Date: 10.9.2224
Location: Lafayette Post Office
Before we left the Post Office,
Chuck settled into the back room, tending his chem station. Larry and Clancy drifted into another one of their arguments, this time over the value of Med-X versus RadAway.
I wandered.
Every building has a memory.
Sometimes all you have to do is stand still long enough to hear it.
The sorting machines had long since stopped moving.
Mailbags lay split open across the floor.
Letters were scattered beneath decades of dust.
Once, this place connected people.
Now...
Then I noticed him.
A skeleton resting against the far wall.
Between his hands rested an envelope.
The paper had yellowed with age.
The handwriting had survived.
Across the front were only four words.
"Mom & Dad."
I unfolded it carefully.
Inside...
Dear Mom and Dad,
It's me, Dalton.
I know it has been a while since I wrote. I know you probably think I don't call enough, and honestly, you're probably right. College has been keeping me busy, but I promise I haven't forgotten about home.
I wanted to tell you that I am doing good. Really good.
Freshman year has been harder than I thought. Nobody really prepares you for being away from home. Cooking for yourself, managing money, studying, figuring out who you are when nobody is watching.
I wanted to prove I could do it.
I know Dad always said growing up means learning how to carry your own weight. I think I'm finally starting to understand what you meant.
Baseball has been amazing. The coaches have been pushing me harder than ever, but I think it's paying off.
Mom, you would love seeing the field here at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Sometimes I stay after practice just to watch the sun fall behind the stands.
It's hard to believe a kid from Baytown ended up here.
My grades are good too. I know you always worried that I'd put baseball before school. Don't worry. I'm handling both.
Actually... something incredible happened.
Some scouts have started paying attention.
Nothing's guaranteed, but Coach says if I keep working, I might have a real shot.
I don't know where it'll lead.
Maybe nowhere.
Maybe everywhere.
Either way... I'm going to earn it.
Every practice.
Every class.
Every inning.
I keep thinking about everything y'all sacrificed to get me here.
The early mornings.
The long drives.
Dad fixing my glove because buying another one wasn't in the budget.
Mom never missing a game if she could help it.
I remember every bit of it.
I hope one day I can give all of that back.
I miss Baytown.
I miss home.
I know Hurricane Kendra changed a lot for everybody, but I believe things will settle down. They always do.
Baseball teaches you that.
Sometimes you strike out.
Sometimes you lose.
But eventually... you get another at-bat.
Tell everybody I said hello.
I'll call soon.
Love,
Dalton
The room stayed silent.
Even Larry stopped talking.
I looked back at the remains.
Then I noticed something tucked beneath one of the bones.
A student identification card.
University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Dalton Harris.
Baytown, Texas.
Southwest Houston.
I remembered something else.
Weeks ago...
Another letter.
Parents searching for their son after Hurricane Kendra.
Wondering if he'd ever come home.
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Waiting.
I looked down again.
This wasn't just another skeleton.
This was the son they never found.
He made it through the hurricane.
He made it to college.
He chased the life his parents dreamed about.
He stood within reach of tomorrow.
Then tomorrow never came.
Outside, the wind pushed against the cracked windows.
Old envelopes drifted across the floor.
One finally slid against Dalton's shoe.
As though the post office itself had been trying to finish one last delivery.
I folded the letter exactly as I found it.
Placed it back into his hands.
Some mail never reaches the address it was written for.
But every once in a while...
Someone still reads it.
And for a brief moment—
the sender is remembered.
— Big Chief Mike Marcel
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