paper and ink

a story about two persons from two different countries and cultures. they are pen friends contacting each other OLD SCHOOL.but at the end do they find each other?

Paper & Ink

 

 

1.

 

Late autumn it is , yet the smell of the rain hasn’t  entirely rescued the soil of the ground. They say it’s the smell of surreal monster of nature. In a city where monsters are very real - shaping as the noble part of society, surreal monsters are nothing but a sign of aristocracy for normal people by all means. The city is colorless unlike the sky which punishes every drop of the raindrop squeezing seven colors out of it. As a legal metaphor, there is one thing in common- punishment. If cities were drawn under the law, this big old city would commit suicide watching the soul squeezed out of the citizens. Even though, some indefinite personalities enjoy the city.  They worship the numbness of it. The dumb slum is very much dependent on the city. In the center of the city there is a crowd yelling silently to ensure their own existence. Every single person has their own history, their own mystery, their own mistakes, their own secrets. Every secret has their own color like the personality of the person they belong. These colors don’t have the ability to touch the indifferent boy of the crowd who is just staring at the sky with great enthusiasm. But there is an untold blankness in that look too which is another multiple colored secret. He never went out of his city. This pale city is a gift to him. People call him Jay. But there is a rumor goes on that he has another secret name which is a colorful synonym of heart. Jay has never been in any other place outside his city. He is the complete opposite of a gypsy .But it doesn’t seem a bad thing to Jay. It is not that he doesn’t want to see things, he has a desperate hunger to see the unseen too, but he has a fear in his mind that the outside will disappoint him. If he is disappointed, his city will never accept him again. He likes Stability, and he is afraid that stability is earned for a long time, but stability will be gone in a fraction of a moment. He has to find another way to know the outside world which appeared a numerous times in his dreams.

 

 

2.

 

 A City of crystal white, which is still married to its own golden history, is not a perfect city to keep up with the modernity of the new industrialized world. But sometimes moving on is the only option left. So the city moves on with the western culture, but it is never forgotten that ‘’WHAT IS WEST WHEN WE MAKE OUR OWN COMPASS?’’ . The evening light spreads a scent of royalty till the sunset. And when the night arrives, the royalty appears itself. The love and art still embrace the city as it has been doing for thousand years. The people in this city have a pride which they find in experience. AGE is the pride and special skill of the experienced people. When the new generation comes they also become a part of this ancient city. Like this girl who is painting a picture of the sunset. Her father calls her Lamia but everyone calls her Mia.  Mornings are not too great in this city, after a night of cuddling and making love, a sweet hangover spreads like an epidemic among the general population. It’s almost like they are half slaves of brutal reality. Mia knows it too. Like any other mainstream day she went to school today. She enjoys it like a mother enjoys her wicked son. Yesterday she came home and after sometimes then the doorbell rang. She was a little annoyed with it thinking who might come in this noon.  She was pretty sure that her parents won’t come because they were at work. It can be her cousins who are very talkative and have enough reasons to be hated. The doorbell was still ringing with its whole youth like it was knocking at the door of eternity. Mia walked toward the door having worst possibilities in her mind.

 

3.

 

Jay is a little excited now. He has never done anything like this before. People have excitement only on two occasions, when they do something new and when they do something bad. Jay found his earth map set it on the surface of the wall. He took a pen and threw it on the map. And it hit on a city in Hungary. Jay has never heard of this city before. But that won’t interrupt what Jay is going to do. He picked up a random address and sent a letter to that address. Now he is hoping someone will get that letter and reply to that. He took ages to write that letter thinking about the catalysts which could make an impression on the person who will get that letter. But is it enough to convince a person from completely different culture?

 

 

4.

 

 

‘’Can I help you? “Mia asked.

“Yeah. I am from post office. Here is a letter for your address which has been from abroad.’’

“Why isn’t it in the letterbox? And why have you come personally to deliver this?’’

‘’Well, you know , it’s the century of email. People don’t usually send a letter from foreign countries. Even if they do they use private overseas agencies. But this letter has come to this country in old way. So we thought it would be appropriate to deliver it by person. Would you mind signing here? “

‘’ Not at all. ’’ “And thank you, I really appreciate it”

‘’ it has been a pleasure ma’am, have a nice day  ‘‘

Mia closed the door with a dozen of question swinging in her mind’’

She opened it.  It’s from a country which is quite unknown to her.

