After mailing the letter, Anne didn't go back inside. Instead, she got in her car and drove toward Mount Rainier.
She kept driving until the road ended and parked the car. Once out, Anne started running up the snowy slope. Her footsteps left a long trail in the soft snow.
"Hah..."
"Hah..."
Anne was breathing hard as she climbed to the top of a snowdrift. She had been to this spot many times. Straight ahead was the main peak of Mount Rainier, the same place where Luke tragically died.
For all those years, she had relied on Luke's care, but she never truly knew how he felt.
Wearing a striking red sweater against the stark white snow, Anne looked particularly heartbreakingly beautiful. She cupped her hands around her mouth like a megaphone and yelled toward the mountain: "Are you doing okay?"
Her voice echoed all around the vast mountainside.
In that moment, Anne felt like she could see a change in the past timeline: Taylor, Luke, and herself—all their fates had been altered by that one letter she sent. Luke's smiling face appeared before her.
Anne was finally at peace. As long as everyone was alright, she had no regrets.
"Are you doing okay?"
"Are you doing okay?"
From the distant mountains, the echo of her own voice returned, sounding as if someone was asking her the question.
Am I doing okay?
Anne smiled and answered, "I'm great!"
With that, the short film ended. The title "A Letter from the Future" appeared on the screen in white letters against a black background.
---
## Taylor's Perspective
...
...
New York, Taylor Music Studio.
It was 11 p.m., and Taylor Swift (or 'TayTay,' as the narrator playfully calls her) had just finished a busy day. She was rushing to complete her second album, Fearless, which was already mostly done. In a few more days, once the key tracks were recorded, she could start shooting the music videos.
Luke often jokingly called Taylor the "Jay Chou of the West," but she actually took on even more work in her music production than Jay Chou. Like him, she was the primary composer on her albums—she was the first composer listed on every single one of her songs. Not to mention her exceptional lyric writing; while Jay Chou relied on Vincent Fang, Taylor writes all her own lyrics. Plus, her peak career span is much longer than Jay Chou's, she doesn't love milk tea, and her physical fitness is much better.
All in all, Taylor is an incredibly talented and fiercely dedicated powerhouse.
Right now, this powerhouse had opened a webpage and clicked on a video on IMDB: "A Letter from the Future."
As the last installment of the Luke and Anne "A Moment in Time" trilogy, it benefited from the built-up reputation and audience approval of the first two promotional shorts. This new one instantly went viral online. In just one week, it had nearly two million views on IMDB, with countless likes and comments flooding the comment section.
Since she was busy producing her album, Taylor hadn't had the chance to watch the short film immediately like she had with the first two. She was watching it for the first time now.
But a good thing is always worth the wait.
The story started with the magnificent yet somber Mount Rainier, immediately drawing Taylor into the narrative. There was a subtle sadness right from the beginning, wasn't there?
Soon, Taylor saw the scene where Anne stood by Luke's gravestone.
"Wow, they went that dark this time? The male lead is dead in the opening scene?"
Taylor was instantly hooked. The male lead is dead—how are they going to tell the story after that?
The scene of Anne driving home and refusing to take her medicine further piqued Taylor's interest. The hero is dead, and the heroine has lost her past memories and is terminally ill. This wrapped the entire story in a thick layer of suspense. You couldn't see the past, and you couldn't guess the future.
The story continued, and Taylor watched the part where Anne discovered the photo.
Wait, the girl hugging the main character is named: Taylor Swift?
Taylor suddenly remembered that Luke had mentioned wanting to use her name in a new film. She'd thought he just meant some product placement or a subtle nod, but she didn't expect him to go this hard!
Okay, a little weird and embarrassing, but I'll keep watching, Taylor thought.
As a woman, Taylor quickly empathized with Anne's mindset: I've lost everything. My life is ending. The only comfort I have is that I had a true love.
But what if even that true love is fake now?
Then wouldn't my entire life be one big joke?
When she saw Anne write that first letter and solemnly mail it, Taylor nodded, then shook her head. If it were her, she would absolutely write the letter to confirm if the other person was real. But she definitely wouldn't write such a vague, evasive note. It felt a bit like burying your head in the sand. If you want the truth, you should be direct and to the point.
"Are you doing okay? I'm not doing great?"
That's such a weak message!
It fit Anne's sweet, mild-mannered personality, but it didn't match Taylor's vibe at all.
However, the sight of the red mailbox where Anne dropped the letter made Taylor smile knowingly. She was sure that other long-time viewers who had seen Il Mare (the original film featuring the mailbox trope) would have the same reaction she did: a playful thought like, "I want that mailbox, too! Where can I buy one?"
Next came the familiar time-warp mechanism and the plot progression.
Two thoughts popped into Taylor's head:
1. Anne has amnesia, so she doesn't know if "Taylor" is her five years ago, and if so, why did she change her name?
2. The two people communicating this time are present-day Anne and her past self named Taylor. It's no longer the hero and heroine writing to each other.
That's original, and kind of cool!
Luke had introduced more suspense into the script for A Letter from the Future. It was the most suspenseful of the "A Moment in Time" trilogy. Perhaps he realized that by the third film in a series, the philosophical discussion of time needed to go deeper, and the way he hooked the audience had to be upgraded as well.
The story continued, and Taylor watched the part where the two female protagonists exchanged letters about how Anne and Luke fell in love.
When she saw Luke appear, looking handsome in his football uniform, she couldn't help but laugh. Aha! So that's where your brilliant plan comes in!
Taylor immediately figured out Luke's "kill three birds with one stone" strategy. It looked like the payoff from shooting this promotional short was going to be huge! It wouldn't just benefit Pirates of the Caribbean; she was going to get some glow-up from it too.
Taylor smiled, clicked her mouse, and kept watching.
Soon, Anne realized she could save her five-years-younger self, which would also save Luke and allow their love to flourish. At this point, Anne felt a wave of bittersweet reluctance.
If it were me, what would I do?
Taylor didn't even have to think about it. Luke would always come first!
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