Chapter Text
1991
Childhood felt so long ago for someone like Mike Wheeler. Perhaps it was because it was constantly interrupted by monsters and the military. Or maybe time really did fly. Maybe it was never truly there.
Regardless of all that, Mike had to keep growing. To keep moving with the rest of the world. Even after the night that left a black hole inside of him, and hadn’t gone away since. And Hawkins had become almost unrecognizable since that night. Slowly and surely, everyone had moved on…going on new adventures elsewhere while Mike found himself staying in Hawkins.
It wasn’t all bad for him. He had been busy pursuing his dreams as a writer, and had a couple of fantasy stories that were modest successes across the country. And then, his third novel was a bestseller. It was a story that was more or less a retelling of the events of the battles with the Upside Down, though a lot of details were changed to make sure no one could connect the dots. It was over a thousand painstakingly written pages, but it was the quickest Mike had written.
But as soon as he finished that story, he was already onto the next. This new story he was working on currently was one he wanted to make for a while. But he was having some trouble with it. It wasn’t a grand adventure like his other stories. It was a romance, and it was quite a simple one. Yet despite its simplicity, Mike couldn’t figure out how he wanted to end it. He looked at the framed picture of Eleven next to his typewriter. She’d know what to do. Mike believed that with all of his heart. He also believed she was still alive, even if everyone else had slowly grown to live with peace with her “death.”
His thoughts were interrupted by a knocking on his door. He went to open it and was greeted by the smile of his younger sister, Holly Wheeler who said, "Hi Mike!"
"Hey, Holly," Mike smiled back. "How was the last day of school?"
As Mike went back to his desk, Holly followed and answered, "Glad to be done with middle school, but do I really have to do these last four years?"
Mike laughed as he replied, "Well, by the time you finish high school you'll be itching to go to college. Trust me."
Holly pulled up a chair next to her older brother as she asked, "How's the new novel coming along?"
Mike shook his head, as he said with a sigh, "I just can't quite figure out the ending."
"Well," Holly said, "It's the one about El, right?"
"Yeah," Mike said, "But I don't know if the story would hit with a happy ending or an ending similar to...well..."
Holly nodded, as she said, "Do you ever wonder about how she would want you to write the ending?"
Mike immediately responded, "For sure. I just wish I could actually, you know...show her."
Holly got up and went to give her brother a hug, as Mike smiled and let out a few tears though he managed to wipe his eyes quickly.
Holly pulled back, as she said, "Oops, I don't want to crush the mail now."
Holly always liked getting the mail, for reasons that no one, not even Holly herself really knew.
"What's in the mail?" Mike asked, turning his chair to face her as she headed towards the door.
Holly shuffled through it as she said, "Lot of bills and ads for Mom and Dad. Just all the boring stuff...except for this...postcard. It's addressed to here, but it doesn't say who it's for. Weird, I just noticed it."
"Let me see," Mike said as he got up and Holly handed him the postcard.
"I gotta go," Holly said after handing the card, "The gang is going to Starcourt, and I don't want to miss out on whatever it is we're gonna do there."
"Have fun!" Mike responded as Holly rushed out, as he heard her talking with their parents as he closed the door. Mike finally took a look at the postcard after this...and then he froze, eyes widening. It was some place in Iceland, with waterfalls. He turned it over to the backside where it simply had a sticker of a smiley face that said with a speech bubble "Come Visit!"
"Somewhere with...three waterfalls."
All Mike could feel in that moment was all the emotions from that night. November 6th, 1987.
This postcard...it had to be her. It had to be El.
Mike quickly rushed to his phone as he frantically dialed a number and hoped for an answer.
"Mike! How's it going?" That was the voice of Will Byers on the other end, as Mike breathed a sigh of relief.
Mike hoped Will would help him make the right call here.