The Correspondent: A Novel by Virginia Evans - 19

Ms. Van Antwerp

17 Farney Rd.

Arnold, MD

21012

August 1, 2014

Dear Ms. Van Antwerp,

I’m sorry I didn’t write to you on July 1. We were on vacation in Alaska with my sisters and I didn’t realize what day it was. When I saw that I missed July I thought it would be better to wait until the next first of the month rather than change the pattern of our letters. How is your eyesight doing? Have you told your brother or your kids you’re going blind? How will you live alone when you’re blind? Will you learn to read braille? I started to learn, in case you need me to. It’s very simple and I think I’ve mostly got it down. My mother listens to books on CD. You can get them at the library, and there is also a trading program at Cracker Barrel, the roadside restaurant. You can also buy them, but they are extremely expensive.

Here is what happened in June and July:

We went on a cruise to Alaska with my sisters. Lauren has a boyfriend and he came. His name is Steve and I don’t like him at all because he only talks about professional football and his job in marketing. My dad pretends to care, but I know he doesn’t because Dad doesn’t watch sports. I liked seeing all the animals (I saw a bear eating salmon in the wild) and being outside. I liked how cool it was in summer, and the landscape was simple, which made me feel really peaceful. I didn’t like sleeping in the boat, and there were three nights when I had freakouts and didn’t sleep at all.

I wrote a story about a made-up world. It is 46 pages single-spaced size 12 Times New Roman font with one inch margins.

My mom spent a week in a hospital for people with mental problems and I didn’t see her during that time. I have no idea why she went to the hospital. My dad said she is very tired, but she doesn’t look tired. He looks tired, actually. I know nobody goes to a mental hospital because they’re tired, so I’m trying to figure out what’s wrong with her, but Lauren called me and told me it is hard for my dad when I ask loads of questions, so I haven’t. This happened in the beginning of June, before Alaska.

I went to two weeks of summer camp. The camp was a sleepaway camp and the subject was electrics and engineering, which I like OK. The daytime at camp was good. We did a lot of interesting projects, not stupid stuff, but things with electricity and real tools. We built a model hotel with a working elevator. At night it was pretty bad. I didn’t sleep well there. I think I don’t sleep well unless I’m at my own house, and Dr. Oliver said that’s part of it, but I’m not sure what he means by that. There were some other weird kids like me, but I got made fun of a lot. One morning I put my shoes on and they were wet. I smelled urine, so I knew what had happened. I tried to dry them out with the hand dryer in the bathroom, but that took a long time, so then I missed breakfast, and then I was trying to eat some cereal in the dining hall quickly, but it made me late to one of our sessions so I didn’t get to pick my partner, so then I had a freakout. I hadn’t had one the whole time, but then I did, so the rest of the time I knew everyone was looking at me and if they hadn’t already known I was weird, now they did. That made me feel embarrassed. I know you will tell me I should tell my parents, but I am not going to. By the way, this whole paragraph is a stone.

My birthday is August 10, which you know, and I’ll be 14. Instead of having a party, my dad is going to take the day off and give me an iPhone, take me to the Spy Museum and then for cheeseburgers for dinner. I go back to school on Monday, August 25, which I dread.

Warm regards,

Harry Landy