Letters from the Inside
Read Letters from the Inside Online
Authors: John Marsden
John Marsden was in the second year of a law degree at Sydney University when his life suddenly changed. Sitting in the Law School cafeteria one afternoon he watched as the doors opened and a tidal wave of final year students washed in for their evening classes. One look at the tsunami of men in dark suits convinced John he was in the wrong place.
He left law school that same day, never to return.
It took him ten years and many false starts to find a job he liked, but in 1979 he began a teaching career at All Saints College Bathurst, where he enjoyed the contact with people, and the creativity, that teaching offered.
Teaching also introduced John to teenage fiction. He admired the works of authors like Paul Zindel, Robert Cormier and Patricia Wrightson. In 1988 John entered this field with his novel
So Much To Tell You.
Since then he has published twenty-eight other works, including fiction, non-fiction and picture books.
Also by John Marsden
So Much to Tell You
The Journey
The Great Gatenby
Staying Alive in Year 5
Out of Time
Letters from the Inside
Take My Word for It
Looking for Trouble
Tomorrow. . . (Ed.)
Cool School
Creep Street
Checkers
For Weddings and a Funeral (Ed.)
This I Believe (Ed.)
Dear Miffy
Prayer for the 21st Century
Everything I Know About Writing
Secret Men’s Business
The
Tomorrow
Series 1999 Diary
The Rabbits
Norton’s Hut
Marsden on Marsden
Winter
The Head Book
The Boy You Brought Home
The Magic Rainforest
Millie
While I Live
A Roomful of Magic
Incurable
The
Tomorrow
Series
Tomorrow, When the War Began
The Dead of the Night
The Third Day, the Frost
Darkness, Be My Friend
Burning for Revenge
The Night is for Hunting
The Other Side of Dawn
First published 1991 in hardback by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd
1 Market Street, Sydney 2000
Copyright © John Marsden 1991
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication data:
Author:
Marsden, John, 1950-
Letters from the inside / John Marsden.
9781742611488 (pbk.)
For secondary school age.
Friendship – Juvenile fiction.
Pen pals – Juvenile fiction.
Juvenile detention homes – Juvenile fiction.
A823.3
EPub format: 9781743346112
The characters and events in this book are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Cover design by Seymour Designs
Macmillan Digital Australia:
www.macmillandigital.com.au
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www.panmacmillan.com.au
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D
EAR
T
RACEY
I don’t know why I’m answering your ad, to be honest. It’s not like I’m into pen pals, but it’s a boring Sunday here, everyone’s out, and I thought it’d be something different . . .
D
EAR
M
ANDY
Thanks for writing. You write so well, much better than me. I put the ad in for a joke, like a dare, and yours was the only good answer . . .
Two teenage girls. An innocent beginning to friendship. Two complete strangers who get to know each other a little better each time a letter is written and answered.
Mandy has a dog with no name, an older sister, a creepy brother, and some boy problems. Tracey has a horse, two dogs and a cat, an older sister and brother, and a great boyfriend. They both have hopes and fears . . . and secrets.
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks for ideas and stories to: Daniel Barrington-Higgs, Kyla Davies, Marta Dusseldorp, Damien Morris, Damien Nevins, Richard Wardill, Michele Williams.
Special thanks to my ‘language consultant’, the legendary Sam Armytage.
For Mary Edmonston
February 11
Dear Tracey,
I don’t know why I’m answering your ad, to be honest. It’s not like I’m into pen pals, but it’s a boring Sunday here, wet, everyone’s out, and I thought it’d be something different.
Um, what do I say now? I know what I won’t do, and that’s tell you my star sign, favourite group, favourite food, all about my sister and brother and the usual junk. If that’s what you want, don’t bother answering this letter, OK? That’s not me.
So, I’ll just tell you whatever comes to mind, for example. . . um. . .
(1) The last time I cried was when I saw an old movie called
How Green Was My Valley
, in black and white at 2.30 in the morning last Monday, on Channel 7. I was a mess.
