A Quiet Rebellion

To you, resting by the window,

Welcome to the Storm Post Office. This letter wears the face of a Foundation memorandum: dark green paper, a warm ivory geometric facade printed flat, and a tall, crisp engraved title across which someone has added a line of fine handwriting. In the corners are botanical specimen labels, an ocher sun disk, a stitched paper edge, and the drawing of a pressed leaf. It is 1913; the regulations are outside the window, and the garden is inside.

The quietest rebellion may be a single sentence: "I would prefer not to." — Herman Melville, Bartleby, the Scrivener (1853)

No shouting, no fuss: press a leaf between the files and live your days as your own. If you, too, want to say no, you need not say it loudly. Write it down and send it to us, and we will keep it safe.

Beside you at the window,

Storm Post Office

1913 · The Foundation