Over the shoulder

I am a notorious eavesdropper.  I can't help it.  I also have a nasty habit of reading over the shoulders of other people.  I glance at the words on the pages of people sitting next to me.  Again, I can't help it.  I don't know why I have this compulsion.

I was sitting at the high counter at Starbucks the other day.  I was reading and minding my own business, when a young man sat at the table outside (directly in front of me).  Because I was sitting much higher than he, I could see what he was doing.  Because the glass was tinted, he couldn't see that I was watching him write a letter.

"Dear Mom,
First, I want to tell you that I love you, and I have been trying for weeks to find the right words to tell you..."

Water dripped onto the paper; I don't know if it was the rain dripping from his hair or tears from his eyes.  He had scratched out a few words.  His penmanship was shaky.

I'll never know what the rest of the letter entailed.  I stopped reading, packed up my things, and left.  He deserved his privacy.