Nessim and Florence didn’t initially get along. Nessim had to learn that Florence wasn’t going to be pushed around like the guard at the American University. He often spoke to her as if he was a gift to her. She wouldn’t have it and reprimanded him in her letters. By the third letter, Florence was simply livid with him. He told her that she had no heart. That her words were without emotion or passion.
Florence took his letter and burned it in her father’s BBQ pit in the backyard.
Florence’s response to his was fiery. She told him that he should reread the Pen Friend Promise. In criticizing her, he was violating the oath that they took in order to maintain a proper epistolary relationship. She reminded him that none of her other pen friends carry on in this manner.
Nessim, in a rather wierd way, cherished her response because it struck fear in him. He didn’t realize that he was one of many. One who was possibly replaceable. He had never felt like this before. Like he had to earn her heart through her mind. He felt that at any given moment, she would cease to write to him. But she made the effort to write back, even though she was offended. She reminded him to act correctly. Which meant that she cared.
He kept her letter very near and dear to his heart. It was an extension of this person who was driving his heart crazy. But he was surprised to read an odd request from her at the end of the letter. Burn this letter. Burn it and every one you receive. You must act in a way that upholds the pen friend promise. You must remember that we are merely two fleeting thoughts. We do not exist. And do not think that we’ll ever meet in person. It is only by chance that we have met in letters. And when we do meet, we can share our thoughts and ideas, but that is all. If you want to continue, you must promise me that you’ll never keep my letters.
Nessim wrote back agreeing with her, but he didn’t keep the promise. This was the third letter. He had all of them and would never let them go. Each letter filled his heart with joy and warmth. His own personal Talisman. He knew that he had to keep them safe. So he started filing them away in a cardboard box.