Summary: Rhonda and Helga catch up after their cross-country bus trip. Sequel to Night Bus, written for genprompt_bingo. Rhonda/Harold and Helga/Arnold.
genprompt_bingo prompt: sunrise/sunset
Disclaimer: Not mine, just this story.
Dear Helga,
I hope you're well and that the project you and Arnold are working on is getting off the ground nicely. You had mentioned that Arnold was raising funds for it. Please let me know how and where I can donate. I would be happy to be one of your patrons.
In the meantime, I'm enclosing a check in the amount of $300 as repayment to you for covering my expenses during our fateful bus trip cross country (including the full cost of the hotel room, which you would have never had to book if it wasn't for me). Thank you again for helping me along the way. I will always be grateful to you for that.
Harold and I talked about everything when we met up in New York and I'm so glad I made the trip out to him, even if it did cause my former fiancé and both our families grief for a short time. It turns out that Charles had just as many qualms as I did about the marriage. You may have already read about all of it in the papers, but I know you know not to believe everything you read. The media exaggerated and over-sensationalized the situation as usual to sell papers. The real story is that Charles and I parted on very amicable terms. As far as the business negotiation between our fathers, that's up in the air right now but I'm not worried. It may yet go through, and even if it doesn't Charles' family is well-situated and my family is too. Besides, my parents always manage to bounce back from everything, better than I do.
As you can see from the postmark I am back in Hillwood now and Harold will be coming out in a few weeks. He wants to formally introduce me to his parents and make it clear that I am not just a former classmate. Wish me luck.
If you have time to write back I'd love to hear from you and about how your project is going. You can also email me at rwellingtonlloyd if that's easier (although I always liked letter writing, as old-fashioned as that may seem).
Regards,
Rhonda Wellington Lloyd
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Dear Rhonda,
Thanks for getting in touch with me. I'm glad things went well in New York and that you and Harold are getting together after all. You've kind of been a thing since we were little kids at PS 118. I figured running off was the right move for you and it sounds like it worked out for you and everyone else. Congrats.
Thank you too for your donation to our project. That was very generous and we both appreciate it. Incredibly we have raised enough money for Arnold's pet project in Central Asia after all, so we will be off to Kyrgyzstan in late August, arriving just in time to document this September's games. We'll have to stay in a tent, but hey, that's part of the experience too.
Good luck with the meeting with Harold's parents. I'm sure they will see how well you and Harold go together and how happy you would be, just like everyone could see it, and that they will like you.
Write back and let me know how it goes and send Harold my regards too.
Best,
Helga
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Dear Helga,
Congratulations! I'm glad to hear that you and Arnold raised the money for your trip to document the World Nomad Games. We probably won't have a chance to communicate a lot before you leave for Asia next month so I will just wish you both a bon voyage in this letter.
Harold and I had dinner with his parents at Chez Paris this past weekend. They are lovely people, so gracious and welcoming toward me. I'm sorry I didn't have the chance to get to know them sooner. It turns out I didn't need to worry so much, since religion is not as big an issue as I thought it would be. Harold told me his parents do want their grandchildren to be raised in the Jewish religion and culture, but since I'm happy to do so (when we have children, we are not in a hurry for that quite yet!), my own religion wouldn't matter to them. I hope he's right.
Best of luck with the documentary and have a safe trip. Write back when you have a chance (probably after you're back in the states).
Regards,
Rhonda Wellington Lloyd
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Dear Rhonda,
See? I knew his parents would like you.
We're leaving for Kyrgyzstan next week. I may not be able to get in touch with anyone once I'm there since we'll be in a pretty remote area and we'll be immersed in filming. If I get the chance I will send a postcard (something with a picture from the games if I can, but nothing about goat dragging of course), but even snail mail might be difficult. I will definitely not have internet access at all for email, unless we make it into the city.
Although I agree with you that old-fashioned letter-writing is an under-appreciated art form nowadays.
Best,
Helga
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Dear Rhonda,
I hope you're doing well.
Kyrgyzstan is beautiful, the games are so much fun and the people are friendly and welcoming. I purposely chose this postcard with an image of contortionist archers shooting with their toes so you can see it's a real thing. The players across all of the games are amazing, but I especially enjoyed the archers (men and women, but especially the women) and the ones shooting with their toes are really something. But there are also games where the archers shoot while riding on a horse, which is really hard. Arnold and I both tried it (with supervision) and failed miserably.
Also: wrestling. Wrestle Mania has got nothing on the matches in the World Nomad Games.
We shot a lot of footage and I filled two notebooks writing about it. Once we get back home we'll go through it all and try to put it together into an actual documentary.
I'll touch base with you as soon as I get back to the states.
Best,
Helga
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Dear Helga,
Thank you for the postcard! That picture really is something!
It sounds like you and Arnold are having a great time overseas and that you've been successful in gathering good footage for your documentary.
I'll be moving to New York City in a couple of months. I have an aunt who lives there so I will live with her until Harold and I are married next June. We're already discussing plans for the wedding. We'll be inviting you and Arnold and I hope you can both be there. It will be in the Jewish tradition: we'll be married by a rabbi under a chuppah (the traditional canopy) and Harold will step on and break the glass at the end of the ceremony for good luck.
He has already put his foot down about Sunrise, Sunset however, and plans to absolutely forbid the band to play it at our wedding. I think it's pretty and very moving, but I haven't heard it at wedding after wedding or Bar Mitzvah after Bar Mitzvah the way he probably has. He prefers Miracle of Miracles from the same musical, which is a very lovely song actually. I'm happy to defer to him on this.
Write or give me a call when you get back to the states and receive this letter. I'd love to hear details about your adventure, and I definitely want to watch the documentary when it's ready.
Best regards,
Rhonda Wellington Lloyd