Jo and Laurie: A Re-telling of the Re-telling

The Letter (Continued)

The Letter (Continued)

Dear Jo,

I hope you are well. I wanted to check in with you again– where are you with your new novel? Have you started? Do you have any ideas? If so, please keep me informed as I believe your future as an author is bright.

Sincerely,

Niles

Jo's eyes rolled in the back of her head, Ugh. She didn't need this extra stress but decided to devote herself to writing for the next few hours, she thought it would get her mind off of things. Jo came back home and found herself at her desk, paper in front of her, and the quill that Laurie had purchased in her hand. She flipped the quill around in her fingers–I was supposed to write to him every day. She flipped and flipped and flipped. She wanted to start writing, so she tried. Two sentences in and she hated it:

The beach was calm, the waves were still. There she was across the shore, and he was standing afar.

Jo, this is awful, she thought to herself. She scrapped it and began writing something else:

The war was over, and he finally came home. He did, finally. She missed him.

What is going on! thought Jo, Stop writing about romance, perhaps! She tried one more time:

Something always felt missing when she wasn't with him.

Josephine March! What is wrong with you? Jo growled at her writing and what her mind was focused on. She crumpled up the papers she had attempted to write on and decided to write to Niles:

Dear Niles,

I have NO idea what to write and frankly do not think I could ever write something even closely comparable to my novel. I am just as disappointed as you probably will be reading this letter. If you have any ideas, I am open to suggestions. As of right now, I have nothing to present to you. I am sorry.

Sincerely,

Josephine March

Jo hated that she couldn't think of anything, but how could she think of anything? She sat there frustrated at herself. She had never been able to not write before... then she remembered the promise she had made to Laurie, "I will write you every day!" the promise echoed in her head. Who knew if he would even reply to her, but Jo wanted to be a woman of her word. She knew that, if he were here, Laurie would be the best inspiration. She folded her letter up to Niles nicely and placed it in an envelope, then she started a new letter.

Teddy,

So much has happened in just one day. After you left, I went to visit Amy and Aunt March– the visit was interesting... You know how it is. I went to go visit Meg afterward and, Teddy, she lost her baby. I saw her with blood everywhere. The pain she felt was just unbearable, It just reminded me of losing Beth. I took care of her the next morning, then Marmee came over with another letter from Niles. He is asking me about a book idea, but I have nothing. Absolutely nothing! I tried to go home and write, but nothing is coming to me. I have tried and tried and tried. I just wish you were here. You always help me write so well, you used to give me the best inspiration. Remember that one story that we wrote about those pirates taking over that ship? Anyway, I know you might not want to reply– if you don't that's okay. I promised, though, to write to you every day and I will uphold that promise; regardless of whether you reply or not.

With adoration,

Jo (your best friend)

She looked at her letter and sealed it up in an envelope and grabbed it, along with the one she had written for Niles, and put it in her mailbox.