Letter Received, Letter Sent
A Fox had gotten a letter from an old friend. The letter was odd since folks didn’t tend to actually send letters these days so receiving one was quite rare. For this rarity though, the Fox was delighted. He quickly opened the letter and began reading:
Dear Frank,
Hi! How do you do? I hope this letter finds you well. I believe the last time we spoke was sometime about a week ago at the beginning of the season, where you shared your recipe for mushrooms in sauce. Could you kindly send me the instructions for this dish? I have come into a shipment of mushrooms and would love to use them in as many ways as possible. Thank you. Hope you are well.
-Simon
Frank looked at the letter and re-read it again. Frank remembered speaking with Simon a few weeks back but he did not remember sharing a recipe for mushrooms in sauce. He knew time was of the essence as Simons mushrooms would go bad so he quickly went to write a text message letting Simon know that he had received his letter but couldn’t recall a recipe. He got out his phone and began typing.
“But wait,” Frank thought to himself out loud. “Simon took the time to write a letter and send it to me through the post. I should do at least the same. I can’t be less thoughtful to Simon than he was to me.”
So Frank took out his stationary and began composing a letter to Simon:
Dear Simon,
Thank you so much for your kind letter. It was a delightful surprise and a fun joy to read today. Unfortunately. I do not remember the recipe you were speaking of. Perhaps you were talking to someone else? In any case, hope you are well. Best of luck with the mushrooms.
-Frank
Frank sealed the letter in an envelope and put it in his mailbox. He thought again about just texting this information to Simon but convinced himself not to as it would ruin the magic of the exchange.
That’s when Frank’s phone buzzed on the table. It was a text message from Simon:
Yo, I wrote you a letter about mushrooms in sauce but I realized I think I meant to ask about the sautéed mushrooms you brought to the picnic a few weeks ago. I think put something else in the letter tho.
Frank knew exactly what recipe he was talking about now and quickly responded:
Ohhhhh lol, yeah that makes sense, I got your letter which, thanks btw that was so cool to get, but didn’t know what you were talking about mushrooms in sauce. The recipe is just sauté some garlic, red chili flakes, in olive oil then add mushrooms and sauté for like another 5-10 mins depending on how you like your mushrooms
Simon liked the message and the exchange was over.
A mailman walked by and picked up the letter Frank had just written to Simon. He took the obsolete letter, now devoid of the intention, fun, warmth, and care it was imbued with only seconds earlier, directly to the post office and would prudently deliver it to Simon no matter what. Neither rain nor sleet nor snow nor technology, nor Saturday would stop him.
