Dear Etta & Family,
Well, I got here all right and must agree with Dr. Franks that the climate in Arizona is indeed wonderful. That’s about all I can say for it. Jerome boasts but one hotel, and that seems to be perpetually full up with drummers, speculators and engineers of one sort or another. Your dear father is reduced to what is politely called a billet but is in fact indistinguishable from a common tent, save for a floor of pine boards over which scorpions and centipedes crawl. I was advised to empty my boots each morning as a precaution.
I was there. I’ve been there!
Dear J Hardy,
Love the letter form and cringe at the scorpions.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Again, following in Rochelle’s steps…I love the letter form, use it often. There is something magical in in, like you are stepping back in time through a portal. Your description of WWW is spot on.
Excellent atmosphere. I’d love to read more, it fits so well with the look of the building, one of those old ghost town structures.
Nice work, J.H.
I remember that advice I got before going camping in Arizona… the letter must have been written in winter. Nobody calls the summer climate wonderful.. :-)
I love Jerome (now). A hundred years ago, probably not so much. Arizona can be brutal, even with the comforts of air conditioning. Well written piece.
Good story, J. Hardy. A vivid description and voice in this.. Thanks for the great picture I’m sure will be responsible for many good stories. Well written. :) — Suzanne
I don’t like scorpios :( Thanks for the thought provoking prompt!)
That could have been one of the Bronte sisters writing. Nicely done.!
Nicely written and painted..humour and details..good job
Lovely sense of place and character in this letter. I must say I wasn’t sure at first whether it was written by ‘dear father’ or by mother about them both, but I think I settled on the former.
Thanks for the photo too, apparently it spoke to just what I needed today!
I loved the concept, neatly done :)
Are there more letters to come, or did the scorpion get her?
I do want to know more!
Congrats on having your photo be the prompt! It’s a great photo that I can see is inspiring all kinds of stories.
The letter form captures your story well. Thanks for the prompt! Great photo.
The letter form is terrific for this story. Pulls the reader right into the scene and character. The understated tone makes the horrors of Jerome even more awful. Well portrayed. And thanks for this week’s great photo.
As said already, but I’ll say it again, the letter form is excellent and makes for a great story
Great voice within a voice.
Reminds me in that respect of First World War letters from the front.
Thank you for the excellent story! Love the approach you took to write it as a letter. Been “billeted” many time in many a place along life’s path. :). Also, thank you for sharing the photo with us. This picture can remind us of so many places and people.
Thanks for the photo J.
It inspired an old west story for me as well.
Tracey
Hippy dippy granola eatin love birds.
Trump wants to get out of Jerome’s, his pappy had whores and hotel there, too.
What an evocative and grim story! I love the last line. Very well-written letter/tale!
P.S. I was confused by the “billet” bit. Does that mean he was a soldier, and those were his lodgings? If so, the structure of the sentence could use a little more clarity, at least for me.
He had been a military man, so it’s a joking phrase he uses with the family. This is based on letters my great-great-grandfather wrote from Bisbee to his family in Manhattan back in the 1880s.
That clarifies things! Thanks for the explanation!
Lovely story. Wouldn’t have been as meaningful in any other form.
Wonderful description and tone of voice. I wonder why there’s no sign-off, or is it meant to be only part of a letter?
Makes me think of 19th century, the lure of the west. Well done!
Great letter. We have some that my Grandfather sent back from California around 1904. His mother was a widow and he went went to find work, mailing money home each month.