Once again, hello from Australia.
I think this is one of the first times while writing this newsletter that i haven’t been rushing to get the story out in time and that is partially due to the length. This short story is about half the length of what i usually publish which has made both writing and editing this considerably easier. However, this week i am trying something new and publishing an epistolary short story. This means it is told through a series of letters instead of the conventional narrative style. I hope this provides an interesting(and hopefully exciting) read.
NOVEMBER 2024
18th January 2015 - London
Dear Sammy.
Yes, this is a waste of paper but I feel like I’m working every time I go on my phone or laptop. So, here’s a postcard!
I know it’s only been a few days but I miss you already and although you won’t believe me, I’d much rather be with you and your parents than here!
John has everyone in suits at the offices now and he suggested I get one before I came in. Just to tell me apart from the interns. Imagine that! Me in a suit!
I’ve been here perhaps a dozen times in the last year and I’ve still not seen most of the sights. It’s been raining almost the entire time I’ve been here as well. I promise one day we’ll come here with no thought of work and be tourists for a few days.
I know you like my drawings so the one on the front is of the Tower of London(In case you couldn’t tell). And yes, I did draw it. I’ve been getting better, I practice mainly during HR meetings and then do the fine adjustments during lunch break when John gives me the rundown of the remaining problems on his list. I’m writing this from the disabled toilet, it’s the only place with any peace! He’s actually great at his job though so I’m glad he’s here(When I’m not).
I’m sure you’re sick of hearing this, but I came here to try and see if the company is in a place to carry on without me. However, right now it doesn’t look like it.
I could just quit and leave them to hold it together but I feel like I owe the company something and what’s more, I feel it owes me something! Satisfaction perhaps. I mean, what else do I have to my name? If I step away now, I fear I’ll be left with nothing to sustain myself.
Anyway, it seems like they are using the opportunity to throw all sorts of management questions at me so I’ll be staying an extra two days(Sorry again). The undeliverable package is still not solved so I guess I’ll have to take a look at that too. Probably find some sort of fine print loophole so that we can squeeze out of it without losing our reputation. I am intrigued because this is the first time we’ve ever been unable to find someone to deliver. It’s not even a bulky package, apparently only a wedding ring. I could even deliver it myself.
Everything seems to lead back to you. I wish I could spend more time with you this winter, hell, if I were a better man I’d ask you to marry me already!
I hope this finds you well.
All the best,
Love from Dan xx
21st January 2015 - London(still!)
Sammy
Don’t be mad that I’m not coming back tomorrow. Or at least, don’t be too mad. Everything is taking longer (as usual) but that’s no surprise. I’m not making excuses, but just know that I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have to.
I’ll start with the good news. I’m going to quit. Ten years I have been at this and it’s old enough to stand on its own two feet. Maybe it will fall in the mud but I won’t be around to see it. But there is one last thing I’ve got to do.
Do you remember that package we couldn’t deliver? I’ve decided that I’m going to personally deliver it. And no, I’m not crazy, I just want to do this one more time before I leave. This was the part I loved, back before we outsourced the actual deliveries. (Yes, I know I’ve already been away for too long, but this will be the last time!)
I’m partially writing you this instead of calling because I’m not prepared to argue this out and, by the time you get this, I’ll already be gone.
I presume at this point(if you’re not cursing my name), you’ll be asking where I am going.
Argentina! It just seemed fitting that my last delivery is to the very place I’ve always wanted to go. From what the internet can tell me, the area is quite remote, near or in the mountains, which is why we couldn’t find a courier but I’ll work that out when I get there.
It even seems wrong to deliver a wedding ring while leaving you behind but I have to admit, I am a little excited, this is the first personal delivery I’ll make in ten years! And I am going to Argentina! Okay, so a long way away, yes. It’ll probably be a week if everything goes well and if not, I don’t know. I’ll find a way to contact you somewhere along the way.
Sorry as always. I love you.
From the worst partner in the world, Dan. Xx
24th January 2015 - Barreal
Dear Sammy
It was lovely to call yesterday and I hope we can do it again soon but I fear I will be without internet for the next few days. I arrived this morning in a small town called Barreal by bus from San Juan and before that, by plane from Buenos Aires. The town isn’t very touristy and is very dusty(and bloody roasting) but the views of the mountains are just majestic.
