#132 Letters from the Archives

by Shona Snowden

From the letters page of The Lascaux Review.

I was sorry to read of the untimely death of Andy Dallas. His stories spoke to me directly and I will miss his work.

Felix Eldon
Merline, CO

Andy will be greatly missed by all—Ed.

From the letters page of The Lascaux Review.

I am delighted you still had some articles by the late Andy Dallas. “The Life Beyond” in your last edition was inspirational.

Felix Eldon
Merline, CO

What article?! Alas, powerful writer though Andy was, he is not powerful enough to submit stories from the grave—Ed.

From the personal archive of Kevin Joliet, former editor of The Lascaux Review.

Your comment on my recent letter, re. Andy Dallas submitting from the grave, made me laugh!

It’s wonderful to see Andy’s work continuing in The Lascaux Review, particularly his most recent story, “Things are Never What They Seem”.

Felix Eldon
Merline, CO

Handwritten note at bottom of letter: Kate, this guy is nuts! I should never have published his last letter with my glib comment. Please write and let him know any further letters re. Andy would be inappropriate—thanks, Kevin.

From the personal archive of Kevin Joliet (envelope only survives). The address on the envelope is written in the hand of Mr. Joliet’s assistant, Kate Sumner.

Mr. Felix Eldon
8765 Forthgram Street
MERLINE
CO 80457

Unknown handwriting at bottom of envelope:

Died over a year ago. PLEASE REMOVE FROM YOUR MAILING LIST.

12 comments:

Heidi Willis said...

I love the format of this. It pulled me in from the start.

My only drawback was trying to figure who everyone was and how they tied together. Maybe that's okay in such a short piece, though - to create a story that requires a reader to read a few times.

Bruce Roush said...

I liked this story a lot-especially liked it after the third read through made everything clear for me.

Sarah Laurenson said...

First read through gave me the framework and the chills. Second read through was more thoroughly enjoyable. Loved the article titles even more the second time through. Cool format.

Curious that only the envelope survived. Makes me wonder what was inside or if it mattered.

Stacy said...

I love this! You gotta read it at least twice to see how it all fits together. Love the title and the format and how you brought it into the Lascaux Review. Lovely, Shona.

Sandra Cormier said...

Reminds me of my aunt accidentally signing into my mom's Facebook account and hitting the Like button, two weeks after mom passed away.

Anonymous said...

So the Colorado elevation isn't causing your writing to wobble at all, good to know!

Whirlochre said...

This year's Lascaux is interspersed with informative articles and i genuinely thought this was one of them.

Then I thought - how odd.

Then I thought - how brilliant.

Three thoughts in one day is amazing for me, so thank you.

Robin B. said...

Love this. I reread to make sure I "had" it, and that made it even more enjoyable - the layering in the letters and notes.

Aniket Thakkar said...

I don't know if I'll be writing letters from beyond. Might keep commenting. You'll have to wait and watch(-out for me).

P.S.: Shouldn't you just stop participating, and start judging? About time, I say.

Unknown said...

You trying to get me a job, Aniket?!

I'm working my way back into things after a bit of a break, called A Real Life Job with a Salary n' Everything. Turned out I didn't write much in that time. Now I find myself in circumstances called It's Illegal for You to Work Right Now. Funnily enough, I'm not missing it that much...

So I'm just stretching out those writing muscles a bit again...

Unknown said...

Thank you for all the lovely comments, I really appreciate it!

Deb Smythe said...

Ha! Great last line.