Just in Time
introduction
There are a numerous ways to define a love letter. It could be that someone doesn’t have the courage to tell their love interest in person or perhaps, it is someone who is just a bit too obsessed about the other person and, while still wanting to remain unknown, wants to confess their feels to the other person. But there are those rare cases where a love letter is just meant to be a tangible sign that their love is real and always will be. Those rare cases are even more unique but no two stories are ever the same. There is always a different reason, a different purpose, a different setting for each story and how everything plays out is up to the beings involved.
For one such couple, their love story is one full of ups and downs from the very beginning. In a day and age where the world had gone to hell, love was a word that was never used to define a relationship concerning the new generations. The reason for that can be traced back to the old generation and the ones that had come before them. During those times, no one was really concerned about the biological wars and the scientists that were trying to save the human race from them. They were all too concerned about the physical threats that they were simply creating themselves to pit against one another in the hopes of becoming the almighty, the powerful.
Thanks to this, the definition of peace became drastically altered for every new generation. Every country became nothing like their former selves after each chemical war. It grew to the point that none of them had a distinct difference between one another. Skyscrapers became rumble, houses became dust, cars were as useless as the gas it took to fuel them, and governments fell into complete anarchy. People slowly began the transition into self-governing themselves and for a time, a sort-of peaceful time settled upon the world. But that was before the biological wars took over.
It started with diseases that were once easy to overcome and slowly began to grow. Cancer became more and more common in every new generation born and the lifespan of each new generation slowly began to decline. From ninety years old to thirty years old, each new generation was dying out and at younger and younger ages each time until it seemed to begin to cap off right around 25. The only ones that seemed immune, for the most part, were those that had already reached their forties and older by the time the biological wars began to rage. And so, the generations were divided in two. For those that were born before the biological wars, they were known as the old generation. For those born after the biological wars began, they were known as the new generation. And this is, for the most part, where our story begins.
During this new age of life, the old generation had already begun to take control over whatever they could. Research, food, and whatever technology that would be useful to keeping humankind alive. But while some of this generation took to rebuilding humanity without using the new generations, there were others that decided to focus on the new generation in an attempt to rebuild humanity. Their kids or their grandkids became the center of these people’s lives and more often than not, these people controlled every aspect of their lives. Nothing was left open for them to choose freely and what was left to choice had already been planned thoroughly through.
But everyone knows that humans are not perfect and so, nothing they plan for or control is always going to work in their favor. Mistakes are made and even the smallest of unpredictable factors can completely throw a plan out of control. Well, in the case of Liam and Cass, all those unforeseen factors worked in their favor. All the planning that had gone into securing a ‘perfect’ future by their parents definitions was completely tossed aside after these two met by complete chance one day during a formal event put together by a mutual friend of Liam’s parents and Cass’ guardians. Liam was a bit of a flirt with all the girls at the party, it always seemed to be in his nature. His parents had always just laughed and shrugged their shoulders at it, since they hoped it would simply mean he was find a future bride to bring home one day. But what stopped him in his tracks was a pair of flashing, bright green eyes watching him from across the way. And, believe it or not, these eyes didn’t belong to any girl at the party. In fact, they belonged to a boy that didn’t look too much older than himself. So, he apologized to the small group of girls giggling about something and slipped off to speak to this boy alone. He found him on the other side of the room, leaning back against a wall and staring off into space.
All it took was a simple hello and a little smile and the two instantly hit it off, but there was only a small problem. Cass was unable to communicate by speaking, making him mute. That didn’t stop the two boys from a night full of laughter and mindless conversations using nothing but a pen and napkins they took from waiters and tables. They became good friends that night and continued to communicate with each other through letters and occasional meetings they managed to set up over time. It wasn’t hard to see that after a few months of the letters and meetings, a love had begun to blossom between the two boys.
Well, this didn’t exactly sit well with Liam’s parents or Cass’ guardians. In fact, they were quick to act when they noticed that a harmless friendship was becoming something dangerous. Something that was going to ruin the plans they had tried so hard to keep alive. So, to counter this new love, Liam’s parents hired security to keep their son from leaving the house while Cass’ guardians set their marriage contract to another family into motion. Neither of the boys were happy about this and so began to set up secret plans through the letters they wrote to one another. Most of these plans were just all talk and really no action, but once Cass began to write about his declining health and impending marriage to a girl he hadn’t met since the death of his parents, Liam began to take things seriously.
He began to focus on details on how to get away, taking enough money to leave this town far behind, and to find a place where they could live comfortably for the rest of their numbered days together. With each returning letter from Cass, a little more hope grew in Liam’s heart. Hope for a new future, a new life with someone he cared so deeply for. But as time went on, the frequency of the returning letters began to vary. Sometimes it took a few days, other times it took a few weeks. Worry began to replace the hope Liam held for his future and soon, he felt his own health beginning to worsen. With a little hope left in his heart, Liam took a pen and a piece of paper and began to write one more letter to the mute boy with the striking green eyes he had meet by chance on that night of dancing and music.
