Penpals!
Today I’m sharing my first letter exchange with Ewen, with his consent of course.
“Hi, Ewen! ^_^
My name's Heather. Yes, the same Heather who had the lovely privilege of seeing the sights with your dad during his trip home. It was so much fun! We toured the 'Hollows', a brilliant model of a fantasy city brought to life in miniature. I myself, love sculpting tiny garden faeries in my free time, so it really appealed to me.
During one of our whimsical adventures, your father told me a little bit about you and I must say I was intrigued. I love meeting new people, but I haven't had a pen pal since I was a tween. You up for it?
Lol, I thought it'd be nice to have someone to write to instead of texting or voicemail. Good conversation has become such a rare thing to come by these days and isn't there just something magical about actual words on paper? Knowing someone, somewhere, took the time to communicate their thoughts with just you is very heartening somehow. Don't you think? ^_^
Sorry, not trying to get all meta on you. I've been told I think too much, lol. Anyhoo, I'm a 27 year-old caterer who loves to laugh and have fun. I've had the glorious fortune of being adopted by two rambunctious and adorable cats, Amos and Piper, and have been considering the addition of a handsome little turtle to our tiny tribe. And although I love turtles, I think the fuzzy ones would likely pester him too much. Cest la vie!
Well I've certainly rambled on me, lol. What about you? Your dad told me a few things (Star Wars? Me too!), but I'd like to know more. Looking forward to hearing from you! :)
Have a great week!
Heather”
Here’s Ewen’s reply, I was beaming when I got it!
“Hi there, Heather 😉,
This place can get pretty dull and monotonous, your letter was refreshing. Dad sent me the sweetest mail about this awesome ray of sunshine person he met on his trip home. Thank you for keeping him company and dragging him out of his negative head space, I know it’s tough for him to leave. He said you might write and I’ve been paying attention to mail call since. I totally agree, getting mail is it’s own sort of thrill. I can’t guarantee good conversation, but I’m willing to try.
Dad mentioned you’d seen more sights on his trip home, but he wouldn’t give me details, I think he’s hoping it would give me more to write about when I came up short. What mischief did you two get into? Thank you for the picture of the two of you at “The Hollows”, too, it looks so cool.
What are Piper and Amos up to while you’re working on the train this summer? I’ve never had cats, so I’m not sure if they’d get along with a turtle or not. I’m a self-described dog person mostly because I’m allergic to cats. But, between you and me, if a cat comes up to me and snuggles against my leg, I’m going to pet it. Can’t resist that sweet, soft purring, even if it means watery eyes and sneezing a few hours later. I’m at the mercy of their force-compulsion.
Yes, I’m a Star Wars fan, but midichlorians? Come on! I think “Rogue One” is probably the best of the newer content. Caveat: I can’t say anything about “The Mandalorian”, “Boba Fett”, or any of the Star Wars content that’s only available on streaming. I know it’s the wave of the future, but I’m still stuck in the past, technologically speaking.
And now I’m tongue tied. Hmmm.
I’m a 33-year-old wanna-be artist, my day job is very glamorous, I’m a janitor. When the program re-opens, I’ll also be training dogs that have a tough time being adopted. It’s sort of a “last chance” program before they’re put down. There was a cute little terrier a few years ago that I got pretty attached to, I was sad to see him go when he was adopted, but glad he’d have someone looking after him. Oof, heavy. Uh. Pivot.
I like to read, game with my buddies, play my bass from time to time, I’m not-so-secretly a really big fan of “Friends” even though some episodes are pretty cringy, I work out regularly, and I just started writing to this really awesome lady with purple hair.
I hope this letter finds you well and puts a smile on your face as big as the smile yours put on mine.
Ewen”
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An out of character note: There are over two million incarcerated individuals in the United States alone. As someone with loved ones that are currently incarcerated, who thought this was a pretty cool project and diorama, I feel just fine giving a character a story arc that happens to involve them being incarcerated.
The following graph shows that the number of incarcerated individuals spiked by 500% shortly after for-profit, or business-run facilities, were legalized in 1983 in the United States. Food for thought.
