From: jekel@cts.com (Julie Jekel)
Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative
Subject: NEW: "Pen Pals" 1/1
Date: Mon, 10 Jun 96 02:58:32 GMT
Imagine the usual disclaimer rigmarole here--I don't own
'em, I just bend them to my every whim for the duration
of a few pages or so, then return them relatively unharmed
to their owners.
I've been reading a few of the 'what-if-Mulder-and-Scully
-met-when-they-were-younger' stories that have been posted
lately, and they inspired me. I don't think anyone wrote
anything QUITE like this--If they did, please forgive me for
my poor (and perhaps selective) memory--but the general
idea was inspired by authors that I would personally credit
here if I remembered any of their names. :-/ Oh well,
you know who you are.
I must confess though, I don't know very much about the
character's backgrounds, so if I make a major faux pas, please
forgive me and let me know what it was so I can correct it
and repost the story. I'm sort of writing this on the spur of the
moment anyway, so I don't know how good it will be this time
around.
Thanks for your indulgence and hope you like it! :)
Pen Pals
Dana Scully arrived home to find a package sitting in the hallway
outside her door. Curious, she picked it up and tucked it under her
arm while she let herself into the apartment. Once inside, she set the
box wrapped in brown paper down on her dining table and left it there
while she hung up her coat and kicked off her high heels. Mulder
would be coming over later to discuss the case they were currently
working on, but until then, she wanted to relax.
She made herself a cup of hot cocoa and carried both it and the
package with her over to the sofa. She noticed that her mother's
return address was on the label.
Dana set her tea down and ripped the paper open. Inside she found
a rather old, very familiar shoebox with an envelope taped to the top. She
opened the envelope and read the letter her mother had enclosed.
Dear Dana,
I found this when I was going through some boxes in
the attic and almost threw it away, but was afraid you would
kill me if I disposed of it without consulting you, considering
how important some of this stuff was to you as a girl. So, I
decided to send it to you and let you dispose of it as you see
fit. Here's hoping that it will bring back pleasant memories
for you.
Love,
Mom
Smiling at some of the memories the box did evoke, Dana reverently lifted
the lid. It was filled with smudged envelopes with the name "Danni" scribbled
on them in a childish hand.
Danni had been her nickname in elementary school, a name she had gotten
through a pen-pal program between her class and a third grade class
somewhere in New England. Dana had complained that her pen pal
had a boy's name, and from the moment said pen pal first heard about it, she
had insisted on calling her Danni, so they would be even.
The envelope on the top was the last one she had received. A sad smile
crept over her face as she remembered what had brought a stop to their
correspondence...
****flashback*****
Danni was excited. It was pen pal day, and she was expecting a letter from
Sammie. These two girls had become closer than any of the other pen pals in
the two classes because they were so much alike. Sammie's dad worked for
the government, and Danni's was in the Navy. They both had older brothers,
though Danni also had another brother and a sister. And both of them LOVED
reading fairy tales and ghost stories, though neither of them believed in fairies
or ghosts.
Of course, there were differences between them too, but that just served as
fodder for conversation. Sammie's family didn't go to church, so she had been
eagerly awaiting Danni's account of her first Holy Communion, which she had
just sent to her in the last letter. And then there was the fact that Sammie's
parents had been fighting a lot lately. She was scared they were going to get
divorced, and Danni was the only one of her friends she had told about it.
Because of their closeness, Danni looked forward to pen pal day for the
whole month. Just recently the two girls had discussed exchanging photos
when school pictures came out, and maybe even talking their parents into
finding a way for them to meet in person. Danni couldn't wait to see if Sammie
had thought of anything.
The children clustered around Miss Reynolds as she entered the room with
the box full of letters and began handing them out. Danni was right at her knee,
since Sammie's was almost always on top.
But something was wrong. She could tell from the way Miss Reynolds had
looked at her when she pushed through the crowd of other kids. There was
a strange sadness in her eyes, as if she was thinking about something she
didn't want to be thinking about.
Finally, all the letters had been distributed but one, which Danni knew had to
be Sammie's since she was the only one left. But she didn't like the way Miss
Reynolds kept looking at her so pityingly. What was wrong? Was Sammie
hurt.
The teacher pulled her aside. "Dana..." she handed her the envelope with
a somber sigh. "I'm afraid this is the last letter you will be receiving for a while."
The little girl frowned. "But, why? Did something happen to Sammie?"
Miss Reynolds nodded reluctantly. "I'm afraid so. Dana...Sammie has been
kidnapped. Her family is searching for her, but--God, I hate to tell you this--they
don't have much hope."
Danni fell back against the back of her seat, stunned. Her pen pal had been
kidnapped! Even though she had been told that it was babyish for a nine-year
old to cry, she couldn't help it. The tears came out of their own accord.
"I'm sorry, Dana. I know how close you two were."
"I'll pray...every...day that...they find her," she managed to gasp out between
sobs.
Almost crying herself, the teacher put her arms around the girl and held her
until the weeping subsided. "You do that, honey," she whispered softly. "It's
all any of us can do for her now."
**********
Blinking back the tears that had resurfaced with the memory, Dana opened
the last letter she had received from her pen pal and began to re-read it.
Suddenly, she froze as one part unexpectedly caught her eye.
He says the girls have started calling him 'Foxy' at school.
Dad teases him about it, saying that he should be flattered,
but he hates it. He told me that when he grows up, he's not
going to let anyone call him by his first name. Except me, of
course, because I'm his sister.
she thought to herself, stunned. Because she hadn't read
the letters in so long, she had never made the connection before now. But
now, the name that was always signed at the bottom of the letters came back
to her in a rush, without even looking at it--Sammie Mulder.
As if she were once again the little girl learning that her pen pal had
disappeared, Dana began to cry, holding her face in her hands. The agony
Mulder had gone through all those years looking for his sister took on a more
awful reality in the light of this new revelation.
The doorbell rang. Forcing herself to regain control, Scully wiped her face and
went to answer it, still clutching the letter tightly in one hand.
The first thing Mulder saw when she opened the door was that she had been
crying, and crying hard. His face instantly expressed his concern.
"Scully, what's wrong?"
She couldn't answer, and her hand shook as she held out the letter to him. He
took it, and his eyes filled with pain as he recognized the handwriting. Then,
the meaning of the envelope he held in his hands sank in, and he glanced up at
his partner in surprise.
"_You_ were Danni?" he asked softly, amazed.
Dana nodded. "My mom sent me the letters so that I could decide what to
do with them. I hadn't looked at them in years, never made the connection...
until now."
"Oh, God." He had never imagined that she shared his keenest loss with him
in this way, and all he could do was wrap his arms around her and let her cry,
while his own tears fell into her hair.
When they were both calmer, Dana pulled away and walked over to the box.
Picking it up, she brought it back over to where he was still standing just inside
the door.
"I know we have business to discuss, Mulder, but I thought that first, you might
like to read some of these."
It wasn't often that Fox Mulder was given an opportunity to see something
new about his beloved sister, and his eyes filled with tears again at the suggestion.
"Yeah, Scully," he replied softly. "I would love to."
end
(
geocities.com/area51/portal/1720) (
geocities.com/area51/portal) (
geocities.com/area51)