(2) Right now I’ve got $78.31 in the bank, $12.60 on me, my sister owes me $5.00, and a friend at school, Rebecca Slater, owes me $6.00. Total: $101.60.
(3) I’d love to get a tat, where no-one can see it, and it’d be of a cane toad, ’cos they’re so cute, but I don’t have the guts to do it.
(4) I’ve got a dog, or at least there’s a dog who lives here with us. I don’t think you can own an animal. He hasn’t got a name, which drives everyone crazy. It’s not that I’m against names, although I don’t like them much. It’s more that I can’t think of a name for him. So everyone keeps suggesting names, like Toby (my sister), Onion??? (my friend Cheryl), Mick (my father) and Idiot (my brother).
He’s only about a year old. He was dumped near the RSPCA shelter and we got him from there. He’s nearly all white, with a bit of black round the head. I think he’s a mix of Border Collie and twenty other things.
I was going to call him Gilligan, ’cos he’s my little buddy, but it doesn’t sound right.
Do any dogs or animals live with you?
Well, I’ve told you four things about myself, four amazing facts. And a lot more besides. And I’ve written a long letter. Hope you answer, after all this work! Bye!
Mandy
PS: How come you have a post-office box? I thought they were for big companies.
Feb 18
Dear Mandy,
Thanks for writing. You write so well, much better than me. I put the ad in for a joke, like a dare, and yours was the only good answer. There were three from guys, real perverts, pretty funny but disgusting. And a couple from little kids. It was exciting though, getting them all.
You asked if I have any pets, sorry, if any pets live with us. I have a horse, two dogs and a cat. The horse is called Kizzy, the dogs are Dillon and Matt and the cat is Katie. So you see, they all have names. Why don’t you like names?
You also asked why I gave a post-office box as the address. Well, that’s my father’s company. He owns a transport company, with lots of semi-trailers. They do mainly interstate work.
As for me, I’m in Year 10 but I hate school. The only good subject is Art. I play a lot of sport though, and I’m quite good at basketball and high jump. (I’m pretty tall, as you can guess.)
I don’t know what else to tell you. I hope you keep writing though. It’d be fun writing letters to someone without ever meeting them. Prescott’s a long way from Acacia Park. I’ve never been to Acacia Park or anywhere down that line. Does anyone read your letters or can I write anything I want?
Please write,
Tracey
February 26
Dear Tracey,
What do you mean, does anybody read my letters? You must be joking. I’d nail them to the roll-a-door if they tried.
Well, I suppose my brother would if he could, or if he thought of it. It’s OK though, he can hardly read as it is, so no problem.
It was quite exciting, getting your letter. I get about one letter a month. My grandmother writes occasionally, and a girl called Jacinta who I met at a writers’ camp, and a boy who’s at boarding school, a friend of a friend. So letters in my life are like sunflowers in Alaska.
I do write a lot of letters for Amnesty but not too many of those guys write back. Funny, that.
Was
G. D. Y.
the only magazine you put your ad in? Do you read
G. D. Y.
every month? Is that the only time you put an ad in? I’d love to see the letters you got from the dirty old men, or dirty young men, whichever they were. Send me some, OK? I still think it’s funny I wrote to you, but I’m enjoying this. I read
G. D. Y.
most months but I’m too much of a tight-ass to buy it: I have a friend, Cheryl Tsang, who gets it, and I read hers.
S’pose I’d better tell you a few boring facts about myself. I’m in Year 10 at Acacia Park High. I’m 15, turning 16 on October 19. I’ve got a sister called Katrina — she’s in first year arts at uni, and she’s a good bird, more like a friend than a. . . blah blah blah. . . you know how it goes.
I’ve got a brother too, named Steve. He’s 17.
Katrina’s not living at home any more. She moved out at the start of last year, when she got accepted into uni. But then she deferred. She was waitressing at a Hungarian restaurant for about half the year, then she went overseas for a couple of months, then she came back and worked in pubs. She’s still working in a pub three nights a week. It’s the Stripes and Stars, in Sinden, if you ever feel like a rage — just go there any Wednesday, Thursday or Friday night, ask for Katrina, tell her you’re a mate of mine, and you should at least get a free beer — and no ID! It’s a definite advantage having a sister in a job like that, although my parents don’t think so — they don’t like her working there.
