Dart’s letter begins with a little talk to himself about neglecting the most wonderful girl in the world, referring I suspect, to his very short letters of late. “Even if you dream about her all the time,” he muses, “you gotta write some, too. Dreaming doesn’t get the message across very often.” He begins the letter anew.
He tells her about a new branch of the Navy he just learned about that has lit a spark in him. The “Special Devices” division trains sailors to work on the delicate and complex equipment used in training the pilots and crews of naval aircraft. This is right up Dart’s alley, and related to the kind of work he’d hoped to do if he’d made it through the V-12 engineering program at Case. This marks the first time Dart has shown any enthusiasm for a particular job assignment in the Navy.
He talks about the difference between today’s weather and November 3rd when he came to this forsaken hole. “Today the sky is blue and unblemished except for the puffs of anti-aircraft practice shells.”
Referencing her letter when she spoke about the busy day at the store and how she kept eager customers at bay by telling them she’d be with them in a moment, Dart quips “I don’t care, of course, who you give that line to, but I hope you forget it when I come around.”
He poses the question of whether Mrs. Pecsok would be as attractive to Dart as Mr. Pecsok obviously is to Dot. He suggests that maybe he should learn to cook something more than soup if he hopes to keep Dot’s attention.
He suggests that he should start to make carbon copies of his letters because he sometimes forgets what he wrote that triggers a particular response from her. For instance, he has no idea why she called him “Old Man of Experience.” I’m sure Dot has the same lapses, with all these letters flying back and forth!
After another brief discussion about how they see eye-to-eye on certain vital issues, an experience unique among all of Dart’s previous dates, he adds a succinct, sweet observation: “You’re perfect, if not better.”
He squeezes three more thoughts onto the bottom of the page before signing off. He’s about to ditch the ice bag, his mother would not have thought Dot silly if she had called, and he wants her to get over that nasty summer cold.
