I opened the letter and regarded the hand written pages. No one wrote letters like this anymore, and I hadn’t received one since my grandma passed a decade ago.

“Dear Miles,

I have been trying to warn you of what’s happening but I can’t get through to you. I’m so worried! Everything is falling apart and they’re coming for you next.

No one can stop them. They’re everywhere, in everything. If they could darken the stars above us, they would.

Be careful what you eat. What you buy. Where you go. Who you’re seen with. They’re building a narrative to use against you, so that when you’re killed or commit suicide, it will be just another intellectual who couldn’t handle the cruel world, gone before his time.

They’ve already made the words “freedom” and “truth” illegal; they say they’re tools of the enemy to spread fear and dissension among the people.

We’re starving here, and they say there’s a surplus. Then they outlawed foreign media to preserve their narratives, so there was no competition for their propaganda.”

There was no signature. I didn’t recognize the handwriting or the postmark. I showed it to my wife.

“Who sent this? Is this a joke?”

“If it is, it’s not very funny.” She turned the papers over and sniffed the pages. “Is that perfume? Reminds me of Jen’s perfume, are you still talking to her?”

“Come on, Mary, you know I’m not. Someone’s telling me that I’m in danger. You think it’s another woman I’m messing around with?”

“I’m not saying anything, Miles. I just know women, and sometimes they like to mess with guys’ heads.”

“Should I call the police? This feels really creepy. I don’t know anyone who’s a political prisoner or who’s in a war zone. I don’t even know what war this would be. You know I don’t follow the news anymore.”

“The doctor said it would help your blood pressure.”

“What am I supposed to do? Live like a hermit so I don’t get assassinated for reasons I don’t understand, by people I don’t know?”

“I’d get off social media if I were you. That’s just a risk you don’t need to take.”

“Ok, fine, I’ll delete my accounts. That’s probably what you want anyway, isn’t it?”

“Me? I’m trying to help you. But this is a time where people get in trouble for sticking their necks out on controversial issues, and you’ve got too much to lose and nothing to gain.”

“I get it, I get it. If I post anything, it’ll be anonymously.”

“No! Don’t post anything! They can track your IP address, they know your phone and your home computer. Nothing is anonymous now!”

“Jeez, fine, I won’t say anything anymore or go anywhere or do anything.”

“I’m just trying to look out for you, Miles. You’re so naïve. You act like you’re this good guy doing good things for people, but it’s all just fake. You want attention.”

“Mary, you win, OK? I’m deleting everything. I didn’t do anything, I just got a letter.”