“Hold up,” she yelled down her hallway as she slipped on a piece of clothing and fell in a huddle on the floor. “***** this,” she mumbled as she opened the door to find an old man with a parcel at least half his size.

“Miss Pieszecki?” He asked, reading from the small clipboard he held in his hands. When Alice replied in the affirmative, he got her to sign a release sheet and then plonked the parcel just inside her doorway.

“My god it’s big enough to be a human being,” Alice said out loud to herself after she had closed the door. The image of a serial killer leaping from the box suddenly came into Alice’s mind, and she quickly armed herself with a kitchen knife before opening the box. To Alice’s amazement however, the contents of the box held not a mass murderer, but a guitar. She took out the guitar and felt the tears forming in her eyes as she realised it was her old guitar, the exact one she had sold for a plane ticket. “You have to be kidding me,” she said softly as she picked up another small box inside the parcel. In it was a note and a small object wrapped in tissue paper, which upon opening, Alice remembered to be the exact same locket she had given Dana for her birthday months earlier. Alice sat quietly for a few minutes, just holding the locket in her hands before opening Dana’s note.

            Dear Alice,

            You don’t seriously think I’d let you part with your guitar did you?

            Please come home soon,

            Love Dana.

Alice reread Dana’s note over and over again, and sat in deep thought for what seemed like hours. She was so preoccupied with her gift that she didn’t notice the knock on her door, or the door opening ever so slowly minutes later.

“How come you never put so much effort into your appearance when you’re back home?”

Alice looked up quickly to the familiar voice, her eyes refusing to believe the sight in front of her.

“Dana? You’re here…” Alice’s words confirmed Dana’s presence, and she quickly jumped up and launched herself onto the smiling brunette. “Dana! I can’t believe you came here!” She yelled as she hugged Dana as tightly as she could and planted dozens of kisses on her cheek. She suddenly drew herself back, holding Dana at arms length to look straight into her eyes. The happiness that both of the women were feeling was undeniable, their giant smiles giving it away immediately. “You did all this?”