Tragedy-Chapter 4

Jason’s people are strange indeed, Alicia told us. They were very nice to me, and I got a chance to know them well. We spent Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day together. But there seemed to be some necessary components simply left out of his life. I can’t put my finger on the exact situation or problem, but there was a problem. Just adds to the lacking in his life, but it is something I need to know. Alicia had come home to sort these things out, and that was the conclusion she had reached where Jason was concerned. Many lessons in the past year and a half, she had been learning them all the hard way. To their amazement, this would be the last time they would have together.

A woman living in a fairly comfortable and comparatively safe residential area in San Diego was preparing to retire for the night. She turned out the lights at 10:00PM and went to lift the shade and open the window. Glancing out, she saw the form of a body lying in her driveway. This is how Alicia was discovered. On the driveway beside her lay the literature and other materials she used on her door to door job, selling Encyclopedia’s. Neighbors in the area confirmed that Alicia was indeed on her job working. She had told her parents in a letter she was working from 3:00 to 10:00PM. One person witnessed her crossing a lighted intersection alone about 9:15PM in the vicinity where she was found.

Ironically, we received Alicia’s letter in the mail the same day the telegram came with the news of her death. What a paradox it was, holding in one hand a letter in her own handwriting being alive and well as she was telling us of the present events, and at the same time receiving a telegram which shouted to us, “She’s dead!”