Kelsey feels awkward about the whole love letter thing.  She is really never had a pen pal before let alone one who admires her.  She is not sure what to say to him.  What can you say to a total stranger anyway?  It is not as if she has any idea what interest him besides herself.   Why do things in her life have be so weird all the time?

           Kelsey goes to work and works hard as usual.  When she gets off work, she goes straight home.  She might as well as she does get paid until the end of the week.  She is glad she has no pets.  It would only complicate things more.  Imagine her  with a animal, the very idea is rather silly! 

          Why if she had one which kind would suit her personality?  Certainly nothing in the reptile department as she has a huge fear of snakes, lizards, and reptiles of any kind. Then, she thinks, turtles are to gross as are hamsters. 

         She is not much of a cat person due to her obvious allergies to the dandruff in her fur.  She is not sure yet what her opinion is on dogs as she was never allowed to have any as a child.  She thinks bunnies are cute, but the long haired ones make her sneeze.  Birds are always so nice and sing well, but she does not have to clean up after them. None at all , she is busy enough as  it is without a bird cage or two to clean.   She decides when it comes down to it the only pet that might just work is a fish.  What sort of fish?  A beta fish, angel fish, tetra, goldfish or what?  She shrugs her shoulders when she finds she really has no answer.   Well, no wonder she has no animals in her life.  

           Kelsey decides that at lest if she has no pets, she can collect flowers, right?   She has a huge assortment of them already.  She has two azalea bushes, a few daffodil's , many varieties of day lilies, three rose bushes (two are miniature rose bushes, the third one is a regular size bush), and a Rose of Sharon.  The Rose of Sharon is more of a tree than a flower, but it still has some nice blooms on it twice a year!  She is so happy to have her flower garden.  It gives her something nice to tend to at home.  

         She smiles as she decides, perhaps, I can write to him about my flowers!  It is at least a place to start anyway, right?  So, she sits down gets out some stationery, a pen, an envelope, and a stamp.  She starts to write him a response and is so happy when she finishes.  She can only hope he likes the letter as much as she enjoys haven written it for the mystery guy.  She decides to call him this for now on as she has no idea what his name could be.  She puts the note inside the envelope, seals it, adds her name and address to it, along with the guys address and a stamp. There it is done!  

       Now, time to go tend to my flowers, Kelsey thinks to herself.  Off she goes!  She hums a little tune as she works.  She manages to get a lot of weeds up today. She is grateful for this.  She often pulls up weeds as a part of the upkeep of her plants.  She figures why plant, so many things and just let them die from neglect?   She finishes her with the task and goes back inside.

       Kelsey hears the rain pour, and  the thunder boom, and sees the lightning flash!   It seems a bit of storm is here now.  Good thing, I got inside before it begin was her thought before she feel into a deep sleep right on her sofa.  She is plume exhausted from her busy work day and the garden work afterwards.  She just stays like this for the rest of the night. Why she does not even wake up to prepare herself something for dinner.

      Kevin's work day goes better than the previous day.  He is not sure if it is due to his father's absence or what?  He just knows that day is a nice one!  He is grateful for days like these.  Days were he work with less stress, and sell vehicles without and interrogation from his father after the fact. He is a grown man, after all which is something he feels his father, often forgets.  He sighs as he sells one more car.  Then, he is off for the rest of the day!  He heads out to the golf course for a round or too.  When he finishes, he goes on home to relax.   Little does he know what kind of affect his letter has on Kelsey, right now!

     A few days later, Kevin checks his mail box and sees a envelope from Kelsey that says it is for the Residence of then lists his address.  He thinks, how very clever of her, very clever indeed.  He rips the envelope open in anticipation to see what she has to say.  He does not have to wait long before he sees her nice hand written letter across some equally nice stationery.  He gulps.  He gets some tea ready and settles in to read her response.

      Dear  Mystery Man,  
        

      I hope I do not offend you to call you this as I have no idea as to who you actually are anyway.  Well, I must admit your letter came as quite a shock!  I have never had any pen pals before at least not any in years that is and certainly never had any admirers. Not any real ones.  I have had few bullies in my life time, but that is all in my past. 

     Let me see, what else can I say?  Oh, I know, I have this lovely assortment of flowers outside my place. What I mean is have a flower garden that consist of azaleas, day lilies, daffodil's, roses, and  a Rose of Sharon.  Yes, I know the last plant is a tree!  It does have some nice buds on it that bloom a few times, during the year though.  

      As for pets, I have none.  I confess, I find myself with little time to bother with such things anyway.  I  might consider a fish, but I have no idea where to start?  Should i get a goldfish, a tetra, an angel fish, beta fish, or what?  I hope I do not seem like a bore to you.

     I know I tend to ramble on about the craziest things sometimes!  Why anyone that knows me well, will agree I am a bit of a chatter box!  Then, again sometimes I am shy as ever!  I know this makes no sense, but this is just part of who I am!  My sister, says I always go on and on about utter nonsense.  Then, again, maybe she is just jealous because I am still single without someone to tie me down.  She says she just wants to look out for me.  I suppose she does mean well.

     I am grown up though, so I really wish people would treat me more like one and less like a child.  Other than my boss, at the card shop, few people know that I have such struggles with Asperger's  Syndrome.  I mean unless you count my sister, who of course, knows all about it.   Most people, I tell that I struggle with this look at me as if they have seen a ghost, or as if am crazy!  I assure you, I am not crazy.  I might think differently than most people, but I am still a person.  I still hurt like anyone else does, and it really hurts me both emotionally and mentally when people say such horrid things such as  "you really are a drag,  or you so lame."   It is hard to tell, do they mean it?   It is just a joke to them!  I find it quite offense.  It is no fun having communication problems I assure you.

        I find that it is often hard to find the right words to speak let alone write down.  What about you?  Do you have any struggles, other than the problems at your place of business?   If so, then what kind?   I  do wish people could be more kind, and less likely to poke fun of me for being different than them.  It is not like I woke up one morning and said,  "Hmm, I wonder what it is like to have a disability?   Then, got one just , so I could experience it?"   Does any of this actually make any sense to you?  Any sense at all?

          My other interest other than my flowers, is to read, write, crochet, and my work.  I actually help out at a soup kitchen twice a week alongside of my other job.  It gives me a nice feeling to reach out to others in the community?  Do you have any special things you do to help others?  I am sure if you do it must be such a thrill to you!

         Sorry, I must go before I talk, or rather write your ears off!  Haha!  

             Love,

           Kelsey

     Kevin  finishes and looks up in amazement.  He thinks she sure is a woman of many words. Then again, most women are or at least that is what my father says.  He shrugs his shoulders and decides to get some food before his stomach growls again to protest his lack of lunch earlier that day.  As he prepares his dinner, he smiles.  He is glad she wrote him back  and can hardly believe she actually did.  He thought for sure there was no chance he would hear from her!  Yet here is the letter to prove him wrong.   He decides, he must write her back as soon as he can!

       to be continued in Chapter 3  A  Fine Life Indeed?