He opened the front door and collected the mail.  “Maybe this is the big day,” he thought. The stack looked promising. The envelope might be hidden in between all the catalogs and junk mail. He sorted the items into piles. Each time he glimpsed a long thin envelope his heart leaped. As soon as he saw the corporate logos he would rip the envelope in half and toss it into the wastebasket.

He picked up a particularly thick envelope from a credit card company and tried to tear it up as usual. “Damn, they waste so much money on these mailings,” he thought. He opened the envelope and threw the tough plastic coated sheet into the trash.

He finished going through the pile. “As usual, nothing,” he thought.

His shoulders slumped as he plopped into his favorite chair. He smiled when he saw the blue jay perched on the bird feeder.

“I bet it will come tomorrow,” he said to himself.