Submission (#3062) Approved

Linnea wasn’t a fan of being alone. It wasn’t that she couldn’t tolerate it or had a fear of silence or thoughts that loneliness brought. Being alone meant that there wasn’t anyone to share fun experiences or treats with. She couldn’t imagine eating a whole tray of cookies by herself, or trying to play a game for only one elnin. Being alone was quite boring, and miasma season this year made her feel quite lonely.

She wasn’t completely alone, of course. Linnea had her mother at home with her, but her entire family hadn’t stayed in Kyendi this season. Her sister, Sunflower, and her father had decided to travel to the Palu’au Islands to visit a friend and couldn’t return home in time before the season set in. It was possible they could have carefully come home with those who were experts in traveling past towns through the miasma, but their parents decided via letters that it would be safer for Sunflower to stay on the islands with her friends and father until it was safe for them to travel back home. Linnea loved her mother, of course, but not having her sister to play with put a damper to all of her plans and her entire mood!

Linnea found herself walking aimlessly near her house one day, having no plans for the day in mind and having no energy to plan something out. The first thing she had thought about that morning was how she wanted to ask her sister to try and bake a cake with her- but alas, Sunflower was far, far away right now. The kittom’s mind wandered to the letters that her mother and father had exchanged at the start of miasma season which solidified their plans until the next season rolled in. That’s when the idea hit her - Linnea’s sister may not be here, but that didn’t mean Linnea couldn’t chat with her! The kittom smiled brightly to herself as she practically bounced over back to her home and dashed inside to begin rummaging around for supplies. After almost pulling a drawer out too far and dropping all the contents onto her head and onto the floor, Linnea managed to grab some parchment, a pencil, and an envelope without so much as a scratch.

Writing something at home would be easy, but sitting inside didn’t feel very inspiring. Linnea decided to look for a place where she could see her and Sunflower hanging out so she could feel like her sister was really there as she wrote her letter. Linnea couldn’t go far from town so that left her with only a few options. After mulling over her options, she decided to trot up onto the highest hill within her town and take in the sight before her.

Below the skyline was lots and lots of green. Kyendi was known for the forests it held, and even from the top of this hill Linnea could see the tops of many trees below her. There were even some trees near her sitting place, but not enough to hinder her view of the land below or hide her from the sky above. If anything, the rolling mist that lingered between the tree tops below hindered her sight more than anything. It was late morning and yet there was still mist and fog looming around the area, unbothered by the sun above. Linnea looked up at the sky and turned her attention towards something in the distance. Though faint, she could make out the islands of floating islands in the sky. They were large chunks of earth that looked like they had practically been scooped out of the earth by a monstrous paw and tossed into the air. Some had streams of water falling from them, and at this distance it was difficult to see if the water from the waterfalls hit the ground or evaporated before reaching anything. While she couldn’t see the ends of the water falls from this distance, she could see several orange and yellow sunshard crystals floating next to the islands, keeping them in place within the sky.

Once she was done looking at her surroundings and deeming it a suitable place to write, Linnea finally unfurled her parchment and took out her pencil to begin writing.

‘ Dearest Sunflower,

Hey sis! I hope you’re well! Nothing interesting going on here, just watching one of the floating islands fall to the ground. Haha, kidding! But could you imagine? I have no idea what they would do if something like that happened.

How are the islands? Are they warm and sunny? I bet seeing the sea and all those tropical flowers is a nice change of pace from all the green and mist over here! Bring me home a flower or two, okay? I want to see some nice pink and red flowers!

Tell papa I say Hi and that I miss him. And tell yourself that I miss you lots! I can’t wait for you both to come home. The moment you’re home, let’s go explore some of the nearby ruins like we did before you left and have a picnic! I’ll make all the food and treats if you lead the expedition!

Love you lots, and I hope to see you and papa soon.

Take care!

Linnea’

With the extra space on the page left behind due to the kittom’s small handwriting, Linnea decided to draw out some of the islands and added a few details of her own for the parts she couldn’t quite make out at this distance. Floating rocks, floating shards, a waterfall from one of the islands, and flowers on the green tops of the islands. With the addition of her doodles the letter was now full and ready to be sent off. She carefully folded the parchment, placed the letter into the envelope, and sealed it tight before writing the address of Sunflower’s friend, who she and her father were staying with. After placing all the postage it needed ( and probably a little extra, just in case it wasn’t enough ) Linnea made her way down the grassy hill towards the center of town. She had been a little slower than she would have been several minutes too late to send off her letter in the latest letter pick up. Thankfully she caught the older elnin gathering all the letters just in time and handed hers off to him, thanking him for his help.

Linnea watched the elnin take all the letters, including hers into his wagon before heading out of town. Though Sunflower wasn’t with her, writing the letter assured her that her words would reach her sister soon enough, and that they’d be together again before long. Linnea headed home and spent the rest of the day thinking of all the sun things she and Sunflower could do once everyone was back home again.