Chapter 4: The Letter Without a Return Address
Two weeks after Lily's speech at Bradley University, an envelope appeared in our mailbox.
No stamp.
No return address.
Only one word written across the front.
For Lily.
She opened it carefully at the kitchen table while I watched.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
Because of you, I finally told my parents what happened to me.
I carried that secret for three years.
I thought nobody would believe me.
Your speech gave me courage.
Today I filed my own police report.
I don't know if justice will come for me.
But for the first time, I'm no longer ashamed.
Thank you.
—A Survivor
Lily folded the letter slowly.
Tears shimmered in her eyes.
"I didn't even know her."
I smiled gently.
"You didn't have to."
That afternoon, she bought a small wooden box.
Every letter that arrived afterward went inside it.
Within six months, there were more than two hundred.
May you like
Every one told the same story in different words.
You helped me speak.
