Dear George

Dear George,

Crooks is helpin' me write this. 'Cause you kno' I ain't good with words. I been thinkin' a lot. I wanna say sorry I make things hard for you. I kno' I ain't too smart. You always gotta look out for me. Sometimes, I think you'd be better off without me causin' trouble.

You been so good to me, George. I love when you always talk 'bout us gettin' tha' land. With the chickens and rabbits. I want tha' real bad. I jus' wan' you to have tha' and to be happy, George. Maybe... maybe one day you won't have worry 'bout me no more.

I love you, George. Like a father or brother, or friend. You're my blood and kin. I hope you live off the fat of the land. If I'm with you—tha' would be real good. But. If not, and you are there. Tha' would be jus' fine.

Le's do it now. Le's get tha' place now.

Your pal,

Lennie

*

Thanks for reading!

Author's Notes: This is for Belle's wonderful Dear Fictional Hero [an unofficial challenge], which you can find out more about below. This is a letter from Lennie to George, the main characters in American John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. George is intelligent but uneducated, while Lennie is bulky, strong, and mentally disabled. They are migrant ranch workers, and George looks out for Lennie, through a father-son-kinda relationship. The book was the first really deep and heavy book I read as a boy, and it has always remained with me. I decided to set the letter writing sometime between Lennie's short-lived friendship with another character Crooks, who could read and write it is believed, and the end of the book.

I also love Of Mice and Men because Steinbeck got its title from Rabbie Burns' famous poem "To a Mouse" "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men/ Gang aft agley" (Translated as "the best-laid plans of mice and men/ Often go awry")

Here's a couple of other things: