start again,
And be free?
Free from all the pain,
From all the heartache.
Free from all the things holding us back,
From everyone and everything.
I can do anything with you,
But nothing without you.
You make all my pain go away,
And make me feel safe.
The world is full,
Of so much evil,
Yet when I am with you,
I forget about it.
I'll hold on to the memories,
In case I don't see you again.
And I just want you to know,
That I love you more than words could say.
Look up to the sky at night,
And see the bright star twinkling.
That's our little Niamh,
Watching over us forever.
All my love,
Sheelagh
Des didn't know what to say. He sat there, absorbing the words on the page that meant so much, but seemed so distance. Des could tell that Sheelagh meant every word in the letter. He felt all her pain and all her joy. It was from her heart and he owed it to her to reply.
All Des wanted was for Sheelagh to be happy, and if seeing him again would do that for her, then he had to find a way to see her. He really wanted to see her again, even if it was only briefly to apologise for everything he had put her through. Des knew that Sheelagh didn't deserve all the pain he had left behind for her and he had to make it up to her.
Later that evening, Des looked out his window and up at the sky. He looked for the brightest star in the sky and he found it. Sheelagh was also looking out her window at the star and the two of them smiled, because they could feel the connection between them and they knew Niamh was there.
Des moved away from the window and sat down at a small table. On the table were pieces of paper, which he began to write on. Des was writing a letter back to Sheelagh. If it was the last thing he ever did, he had to see her…