Wish You Were Here
by Cornelia Amiri

Hey Peaches, I got your letter the other day, it was forwarded to me. You said, you haven't heard from me in a while and no one knew where I was. Girl, you wont believe where I am. As you may know, like so many people, I recently lost my job, but instead of getting food stamps I moved to Iraq. Well, they are giving out aid packages of food and water; added with the occasional looting, it seemed a financial opportunity I couldn't pass up. And best of all I'm my own boss. There's no medical plan right now, but I hear The Red Cross are on their way. When I got home yesterday with my bag of Sumerian pottery and 10,000-year-old pebble calendars, I heard on the radio a report of looting at the Baghdad museum. It said, "Among the looters was a middle age white woman who dropped some bookmarks out of her purse as she ran off with some type of historical artifact. She apparently is a writer, but no one as heard of her . . . or her books." Oh, no! The Marines are hot on my trail. Speaking of the marines I have to tell you that is my favorite pastime here. Marine watching. Those guys are young and buff. They look good. Romance cover models have nothing on the marines. Oh god, I have to go for now. Sniper fire overhead. Wish you were here. Baghdad is beautiful this time of year. Peace and love from Iraq, Cornelia Amiri.