Carriber Stone

Shanely Buxor and Ashton Levive settle on Carriber's bed and make themselves comfortable.

"Hey what's that?" Shanely points to an unopened letter laying on Carriber's table. It is a letter from Allie which he got today.

"Oh that," Carriber says smiling. "It's a letter from my pen pal."

"Oh, Allie?" Ashton asks. "How is she like?"

"Oh, she's really awesome. She's into travelling and all that cool stuff. Underneath she is very insecure, but given a push she's one of the most confident people I have ever met. Whenever I read her letters its like I have known her for a long time."

Shanely smiles and says, "Wow, you two have grown close to each other pretty fast, huh?"

Carriber shrugs. He doesn't know. "Yes. But, honestly, she's really nice."

"Yo, do you even mention our names to us? I mean, we're your best friends and all."

He rolled his eyes. "Of course, I do, Ash."

"I hope so."

"Shanely! Not you too, girl!"

The two laugh and pretty soon, even Carriber joins them.

After hanging out for almost two hours, Ashton and Shanely leave Carriber's house with a full stomach and an impression on Allie Watson.

It is almost eleven, when Carriber went to bed. He almost sleeps when he suddenly remembers -

Allie's letter!

But then, he yawns. But I am so sleepy... But then the unopened letter catches his eye. After a minute or two, he decides to read the letter now, and write a reply to it, later.

He slowly opens the letter and reads it with the help of his lampshade.

Dear Carriber,
My favorite singer is Selena Gomez. I absolutely adore her! And trust me... I don't want anything on my birthday. Just a letter from you is enough. Even your birthday is just around the corner; what do you want? C'mon, tell me! Don't feel shy or anything and just tell. I can't promise, but I'll try my best. Today, was fabulous! Everything went right and not one bad thing today. You are a really good friend of mine, even though we exchanged like five letters each. You always encouraged and supported me, and made me trust you in such a short time. I think Nina is close to worshipping you. Haha! A recommendation, read this book called The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I absolutely love that book to the core, and it is one of my favorites. If you haven't read it already, do. Do you read classics? Like Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Mansfield Park, Wuthering Heights, Romeo and Juliet... Can I ask you one thing? I really, really, really want to see you face. I mean sure they showed your picture to me before. But I want one from you. Will you? For me? Please!
Allie.

Carriber finds himself smiling and but before he could do or think anything, he falls alseep with Allie's letter still in hand.

~*~

Carriber Stone chewes the end of his pencil and starts writing for Allie.

Dear Allie,
Trust me - I too don't want anything for my birthday. Even for me also, a letter from you is more than enough. Yesterday, Shanely and Ashton hung out at my house and asked me about you. Yes. They do know you. Oh, by the way, the two said hi. Whenever I read your letter I feel like I've known you for a long time. I have grown that fond of you in such a short span of time! I'll definitely try to read The Book Thief. In fact, I have issued that book today from library. And, I read classics sometimes. Only for school, though. I read Pride and Prejudice, Romeo and Juliet and Mansfield's Park. As we are on book recommendations, read this book Paper Towns by John Green. It's really good. Well... I like it. Mom said I could have a birthday party if I wanted, but I decided I'd just like to spend the whole day with Mom, Dad, Dave, Ashton and Shanely. We'll do stuff together, I guess. Do you play video games? Stupid question, but I was always curious.
Carriber.

He smiles, and removes his hand from the letter. His focus shifts to a photograph.

His photograph. It was taken just about two months ago, and Carriber could say he didn't change, noticably from the picture.

He was on the beach, in a yellow t-shirt and some striped shorts. But his playful and childish smile was the best accessory. Carriber was facing his back to the waves. It wasn't his best picture. But, he felt it was the picture in which he looked most real.

Carriber, after glancing at the photograph, smiles and adds his post script.

Carriber. (P.S. not much of a looker. But still.)

After keeping the photo and letter in the envelope and pasting it, he leaves his school to post it and then go home.