Letters to a Mysterious Stranger [ONGOING]

April Showers

(Sent on Apr 6th, Saturday, 9:35 pm, Howell Hall)

To: prisoner24601@mpu.edu.ph

From: jerusha.abad@gmail.com

Dear Zorro,

Did I forget to mention that for the past three Saturdays I've been touring South Britain?

I am.

I got a job as a bus assistant on Caermor University's coach trips for international students. I only have to read names from a list (Indian and Pakistani names are the most difficult to read by the way), and do head counts every time we enter and exit buses. Other than that, I have the rest of the day free with the others.

The other Saturday, I was at Stratford with Steph. Last week, Sally, Julia and I went to the Stonehenge. This morning, I went to Bath with Julia.

Touring with Julia requires some patience. Bath has a lot of history, and as we walked its streets I could almost picture characters from Austen's novels strolling with us, but Julia doesn't. In fact, she didn't seem to care. After taking about a hundred shots in the Roman baths, she seemed intent on leaving the site to the shopping areas. So we divided our time, and we only had about thirty minutes the Jane Austen Centre.

It's a shame really. I really wanted more time there.

I can't blame her. Many Filipinos do spend a lot of time in shops during tours. Too much time, I think. It's not like one can't buy the same blouse from the Debenhams online store. Shouldn't tours be about learning about the history of a place and experiencing another culture?

Anyway, as we were fitting clothes, she made me fit some dresses with her. She kept making comments like, "Kuya likes that color," or "I think Kuya will love that on you."

I got a little bit irritated, that I suddenly blurted out, "I am not your Kuya's Barbie!"

I immediately apologized to her. All was forgiven, and I must admit that I get a little sensitive when being teased, especially with something that is impossible. For the record, I am not one of those silly girls whose sole existence revolves around guys. I have a life of my own. Still, as you are now a significant part of my life, of course I can't help but think of you every once in a while.

Classes are ending soon. I have papers to write, and I have deadlines in five weeks.

So stop distracting me, my dear sir.

Yours,

Judy

(Sent on Apr 9, Tuesday, 1:27 pm, Howell Hall)

To: prisoner24601@mpu.edu.ph

From: jerusha.abad@gmail.com

Dear Zorro,

Guess who surprised me on my doorstep yesterday.

I was a bit disappointed with everyone that morning. I spent the night before and early morning cooking, because I wanted to treat everyone for my birthday, only to get replies of "busy" or "can't come." Even Steph and Sally bailed out on me.

At 10, I was nodding off to sleep reading a super boring article about ludology vs. narratology when I heard a knock on my door. I opened it, and to my surprise, Master Jervie was standing right there with a big smile on his face.

"I'm dreaming," I groggily muttered, "and I don't want to wake up."

He laughed, grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me awake. "You have to. Grab your coat. Movie starts in an hour and a half. We're grabbing brunch and coffee on the way."