Letters from the Waste: Part III is the third installment in the ongoing Puritan serial, where the citizens of an omnipotent regime struggle to make sense of their daily lives and how to direct their futures. Click here for the previous installment.
Fragment 0210 – a
W,
We may have found one. Requesting backup in zone C-42.
R
Fragment 0337
Lionel,
You cannot join the Order. I know that it was a difficult decision for you, and I respect it, but things have become more complicated. I love you and I need your help. You need to come back, as soon as possible. I’m pregnant. I know that it may come as a surprise, but it’s the truth.
Love, Grace
Fragment 0737
Lionel,
I hope that you are doing well. I know that you were worried about Grace and the child, so I am relieved that you still had the courage to make the right decision. You must remain enrolled in the Order. Nevertheless, do not worry. I have made assurances that she and the child will be cared for in New York until you are finished with your training. It is best not to think about them until you do. We are so proud of everything that you have worked for, and I do not want you to lose sight of your future.
Good luck in the coming years. I will contact you on the day before your exit.
Your mother,
Vicar Maria Cret
[Translation] Fragment 0211 – a
Da Xiao Sima,
The family has been moved. Someone has intervened. We must begin a search.
Shang Wei Qiu
Fragment 0212 – a
Patriarch,
As you requested, we have sent a team to investigate the village in China. I ask that you bless and watch over their passage as they enter unOrdered territory.
Humbly,
Auxiliary Wellis
Fragment 0338
Mom,
More and more, I’m beginning to come to terms with the fact that Lionel is not coming back. I have not heard from him in three months. I know that I should not be surprised, but it still hurts.
I appreciate the offer to come and live with you, but I don’t want to complicate your unit arrangements. Without Lionel, my child is going to receive a full designation, rather than the standard half, so my household will be able to make due with that. I will have to continue my job at the Central public transport offices until the end of the quarter but will file for an occupation closer to my unit after this cycle.
Despite my anxieties, I can’t describe how happy I was to find out from the doctors that I had moved out of the most dangerous period for miscarriage. I already love this child. The first trimester has been difficult, but I tried some of the things you recommended. Some worked. Some did not work so spectacularly. I’ve also joined a local mother’s club so that I don’t have to do this completely on my own. I’m going to raise this child. I’m going to be a mother.
I will try to visit you and dad soon. I love you.
Love, Grace
P.S. Thanks for the package of banana bread and multivitamins.
Fragment 0000 – a
April,
Every story needs a hero.
Food for thought.
I’m sorry.
Il Miglior Fabbro
[Photograph of Attachment Below]
Cataloged as “The Second Coming” by John Keats
