In Your Own Words

17. SUBJECT: MY BOOK

to: cassandra.belford@baderu.com

from: weston.maguire@baderu.com

subject: Where to study

sent: March 19, 2017 at 2:28pm

Hi Cassie,

I can definitely relate to a lot of the things you wrote about. It's like you're in my head, sometimes. I wish we could sit down and talk through this, face to face. Maybe together we could make sense of it all.

Where do you normally study? I've been up and down the aisles of the library on a few occasions and have yet to run into you by accident.

I don't usually study on campus. I can't handle the quiet. I feel like I get about eight dirty looks anytime I do anything. God forbid I try to eat a granola bar or something.

I like studying outside when it's nice, at home, or in town. My favourite place to go right now is that restaurant, The Purple Fern.

Have you heard about it?

It's on main street and looks kind of like a cottage from a fairytale. It's a small stone house with a huge chimney. They even have flowers and vegetables growing out front in the summer.

They make pancakes before noon and have decent sandwiches at lunch. They're one of those 'natural is best' places, but the food is good anyway.

Anyway, the restaurant is owned by a cult.

The women wear their hair in really long braids and the men have beards as long as the women's hair. They wear old timey clothes that I'm assuming they make themselves. I know you hate assumptions, but unless you can tell me where a guy would buy a linen tunic in the 21st century, I stand by it.

The cult's leader is a guy named Martin. He's pretty young, maybe 40, and skinny with a ponytail. He and his people all live on a farm nearby. They grow and raise all the food that's cooked at the restaurant.

When I first started going there, people kept coming up to me to talk about their way of life and how I should come to one of their "meetings" to get an idea of what it's all about. I would have stopped eating there, but they have amazing blueberry muffins. Even Lena's aren't that good. One of the older women who work there, Harriet, always saves me a couple when she sees me come in. She's 72 years old, and the rest of the staff take her seriously. Harriet has never talked to me about the farm or Martin, and she's told all of the waiters to leave me alone to eat and study in peace.

I like having a place that knows me, even if it's run by a cult.

School seems to be picking up quickly. I have no idea how you manage to go to class, write to me, and work on your book. I can barely juggle the first two.

I meant to ask you how the book is coming... am I still being helpful? It's just occurring to me now that I don't actually know what it's about. How is it we've never had that conversation? Weird. I guess we've had a lot of other things to talk about.

Talk soon,

Wes

. . .

to: weston.maguire@baderu.com

from: cassandra.belford@baderu.com

subject: My book

sent: March 20, 2017 at 2:19pm

Hi Wes,

Of course I can tell you about the book. I probably should have done that earlier... oh well. Better late than never, right?