The Missing Letter

By: Ellery Zulaykha

Junie was riding her bike down the sidewalk, her hair blowing in the soft summer
breeze. She was on her way to the ice-cream parlour downtown when she
noticed stacks and piles of discarded mail cluttering up the sidewalk. “What’s all
this doing here?” Junie asked herself. She decided to make a detour before going
to the ice-cream parlour. She pedaled straight towards the post office.

Panting, Junie raced into the office. Mrs. Maison, the dispatch at the post office,
was sitting, attending to a harried looking man. Politely, Junie stood at the door,
waiting for Mrs. Maison to finish talking to the man. Junie heard bits and pieces
of the conversation, but one particular piece was very interesting; “Yes, I assure
you, Mr. Lawrence, all the airmail letters were delivered by our postman, Mr.
Vieta, this morning. Your fiancée must’ve not gotten the letter because she was
out. Mr. Vieta is a very trustworthy and honest man!” Mrs. Maison said.

“May I cut in on both of you for a moment? I may know something about your
missing mail,” Junie had come up to them. Mrs. Maison looked at Junie with a
raised eyebrow. Mr. Lawrence, however, looked delighted. “Come! I found a
whole pile of mail!” Junie cried. She hoisted herself up onto her bike. Mrs.
Maison closed the post office and she and Mr. Lawrence followed Junie.

They arrived at the discarded pile where Junie had been only a matter of minutes
ago. Mrs. Maison looked through the piles and stacks. “Mr. Vieta promised that
he had delivered all mail this morning before his shift was over,” Mrs. Maison
murmured to herself under her breath. “Well! We have lots of mail here. Bills,
letters, college letters, invitations. Somewhere in here, Mr. Lawrence, must be
the letter you delivered to your fiancée.”

The three sorted through the mail. Finally, Mr. Lawrence pulled out a brown
envelope, addressed to 754 Sleet Drive, Anna Jones. “Here it is!” He cried out.
Mr. Lawrence ran down the sidewalk, not stopping. Mrs. Maison shook her head.
“Junie, you can go now. Thanks for helping. I think I need to deliver this mail and
make a call to a specific Mr. Vieta. See you!” Mrs. Maison said, her forehead
creased. Junie went off on her on her bike, leaving Mrs. Maison sitting on the
sidewalk with the mail. Junie felt sorry for Mrs. Maison, having to deal with so
much just because of one man.

Junie turned her bike around. “Mrs. Maison, please. Let me have that stack of
mail there. It’s all addressed to Maca Street, on my way home. It’s all that I could
do to help you. After all, you’re going to have to deliver the rest!” Junie pleaded.

“Oh, thank you! Bless you, Junie!” Mrs. Maison exclaimed. Willingly, she handed
over the pile. Junie smiled at her and rode off. As she delivered the mail on Maca
Street, she saw Mr. Lawrence coming up the sidewalk. Tears streaked across his
face. The letter was clenched in his hand. Junie left her bike leaning against a
streetlamp and she raced over to Mr. Lawrence. “Mr. Lawrence, it’s Junie. The
girl who found the mail for your fiancée. Are you okay?” She asked.

“Oh, hello Junie. Well, Anna’s not my fiancée anymore, I guess. In the envelope
was her final, fitted diamond engagement ring. When she didn’t get it, she called
me. I was flying here then, and didn’t get the call at my home. I went to her
house, and she broke off the engagement with me, saying that I didn’t love her. I
do! I wish I said those words in the church with Anna, but I will never will!” Mr.
Lawrence blubbered to Junie. Junie comforted him, convincing him to go back to
Anna and explain.

There was only one letter left in the pile, to 352 Maca Street, Charles Vieta.
Vieta? For a minute, Junie thought it was Mr. Vieta, the postman, but then she
remembered that in these areas, Vieta was a common surname, so she didn’t
think much of it.

When Junie knocked on the door to deliver the letter and explain, Mr. Vieta
answered! “Mr. Vieta? What? Here’s your mail! I found it on a sidewalk. Sound
familiar?” Junie confronted him. Even though now she knew that Mr. Vieta
must’ve purposefully abandoned that day’s mail, she didn’t know why.

“Junie Gilbert? The girl who comes to collect the mail at the Gilberts’ every
morning? Come in. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I confess to everything. I know, it’s against
the law to not deliver mail here,” Mr. Vieta said. Junie followed him inside and sat
in front of him in an easy chair in his living room, confused.

“Junie, please. After this, call the police, the authorities. I was just trying to avoid
my problem, and it’s a bad thing. You know what’s in that envelope? The
mortgage due for this month, from the bank. I knew that my employers at the
post office would find the letter in my truck, so they would fire me. I couldn’t take
it home. It had to be delivered. Besides, I didn’t know where it was in that pile.
Do you know how much they pay me every month, at that-that post office? It’s
not enough to buy food and pay the bills, much less the mortgage! I got a loan
from my parents a few months ago, but it ran out. I just had to! I was avoiding my
problems.” Mr. Vieta confessed.

Junie felt sorry for Mr. Vieta. He was going through a hard time. After that
episode, Junie alerted the authorities, but Mr. Vieta’s employer didn’t press
charges. However, he was sentenced for a year in jail. While he was in jail, the
employers at the post office were going to discuss about giving him a raise. Mr.
Vieta sold his house, before going to jail. He told Junie and her parents in jail that
he was going to rent out a small flat for himself then on.

Anna and Mr. Lawrence got back together. Junie and her parents were invited to
their wedding. They sold their houses, and moved into Mr. Vieta’s old home.
“Although I’m not sure I would want to move into the previous home of a felon!”
Mr. Lawrence joked. “We now know that Mr. Vieta was going through a hard
time,” Anna explained. “I didn’t realise that when I had first broken off the
engagement. Now I knew what went wrong, and I fully apologise.”
Junie was glad everything had turned out well. Afterward, no more mail was ever
left discarded again.

THE END!