 There’s a letter in it. ?Mia read it slowly.

Dear Stranger ,

I am Jay. I know when you are reading it you will have a lot of questions in your mind. Well I am far away from you now but still you can read those things which I had never said to anyone. I am a teen age boy and like every other teen age boys, I have a wild intention to see the unseen. But right now , it is not in my best options to discover themselves in person. So I wrote this letter as a vision , a dream. These words may not be very convincing , but I assure you a reply would mean a lot to me. I know you are having doubt why haven’t I used electronic medium. Life is what we are living, life is the thing we find comfort for. What’s the point of finding something new in life which is completely virtual and lifeless? Instead, look at this paper and ink. These have the touch of life. Don’t they seem more real than a virtual ghost? I’ll be waiting for your reply.

Have a nice day.

JAY

 

Mia would be less surprised to see an alien in front of her. She feels a little disturbed it can be a joke. But deep inside her brain, she also knew that she is a little thrilled by some unknown stranger named Jay. She took a deep breath and put it on her table.

 

 

5.

 

Jay is a little disappointed now. It was not a great idea to expect a reply from that gross letter. Now he regrets he could write the letter a thousand times better. But it is too late now. He gives condolence to his mind that there is a huge possibility that the address doesn’t exist. Even though, he visits the post office every day.

 After seven days, it is a sunny and beautiful morning. Jay checks post office and he finds a letter for him. He almost runs to home with the letter. He opens it and starts to read.

Dear Jay,

I was very much impressed by your letter that you sent a week ago. I am Lamia but you can call me Mia. I study in an art school. What we are doing now is very rare now-a-days, but anyways I found it reasonable. There is a touch of basic instinct in it. And your life theory about the virtual world, I liked it very much. In this world built by machines you can find ghosts everywhere. Ghosts who are made based on formalities and discipline. Who doesn’t want to escape from this artificial zoo? But I found you pure and so full of life. And I don’t know if I am being totally transparent, but trust me, I really mean these words. If you have no problem we can continue and know each other more.   

I am looking forward to your reply. Take care of yourself. And yes there is a picture I sent, I draw it myself.

Mia

 

Jay finds a beautiful picture of sunset with the letter. Any good adjective would be too less for that picture. Jay starts to write a reply.

 

Then it begins. The two rays in the night sky just start to shine their existence. They just forget that they are two stars who are miles away from each other. They wrote to each other but to be more exact they wrote each other. It is pretty clear that the fastest jet plane could easily be lost to their speed of mind. Even though it sounds crazy, they suddenly realize they are in love with each other. Time goes by at the speed of light totally agreeing with the theory of relativity. And the New Year is almost here. Jay and Mia both expresses their love to each other and they both make a surprise package for each other.

 

6.

 

Mia knocks the door. It is New Year’s eve. A middle-aged lady opens the door. She is talking a totally unknown language with zillions of questions in her eyes.

‘’Hello, I am here to see Jay, does he live here? You must be his mom.’’

It is quite clear that the lady can’t understand English or not very good at it. So she calls a young boy.

Mia smiles at him ‘’You must be Jay’s younger brother’’

The boy has a frightened look in his face.

“You are Mia!”

‘’Yeah, I am’’

“What are you doing here?’’

Mia gets a little uncomfortable, “What do you mean by what are you doing here? I am here to see Jay and his family. I didn’t tell him because it was a surprise package.’’

Jay’s brother almost cries out “Why haven’t you told Jay? He did the same thing to surprise you. He spent his all money to go to your country to see you.’’

 

Mia has taken one minute, one full minute to understand the whole situation. She stands there, stone cold. At the same time one other person stands stone cold too, Jay, right in front of Mia’s house.

 

They had these plans to surprise each other, but it seems like fate has surprised them with its own surprise package. Yeah , fate.

 

The new year’s eve is not too great in Jay’s city. But if Jay was here Mia could happily  call it the best New Year’s eve in her whole life.

And a thousand miles away in Mia’s city, New Year’s eve is very colorful. But walking through the unknown streets alone, Jay only watches the color to fade away.

The surreal monsters and the royal highnesses of two cities laughed and had drinks together that night.  Only two things couldn’t enjoy themselves that night , Paper and Ink with the touch of life.

Author's Note

feel free to forgive my errors. and do let me know.