lilac letters

5

"
dearest frances,

you could not begin to imagine how enthralled i was when i read your letter! i told everyone. i told Alan, i told Dean, i told mother, i told Arthur, hell, i even told the milk man when he came to the door! i shouted from the rooftops: "my best friend, Frances Moss, has a spot in the paper!" what i really wanted to say was: "the love of my life, Frances Moss, is achieving her dreams unlike you boring lot!" of course, i didn't say that, for the sake of secrecy as well as politeness. i mean not to judge everyone so harshly, it is just that they all dull in comparison to you.

nonetheless, mother wishes you well, as do Arthur, Alan, and Dean. she also said that you were a brave young woman, that you would go far. she compared you to the likes of Emily Dickenson. i think you are brave, too, and that you will be the most successful writer of the century. i think the world of you, Frances, and to be apart drives a sharp branch through my heart, but i know that soon, we will be together. 

i must admit, i daydream of a long life spent together. oh, i hope i don't sound like some silly little girl. i trust you know that my feelings for you stretch far beyond schoolyard crushes. in my make believe world, we live in a cottage on the countryside in France, or even in a simple apartment in Paris. the walls are painted a bright, cheery yellow and we make enough money to go to the theatre every once in a while. you have a big desk that you write your articles and novels on, and i have an oven with which to bake sweets and roasts. in the evenings, you read me your works, and i tell you, as always, that you are a literary genius, a goddess with a fountain pen in hand. you'll laugh like you always do, and thank me, and we'll enjoy a meal together with a cat curled up beside us and the radio playing in the background. 

oh, enough rambling. i'll only make myself feel all the more sad in your absence. know that i mean not to make you feel even the slightest bit of guilt for having to leave. it was i who encouraged you, after all. you've got important matters to attend to, my dearest! your career! i could never be responsible for tying you down to this weary old town. you're a city gal! and i've just got to learn to be patient until we can be together once and for all! 

i've not an idea where this sudden onset of longing comes from. perhaps it is Alan and Dean, in their closeness, that has inspired such a desire to have you back by my side again, like in the winter. they're always off on their dates, and i've always got to tag along to keep any suspicious eyes at bay. just last Wednesday, we all went to the drive-in movie theatre. Alan had borrowed his father's car on the premise of taking me on a date, but of course, that was just a cover up for he and Dean. i sat in the back seat with my hot dog and Coca Cola and they sat together in the front seat holding hands. the film was fairly entertaining, but half-way through, Alan looked around the lot to make sure no one was watching before he placed a kiss on Dean's lips. i had to look away, for the tears had come almost immediately. it reminded me of just how much i missed you, how far apart we truly were. luckily, the sniffles were quiet enough not to alarm either boy, but i was hardly able to enjoy the rest of the film. still, the hot dog was good, so I guess that it is the small things that can cheer us up.

again, i've become a drab. for that, i apologize. know that i am proud of you, and that i love you dearly. please, please, if you can, could you send me a clipping of your article when it prints? i would love more than anything to read your work. you could make a description of doing the laundry sound like the most enticing thing. 

oh! and, after the movies that night, when we went back to Alan's house for a bit, his mother gave me her delicious sun tea recipe. i will share the recipe with you on a separate slip of paper; perhaps it will remind you of me. 

also enclosed will be a ribbon with which to tie back your beautiful black hair. mother gave it to me, but i fear nothing i own matches it. then i remembered one of your blouses and thought the color would suit it perfectly.

i love and miss you dearly and hope that this letter finds you safe, warm, and full.

yours, Bonnie

"

step one: place a few tea bags into a large container filled with cold water. there are family sized tea bags available at the local supermarket for sweet teas that will work wonders.

step two: loosely cover the container and leave it out on a windowsill or perhaps a porch, somewhere in the sunshine, for three or four whole hours. it is patience that is key, my love. 

step three: after the tea is good and steeped, discard the tea bags and add to the tea the juice of one ripe orange and a fourth a cup of sugar. 

step four: serve over ice and refrigerate the container