（ September 12, 1998）
Dear Moonswallow,
Thank you for giving me such lovely stars and bells as my birthday present. Your gifts inspire me many beautiful thoughts and let me recall some words in “The Little Prince”. Have you read “The Little Prince” yet? It’s an interesting book written by a French pilot, Antone de Saint-Exupery. The story is very poetic and meaningful. My classmates and I all like it very much. The following is what the little prince said to the pilot while parting, “……It will be as if, in place of stars, I had given you a great number of little bells that knew how to laugh!” One of my classmates especially love the sentence, she thinks it wonderful. I agree with her on that.
I always like stars. I regard them as mysterious poems, symbols for hope, and holy guides for the lost travelers. Some impressive words about stars come to my mind. I want to share them with you.
“Although we are in the depths of the night, where there is starlight, there are ways and unlimited possibilities.”
“I wish all the things become the sparkling stars without trouble and fear.”
I really hope we can get rid of those tiring and disturbing things, but we have to keep on searching for the unreachable stars. Twinkling stars always make me yeam my friends in the distance.
Sometimes I get the feeling that people around me seem very far away, but my friends for away seem quite close to me. Do you get this strange feeling occasionally, too?
Recently I’ve reviewed my Chinese textbook and read Bai Ju-yi’s articles, “A Letter to Yuan Zhen” again. When I first read it two years ago, I appreciate it. Such sincere friendship expressed in the letter has touched my soul. I think nobody can live without friends.
I’m seventeen years old now. Pai Hsien-yung said people at the age of seventeen were lonely. However, with the wishes and encouragements from my friends, I feel
I'm not lonely at all!
You always have my blessings.
Sincerely yours,
brsuny
