Letter VIII

Abel,

I have made it to Izmir.  The journey has been long and difficult, but my donkey has helped immensely, I am not as tired as I was before, and my symptoms have stopped their rapid progression, but I continue to deteriorate.  I thank you so much for sending the doctor to meet me halfway as I do not believe that I will make it all the way without his help.

He says that my liver is failing and that the side effects from that are cause of the spreading rash.  He doesn't know how it happened, but it does not look like I have much time left.  He has has given me a serum to ease the pain, but not much has worked.

I fear that Izmir will be my final destination in this life.  The doctor says that if I continue to travel that my body will only deteriorate faster.  I want to thank you for all that you have done for me and how grateful I am that I was able to write to you in this difficult point in my life.  I am truly sad that I will not make it to your wedding or that I will not be able to see you once more before I pass on.  I believe this will be my last letter, but I wish you and your fiancé all the best and may the gods bless your marriage.

All the best,
Elias

Letter VII

Abel,

I know it has been many months since my last letter and you must be worried that you have not heard from me, so I believe I owe you an explanation.  I have begun my journey to you in Kavála.  I have been journeying up the coast and I have made it to northern Egypt.  This is the first place that I have been able to get a letter to you.

My journey has been difficult, but I have not been met with any treacherous encounters.  I do not want to count my count my hens before they hatch, but it looks like, if the gods be good, I may make it to you.  However, there is another factor that has been concerning me, my illness seems to be getting worse, and I fear that I may not have the energy to even make it to your doctor.

The sores on my hands have been worsening, and I  continue to bleed.  The sores have spread from just my arms and hand to my back as well.  I am hoping that I will push through.  I have decided that I will buy a donkey while I am in Cairo.  I will be less tired and my symptoms may lessen in severity.

Enough about me though, I would love to hear about your wedding and how it is coming together.  How is your fiancé and your family?  How is your life in general?  I imagine hearing anything better than mine will cheer me up!

If all goes well, I will arrive at your doorstep in less than a year.  I will try and write you whenever I can to let you know where I am and how I am doing.

Best wishes,
Elias

Letter VI

Abel,

I thank you for your quick response to my request that you ask doctors in your city about my illnesses since the doctors of my village have been thoroughly stumped by my condition.  I wanted to focus on what one of your more highly regarded doctors thought about my condition.  He thought that I may have a problem with my kidney.  He said that an infection of my kidney could cause all of my symptoms, even the infectious rash that has been climbing my arms.  However the good news that I may have an answer to what is going on with me, he said that since it has been left untreated for so long that he believes my time in this life is limited.

This news has made for a very morbid time in my life.  It seems that my family ends with me, which is a very sobering thought.  However, as a dying man, I hope that I may ask a favor of you.  I was hoping that you might make your wedding so that I will be able to attend.  If your happiness is the last thing I see in this life, than I will die a happy man.  Please do consider my request, I will offer my assistance in any way possible, even in funding seeing as how I will no longer be saving for the rest of my life.

Even if you can not move your wedding, I may begin a journey to you now as I would like to meet the doctor that may have my diagnosis and perhaps find out if there might be a solution to my pending death.  I do hope that you will be able to help me in my final request.

Give my best to your fiancé, and I hope to see you very soon.

Cordially,
Elias

Letter V

Abel,

I very much enjoy hearing how your wedding plans are shaping up.  A summer wedding in the north sounds wonderful.  I almost wish winter would end quicker so that I can see you marry your wonderful bride.  I am also glad to hear that most of your family will be able to make it the the wedding, I know how much it must mean to you that they will all be there for you.

There was a horrendous sand storm hear a few days ago.  The town was devastated.  Our hard work has been rendered useless, only the major structures we constructed remained erect, everything else was reduced to rubble.  My house as well suffered great damage, and my workshop addition was destroyed.  All of my hard work and time spent on my figurines was all for nothing.  Nevertheless, I shall begin again.  Actually I was thinking I might make figures of you and your wife as wedding gift, what do you think?