They managed to lose my baggage but I’m pretty sure someone stole it(Hint, if nobody else leaves their baggage under the bus, don’t do it either!). They didn’t seem to care who I was, just that I didn’t speak Spanish. I do have insurance but it would just take too long to sort out and besides, money isn’t my problem. I’ve filled a backpack with new clothes with the help of some local vendors and frankly, I’d rather not stick out in my expensive travel gear and my laptop was just weighing me down. I’ve already checked email too much since arriving a few days ago in the country but that shouldn’t be a problem from now on as the signal here isn’t the strongest and I don’t suppose it will get any better the closer to the mountains I go.
I’m writing this from a post office because I still haven’t found a room in a hotel that takes my card and I don’t have quite enough cash. Hopefully, I’ll find something before the night falls as I don’t fancy being out here alone.
Should I feel scared? I mean, I don’t speak Spanish, or at least nothing more than the basic greetings and some now swears that I’m pretty sure were directed towards me at the airport. But this is fun! Hell, it feels like I am twenty again setting off on my travels.
Whoever this ring belongs to lives somewhere in the mountains, a valley perhaps. All I can get out of the local guides is that it is a long way and we will be taking a bus and perhaps walking, although, from the looks of the vehicles around here, it will be a battered old truck.
They’re probably laughing at me back at work, trying to deliver this myself. The owner of this ring will be laughing too, as they try to test my commitment to free worldwide shipping. Well, the joke’s on them, I’m having a great time. However, if I don’t find somewhere to sleep, I might be in a bit of trouble.
Anyway, I hope you’re doing okay, I’m missing you really and I wish I’d asked you to come along on this adventure, I’m sure it would have been good for you to get a change of scenery too!
Love from your long-distance partner, Dan.
26th January 2015 - Somewhere very dusty, Paso de Los Patos.
To: Samantha Louise Stevens
Dearest Samantha, I am writing you this under the careful watch of my trustful guide(and strict teacher), Valeria. She has requested that I, a ‘proper’ English speaker display the proper etiquette when writing to my partner. (She’s now asking me why we are not married.)
If you are, by any chance, jealous, then think again. The bus(Indeed old and battered) remains halfway up the ‘Paso de Los Patos,’ a pass that crosses the Andes into Chile.
Finding a guide was rather easy. On the bus between Barreal and the small town at the start of the pass, I met a local postie who delivers to the remote villages up in the mountains and she offered to show me the way
Anyway, our bus broke down(not a surprise) a way up the road and managed to block the entire pass to vehicles bigger than motorbikes. To make matters better, instead of dropping down a few hundred metres to the last town, I had the(amazing) idea to continue tramping up the mountain and flag down the bus as it passed.
What Valeria didn’t tell me was that it could be days before they can move it. And of course, this means that we can’t just flag down any car. So, much to my delight we are still climbing after one night in the cold winds of the Andes. This is, according to Valeria(who by the way is seventy! Yes, I had to add this in because she thought it rude earlier) well, this is normal and so she carries a tent. A heavy canvas tent(That I now carry).
Update: We did meet the bus going down the mountain and, to my great appreciation, they have agreed to ship this letter back to you with the small price of my watch. (It just reminds me of work anyway. Oh, but don’t expect time stamps on the next letter which may or may not be delivered by smoke signals)
Hell(pardon my language), I don’t miss work. If you were here, I might never return. Although my shoulders hurt(you can’t ask for a break when your guide is seventy) the scenery is spectacular. I wish I still had power in my phone to take photos but I guess my descriptions will have to suffice.
Sorry, they are preparing to continue down to the bottom of the pass so I’d better go. All the best.
From the most adventurous partner ever, Dan. Xxx
P.S. I’m glad we’re not married yet, if I told anyone here I was leaving my wife at home for weeks to deliver an engagement ring… They can be quite vocal sometimes, and Valeria especially has strong opinions about such things.
June — I don’t even know what the date is anymore. 7 pm (ish)
Sammy.
Yes, I’m going to talk about myself again instead of asking you how you’re doing because, frankly, I don’t know how you would be able to return a letter and I’m not sure this will even reach you.