For one such couple, their love story is one full of ups and downs from the very beginning. In a day and age where the world had gone to hell, love was a word that was never used to define a relationship concerning the new generations. The reason for that can be traced back to the old generation and the ones that had come before them. During those times, no one was really concerned about the biological wars and the scientists that were trying to save the human race from them. They were all too concerned about the physical threats that they were simply creating themselves to pit against one another in the hopes of becoming the almighty, the powerful.
Thanks to this, the definition of peace became drastically altered for every new generation. Every country became nothing like their former selves after each chemical war. It grew to the point that none of them had a distinct difference between one another. Skyscrapers became rumble, houses became dust, cars were as useless as the gas it took to fuel them, and governments fell into complete anarchy. People slowly began the transition into self-governing themselves and for a time, a sort-of peaceful time settled upon the world. But that was before the biological wars took over.
It started with diseases that were once easy to overcome and slowly began to grow. Cancer became more and more common in every new generation born and the lifespan of each new generation slowly began to decline. From ninety years old to thirty years old, each new generation was dying out and at younger and younger ages each time until it seemed to begin to cap off right around 25. The only ones that seemed immune, for the most part, were those that had already reached their forties and older by the time the biological wars began to rage. And so, the generations were divided in two. For those that were born before the biological wars, they were known as the old generation. For those born after the biological wars began, they were known as the new generation. And this is, for the most part, where our story begins.
During this new age of life, the old generation had already begun to take control over whatever they could. Research, food, and whatever technology that would be useful to keeping humankind alive. But while some of this generation took to rebuilding humanity without using the new generations, there were others that decided to focus on the new generation in an attempt to rebuild humanity. Their kids or their grandkids became the center of these people’s lives and more often than not, these people controlled every aspect of their lives. Nothing was left open for them to choose freely and what was left to choice had already been planned thoroughly through.
But everyone knows that humans are not perfect and so, nothing they plan for or control is always going to work in their favor. Mistakes are made and even the smallest of unpredictable factors can completely throw a plan out of control. Well, in the case of Liam and Cass, all those unforeseen factors worked in their favor. All the planning that had gone into securing a ‘perfect’ future by their parents definitions was completely tossed aside after these two met by complete chance one day during a formal event put together by a mutual friend of Liam’s parents and Cass’ guardians. Liam was a bit of a flirt with all the girls at the party, it always seemed to be in his nature. His parents had always just laughed and shrugged their shoulders at it, since they hoped it would simply mean he was find a future bride to bring home one day. But what stopped him in his tracks was a pair of flashing, bright green eyes watching him from across the way. And, believe it or not, these eyes didn’t belong to any girl at the party. In fact, they belonged to a boy that didn’t look too much older than himself. So, he apologized to the small group of girls giggling about something and slipped off to speak to this boy alone. He found him on the other side of the room, leaning back against a wall and staring off into space.
All it took was a simple hello and a little smile and the two instantly hit it off, but there was only a small problem. Cass was unable to communicate by speaking, making him mute. That didn’t stop the two boys from a night full of laughter and mindless conversations using nothing but a pen and napkins they took from waiters and tables. They became good friends that night and continued to communicate with each other through letters and occasional meetings they managed to set up over time. It wasn’t hard to see that after a few months of the letters and meetings, a love had begun to blossom between the two boys.
Well, this didn’t exactly sit well with Liam’s parents or Cass’ guardians. In fact, they were quick to act when they noticed that a harmless friendship was becoming something dangerous. Something that was going to ruin the plans they had tried so hard to keep alive. So, to counter this new love, Liam’s parents hired security to keep their son from leaving the house while Cass’ guardians set their marriage contract to another family into motion. Neither of the boys were happy about this and so began to set up secret plans through the letters they wrote to one another. Most of these plans were just all talk and really no action, but once Cass began to write about his declining health and impending marriage to a girl he hadn’t met since the death of his parents, Liam began to take things seriously.
He began to focus on details on how to get away, taking enough money to leave this town far behind, and to find a place where they could live comfortably for the rest of their numbered days together. With each returning letter from Cass, a little more hope grew in Liam’s heart. Hope for a new future, a new life with someone he cared so deeply for. But as time went on, the frequency of the returning letters began to vary. Sometimes it took a few days, other times it took a few weeks. Worry began to replace the hope Liam held for his future and soon, he felt his own health beginning to worsen. With a little hope left in his heart, Liam took a pen and a piece of paper and began to write one more letter to the mute boy with the striking green eyes he had meet by chance on that night of dancing and music.