shawna,
i am writing you this letter from the future as i sit here locked up in a colombian prison. it is hard to recall why but it feels like i have been imprisoned for all of my life. it will be brief because there is no electricity in this particular facility and the only light available is provided by the slow flame of a bacon grease-soaked piece of cloth that i managed to spark with my chains and a cinder block jut on the southern wall. yes, they serve bacon in prison. not the kind we are accustomed to in the u.s. but you would not know of this, and still, it is something. i do not wish to sound ungrateful. during dish duty i tripped and rubbed my shirt sleeve in a grease puddle to store it for later with this letter in mind. it is dark and i must hurry.
the purpose of this letter is to express my gratitude for the use of your rei dividend as member #3944778 with which i used to supplement the acquisition of one pair of navy blue merino wool socks. i can tell you that these socks have lasted thus far and will surely see soil and sea safely outside of this compound once more should that be their destiny. remember, this letter i write to you is from an undisclosed time in the future but i can assure you that it is at least one calendar year after the purchase of said socks. they have lasted well. and i can tell you in good faith that some strands still remain and with them i am conspiring to fashion a rope. the purpose of this rope has not yet been determined, but it will most-likely be used to make either a noose or some kind of device to repel from the hole in this cell wall to allow me to escape in the jungle.
at a moment when you have forgotten this letter, something will jog it back into your memory. perhaps a white bird will fly your way and you will remember. and later still, a memory will trigger this memory itself and the letter will come to mind.
the cloth has almost been consumed and i must close. forgive the lack of capital letters in this correspondence. i can give you a hint to the future and let you know that they have ceased to remain necessary and no longer exist. thank god they have not gotten our dear punctuation symbols yet! thank you again for your generosity and even-more-valuable friendship. the adjacent cell contains an old man who is somewhat of a sage. he discovered my literacy and asked me to write the following down since he himself does not have the ability. i have only one piece of paper, so i am including it with this letter, so that it may escape this ever-rainy jungle prison:
it may seem to us that certain decisions can affect the course of life and change what will be. we might do a and b happens. or we might do c and then d will follow. this is dubious if not false altogether. what will happen, will happen, and it always does because in this world we occupy, only one result is allowed. only a can be done and only b will proceed. c,d, and all else do not exist although a haughty human may hope. we should make decisions with confidence and live corresponding to present conditions. can a man make plans concerning his future self when he feels like dying at present moment? no. past sensations may seem more vivid and future ones more promising. but one cannot break the chain of the present and live in any other time.
andrew
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