excerpt from Betsy Byars novel, children's author

"Dear Melissa,

I have been thinking of you since breakfast. We only had Corn Pops because the baby had cried all night, and at first I thought my unsettled feeling had to do with an unsatisfactory breakfast.

At nine-thirty I pedaled to Wendy's for a sausage biscuit, and after I ate a sausage biscuit and fries, I was still hungry.

Then I realized my hunger was for you.

The hunger of love, and this is truly the first time I have experienced it so intensely, is a unique experience, Melissa, and I sat in Wendy's until the waitress wiped my table three times and gave me a funny look. Then I went home and had a small box of Cheerios and felt a little better.

Hungrily yours,
Bingo"