Of letters and VHS tapes.

Of First Letters and Far-away Friends.

After her breathing had returned to normal, she ditched her blanket, now cold popcorn and melted ice cream, and laid down on her living room floor. She opened the metal box again. The first thing she noticed was the pictures: large and small and most of them were in black and white, not many of them in color. As she sifted through them she realized that these were not taken recently, 1950s at the latest. Most pictures were of a boy and a girl; they looked so happy together.

The girl could only be described as liquid sunshine. She was a dazzling blond with a smile to match. Not a single picture indicated that she could feel anything other than joy and happiness. Every smile she gave reached her eyes and infected the people around her, who mirrored her satisfied glow.

The boy was cute, she was quick to note, and she wouldn't have minded if she knew someone who looked like that. He was less cheerful in the photos. Happy, but different than the girl. Reserved was the word she was looking for like he was ready for someone to take his happiness away.

All of the images were faded yet they were somehow filled with life, somewhere between the cute dresses and the leather jackets, there was a story being told. She needed to know that story, she needed to know what happened to those people. As the pictures got closer towards the bottom, the boy and girl grew older, they grew closer and closer until she saw a picture of them kissing as teenagers. But then the pictures ended and they were replaced by sheets and sheets of loose leaf paper, slightly yellowed because of the age, she carefully picked one up and unfolded it. The bold, messy scrawl still stood out on the page, as if it were written yesterday.

Adeline,

I am going to be completely honest and say that I have never written a letter before, I usually stick to hanging out with friends where only talking is needed to communicate. But then again, you are spending the summer in London this year and I don't think I could make it all the way through three grueling months without talking to you. I have actually never met a person who I was so close to that I actually cared enough to write a letter to, but I am happy to write to you.

I really don't know what else to say, all the information I have is kind of useless unless you want to talk about sports, then I could go on and on and on. Normally if I was going to try something new I would ask you, so what do people write about in letters?

Write me back telling me all about London. How is the city? What have you seen? How are you and your family? What is the weather like there? (I know this sounds really stupid but just go with it, I'm new at this.)

Missing you  until the Cubs win,

Oliver

The letter beneath it looked like the response from the girl, Adeline. The letters looked more careful, in a perfect cursive:

Oliver,

The vacation has been fine, I have been learning a lot, and before you say that learning is stupid, it has been really interesting stuff. I love the city, it is so beautiful, especially at night when everything is washed in lights. But the weather is awful, it rains all the time, my family and I are stuck inside, just watching the people on the streets from behind the window in the ice cream parlor or standing on the sidewalk, staring at the park longingly. My family has also been good, I haven't seen my dad much because he is always at work but my mom and I have been having tons of adventures.

I would also like to congratulate you on writing your first letter, I am so proud. My little boy is growing up so fast, seems like just yesterday you were just saying your first words (please note the sarcasm). I don't think I would have been able to get through three months without talking to you either, You are my best friend and it would just be strange not talking to you.