Dear R for Reprehensible
~
A dare list? A DARE LIST? I cannot believe your audacity. Kiss someone? Smoke driftshade leaf? Be entirely improper? Have you taken complete leave of your senses?
These are not the suggestions of a friend but rather of someone determined to see me utterly ruined. I can only imagine the satisfied expression on your face as you drafted such outrageous proposals, secure in the knowledge that I would be properly affronted.
Well, congratulations. I am thoroughly scandalized.
And yet …
You’ll be intolerably pleased to know that I completed dare number one. Yes, I actually climbed to a rooftop and gazed at the stars. Though ‘climbed’ suggests far more athleticism than was actually involved. There was a perfectly serviceable staircase.
I would like to say I accomplished this with grace and poise, but that would be entirely false.
In fact, I managed to make a complete fool of myself by tumbling backward into a bed of luminous flowers when startled.
Yes, the easiest and least embarrassing item on your list, and I still managed to thoroughly humiliate myself. Thank you for that, R.
The stars, however, were magnificent. Thousands upon thousands scattered across the darkness like diamonds on midnight velvet. The Silver Swan was particularly clear tonight.
And while gazing upward, a thought occurred to me. For the first time since our correspondence began, I wondered if we can see the same stars.
You mentioned once that you live beyond the United Fae Isles. How far, exactly? Far enough that our night skies differ? I find myself suddenly curious whether you can see the Silver Swan or if entirely different constellations watch over you.
I still maintain that the majority of your list is absolutely outrageous and entirely unbecoming of a lady. I have half a mind to burn it and pretend I never saw such scandalous suggestions.
But I suppose I should admit … stargazing wasn’t entirely terrible.
Still trying to recover my dignity,
L
Dearest L,
You did it! YOU DID IT! Forgive me for shouting in a letter, but I’m simply beside myself with delight. You have no idea how widely I’m smiling right now.
I confess, I half expected you to tear the list into tiny pieces and never write to me again. The fact that you not only kept it but actually completed the very first dare fills me with disproportionate joy. Even if it was, as you pointed out, the least scandalous option available.
As for your embarrassment, you have my sincerest apologies for the incident, though I confess, the idea of you toppling into a bed of luminous flowers does possess a certain charm.
But may I point out something of critical importance?
You apparently survived! Your world did not end.
Your reputation remains intact. And I suspect, beneath your protests and embarrassment, you feel rather pleased with yourself.
There’s a particular satisfaction in doing something unexpected, isn’t there?
In stepping just slightly outside the careful boundaries you’ve drawn around yourself?
I wonder if this might make it easier for you to attempt a slightly more challenging dare next.
Whatever appeals to you. You need not complete them in order, you know.
Though I would advise against starting with number twelve.
That seems like something to work up to.
(Though I remain endlessly curious about who might be fortunate enough to receive such attention from you.)
Exceedingly proud of your bravery (and eagerly awaiting your next dare),
R
P.S. What a strange coincidence—I found myself gazing at the Silver Swan tonight too. It appears the same constellations watch over us both.