Pen Pals

Vareli is finding her place in the household but then she learns horrible news about a friend

I finished my letter with my neat and elegant curly signature and read it back over. It was perfect. No creases, no wrinkles, there was no fluctuations. I folded the letter evenly and put it into an envelope. I signed the envelope and addressed it properly. I looked at my trash bin next to the desk I was sitting at in my room that I had ordered the day previously. It was full of wrinkled papers and failed letters. Today was the day I started ordering things and organizing the entire building. The house was bigger than I had originally thought, and it’s a mess. I had called in to a ton of places to send me a ton of furniture, decorations, places to make the house look perfect. I ordered shelving, book stands, a bookshelf, a few things for my room, a couple shoe holders near the front door, a coat rack, a few other things to keep around that might be useful.

I finished this letter and taped it off and walked out to the front door and looked the pile of shoes, and looked through an archway to see the basically trashed kitchen. It was clean on hindsight, but through my mind, I saw pots slightly sticking out of cabinets just enough so the cabinet door isn’t flush with the counter and the oven needed a redesign. I walked out to the nearby mailbox and put my letter in. Right before I put it in, I thought about maybe it shouldn’t be sent. I had a weird feeling. It was a letter to my old friend to catch up and all, a ritual of mine since we split. But this time I felt weird about it. I felt my foot starting to feel a little warm and I could see a little bit of light sneaking through the opening.

Gerril all of sudden came up behind me and scared me, making me jump really high in reaction.

“Whatcha got?” Gerril asked me, pointing at the letter.

“I was just sending a letter to an old friend of mine, she was pretty great back when, but she disappeared mysteriously one day and we’ve only talked through letters…”

“Oh, i’m so sorry about that,” He sympathized. “Well anyway, I’ll take the letter to the post office down the road for it to get mailed faster if you want.”

“That actually sounds nice.” I agreed.

I gave him the letter, and I thanked him and rushed back into the house to take care of things. I cleaned up the kitchen and finished many things. The other signs started getting up. I saw a few of them going into the lounge room. As i was organizing the place, Carrie, the Capricorn sign, stood in the doorway. She watched me as I did my work. She stood there for a while, as I started to feel appreciated and acknowledged for my work.

“Good job, I guess.” Carrie said slowly.

“Thanks, I guess.” I responded.

I took a break and she looked surprised when I looked at her. I still felt empowered to do more jobs. Maybe she was surprised at my endurance.

“You don’t seem tired..” She commented.

“Yeah, I don’t tire easily.”

She scoffed and walked into the lounge, grabbing a book on the way. I finished up the kitchen and walked into the lounge to see everybody in there. I stood in the doorway for a little while when I felt hands on my shoulders and they leaned on me. I leaned my head back to see Lislando’s messy hair and grinning face.

“Good morning cutie pie.”

“I am not a ‘cutie pie’,” I argued.

“Yeah, whatever you say.” Lislando giggled.

He walked around me and sat down on a sofa in the room. I looked at everybody hanging out and having fun. I am happy to be here, I think...

A few days later

I was at my desk in my room, looking through letters as I have kept all the letters sent from my written friend. A specific letter slipped out, the most recent one she had sent me, I glanced over it, seeing how some things seemed off. She capitalized O a lot in the letter randomly, and she said she would be going on a vacation for a while and she’s worried about it and stress is getting to her. It seemed normal at the time, but a second look made it look weird.

Gerril rushed into the room and tapped my shoulder. I flinched a little bit and looked back at him. He looked a little paranoid.

“Hey, uh, Vareli, I need to speak with you alone.” They said.

“Ok…”

I glanced behind me, Lislando noticed us walking away. Gerril and I walked near the end of the kitchen and then we stopped. I noticed they had a letter in his hand.

“What is that?” I asked, pointing at the letter.

“It came in the mail today, it’s from the landlord of the prev- I mean your friend, I presume.”

“What?” I questioned. I had no idea what was going on.

“Your friend was involved in an accident. The police are probably working on details, he didn’t offer much information…” Gerril said very hesitantly.

“I… Is she alive?” I asked very cautiously, avoiding the answer.

“I…” Gerril tried to get words out, but I knew the answer.

Gerril turned away, and I noticed a few tears fall from them, I just took him as very sentimental and felt the feelings of others. I saw this, but it was pushed to the back of my head as I turned away myself and starting tearing up. This was this friend I knew and related to for about a year now through letters and email as we were like pen pals and she refused to reveal her location. I had been unable to contact her lately as I had been busy and now that I try, she had gotten hurt and I didn’t know. Vargi, my dearest friend, I hope you had a nice life.