the eighth letter

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edwin's life had been meaningless until he saw samantha. fortunately he had seen her in time to give his life meaning. going to work in the morning had become almost bearable. how, he wondered, had he ever survived before? i love you, i love you, he repeated over and over to himself as he put the cans on the shelves. jared elwood, the store manager, noticed edwin talking to himself. kindly disposed toward edwin, he merely made a mental note of it. later in the day something strange happened. meanwhile samantha continued in her daily routine. not knowing of edwin's existence, naturally she did not think of him. of all the desperate humans in the universe, she had attracted edwin. perhaps it all meant something - but perhaps not.

"notice anything different?" "it looks like he's working up to something." "no, the whole style is different - he is using some kind of program. instead of just writing. i'm surprised he's gone to a program so soon - he's only up to 128." "which i suppose you counted," "yes, there are 128." "i don't care. all i care about is CATCHING him."

the ninth letter