I would love to get you something far more luxurious, but anywhere I might be able to get you something better is a bitterly long distance.  I also do not have much worth to my name as I must begin rebuilding my life again after this sand storm.

Furthermore, on top of have such a bad go at things lately, my rash continues to climb my arms, and the welts have begun to burst and expel a white fluid.  Speaking of, you never answered whether or not you found a doctor that might know what is wrong with me.  Perhaps this new development might shed light on this problem.  Please do inform me of any information you might obtain on the matter.

Wishing you the best,

Elias

Letter IV

Abel,

I understand your conundrum, planning a wedding is a difficult task.  Especially since your family is filled with traders, having your whole family in the same place is a troublesome task.  I wish you well with that and please do let me know when you are set on a date.

My figurine collection has been growing quite rapidly.  I have gotten very good at making small details like faces and appendages.  I recently finished the figurines of my construction team.  I am particularly proud because you can see how I have been able to develop my skills.  In related news, I have added on a part to my home to use as a work shop and a store room for my creations.  Mixing my work and home place has proven to be a messy situation.  Anyway, I am very excited and I think it has really helped me in my journey of normalcy by having a time consuming hobby in which I can lose myself within my creativity.

The rash on my hands have not improved, rather it has spread slightly up my arms.  Normally I would not be concerned, but I have noticed that there is blood in my urine, and it is painful.  I have questioned the village doctor, but he hasn’t the slightest clue of why this might be happening, and I was hoping you might be able to inquire the doctor of your village about my symptoms as you live in a larger place than I.

Thank you for your help!  I wish you the best of luck with coordinating you wedding and let me know if I can contribute in a possible way.  I hope to hear from you soon!

Cordially,

Elias

Letter III

Abel,

It was very nice to hear from you, I am very glad that you are doing well.  I am very happy to here that you have found a woman to share your life with.  Do you know when your wedding will be?  I would very much love to attend.

My life has continued well, although the rash on my hands has gotten worse, but I still thing that it is from the new materials I am using because I am still building the new structure.  Although, what I found peculiar is that when I was at the market, I noticed that my neighbor too had the same rash on his hands.  I don’t think he works in construction, but then again I do not know what he does for a living and it could just be a coincidence.  Anyway, I have not thought much of it, I just rub some mud on it and go on with my life!

In other news, I have decided to take up sculpture making as a pastime.  I have gotten really good at it.  I make little figurines of the people that I work with, I hope to be able to make figures of everyone I have met in town, and I want to make a model version go the town.

Anyway, that is about all that I have that is new with me.  I hope you are well and I expect to hear more of your lovely bride and perhaps of a wedding date!

Cordially,

Elias

Letter II

,



I hope you have been well these past weeks.

My life has been relatively alright, as I explained before, normalcy is the best possible thing for me.  I do not believe I am ready to experience anything quite out of the ordinary yet.  That being said, in the past days I have not been feeling at my best lately.  I have discovered these large white bumps on the backs of my hands that ooze yellowish-white viscous liquid when they get too large.  I am not too sure what they are, or why I have them.  I assume it is because I have switched the materials I have been utilizing at work.

We are beginning to rebuild one of our central buildings, it is meant to be bigger, better, and sturdier than ever before.  We have been going out to cut the sand stone and bring it back to the town.  I am especially thrilled about this project because my overseers tell me that when we commence construction I am meant to construct the entrance.  The entrance is the most ornate part of the structure and they think I am a talented artist and worker and that they could not think of a better man to do it!

I think this project is going to be good for me because it will give me something to look forward to each day.  I have been missing passion in my life, and I think I might find it in this task.  The ability to create beauty in the world makes me happy, something that I never thought that I would be able to feel so soon.  My archway will be just exciting enough to give me enough interest in life without being to drastic of a change to disturb my patterns of regaining a normal life, something I so desperately want.

Please write back soon, and I hope you are doing well!

Cordially,