How are you doing? I hope you have been okay. My heart has been feeling too many things at once. My mind has been working on overdrive. Sometimes these two conflate and then I start to neglect my body. I forget how to breathe.
Recent events had brought you here, I know. The Christchurch shooting. The genocide of the Uyghur Muslims. The corruption. The responsibilities. The reality of things slowly coming into focus. I was expecting you to visit.
So come in. Be my guest. Have a seat.
I refuse to talk to you in the hallway – it’d be impolite of me to do that. Oh, thank you for the beautiful bouquet of flowers… I’ll place them in the vase on my coffee table. Let me fill it with fresh water.
So how have you been? Me? I’ve been good. I have been filling my rooms with a calming scent of lavender. And you know, I have missed your company for a while. I thought I’d completely forget how you look like, but now that you’re here… it’s all coming back to me. It seems like some things never change. I feel a sense of familiarity and a strange, comforting feeling that everything will be in good place.
Anyway, please, help yourself to the biscuits and tea. I’ll be right here in my bedroom, laying my head to rest. And counting my breath.
It’s been a long, tiring week. You drove the miles down from out of town. So take all the time you need.
Just let me know whenever you’re ready to take your leave.
The Book Jacket 