Dear Fictional Characters
Why are you so perfect despite being so flawed?
This letter is a thank you note for all the times you were there for me, some days as Harry, talking about magic, on some days Charlie, loving secretly. Some days as Percy, making me believe in myself, some days Hassan saying for you a thousand times over, over a thousand times again and again. Some days as Santiago, talking about dreams, some days as people I want at the moment. You became my family.
This letter is to talk to you about those things that randomly cross over my mind from time to time because you are.
This letter is also a reminder for me to love you for a very long time, as I do.
I was so tired of people, you know, the way they are, the way they do things, the way they expect things and all. I felt empty because I didn’t know what I needed to do, to survive in this world and make it worthy. Then I got to know your world.
Your world is not dissimilar from ours, but they are different to the point where we would choose to live in your world if we were given a choice(not always and not all).
It was then that I started noticing how things are the same yet seem so beautiful when I was reading it from this point of view. I had the privileges you had, the flaws you had, but you made me realize that either in fiction or reality, it was me who should live as I want.
I would teleport into your world during the times when I couldn’t breathe when it suffocates. You comfort me to the levels until where it seems okay to be back in my world. You were there for me even when the people who I thought had got my back abandoned me when my own conscience and ability to think left me.
Thank you. Thank you for being the way you are, flawed yet perfect.
How do you remember everything?
Yeah, I always wondered how do you remember everything you read. I mean, when you talk, you don’t just talk, you quote the things you read, you talk about your opinion about those things. And how do you know so much about so many things? How?
Talking about things that matter.
Some of you talk about the things that matter. And I’m still in a place where I don’t value myself(as much as I should) and make myself matter. But I have always thought about having deep conversations with people, learning about different opinions, accepting them, disagreeing with them, and making my point without feeling so low about myself. Just a conversation about things that matter between two equals where no one is less than the other. Ah! that thought is so beautiful.
You make it look so easy. How do you do that? Is that because of the relationship you share with the person you are talking to? But sometimes, you make deep conversations even with strangers you meet. Is that because you know what to say at the right time? Is that because you know what you want to say and how to say it? Is that because you know yourself? Is that because you are curious to know things? Or because you love so deeply that you think about everything that actually matters. Or maybe you just overthink things and kind of blurt out some random things that just make sense? Huh?
Only if I could express what am I thinking and all the unresolved, unspoken thoughts in my head, which get stuck in my throat and won’t come out of my mouth, just they are inside my head, and they don’t make any sense.
Meeting People who change lives.
Does that really happen in real life? I don’t know. People always find people who change them for good. Maybe a coincidence or just a mere accident, either you fall in love or fall out of it, or just someone quoted something passing by and made you think, and then your life turned upside down. Maybe I have been waiting for a fairy tale moment in my life. Like one thought, one quote or one conversation would change my life upside down. Or just I would pull all-nighters and change all my life in one day. Would that even be possible? I want to believe that it is possible because of you.
Happily Ever-after
If all the stories are happily ended like yours, would that be beautiful? If they end tragically, would some people smile again? Sorry but your stories just don’t speak your whole lives, which may have full of surprises, happy ones, sad ones, tragic ones, beautiful ones. That is what makes me doubt you sometimes. So what if your story ended happily at the end of the book? What about after this end? You live on. You should be growing, right? There might be some tragedy you would have experienced or some melancholy. Maybe your happily ever after story, after the ending, ended in doom. (I also want to talk about the tragic end stories but…)
Am really sorry my brain is working up all this.
Different people, Different thinking?
How do you think differently? Why are you different? They call you freak, weird, and all stupid things yet, you are the hero of this story because you are something because you are different, you do things differently, you are rare. Sometimes keeping the unusual parts aside, I wonder how you might be feeling when they bully you? I cry. I don’t know, I feel like it is happening to me, and I just feel so many things. Would that be the case with you too?
Weird hobbies.
You people have some weird hobbies and interests. Like how on earth would I expect someone to remember all the last words someone has said before dying? Until I saw one of you doing that. FYI, I started asking people who are mourning what their loved ones last words were.
All the problems in the world?
And sometimes I wonder why do you get all the problems in the world? I just curse the author for giving you such a hard time, trying to solve one problem after another, day after day, making your life miserable.
Real or Fictional?
Have you ever thought that you are a real person, and someone out there is a fictional person to you, is a real person, and he thinks someone as fictional who is indeed real? Are we real or fictional? But why do you people exist, making it difficult for us to survive in this real world of ours, because we want to live in your world?
Parents and Best friends.
I would love to have a friend like you. Maybe either because I love you or your parents or your best friend(Evil laughs). Why are they so cute? Why are they so understanding and so dependable? (Not all of yours are, I know).
And God! why are you so cool?
Love.
Your love makes me want to love, you know. I have never been in love, but seeing your stories I sometimes just want to love someone as you people do, so much, so poetic, and give them my all. Maybe have my heartbroken, and fall in love again because this time it will be my soulmate, and promise each other forever. Wow.
There are so many things that I learned from you. About life, about love, friends, dreams, adventure, confidence and the list goes on. If I can I would go back and thank my younger self for bringing you into my life. There are some things I would say like I would love to live in your world, but I think nothing changes even if I’m there. Because no matter where we are, what we do, how we look at our lives and how we live our lives, is up to us. If I want to bring the change, I can do it here too it’s just a matter of time and the right attitude.
No matter how hard, I would live it all and live it well here.
With lots of love and no regrets,
Sushritha Danturi
