Benny’s Paper Airplane #3

written & directed by Eli Barraza
sound design by Mischa Stanton
[BACK]

[[SFX: Music fades in softly, ongoing low violins and the ring of a bell.]]

BENNY: Dear Peri,

Today I sat in a park for a while, looking for you in the strangers that walked by. A woman passed me, humming. I knew immediately she wasn’t you but I couldn't stop the thought that the two of you could make a perfect harmony.

There were so many people reading at the park, I felt embarrassed I didn’t have my own book. I walked around for awhile and found a memorial. The park was dedicated to the local librarian. An old woman asked if I had forgotten my book. I said yes on impulse, gazing at the three statues on the memorial before me. A young woman reading to a child and an elder. The woman said the sculptor had done a fine job, keeping the same face through the ages, the same love for literature. I looked closer to find she was right and in that same moment I realized the woman’s voice no longer sounded so old. I turned to where she stood to find a child, holding out her book to me, smiling. Here, you can read mine. The library has more copies anyway. I took the book and she walked away, past the bench I sat on earlier.

I read. For a little while at least. It was a well worn flimsy thing. The color was faded but the familiar face of Gardenia Plex stared out at me from its pages. She and Just Jones fired net guns on space ships beside the intrepid Moxie. I tried to take in their harrowing adventure but I couldn’t help but notice this was a volume you didn’t have. One of their stories you hadn’t read yet. I wondered if you would have taken it like I had, hoping for a distraction in their exploits. I wondered if you’d wander instead. I wondered if I’d ever find you in a small town like this, a place which seemed ill equipped to contain the magnitude of you and your quest to find your brother.

When the sun sank low, I left. I gave Gardenia Plex to someone who sat with open hands on a different bench. They seemed like the type who needed a story, and those pages deserved someone who had the capacity to become immersed in them.

I went back to the lighthouse and now I sit, writing to you, my friend who can’t answer. Who may not know that there is someone in the world, writing you stories of their day, hoping your hands will be open to read them.

See you soon, Peri.

-Benny

[[SFX: Music fades.]]

ELI BARRAZA: We hope you’ve enjoyed Benny’s Paper Airplane. We have two more until our season 2 premiere and from July 30th until August 27th, you will get a special edition paper airplane sticker if you become a patron on our Patreon at patreon.com/thefarmeridian. We are also conducting a listener survey! We at The Far Meridian would like to know who’s wandering with us, what you love, and if you might be interested in merch. Check out at whisperforge.org/tfmsurvey. And as ever, may you always find your way.