The Numbers

20 black envelopes. Digital image. Etsy. Etsy, 9 Jan. 2013. Web. 23 Jan. 2015.

The envelope was different from other envelopes I ever got. This black envelope was tightly closed with at least 3 layers of thick tape.

After my parents’ divorce, my mom and I moved out from the busy city of Paris and started a new life in the very quiet, remote countryside. Ever since then, I never got to see or hear from dad and reading letters became my hobby. Wednesdays were my favorite day of the week, the day when weekly mail was dropped off.

The mail was the same old stuff; the greasy envelope with the annual ‘Happy New Years’ card sent from grandma, notice bugging us to pay the electricity bill, the town newspaper featuring the photo of the president shaking hands with our town mayor and his awkward fake smile. But this envelope was different.

I picked up the black envelope and ran into my house, and went straight upstairs to my room to get scissors. I neatly cut open the black envelope and found an upside down photo with a sticky-note on it. The note said: “First hint: 054, D-14”. I flipped over the photo and the moment I saw it, I knew 054 was hinting a phone number. D-14 was probably hinting my birthday. There wasn’t anybody at school that I could think of as someone who would send something like this. Having only 53 kids in the entire school, I could easily figure it out who this is by tomorrow but it made me curious enough that I decided to spend the next 6 nights thinking about it without telling anyone else. What could this note possibly be? Lauren’s prank, maybe? Or somebody with a secret crush on me who is courageous enough to organize a birthday surprise for moi?

On the following Wednesday, I checked the mailbox and a new black envelope was there in the very front of the pile. I ripped open the envelope and as before, there was a photo and a sticky-note. The note said: “211, D-7” This time it was a clipart of a red heart. I felt more and more excited. The thought that Valentine’s day was coming up flashed in my mind. I was convinced that it was a secret love letter of some sort. My heart started to flutter like crazy. I could finally break the unbreakable chain of 16 years being ‘single’.

I was dying to get the next envelope and figure out the last 4 digits of the number. When that day had come, I skipped school and waited outside of my house for the mailman. With my phone sticking out of my front pocket, I saw the mailman’s scooter come around the corner towards our house. I hurried over to him and once I got our portion of the mails in my hands, I looked for the black envelope. This time, it had a huge “D-DAY” written on it. I opened it and found a picture of a smiley face with the 4 digits: “2014”. I grabbed my phone and carefully pressed the numbers. In my second attempt, I managed to press the numbers correctly and my hands started to shake as I pressed “call”. The historical call was about to be made. I glued my face to the phone, then after 10 seconds of silence someone started to speak.

“Hey sweetheart.”

It was a man’s voice that I recognized immediately.

“Happy birthday, Vivian.”

It was dad.

Fass, Ryan. Digital image. Cult of Mac. Cultomedia Corp., 1 June 2012. Web. 23 Jan. 2015.