“-but I figure you’re still at school. Thought I should tell you how it all went though. Better than I thought it would after all of these years. There was a group of us down at the quarry like I said. Mallory brought some leftover pork with this incredible cherry glaze that we ate with bread and cheese. Finished a rack of a beer and spent the rest of the day jumping off that ledge and swimming. I thought you were going to be there. You really should have. When you first leap I swear you still think you’re going to count the seconds until you hit the water, but that doesn’t happen. I screamed just like I used to. Everyone did really. Loudly, so that it echoed off the quarry walls. The water was cold and we all lay out on the slab there at the bottom. I remember when we first went there with your brother and Mikhail. We would sit out there on that slab and watch them both jump from way up there. I remember how much we thought they were fearless, even if they screamed too.
I’m just driving down Shoreline right now. It’s a lot different than what I remember. A lot more houses out there. Typical I guess. Someone razed the old Beckett place and built a boxy-thing out of cement and metal. Looks gaudy if you ask me. I followed Mallory and Nathan home and they told me to tell you hello. They’ll be at the funeral too. Anyhow, they brought their daughter with them out to the quarry. She’s nine now, but God did she leap off that ledge without even screaming. I swear she was the bravest one out there. Made me remember all the times we spent out there back in school. Back when I thought I was going to be a rock hound for some oil company. Back when you thought you’d be a teacher. Guess it worked out for you more than it did for me. Anyhow, I thought I should let you know that once everyone was there, I found that I couldn’t get over Mallory. She’s as beautiful as she was then. Her hair is different though. It’s long now, but I like it. I know I’m rambling. Thought your mailbox would beep me by now, but it hasn’t yet, but I’ll finish up anyhow.
I guess I still can’t believe that he’s gone. Up at the quarry I thought he’d show up like he always did. I remember that first time at the quarry when he dove into that blue water so he could find out if there was a bottom. I remember he had that old Kawasaki and would ride those gravel roads after we swam, always disappearing over the fields ahead of us. I also remember he always wanted to leave here. Wanted to go somewhere where there was adventure. When you and Mallory came back here after school, at first I thought I would too, but I wanted to be like him I guess. I still thought then I’d head off to Alaska or somewhere to look for oil, and that would be on par. But look what happened instead. Anyhow, I’m only around for another day or so, but I thought we should go up to the quarry before I leave. When we were all up there it seemed like it was the right place to be. He would have wanted it that way I think. Figure I’d dive in one last time and try not to scream.”
James Stolen was adopted from Calcutta, India and has lived in Alaska and Oregon. A graduate of Carleton College, he also served in the Peace Corps in Lesotho between 2006-2008. He is currently an MFA candidate at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University studying fiction. He has work previously published in Bellevue Literary Review and Shenandoah, and is working on a series of short stories and a novel.