The Postman Always Rings Twice

The character has started receiving mail meant for someone else. The first item was a magazine, then some junk mail, but soon afterward bills start arriving, and then personal correspondence. 

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The letters and postcards are the most peculiar of the bunch, as the stamps and franking, which seem normal at first glance, are in fact not of this earth. The stamps are from no known nation, the franking refers to a government that doesn’t exist. The personal mail is all from someone calling himself Lt. JG Oscar Millett, of USF Bonaventure. Judging by the stamps, the Bonaventure is currently posted overseas, and somewhere tropical; some of them could easily be mistaken for Japanese or Philippine stamps. USF stands for United States Frigate, a designation that hasn’t been used since the 19th Century. Lt JG Millett always starts his letters and cards “Hey, bro!” and signs off, “Ozzie.”

Possibilities

1 The postman has gone out of his tiny mind. He believes that he is Lt JG Millett, that the year is 1943, that the United States didn’t gain its independence until 1848 and is part of the Commonwealth of England, and that the west is now engaged in a bitter military conflict with China. He’s latched on to the character as his ‘brother’ and is manufacturing all the personal mail, including the stamps and franking, himself. So far, he’s just about functional, but his activities have aroused his employer’s suspicions such that he’ll be fired before too long. When that happens he’ll snap, and since he happens to be physically fit and a good shot with a rifle, this will cause further problems. He’ll invade his ‘brother’s’ apartment looking for refuge, or possibly just a decent firing platform.

2 The mail is coming from an alternate universe. Lt. JG Millett is a naval officer in that universe, and his brother lives at the character’s address. The problem won’t stop with the mail. Soon the character’s furniture will be replaced by furniture from the other dimension, the clothes in his closet will be the other man’s clothes, the pictures on the wall will change, and the view out of the window will become subtly different. The character will either have to find some way of anchoring his home in his current universe, or one day the face in the mirror will not be the character’s own.

3 The mail is meant for the character’s neighbor, who is a member of a reenactment society. The postman seriously dislikes this neighbor, which is why the mail is being misdirected. The society isn’t particularly interested in historical accuracy, so some of the information in the personal mail doesn’t match known historical fact. (The stamps and franking are actually real - just from some very obscure equatorial countries.)

Unfortunately the character’s neighbor is slightly paranoid and believes that the character is in on the joke. One day he and six of his friends will turn up on the character’s doorstep – in full reenactment kit complete with replica swords – and demand an explanation.

© Adam Gauntlett