I used to have really ugly teeth until I got braces, but I had anxiety problems at the time and missed a lot of orthodontic appointments. So several years down the line, the dentist gave me an ultimatum.

They said my teeth were good enough. Not perfect, but good enough. If I wasn't interested in turning up to my appointments, they could remove the braces and send me on my way. Or I could make the effort to turn up to my appointments and we could go another 6 months and finish properly. My choice.

I chose to see it through. Turned up to every appointment, kept with the treatment, and 6 months later I got my braces off and had, for the first time in my life, a fantastic smile. It was, embarrassingly, a huge personal achievement for me. I was ecstatic.

I walked out of there beaming, but the one person I wanted to share that moment with was, well, not around anymore.

We were long distance friends, sort of like pen pals. We used to play WoW together all the time but, you know, times change. We kept in touch via Skype and email and would send each other long, letter-like messages every month or so to keep each other informed, but over time our conversations became few and far between. Shit happens, people grow, situations change. She had been drifting away, and I had started to doubt that whatever we had would last.

Despite my doubts, I decided to shoot her a message anyway, pic of my new smile included. I thought I might hear from her by the end of the week, or by the end of the month at least, but the longer I waited the more I started to realize that the moment had passed and that I wasn't going to get a reply.