Dear Irene, (835 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.81 on 24 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Lisa (View user info) at 2006-09-30 05:13:46 EDT
September 30, 2016
I got something from the convent in the mail today; I thought it might be a letter from you. It was just a holy card and some information on your convent. I guess you're still not allowed to write to your friends.
It's funny, just this week I was thinking about you and all the mischievous things we did as office aides in junior high. Remember when we listened to conversations in the Teachers' Lounge over the P.A.? How about when we flirted with the seventy-something mailman that delivered packages through the office window? Or when we stole the homework from Mrs. Tronstein's bag so we could correct our mistakes?
Is it cool if I don't call you Sister Joan Claire, or whatever the hell your name is now? To me, you're Irene, my old best friend, the girl who taught me how to roll up my skirt, who carved rumors into the bathroom stall with her earring posts, who helped me pick the lock to the art teacher's office so we could find out our grades.
I'm doing well, Irene. I live just outside San Francisco. I get tired of California, so I travel whenever I can. I like to spend time in Arizona and New Mexico, just driving through the desert, alone. I've been working on some films with Pixar, but as soon as these projects are finished, I want out. NBC picked up a pilot put together by me and some friends; we'll see where it goes. If it doesn't fly, I'll pick up and move to New Zealand, maybe France.
Right now, my life is balanced. I get up early and do Pilates, eat breakfast in bed with my man, and head to work. I go in when I'm ready and leave when I'm finished, and as long as I get my shit done, nobody bats an eye my way. Sometimes I make dinner; it's therapeutic for me. Other times, we get takeout and a bottle of wine and relax for the night.
I published my first novel last month—historical fiction, mingled with fantasy. If this one sells, I'll make more time for writing. I've also written and directed two critically acclaimed independent comedic films. Did I mention that I'm three months pregnant?
I had several dreams last night. I woke up abnormally depressed and confused, and I haven't been able to shake the strange feelings all day. I won't hear back from you, I know, but it feels good to know these are written down, read by someone else, not lost forever in the black hole that is my memory.
I dreamt about a storm, first. I was at the café in Hitchcock's "Birds," when I heard someone say, "That's awesome!" I turned to see a giant funnel cloud heading toward the window. I threw myself on the ground and covered my neck, and for whatever reason, I begged the guy next to me to link his arms with mine. He wouldn't.
I dreamt about a kiss. It was genuinely passionate, unusually satisfying—something I'd been waiting for for a long time. But it ended before I really understood what it meant, or where it would go.
I dreamt about a baby. White-blonde hair, blue eyes—a little girl. Logically, I knew there was nothing out of the ordinary about her, but to me she looked like the happiest, most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. I held out my arms to her and she came to me easily. Instantly I felt a sense of possession, like I'd do anything in the world to keep her close.
Last, I dreamt about a massacre. I crouched at the window of an old apartment, where dozens of faceless strangers waited with me for some kind of inevitable doom. I watched three or four people with automatic weapons got out of a black car parked in the street. I only had time to pull a girl, about six, into the closet with me. We climbed on top of the closet's shelf and peeked through the crack in the door. We witnessed the murder of every single person in the room. Blood bathed the killers, the bodies, the walls.
Today I took the bus home from the grocery store. I watched all sorts of strangers get on, and fell into a daze. I started thinking about the people that I loved that were no longer in my life. I thought about how rare it is for me to bond with people, to find ones that I admire and trust, and then about how many of those people I'd let go. It suddenly seemed absurd that I wouldn't make every possible effort to keep everyone I cared about close to me. That's what life is about, isn't it? People?
I asked myself what I wanted most in life, and the answers came to me quickly: love and freedom. Love, of course, because without it nothing means enough. And freedom to love whatever, whomever. Freedom to be 100% myself, to live life genuinely.
I like to think of myself as an honest person, but it's not a difficult thing to be honest with other people. It's infinitely harder to be honest with yourself. Defense mechanisms are very real, they barricade you until you're ready to face your thoughts—sometimes powerful rivals.
Well, Irene, I guess I've been rambling. I think your cloister is a brainwashing facility that isolates you from the people who love you most, but I hear you're happy, so that's great. Miss you.
Love,
Lisa
User Reviews
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2006-10-02 17:42:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
you wouldnt last 10 minutes in a convent
Submitted by Crystle (user info) at 2006-10-01 22:47:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
nice.
Submitted by Kaelic (user info) at 2006-10-01 22:21:51 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I'm married to the lord! No, I am!
Submitted by Amontillado (user info) at 2006-10-01 15:04:49 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
this made me happy
Submitted by Kracka (user info) at 2006-09-30 23:47:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
meh
Submitted by coley (user info) at 2006-09-30 16:25:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Good. I mean, kids rule and all, but that's probably good, right?
Anyway yeah I liked this a lot.
Submitted by forensicgirl3 (user info) at 2006-09-30 15:05:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Niiiiiiice!
Submitted by Lisa (user info) at 2006-09-30 13:01:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Hell no, I'm not pregnant. Only the memories, dreams, and introspection are true.
Submitted by coley (user info) at 2006-09-30 12:55:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This was really very good.
Is much of it true? If so, congrats Mama Lisa.
And this picture is fantastic.
Submitted by moneyshotforyou (user info) at 2006-09-30 10:35:03 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Pretty good.
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-09-30 09:35:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Kaos-King +2ed you.
Submitted by Bigmike (user info) at 2006-09-30 08:26:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Nicely done, Lisa.
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2006-09-30 07:53:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Well Fuck... this was really good.
Submitted by Bubba2341 (user info) at 2006-09-30 07:42:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Needs more smoking....
Submitted by Spam (user info) at 2006-09-30 06:58:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
No Comment
Submitted by Lisa (user info) at 2006-09-30 06:36:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
It's "The Birds," I said convent twice in the first two sentences, and yes, I do know that the greeting comes after the date.
Submitted by Ducky (user info) at 2006-09-30 06:34:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
...this was nice.
Submitted by Merlina (user info) at 2006-09-30 06:26:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Danger_Ranger (user info) at 2006-09-30 05:49:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
*blinks*
Submitted by Lisa (user info) at 2006-09-30 05:49:02 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
You shut your mouth.
Submitted by Danger_Ranger (user info) at 2006-09-30 05:42:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
stop fucking with my mind.
please.
Submitted by Lisa (user info) at 2006-09-30 05:40:33 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
"Hello, tiny one. You are the future!"
Submitted by Danger_Ranger (user info) at 2006-09-30 05:38:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
I call shenanigans. This was written in the future.
Submitted by Lisa (user info) at 2006-09-30 05:26:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I drank a bottle of White Zin by myself tonight, that's my excuse for this post.