Dear Santa:
You must have gotten my letters or I never would have stumbled upon the wonder and joy that is Benedict Cumberbatch‘s own missive to you through the Letters Live Project. I knew there was a reason that I still believed in the magic you inspire every year around this time, and when I saw a handwritten note (sample enclosed) from a man who I really didn’t get at first but now adore for reasons I can’t quite explain, I swooned.
It was a lovely letter that he penned to you. Will you be able to deliver on all his requests? They’re really quite simple and kind of the best. A little more time for the kids to be young, and a world that will let them be wild and free. After all, as he so poetically says, “You are for the children. Children who need some magic in a world were the borders between innocence and responsibility, playful imagination and cold, adult obstacles are continually shrinking.”
As fans know, old Cumberbatch has a soft spot for the kiddos and imaginations that let him voice dragons and angels between stints in Baker Street. And I must say, I can see a bit of the new dad in his letter which mentions the many problems both the world and his own country face. Will you slip solutions to healthcare and refugees and the environmental crisis down the chimney alongside hoverboards and BB-8s and the latest novels? I really hope you can.
As a magical figure, a fact he notes prominently, you surely must have something to do with this wonderful Letters Live Project as well. Maybe that was the thing I unconsciously asked for in my last hand-written list so many years ago; a little inspiration in a world so frequently lacking. I look forward to hunting through archives and finding more gems where I can hear the reader’s voice so clearly in my head.
So thank you, dear Santa, for gifting this to me. Now please get on with your present giving. And if you’re going to give Cumberbatch his own lightsaber, please give me one too. I like purple.
xo Rachael
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HT Letters Live
Image via People/JAKE CHESSUM
