Chapter 16
December
[Stone]
Happy Holidays.
I hope you don’t mind me sending you these little snippets of where I’ve been, what I’m doing. You once said you hadn’t been anywhere, and you want to see all the places for yourself. Maybe one day soon you can.
The holidays never feel the same without snow. I miss the mountains of West Virginia.
Strange, right?
—Taxi
While the paper is a sturdy cardstock, the image looks hand drawn and includes a cactus with snow dripping from the sharp needles of the waxy plant.
Quite a juxtaposition, but then again, she’s in Arizona with Trudy and Simon.
And I know this only because I offered to watch Trudy’s home while she’s gone.
I stare at the image for another second. This one has no color. Just pencil art, shaded here and there, like it’s a template for a mural.
Then again, could she have drawn this specific artwork just for me?
A large rock, almost near boulder size, sits beside the desert plant.
A cactus with snow melting on it, next to a giant stone.
I could read more into the drawing, but I don’t. I don’t understand why these letters keep coming to me, every six weeks almost to the date. Like she’s journaling her adventures for me.
She questions how strange it might be to miss the mountains at this time of year.
The only strange thing about this latest postcard is that she finally signed it with her name.
Taxi.
And no, I don’t think it’s strange to miss West Virginia.
It misses her, too.