They always say travelling is like soul-searching. And I think, perhaps, I have my first revelation, apart from what those swear words mean. (Hint, they actually mean have a nice day in the local dialect. It’s a good thing I was saying it back and not returning with my own.)
I run a successful logistics company(and no, it doesn’t count as a brag, not if you don’t enjoy it) and yet I am the one who feels like they are dragged around by a lion on a leash. (Yes, they have mountain lions here and they are scary as shit! Especially sleeping in a tent!) What about this, instead of claiming I deliver worldwide for free while avoiding most parcels by using the old trick of small print terms and conditions, I choose to take on those projects and deliver to the remotest parts of the world. Great idea, no? If you have time, let the others at the office know there will be a few changes when I return so they’d better get their hiking boots out of storage.
We’ve now left the main pass road to follow a smaller(and much rougher) one. Unfortunately, I’ve been ill the last few days. Luckily Valeria knew the local doctor so I didn’t die.
Anyway, the strange thing is, I had this weird dream about you when you came to see me in the doctor’s spare room. And I would have sworn I actually saw you, just for a moment except… That’s impossible. And no, I will put it down to a dream, I haven’t forgotten what you look like.
I’m feeling better now so I’ll set out this afternoon for another two days, finally coming to the valley in question.
Adiós,
Dan
June(again, I don’t really know when) - Sunrise
Dearest Sam
I’m not certain this letter will find you before I return, but once again, I think it benefits me more to write to you than it might benefit you to hear of my adventures. Who would have believed it? A middle-aged man travelling through the mountains of Argentina without any knowledge of the local language, culture or cuisine.
Regardless, I made it to the valley late last night and was unceremoniously woken up this morning for sunrise by my trusty guide. This is where she will leave me to continue on my own. How I get back is a question I don’t want to think about yet.
I begin to feel more sure about this, there seems to be a variety of very expensive retreats here and as the sun rises over the mountains, I can see why someone might want to propose here. Surrounded by beautiful peaks, the colourful slopes continue down to a big lake. (Hell, if you were here, I would propose to you!)
I am curious about how this package will be received. Firstly, I wonder if they’ll be confused about the delivery man being foreign or maybe that it was delivered at all.
There was also the matter of the box that the ring came in. I lost it a few days back and have been wearing the ring as it seemed like the best way to avoid losing the reason I came here in the first place. However, I did manage to source a locally carved box so, although it might not have been the presentation the lucky couple were hoping for, it is surely unique.
But that’s not all, there are some strange details that I have begun to notice every time I look at the delivery instructions and they are surprisingly specific which makes me think that the recipient did expect this parcel to be delivered. Instead of delivering it to the front door of the villa as one might expect, I am to follow a path a little further up to a viewpoint. It just seems so odd to me, like someone is playing a prank but I can’t quite tell what the punchline is. I’m sure everything will be exposed later. And, if there is nobody there to receive it, I know what I’m going to do with the ring!
Oh, and there was one more odd detail, the name the parcel is for is female which, of course, is fine(woman can propose too), but the name is Salomé which(yes I know it's not exactly the same) sounds a lot like your name. I just feel like the gods are trying to tell me something but each time they give bigger and bigger clues until I feel like I am being hit over the head with a baseball bat. It’s a bit like those surprise parties you always do for my birthday. Where I should expect them but don’t think about it until you all jump out at me.
Now that I come to think of it, there is only one way that it would fit together, but maybe that’s just wishful thinking. It’s almost as if… No, I won’t say it. Either way, by the time you read this, you’ll know what happened.
Amor de Dan xx
(Love from Dan)
I’m often asked where i get my ideas from and usually they just come to me while reading something or while thinking about something completely unrelated to writing. I then record them in my notes app for later use. This time i was inspired by a sign that simply said ‘free shipping.’ I wondered if i could write a story about a company that delivers parcels to the remotest parts of the world and the story blossomed from there. Writing it in epistolary form was another idea i had written down and was meaning to do for a long time. What made it particularly interesting for me to write was this is the same style that i write my own diary/journal entries in. The difficulty of this piece however is that there are only six glimpses into the main character’s head and the ending had to be implied rather than stated.
I came up for the idea for the twist while writing the story and it added a full circle feeling which i really liked but as with all twists, it is a delicate balance between making it obvious enough that people actually notice and hidden enough that the surprise is retained.