Jolly Rubino

5^th June 2015

Dear Cassi,

As I move through the mess that is my home I am sometimes reminded of a ship called the Jolly Rubino. It was a cargo craft hauling chemicals when it caught fire and burnt. The ship was such a disaster that salvage crews refused the normal ‘no cure no pay’ and opted for a daily compensation for doing what they could to save the environment.

The ship burnt so hot that when crew tried to rescue it their boots melted. In the end they had to drain the ship of oil, and let it burn itself out. Then they offloaded the chemicals and blew the ship to hell. This left the hulk open to the elements and the waves would eventually break it apart. Nature would take it back.

Is this the future of the rotting hulk that is my home? Will one day bulldozers need to smash it to bits and leave nothing of the old structure? I don’t know, Cassi, but what I do know is that whatever is going to happen is a long way off and hard work is between me and that moment.

I have so much to do and so little time.

Keep yourself, little sister,

Richard Leland Neal