The first postcard Elijah received, situated in LA, sent from Scotland,
WAS of Scotland. Rolling green hills with Scotland printed in a pretty
typeface in the corner. On the back, with a pretty generic stamp the UK
had, much better than the bland generic stamps the US had, was a royal
air sticker, his address written in Elijah's handwriting, and a message
written in a very messy scrawl.
Dear Elijah, the scrawl said. The movie is shooting in Scotland now,
having a nice time. Hope you are, too. It's very open and clean out here.
I got used to the city noises at home, and I think I would've gone mad
if there weren't so many people making noise. What have you been doing
lately? Love, Daniel
Sometime later in the day, after musing on what he should write, Elijah
wrote on a hotel postcard, discarded it, began a letter, discarded that,
wrote another letter and discarded that one as well before finally finishing
a third letter.
Dear Daniel, he had written. Don't let the open space, clean air, dead
stillness and gorgeous landscape get you down. I have fond memories of
my time in New Zealand, and it had the same elements. New Zealand and Scotland
both have tall grass and mountains, so I'm sure that they're EXACTLY the
same. (Here Elijah drew a happy face, a real one with dimples and a spike
of hair on the top of its head) If the crickets chirping gets too much
for you, you can always make your own noise by consuming too much sugar
and alcohol and then jump into the middle of a crowd. I'm sure your mother
will appreciate the empty beer bottles littering your trailer.
How is she, by the way? And your father, too, seems polite to ask, I've
never met him, though. I have some time on my hands before the next movie
begins shooting. Maybe I'll fly out to see him finally, and your mother
and you again.
I'm having a nice time, too. Caught up with my Christmas shopping, all
I have to do is wrap.
What I've been up to is reading scripts and jet-setting. I'm sure that's
exactly the type of role model your mother had in mind when she introduced
us at the premiere last week.
If she doesn't appreciate the empty bottles, you could always stay up
as late as you can. After 24 hours, you're in this zone where you can't
get to sleep, even if you tried. It's nice seeing the stars that way, and
you'll be able to see a lot of them away from the city.
Love, Elijah.
Elijah wrote a new address in the postscript of where he would be next
week during the promotional tour for The Return of the King. He folded,
stuffed, sealed, writing on the front of the envelope neatly, and sticking
a US flag stamp that was gaudily over bright next to the pastel simplicity
of the stamp of the queen.
He put the envelope away to be mailed and mentally noted that he was
nervous.
~~~
The second postcard Elijah received was a picture of Daniel on the front,
wearing a reindeer costume complete with red nose. Elijah looked at it
for a while, wondering, and flipped to the back, the stamp blue now, instead
of purple, and every handwritten word on it a messy scratch.
Hey! My mum's fine, it'd be cool if you could come visit, her name's
Marcia, by the way. (At this Elijah wondered, and then realized he had
written "your mother" over and over again in his letter.) Might take your
advice on the sugar and alcohol thing. But you're right, the stars are
beautiful out here. Love from, Daniel
There was no explanation for the reindeer costume.
Later that week, Elijah found an old book of botany postcards, and began
using those.
Dear Daniel, he had written on the first card, one that felt fragile,
with a faded picture of lavender on the front. Press tour stops next week,
I could come and see you guys (here "guys" was added and fitted in as an
afterthought, after Elijah had finished the sentence) then. Love, Elijah
This postcard was given an orchid stamp, fitting in with the flower
theme, but still unmatched.
~~~
The third postcard Elijah received had been thrown into his lap by a
PR assistant with a chuckle in her eye. It was another picture of Daniel,
this time wearing a Santa suit and looking mischievous. Elijah wondered
how much the media would pay for these pictures, then read the back.
Dear Elijah, the scrawling was somewhat neater. It'd be great if you
came over to visit. Do you want to stay for two weeks to spend Christmas
with my family? Mum says it’s ok. Love from, Daniel
Elijah sent a not-so-frail postcard with a glossy picture of a red rose.
Coincidentally, the next stamp on the sheet was that of a rose.
Dear Daniel, Elijah had written with a red pen and wondered briefly
if there was a theme going on with this postcard. Do you mind if I call
you Dan? Thanks for the offer but I'm spending Christmas in New York with
some friends. Still want me to visit? Love, Elijah
~~~
The next postcard was, again, tossed into his lap by the chuckling PR
assistant. Daniel was dressed up as a pirate, peg for a leg and hook for
a hand. The stamp was pink.
Dear Elijah, the scrawl said, reverting back to its original messiness.
Everyone and me calls me Daniel, but I guess Dan's shorter to write. Just
found out that the movie’s gonna continue shooting up till two days before
Christmas, so I won’t have any time to spend with you. You can still come
out to meet my dad, though. Love from, Daniel
Elijah thought that it wasn’t okay to call him Dan.
The postcard Elijah sent next was of a violet, with lilacs on the stamp.
Dear Daniel, he wrote, and made no other mention of calling him Dan.
That kinda sucks. I’ll wait until we both have time off, okay? No point
in visiting if there’s no time to spend. Love, Elijah. P.S. What’s with
the costumes?
~~~
The postcard of Daniel dressed as Garfield was slid across the table
to Elijah at lunch. The stamp was purple, and underneath that, Daniel had
drawn a sprig of lilacs similar to the one from the US stamp.
Dear Elijah, Daniel wrote. It’s about time you asked. I was beginning
to think that you normally got postcards from people dressed up in costumes.
There’s a small town in Scotland that has a store where you can make your
own picture postcards. They have costumes. Love, Daniel.
Elijah didn’t send a postcard. There seemed to be nothing to say.
~~~
Until the next day, when the PR assistant tossed him another postcard,
a wary look in her eye.
Daniel was dressed as a western cowboy. A stamp of lilacs was accompanied
by a drawing of the constellation of Orion.
Dear Elijah, the handwriting was large this time and took up space.
Found out the meaning of Sirius Black today and thought of you. Love from,
Daniel