Do you like to write letters, but have no one to write to? Or perhaps, you have little in common with your relatives to write about. Let me guide you into new worlds through doorways in your own mind - with a little help from the United States Postal Service. Wonderful adventures await those who correspond through ghost letters.
No, you don't need a medium to carry ghost letter mail. Regular postage will do. "Ghost letters" is a correspondence game between two real people pretending to be someone, or even something, else.
One correspondent might be a knight on a magical quest, writing down his adventures in faerie to his lady-love at home. Such quests come complete with ubiquitous ogres, giants, trolls, unicorns, maidens in distress, and other merry adventures.
The person pretending to be the lady back at the castle comments on those adventures, and relates her own excitements on the home front. Perhaps there has been a siege by a neighbor which she cleverly ended. Perhaps the family wizard has decided to retire, so now the castle has no magical defenses. Possible new wizards being interviewed could be told in a highly amusing manner. It could be that during the interlude between wizards she had to contend with a pesky dragon with only her own wits, and a magical hobbyist's ineffectual help.
Having received her letter, it is now the turn of the knight. And so it goes, until both writers reach a mutually happy finish, and the game ends.
Ghost letter games last an indefinite length of time. Some games last for only two or three exchanges while others develop into dozens, even hundreds of letters. Some, like Sorcery And Cecelia by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer become published books. It all depends on the correspondents' imaginations and tenacity. Eventually, the stories end - as every story must. But, that provides an opportunity to become other characters and start the game anew.
There is no reason why you can't play several ghost letter games with several different people at the same time. Perhaps, however, you don't have any friends or relatives willing or able to play this game. Even if, through health problems, you are completely isolated you can still find others who will enjoy gaming with you.
There are several pen pal clubs available to which you can apply. Due care should be taken, however, to know something about a correspondent before exchanging letters. In this vein, the one pen pal club I can personally recommend is The Letter Exchange located at P.O. Box 6218 - Albany, California 94706. Their motto is "meet minds, not people". Many more clubs advertise through writer's magazines that I have no personal experience with, and therefore can not recommend.
Another possibility is your local writer's club. Many writers, both professionals and hobbyists, play the ghost letter game. It is one way collaborative books happen.
If you don't have a local writer's club, you probably do have a community college which gives classes in creative writing. People who sign up for those classes are the same mind set as those who play the ghost letter game. It doesn't matter if they are interested in becoming professional story-tellers, or are there for the personal enjoyment in exercising their imaginations.
Any of these resources could lead to enjoyable contact with knights, elves, mermaids, and other fantasy denizens. Or if the future is more interesting, robots, alien life-forms, persons and creatures from alternate worlds await your imaginations. Or any other reality your minds can envision. Your only limits are those you set for yourself. HAPPY GHOSTING.