God, this has turned into a long letter again. I’ve written this instead of doing my homework. Better stop and do Science at least. Oh help, just remembered there’s a French test tomorrow! Gotta go.
Bye,
Mandy
Feb 28
Dear Mandy,
Thanks for your letter. Hope you passed your French test. And thanks for the info about the Stripes and Stars. Don’t know whether I’ll get there though. My parents are pretty strict. They still like us to do things together.
I’ve got an older sister and an older brother too. My sister’s name is Skye and my brother’s is Dean. My sister is 22 — she’s a hairdresser and my brother is 20 and studying to be a doctor. I’d like to be a doctor. Actually I’d like to be a children’s doctor, but I don’t know if my marks will be good enough.
My favourite activities, apart from sport, are water-skiing and horse-riding. And shopping. And raging. I like parties, pubs, discos, everything. And, don’t laugh, but I like poetry too. Reading it and even writing it. I’m not very good at it, but I like it.
Yes, I do read
G. D. Y.
quite often. But that’s the only time I’ve put an ad in. I know those magazines are pretty dumb. But they have some good stuff. I like the letters and the medical page!!! And the ads and some of the articles.
Do you like Dust and Ashes? I do. There was an article on them last month in
G. D. Y.
Do you know the drummer, Roy Lugarno? They said he’d been a street kid and got put in Ruxton for knocking off cars when he was 15. He’s done well, hasn’t he? You wouldn’t think anyone could be such a star after two years in Ruxton.
You sound as though you don’t like your brother much. What’s wrong with him? My brother’s good. I can talk to him about anything, and he’s good when you’ve got problems. A lot of girls here don’t get on with their brothers, but I’m lucky I guess.
Anyway, I haven’t got anything interesting to write about, so I’ll stop now. But write back, please.
Bye,
Tracey
March 10
Dear Trace,
Didn’t get your letter till today, though you dated it Feb 28. What did you do, send it by rubber raft? Anyway, I’m answering straight away, so you’ll know I’m still alive.
Everything’s quite slack at the moment. I’ve got some slack teachers this year, in English and History anyway. Maths and French we get heaps of work, and Science, some. I’ve been trying to figure out how to earn money. Got any ideas? I made a bit in the holidays, working Friday nights and Saturday mornings at Safeway, plus I babysat quite a lot, but God, I spend money as fast as I earn it. Cheryl and Rebecca and I are going to the Power Without Glory concert Saturday week; then I bought their new CD yesterday,
Confessions
, that’s about fifty bucks all up, just on Power Without Glory. Hope they’re grateful.
What else is happening in my exciting life? I got 56% in that French test by the way, which is as bad as a fail, seeing nearly everyone else got in the seventies or better.
Here’s Cheryl:
Hi Tracey!
Mandy told me how she started writing to you and how you’ve been writing back! I think it’s great! I love getting letters! Do you go to Prescott High? I’ve never been over there. How’s your love life? Get Mandy to tell you about
Paul
! He likes her but she can’t make up her mind. Tell her to get with him, OK? Bye for now!
Cheryl Tsang
Ignore all the above — Cheryl’s going through menopause or something. Paul is Paul Bazzani, who is nice but I don’t know if he likes me. Cheryl’s lusting after Paul’s brother, Mick, who’s in Year 12 — that’s the real reason she wants me to get with Paul.
You asked about my brother — yeah, he’s a creep. I mean, he’s creepy. It’s bad at the moment, with Katrina not living at home and my parents working day and night, night and day. I’m at home with my brother more than I’d like.
Oh well, better wind up. We’re in the library — it’s been another slack lesson. We’ve got Mr Prideaux for Geography and every lesson he either shows a video or we have a library period. Yesterday we had three videos — in English, Geography and Art. Might as well stay home and watch TV.
Gotta go, everyone’s packing up. See you!
Mandy