CHAPTER FIVE, PART 1

 

Annie is horribly damaged by life.
She believes she cannot be loved.
Then Bud becomes her pen pal
and love finds them both...
in one way or another.

Every few days I will post a little more.
 Soon you will be able to read it all.
If you absolutely can't wait to find out
what happens between Annie and Bud,
(and I hope you can't!)
you are welcome to click a link and 

buy an e-book or a paperback copy. 

And now, today's post:

CHAPTER FIVE
Part 1

Written Sunday, October 10, 2004

 Dear Annie,

Please forgive me for being so rude in my last communication to you. I had no business talking down to you as I did. Your response was brilliant, and its kindness tells me you are the type of person I need in my life, as a pen pal and a friend.

Don’t tell my mother – she’d die of shame if she ever found out – but I’m not always the nicest guy. That’s one of the reasons I treasured Bennie’s friendship. Being around him made me a better person. We were good for each other that way. For my part, I was much more a go-getter than he, and I encouraged him to go for things he wouldn’t have gone for without me. You know, like football and such. He was a natural born athlete, like me, but he liked books and video games more.

I guess you could say he helped me avoid being a total jackass and I kept him from being a 300-pound couch potato.

I miss him. A lot. If he had been here, he would have ripped me for what I did to you. Crud, can you ever forgive me?

As Bennie may have told you, I work for my dad, same place Bennie did before the accident. It’s a hanger factory. We make specialty hangers for clothes that don’t work on regular hangers. Yeah, I know, that’s kind of weird. We sell a lot, though. That’s my job. I sell them. At the moment I just sell them around the Spokane area, but someday the guy who sells to the rest of the world will retire and then I’ll become a world traveler. That’ll be fun.

I’ve never been a pen pal before. I have no idea what else I should write. Hey, I got it, I’ll tell you about myself. Let’s see, I’m six foot two, weigh 205 pounds, solid muscle of course, I would eat pizza every day if I could, I have a girlfriend, I’m an only child, and I drive a full-sized pickup with a shell over the bed because I carry a bunch of stuff around for my job.

That’s everything worth knowing about me.

Your turn. Tag!

Bud

PS – I really am sorry I was so rude to you.

PPS – Referring to your letter I received on July 13, I like watching bald eagles too.

 

Received Tuesday, October 26, 2004

Dear Bud,

Yes, you are forgiven. A hundred times forgiven so you don’t have to ask again because I am not perfect too. I am not natural kind I have to work at it like everyone else. I was hurt at first but my sister said you must be hurting worse to do that so it was easy to forgive it.

Did you know I never met Bennie? I have no idea how his looks or weight and I’m glad he wasn’t a fat potato. A world traveler would be an exciting job even if you are selling weird hangers. See I spelled hanger right this time. Thank you dictionary.

I live in Boston, like to ballet do crochet play oboe 5 foot 3 inch weight never mind but in a good range. Would eat shrimp everyday if I could. Never finished college went to a trade school for a nurse. It’s a good job. No boyfriend right now but several lined up. I need to choose my next victim. JUST KIDDING!

I love the zoo, nice one here. Lots of eagles.

I like that you wrote tag. Its funny.

Tag!

Annie

 

Written Friday, October 29, 2004

Dear Annie,

You’re a nurse? That’s impressive. At a hospital?

I see we’re following the same schedule as you and Bennie. You get my letter around the first week of the month and I get yours around the middle. Does that still work for you?

It’s been several months now since Bennie died. Wow. Is that even possible? Halloween is coming up in two days and that was Bennie’s favorite holiday. He had this closet full of costumes. Dracula, Wolfman, a ghost, dozens of comic book superheroes and God only knows what else. He lived for the costume parties. I swear, he would mow lawns all summer, and every penny we didn’t spend on movies or junk food went to his costume collection. Me? I only had a clown wig and a red nose. What can I say? I like the classics.

Last year was our first Halloween in our own place and Bennie went nuts! He decorated our apartment door, played creepy music, bought a store full of candy, the works. Oh, and he dressed up as a zombie, complete with fake brains in his hand and blood everywhere. And yes, it was fake blood. Each time someone knocked on our door, he would groan really loud, crack the door open just far enough, and swipe at the kids with his bloody brain. Not the little kids, just the big ones. They loved it. Those who didn’t run were rewarded with handfuls of miniature candy bars.

I’m not sure what to do this year. Maybe I’ll just go to my mom and dad’s and help them pass out candy. They love doing stuff like that.

What are your plans for Halloween?

Tag!

Bud

Chapter Five, Part 2 Coming Soon