Project Gutenberg 2016-02-23 Public domain in the USA. 127 Marlowe, Stephen 1928 2008 Lesser, Milton Thames, C. H. Ridgway, Jason Chase, Adam Wilder, Stephen Granger, Darius John Lesser, Milt Sibley, Don Sibley, Donald Dibley, Don Pen Pal Produced from Galaxy Science Fiction July 1951 Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "Pen Pal" by Milton Lesser is a science fiction novella first published in the early 1950s. This story explores themes of romance, human connection, and the boundaries of reality through the perspective of Matilda Penshaws, a 33-year-old woman on a mission to find a husband. With a blend of humor and surrealism, the narrative delves into Matilda's whimsical quest for love via pen pals, culminating in an unexpected encounter that challenges her perceptions of both companionship and the extraordinary. In the story, Matilda becomes captivated by a pen pal ad from Haron Gorka, a self-proclaimed well-traveled man seeking female correspondents. Determined to meet him in person, she travels to Cedar Falls, only to find that Gorka is an eccentric whose supposed adventures are bewildering and seemingly nonsensical. As she engages with Gorka, she discovers a bizarre reality where he, along with his wife, appears to be connected to a much larger cosmic existence, far beyond her earthly experiences. Ultimately, after facing disappointment and the surreal conclusion of her adventure, Matilda reflects on her expectations and the nature of love, realizing that pursuing such whimsical fantasies may not lead to the fulfillment she desires. Rather, her experience emphasizes the importance of finding a balance between romantic ideals and practical relationships in a world filled with unexpected complexities. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 82.8 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories Single women -- Fiction Human-alien encounters -- Fiction PS Text Science Fiction Browsing: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Browsing: Fiction Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Category: Romance Category: Humour Category: Novels 57717 2025-06-20T14:42:55.686222 text/html 34046 2024-10-23T00:05:51 text/html 277640 2025-06-20T14:42:57.746203 application/epub+zip 276485 2025-06-20T14:42:56.129273 application/epub+zip 81084 2025-06-20T14:42:55.886216 application/epub+zip 312978 2025-06-20T14:42:59.149210 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 305728 2025-06-20T14:42:57.511189 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 110676 2022-09-23T10:49:59.022557 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 50488 2023-09-22T08:56:17.927080 text/plain 30784 2024-10-23T00:05:51 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 17286 2025-06-20T14:42:59.297183 application/rdf+xml 26719 2025-06-20T14:42:55.968259 image/jpeg 4692 2025-06-20T14:42:55.927238 image/jpeg 250765 2025-06-20T14:42:55.703240 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia