"Letter" #1

I received a letter from Alex today. According to the post mark it had taken almost a month to arrive, giving me an idea of the distance it had travelled, from Ruarwe village on the remote northern shore of Lake Malawi, to the capital city of the UK. He said he had received my parcel safely.

“I am happy as never before. The gifts of water colors, brushes, papers and portfolio you have sent me really excite me, much that I don’t know how to thank you. It’s the first time to receive such gifts, and even to use watercolors and such beautiful brushes. May God Bless You”.

Knowing he had received the parcel gave me a warm glow, and I saw him in my mind dancing barefoot on the sand, shouting with excitement, as I had seen him do before when he had just won a big game of bao; and again the last time I saw him, as I looked back from the boat the day I left Ruarwe. He was with Cliff Clipps, the money I’d given him for paints pressed into his hand; dancing and shouting, so excited he forgot to wave goodbye.