01 The Golden Arcade (Julia's letter) revised

By Geoff Smith

Mon, 11 Sep 2017
  • 1015 reads
6 comments
 

A letter found in an envelope on the kitchen table with the word ‘BART’ written on the front.

Boo. 
I know that when you read this you will hate me. 

There. I warned you. So don’t be surprised. I don’t think that you should (hate me, that is) but I expect you will, and I’m ready for it. 

You know Bart, the thing about death is it makes the truth seem more real. Maybe it’s because at the funeral, with all those distant relatives and ‘work friends’, we dance around it so much, the real truth. I feel like I’ve spent the last two weeks avoiding it, hiding from it, the real truth I mean.

And I think the truth is this, Boo. We only have one life! 

And my  God, half of mine has gone!

So listen to me, Boo. It’s important. Your father was a wonderful man, but he’s dead now and he’s not coming back. I know it looks hard on the page but it’s the truth. It’s more true than anything. Your father is dead. My husband is dead. And you know what, Boo? It’s terrible. It is really terrible. But now that it’s happened we owe it to ourselves to find true happiness in the lives we have left. We both do. Each of us. Separately. 

What I am trying to say - is this.

I no longer want to be your mother Boo.

There. I told you you’d hate me. 

I want you to know that I have loved being a mum to you these last ten years. Every moment. And I am so proud of you too. You were in a bad place back then, when we met, remember? But we turned that around. You and me and your dad together. We did that. We got you back on track, Boo. And excelling! Now you’ve become a fine young man and I am so, so proud of you. You are kind and you are sweet. You are hard-working and you are smart and I wish I was half as clever as you! 

I just know you’re going to get ‘A’s next Summer! 

This will seem cold, but I know that it’s true. Boo you don’t need me anymore. You can get out there in that great big world and you can make things happen. Do great things Boo.

And in a few years, I’ll get back in touch. And we can meet and chat, and we’ll both look back and see that this thing was right for both of us. And maybe you can’t see that right now, but things do change, Boo. Always. Just like people.

I read somewhere that the meaning of life is just that it stops. I don’t want my life to stop. I’m not ready!

It’s time to paint ourselves anew.

Follow your dreams, Boo.
I love you (know it always).
Julia.

Certificate 15
Story
Crime

Comments

Submitted by Geoff Smith on

Thanks for reading. Do please feel free to point out:

Typos
Annoying sentences
Inconsistencies

Or anything else I should change.

All comments will be gratefully recieved. 

Thanks for reading. I am grateful for your time.

Submitted by airyfairy on

As a beginning this certainly does the job of raising all sorts of questions in the reader's mind - it certainly does seem a strange and cold thing to do, but I'm guessing we will get an insight into the reasons in due course!  I got a bit caught up with the Barts and the Boos - I'm assuming Boo is a term of endearment?  I did wonder if there were two of them at one point.  

I haven't quite got a grasp of the tone of the piece yet, but I'm sure that will come with the next part.  Looking forward to seeing it!

Submitted by Geoff Smith on

Thanks AiryFairy.

Yes, I wasn't sure whther to change the Barts and the Boos. 

Aas for the why - I'm not sure that is explained fully - which could turn out to be a problem.

I'll post the first chapter, proper on Thursday. I'm a bit concerned that the transition into it is clumsy / jarring so it would be great to get some opinions on that.

Thanks again.

Geoff.

Thanks for reading. I am grateful for your time.

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

I was also a bit confused with the Barts and the Boos, and also it seems (to me) a little odd how the names are mentioned so often - slightly unnatural?

If this part is what you mean when you refer to 'the transition' in your previous comment, then yes, it is quite confusing and that's a shame. 

Hopefully all will be resolved soon with the next part!

 

Submitted by Geoff Smith on

No I mean the transition into the main narrative to come! But that's a problemfor another day.

It's good to have that confirmation of confusion. And I think you are right about the frequency too.

Thanks again IPNH.

Thanks for reading. I am grateful for your time.

Submitted by J. A. Stapleton on

Afraid I understood the boo as a term of endearment and didn't confuse it as somebody else. Looking forward to reading the next part and understanding the mother's motives.