Dispatch to Malory Towers

Has there ever been a better time to escape into boarding school literature? 

With a return to virtual learning, the end of Christmas holidays brought no change of scene – only, at best, a change of screen.

“I wish I were taking the train to Cornwall to go to Malory Towers,” my daughter, Isla, remarked wistfully, as she printed off her virtual timetable and tested her Teams password.

Transit to Cornwall is forbidden during the current Covid-19 lockdown, but fortunately, a flight of fancy is just about permitted (though a mask and hand sanitizer are strongly recommended.)

So I decided to bring Malory Towers to Isla. On her first day of Lent term, she entered the kitchen (I mean, the Malory Towers dining hall) to find a cheery letter from home.

To: Isla Jane, Sunny Turret, Malory Towers

Darling Isla,

I hope you had a lovely train ride to Cornwall, and are happily reunited with your Form buddies, Alessandra and Isobel. 

Do say, “Bonjour!” to Mam’selle for me. 

I will send you a little something for a midnight feast next week!

Good luck with the start of term & I hope you make the lacrosse team. 

Love, 

Mummy & Daddy

PS: We are remembering to change [hamster] Bingley’s water and to bond with him every day, as you asked.

See you at Easter!!

“Okay . . . that was a bit random!” Isla remarked, after perusing her letter.

I couldn’t tell whether my invitation into an alternative universe hit the mark . . .

. . . Until later that evening, when this appeared by the front door: 

Dear Mother, Father, Ally and Bingley,

I had a lovely ride to Cornwall and we all are happy to be back. 

Good news! Malory Towers is getting a pet room, so Bingley might be able to come!! . . .

Her letter continued, with an animated account of Sunday picnics, lacrosse try-outs, and her nomination to the coveted head girl post. 

I wrote back, asking for more juicy details, figuring that her reverie offered relief from temperamental Teams videos, “dry swim” distance PE sessions and ever receding target dates for returning to in-person schooling.

And yet, for me, it’s also a relief to complete my letter and escape from the fantasy, back to the here-and-now.  Corona-confinement and all, I wouldn’t exchange our real lives for our imagined alternative.

Because Malory Towers mothers send their daughters to Cornwall for a term as a time. Whereas, for a little while longer, I’ve still got Isla here at home, appearing at the family breakfast table every morning to see what the post has brought.