Original Prompt: “When you were a kid, you and your friends made a ‘secret society’, with passcodes, names, and even a silly logo you drew yourself. That was years ago, eventually you lost contact with those friends, but one day you receive a letter in the mail, and it has that symbol embossed on it…”
The stack of junk mail felt thicker than usual as she stood over the recycling bin in the garage. The car’s engine cooling down, popping behind her, she looked over at it and some of the envelopes gave way. Left in her hand was a shorter pile with a dense, natural paper envelope on top. The tan pulp visible, the handwritten name and address in bold calligraphy. She flipped it over, curious but careful. The rest of the junk fell in an instant. Both hands now coddling an envelope with a forest green wax seal, a seal that looked familiar.
The letter sat unopened in her home office for a day before she built the resolve to open it. She rummaged through a desk drawer, searching for a letter opener. For once she had an excuse to use antiquated implements, it seemed appropriate for the gravitas she had given the letter in the interim. At the bottom of the drawer, beneath mementos from family members who had long since passed on, she found the beautiful crane handle of her grandmother’s paper knife. Drawing it like Excalibur, she pointed the tip gently under the flap. With soft, pressed movements she slid the blade under the seal, leaving only a bit of bled color on the paper. She continued the removal of the seal, seeking to preserve the wax, whole and with the symbol intact. After, she set it aside and braced herself for whatever content she’d find within.
The flap lifted on its own, practically inviting her to retrieve the letter within. It peeked out from under the green tinted paper, further calligraphy showing itself. She tenderly folded it flat and drew the pages out within. Three small sheets of a softer paper came out, crammed with bold letters, ink spots, and what appeared to be small water stains. She drew in a breath, a gasp really, as she saw her name at the top.
To Founder Emily,
I regret not contacting you sooner, but I wanted to be sure there was no other options left before reaching out. I apologize as well for the subterfuge of the envelope and co-opting your design without further official consent, but I have few friends and fewer colleagues that I can trust. I didn’t want any tangential connections to have suspicions spread beyond myself.
Years ago we, perhaps jokingly, created our little group of wayward girls. We were so young, it seemed like a fun little game to create a secret society. At the time I think we weren’t set on creating a long-lasting organization, just a club really. I don’t fault those of you who fell out and moved on, but it meant something entirely differently to me and Colleen. After you left for university Colleen and I started recruiting. It was still a bit of a joke until 2008 when the first of the girls started to graduate, finding themselves in a world that no longer sought to invest in our future through fulfilling careers.
This was the shift from being a bunch of “gal pals” with a secret group handshake and some code names into trying to do something of value. At first it started with the handful of women entering the workforce, scrounging to be seen as contributing members of society but stuck with entry level jobs. Within a few years those women were in positions of power. Some were able to get others in our group into jobs, setting them up for success and giving them the knowledge and tools to succeed. By the end of Obama’s second term we were spread throughout several governmental and financial institutions.
Colleen was the most driven, she truly wanted to make something great. During the first decade we’d grown from a handful of friends to a sprawling organization, centered around a forum that has yet to be discovered by the media or law enforcement. We would know, we have a few women inside the CIA and FBI. I don’t suspect people would feel we’re doing anything nefarious, we still don’t stoop to nepotism, our members still need to prove themselves and earn their roles. We just aid them in their efforts to get where they want to go.
To whit, I am stepping down from my position as the de facto head of our group. As you have already noticed I am not long for this world. It was a hard decision to share my condition on social media, but it was vital to keep up appearances of a simple life for all these years and this spanner in the works couldn’t be omitted. At first we thought this could be a great opportunity to facilitate a fake death, it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve helped those in need out of dire circumstances. But as the second, third, fifth, eighth opinion came through it became clear that my demise was inescapable.
The good news is that we have already made a short list of replacements, of which you were chosen as the only “external hire”. We have been watching you for years, occasionally interceding on your behalf, until you were able to build the skills you needed to be reintroduced to our club. There are a lot of moving parts and I want to give you the full scope of what this would entail, but before we get there I needed to know whether you’d be interested in joining and leading The Ladies of Larkspur.
We have a member that lives at the end of your street. She is awaiting your response. As you may expect, some tact would be appreciated. Below you will find a URL to access our forum.
I know this blasé approach to my impending death might come off as a touch cavalier, but the work I’ve dedicated my life to holds more value to me than my mortality. I hope the same feeling of duty and importance avails itself to you and I hope that bond we formed as children wasn’t a fleeting moment of kinship. I’ve been afraid to reach out sooner because of the growth of the Ladies outside your knowledge, but after your years in public servitude and your current role as Mayor it seemed your path was unwavering, whether we tagged along or not.
Whatever you tell Emmanuelle in regards to our offer, please know that I will always cherish the summer we fought for a seemingly inconsequential change to library hours. The secrecy, the adventure, the camaraderie. It meant the world to me and Colleen. I wish she could have told you herself how valuable you were to her development. The determination to change the world, the drive to keep working towards it, it inspired her to do great things.
She may be remembered as an extremist, but even her death brought attention to the cause. Whatever you heard of her exploits and our supposed involvement I want you to know that the truth will be made available to you, whether you join or not. She still held you in high esteem and wanted you to know her reasoning.
Please take your time deciding. I know you’re level-headed and wouldn’t hasten into any engagement without considering all options, but I do hope you choose soon as I would like to see you at least once more before I move on to the next stage of existence.
With all sincerity,
Founder Harriet “Hera” Simms, nee Johnson
Inspiration Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/q15wwh/wp_when_you_were_a_kid_you_and_your_friends_made/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
Mike Lightheart 