Fourteen Days - Steve Goodman

When Johnny got the letter

It had no return address

But he recognized the writing

And he didn’t have to guess

And the postmark said Seattle

Just a thousand miles away

And so he put it in the drawer

For fourteen days

Every night he’d take that envelope

Hold it up to the light

But he never tore it open to see what lay inside

He remembered how it hurt

The night she turned and walked away

So he kept the letter sealed

For fourteen days

Fourteen days it lay unopened

Fourteen days it stayed unread

Fourteen nights he dreamed about her

In what used to be their bed

Though his heart and soul were achin'

Johnny’s pride got in the way

And he kept the letter sealed

For fourteen days

Then one night he couldn’t stand it

Johnny took it from the drawer

He read the words she’d sent to him

Just two short weeks before

The tears fell hard as Johnny read

The words she had to say

«Boy I’m coming home to you in fourteen days»

«Dear John: I know I hurt you, but I pray that you’ll forgive

And if you don’t take me back again, then, I don’t want to live

If you’re there when I step off the plane

Then I’ll be yours, always

I arrive at four p.m.

in fourteen days.»

Johnny raced out to the airport

On the chance that she might wait

But the terminal was empty

And he knew he was too late

He cursed himself for letting his one true love slip away

For a letter that he held for fourteen days

Fourteen days it lay unopen

Fourteen days it stayed unread

Fourteen nights he dreamed about her

And the good times that they had

And Johnny knew he’d lost her

And there was nothing left to say

He tore up the note he’d held for fourteen days

Now the next day in Seattle

The morning headline read

«Another Jane Doe Suicide — Young Girl Lying Dead.»

Scrawled upon the crumpled piece of paper where she lay

«I'm coming home to you in fourteen days.»