Nothing But The Truth

Part 2

   The next morning after finding out about Charles, she posted a letter to him through an address she found somewhere else on the internet. She wrote to him about his poems, about how she found out about them, and finally she asked to hear his side of the story.

   Zoe didn’t know what to expect; would he reply? And if he did, what would it say?

   Zoe waited a week. One week became two weeks, and two became three. Finally on the fourth week, two replies came. She had been checking the post constantly, every day, right after the postman came. She couldn’t afford her parents to see a letter addressed to her from a prisoner, they would think she was mad. I guess I am a bit, thought Zoe. How many other people are doing what I am? However Zoe had always believed in human rights and fairness: her parents always made clear to Zoe the differences between right and wrong, and although many people would say “I believe in human rights”, they don’t actually do anything about it. Zoe was different: even if she was only helping one person, she thought, one person is better than none.

   Taking a deep breath, she opened the letter.  She found this “letter” was actually many pieces of his work: there were poems, sketches, and finally, a long hand written note which began “Dear Zoe…”.

   Zoe hesitated for just a moment before reading it. She read it once, and then she read it again, and again.

   The letter was obviously checked by officials, and much of it was coded. In the next envelope was a series of codes and their corresponding words or letters; sending two different letters apparently didn’t trigger any suspicions in the people who checked them.

   Checking the codes, she managed to decipher the letter: she began to read his story: the truth.