'Letters From War...'
“You won’t believe what I got in the mail today.” I spoke into the phone while opening the elementary folded letter in my lap.
“Let’s see, ummmmm, your latest subscription to Muscle Men magazine?” joked Alex. He was always finding humor out of any situation I proposed so I wasn’t caught off guard to the least.
“Man I’m serious Alex.”
“Well, I give up so tell me Mr. Sensitive.”
“A letter from Clark.”
“Hmmm… Ok.”
“Man did you hear me?” I asked forcefully, fearing that Alex still wasn’t taking me seriously.
“What’s the big deal?” Alex responded, confirming my fear.
“He’s been dead for two months!” I almost shouted.
“Reggie, he died in Afghanistan, and you know how mail tends to get lost over there. So again, what’s the big deal?” I sucked my teeth like a bitter child on the brink of a temper tantrum.
“True, but the letter said Congrats on Getting Married.” I said while reexamining the single sentence note.
“I see, well maybe he mailed it before he died.”
“Alex, I got married three weeks ago…”
“I know that fool, I was there. But what I’m saying is that maybe he sent the letter ahead of time, like when you told him you were engaged.”
“He didn’t know I was getting married. I never built up the nerve to tell him since he had a thing for Shannon in the past. It just felt weird you know.”
“Well maybe Shannon told him. How did she take the news of his death anyway?” Alex asked curiously.
“I haven’t told Shannon that he died yet.” I responded with a slight sense of embarrassment.
“Oh My God Reggie! How could you not tell your fiancé that her ex, your best friend, died while serving in Afghanistan? Isn’t it bad enough that you hooked up with his ex anyway?”
“I panicked ok? I thought that if Shannon found out about his death… that maybe… the memories triggered by sympathy, would rekindle a lost flame. I dunno, I can’t explain it you know.”
“No, I don’t know…” Alex responded, finally showing signs of seriousness.
“Well we can discuss my moral ethics later. Right now I need you to help me figure this out, because it’s really spooking me.”
“Calm down, maybe Shannon, courteously, told him before he died, and he mailed the congratulation ahead of time.”
“I guess it’s possible.”
“She had to, that’s the only non-Sci-Fi answer possible. So stop thinking weird. As much as you may deserve it, I doubt that Clark’s ghost is haunting you by way of the U.S. Postal Service.”
“Alright man, actually Shannon is walking through the door now, so I’ll call you later.” I folded the letter back up and stuffed it into my shirt pocket. The conversation with Alex helped a little, but I was still feeling eerie about the whole situation. Ok maybe he did send it out ahead of time, but why would he mail a letter on notebook paper with one sentence so sarcastically formatted. “Congrats on getting married.” I didn’t understand it; he could have called or even emailed something like that.
“Honey I’m home!” Shannon shouted in her usual playful voice. I could hear her setting plastic bags on the kitchen counter.
“What? Is that phrase only male oriented?” Shannon joked while standing in the kitchen doorway. She was smiling at me and for a brief second everything was ok. Then I snapped back to the task at hand, well, at pocket. I found difficulty trying to figure out how to word my question without raising her suspicion.
“Shannon, did you tell Clark about our marriage?” I asked gingerly, trying to avoid her alert system.
“Of course I told him.” She responded. I felt an extreme sense of relief. I also felt stupid for my previous thoughts. A minor smile was broadcasted on my face, and Shannon returned it. I reclined back into the sofa preparing myself for the upcoming onslaught of jokes I would receive from Alex about my earlier panic attack. I didn’t care at this point, I was just glad that my silly thoughts were finally cancelled.
“Yea, he called last week…” Shannon said as she re-entered the kitchen.
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