Excerpt from Botchan by Natsume Sōseki.

Excerpt taken from

Chapter Ten.

I flung my brush and paper aside, sprawled out on the floor, and lay there gazing out at the garden with my head resting on my arm. I was still concerned about Kiyo. It occurred to me that even though we were separated by such a great distance now, as long as I continued to worry about how she was getting on, she would surely realize my true feelings. And as long as she was aware of them, there was no need for me to send anything like a letter. If I didn’t send one she’d probably assume that everything was all right. You could do without sending a letter until something really big happened – a death, say, or an illness.