The email stayed in his drafts for three days, before he quietly deleted it.

Aaron had been close friends with him for more than a decade.

They had shared flats.

Holidays.

The kind of history that makes explanations unnecessary.

But one year the tone of things changed.

Conversations felt more competitive.

Small remarks stayed in Aaron’s mind longer than they should have.

He noticed himself editing stories before telling them.

Choosing what to share.

Choosing what to leave out.

One evening, after a dinner that left him unusually quiet, Aaron opened his laptop.

He started writing an email.

It wasn’t angry.

It simply explained that things felt different.

That some distance might be healthy.

Not permanently.

Just for a while.

He read the message twice.

Then closed the laptop without sending it.

The next morning his friend messaged as usual.

A joke.

A link.

An invitation to the gym.

Aaron replied normally.

The draft remained in the folder for a few more days.

Then he deleted it.

Years later, they are still close.

The moment never became a conversation.

Only a message that almost existed.

New stories released daily.

Explore all shows:

https://www.simplestoriesproject.com

Support the project and access expanded stories:

https://www.patreon.com/SimpleStoriesProject

Confessions podcast | short human stories | reflective storytelling | Simple Stories Project