Short story

The Mystery Letter

Episode #1

Leo walked over his patio onto the colored leaves that fell onto the ground. There were so many leaves, that he took two hands full and threw them into the air. So many leaves fell onto his body that he burst into big laughter. All on his own. He is 45 years old now, but he still loved to play outside. Leo needed a break from his editorial and writing duties. He was an editor for one of the biggest online magazines, called The Seasonal Writing. A magazine for writers and their readers. This magazine was written full of inspirational stories from top writers all over the world.

After a long walk through his neighborhood, Leo felt inspired again to get back to his writing. Leo was working on a story about a man who had bad luck in love, manipulated time and again, and then he met the love of his life. For the last three days, he tried to get stuck into writing his story, but he didn’t have any inspiration. After that, he walked through his neighborhood a lot. In the morning after his coffee, in the afternoon during lunch, and before having dinner.

Back in front of his laptop, he wrote a little paragraph that this man — who fell head over heels with his female best friend — asked her to marry him. This was the last paragraph of his big story for this worldwide publication. He finally knew how to put this paragraph together.

As he smiled for a while, his 8-year-old son came into his writing room with a letter that was in the mailbox outside.

“Daddy, this letter came out of the mailbox outside.”

Felix gave the letter to him.

“Thank you, son. Let me see what this letter says.”

Leo hugged his son while he took the letter from his son.

“Normally you only get mail from tax companies.”

“Yes, you are right, son.”

His son went down on the floor and sat on the ground while he played with his favorite red train with a blue nose. His train made a lot of noise which his father never got used to. But this time, his father got caught up by the letter he had received.

Felix went to the kitchen and he made himself a very hot cup of tea. As a surprise, he brought one to his father too. Felix went into his father's room and he saw his father still reading the letter. He asked his dad why he was so quiet. Felix didn’t get an answer.

Leo turned his red desk chair towards his son, and he read the letter out loud.

Dear Editor,

I write to you because I have a favour I want you to do. I can only tell you this because I trust you fully. It is a secret you have to find out for yourself without any help.

The first clue is ‘BIG and FIRE’.

I hope you can do the research to find out what I mean.

I am so sorry that I am not able to help you during your research.

Don’t forget to write everything through your publication. And don’t forget to go to the library in Munich.

Sincerely, The Thinker

Leo was perplexed when he read the letter without any further explanation.

‘How can I do this without any information provided?’ he thought.

And the main question he asked himself out loud. “Why me?”

His son looked at his father’s face from his train but Felix didn’t ask questions. He felt that his father didn’t need his attention, but he loved his presence in the room.

Leo opened a new browser page and started searching for ‘The Thinker’. Maybe there was something online that could be any link to him or her: There must be a comment with the name ‘The Thinker’.

He frowned deeply with a furrowed brow and his bushy eyebrows and put his hands through his short black messy hair while he leaned back in his chair. Leo smiled at his son. He couldn’t leave his son alone. He goes to school in The Netherlands, where they had lived since the birth of Felix.

Leo and Felix lived in the Mainstreet in a very small village with a few houses. This village is near the most beautiful walking area in the neighborhood. The trees were so beautiful, golden yellow with brown and red leaves between them. The whole street was full of them.

It was a beautiful Saturday morning in mid-autumn. The wind blew through the house for a little bit and the leaves flew through the street. A little bit of sunlight shone into Leo’s writing room. His old house from the 1960s was not insulated very well. Leo kind of liked it.

Leo’s thoughts were with the letter again: ‘The recipient sent this letter from England. So, who wrote this? And why is he or she writing The Letter?’ He couldn’t get his mind off The Letter. It was so mysterious.

His stomach was rumbling with hunger. He looked at what time it was on his laptop. It was snack time. But he remembered that he already got some tea. Leo didn’t want to get off his chair, but he did it anyway as his son needed a snack too.

Leo walked to the kitchen where he took some cookies and apples. He put his coat on, his boots and helped his son doing his shoes. They both sat on the white-painted bench which hung on the patio under the roof. With a lovely soft green pastel blanket over their legs, they drank their English tea while Leo read The Letter again. He wanted to find any other hidden clues in The Letter.

There was a little bit of silence between the two of them. They sat and drank their tea with some flower honey and snacked on their favorite snack, a little homemade cookie with chocolate in it, and some nice small Jonagold apples. They said they liked the snack, but Leo felt like he was not really there as his mind was on The Letter.

“What is it in the envelope daddy?”

“I got a mystery letter.”

Leo sighed a long breath. He sat uncomfortably. He looked at his boy. So vulnerable, small and little and yet a smart boy, full of joy.

“What kind of mystery letter?”

“Well, it said that I have to find out and write about my findings in the publication I am the editor for.”

Leo took a sip from his tea.

“Are you going to do that?”

Felix was worried for a little bit. He sat closer to his dad and squeezed at his arm.

“I am not sure. I have to think about that. You have holidays from school, I have to write, and I am not sure if my boss likes that idea.”

“Are you worried, daddy?”

“A little bit, son.”

“You know I love you, dad. You are my best friend.”

“I love you too. I’ll always be there for you.”

This conversation ended shortly after and the father and son went back inside. They took their jackets and their shoes off when they entered the hall again and brought their red mugs into the kitchen.

Leo sat behind his laptop again to find any clues, and Felix played with his trains again. They both were so much in their own elements that they didn’t hear the doorbell.

After a while, the doorbell went again, but louder this time. Leo, mightily surprised, walked to the door and opened it and saw a big square package. He walked outside to see if he could see anybody. Nobody was there. Not even the delivery man. The street was in total silence. Only a few cats played together.

He closed the door. When Leo went inside — as it was too cold outside, he took one more look and peeked behind the door. He didn’t see anything. ‘Did these cats transform from a human being?’, he wondered. He closed the door. One more look confirmed that there was nobody there, even the cats disappeared. Shaken his head in confusion, he walked inside.

Leo still looked confused when he came into his room again, but he saw that Felix was not in his workroom anymore. He was shocked, even more, he ran through the living room, Felix was not there. Leo ran into the kitchen, Felix was not there. Then, the last option was his bedroom. Felix was not there. What happened?