Temple Bells

Tonight I was rummaging through a box of various items when I spotted an old green notebook.It was my 1994 diary, which was interesting, in light of last night's post.

I opened it at random, to an entry that (unbeknownst to me at the time) would prove important to my future.

"Very cold today. I didn't go out once, except to get the mail. There was a strange letter from Victoria, TX, addressed to my true name. Mystified, I opened it. It was from N. This was a surprise. I didn't know she had moved.

She'd sent her number, so I called her and ran up my phone bill. It was a good conversation, though, it was really nice to speak to her again. She was outside on her balcony smoking cigarettes, and the sound of wind chimes echoed into the phone, like she was sitting in a new age temple or a psychic bookstore. I imagined her there in Victoria, beneath the wind chimes in the misty rain, flicking her lighter again and again."

This letter was the precipitating event in a series leading to my own move to Victoria less than 2 years later.

The Cosmic Joker, for his part, couldn't resist getting a poke in, either. The date on the entry was January 28, 1994. Exactly 24 years ago today.

Lest I ever think I'm the one writing this story.