The Ctrl-Z is perhaps one of the most used keyboard shortcuts in the world today. Just a single flick of your left hand and everything you've typed can be cleared away. Whether it was a mistake, or just something that would have been better left unsaid, the contents of the Ctrl-Z will never be recovered upon closure of the document or programme.
Just like how shredded paper cannot be pieced back together (unless, if you're using a really inefficient shredder, or are really bad at shredding paper by hand), there's a sense of finality in one’s decision not to send something. Once it's destroyed, it's destroyed -;never to return again. And if it does, it (very likely) will never be truly identical.
If you have written a letter before, good for you. I hope you had a good letter-writing experience, and depending on whether you wanted one or not, I hope you had the reply you wanted. If you haven't written a letter, I suggest you do so sometime. Whether to a lover, a friend, a parent, a stranger, or even to yourself. It can be a good way to relieve stress from work, mental buildup from everyday life, or even just good writing practice. Hell, you don't even need to send it (though if you don’t then email it to quietrainhk@gmail.com so I can use it as material thanks).
Regardless of if you've written a letter before, I'm sure everyone here has had the experience of writing something and then just nuking it from existence. Maybe it's a confession to a crush? A 1-month notice to your employer? A credit card number for an impulsive purchase?
Do you remember why you ended up deleting it?
I hope you understand the reasons behind the creation - and destruction of each letter that follows this introduction.
You don't need to think too much about what you'll be reading (if you intend on going any further after reading this introduction of course). After all, letters are ephemeral, and there is zero need to understand, reflect, or empathise with anyone here. Let this only serve as a reminder that we are, at the end of the day, all human. Each of us live as main characters in our own little worlds, and act as extras in the hilariously complicated and convoluted play that is “Planet Earth”. Yes, of course, there are main characters. But I highly doubt you (the reader) or I (the writer) will even be eligible for a supporting character award. Whether you want to assign it as a comedy, tragedy, or as anime fans would call “a slice-of-life” - well that's up to you.
You can assign whatever label you want. The genre you assign to “Planet Earth”, won't be unanimously agreed upon anyways. There's 8.2 billion of us here.
---
All depictions are purely fictional and similarities with real-life events, locations, or persons are coincidental.
For those of you who like to come up with your own interpretations of the texts and the reasons why each letter went unsent - go ahead and think of your own. I think it's more fun that way. If you're the type that ABSOLUTELY NEEDS to know what happened - you can refer to the answer key below that I've made. I have actually come up with the reason first before writing the actual letters. 152Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDuipcg8iDd
I'll be coming up with an "Answer Key" maybe after the first ten chapters are out, detailing the context and the reasons why each letter ended up being unsent.
ns 15.158.61.50da2
