The Letter

She was delighted to find the sealed envelope on the table. Her heart raced as she reached for it, she smiled and stared at the handmade paper for a long time. Whoever had sent the letter had clearly put in a lot of effort, her name, written in elegant calligraphy, stood out on the luxurious handmade paper.    

She carefully ripped one end of the envelope, pulled out a sheet of brown paper and began reading.

‘Dear Leena,

I hope you are doing well. We all are having an amazing time here, I know you have been a bit down lately, but let’s hope things get better for you (umm, a lot of hope). Anyway, about the fight you had with Sudha, just do as she says. If spending an hour of your time doing her work saves you from a disagreement, then so be it, and who knows she might be of help to you in the future, she will then have to return the favour.

Tell me all about the party, I know you didn’t want to go, but you didn’t have a choice, did you? Tell me honestly though, you had fun, right? I told you just need to loosen up a bit, a few shots and some giggle smoke can make everything better in moments. You should go more often, all that stress does need an outlet, trust me.

The anxiety and stress you expressed in your last letter had me worried. You will make it big in life easily, you are the most hardworking person I know, and there is no one else who can juggle the same amount of work as you at once.  On the other hand, some people are born super-talented, and realistically you cannot compete with them.

That is a long letter of me being preachy, gotta go now!

Remember don’t be stupid and try your best to fit in.

-Maya.

Giving it a last look Leena carefully folded the letter and walked over to her dressing table. Neat piles of envelopes made with handmade paper greeted her as she opened the drawer of the dressing table. She picked one of them and put the letter inside it. Having sealed it, she picked a pen addressed it in the prettiest handwriting she could manage.

Giving herself a wry smile in the mirror she headed towards the table, where she kept the envelope under a glass. The glass made the ‘To’ of the ‘To Leena’ look distorted. Giving another wry smile Leena headed for the door.