Dear Octopus,
Not a long letter from me tonight. Back in Devon, among the warming seclusion of familial familiarity, my parents are brothers are out socialising and the house is suddenly quiet. A clock ticks insistently on the mantelpiece, but that is all. I think that the new and inestimably idiotic cat (Stardust Squid) might actually be stuck under the tree. Soon my parents will come home and will cook the Austrian Dinner (a permanent Christmas Eve fixture purloined from the long arms of our distant family now among the faithful departed), we'll slope down to the frosty beach and walk along it on our way to mass, and then come home to drink my father's best scotch and reminisce on festivities passed. Nothing spectacular by way of tradition, I suppose. But it is ours, and therefore much valued.
Send my love to your parents and grandparents, your sister and your friends, and maybe if necessary keep a little left aside for yourself. It's strange to think that I wrote you a similar note to this, on this same day of last year. So much has changed. So many people have come into my life, and some have sadly departed. The carousel keeps revolving, bringing with it witches and pirates, soldiers and Bond villains....but what forever remains constant is my hope that you are happy, wherever you are. You are my favourite person in the world.
Merry Christmas Octopus. I miss you, and think of you always.
Your loving friend,
Action Squid
No comments:
Post a Comment