Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Dear Oskar Schell,

My last name isn’t Black; however, it doesn’t really matter who I am. I just finished reading your book and thought that I would write you a letter. I understand how depressed and traumatized a nine-year-old boy like you has been through. Losing someone you love with all your heart is an extremely difficult task to deal with, just like you said that there was a hole in the middle of you that every happy thing fell into. I wouldn’t know what to do either. Probably your mission of finding a lock to the key your dad left might be helpful. It gave you a good chance to do new things you have never done and to go to places you have never been to. I have to admit that you are incredibly brave.

I truly admire your inventions and really would like you to keep inventing, only for creative things because they help you soothe your sadness. I, sometimes, turn my sorrow into an energy that created something beautiful. You never know one day they might come true.

All I want to say is that you can’t turn back time. No matter how deep you keep your answering machine in the box in your closet or how much you want to forget those messages from your dad, the worst day happened. But it’s already over. Now you know who love you the most and I think it’s time for you to return your love to them.

Love,

Your friend