Stories

Letters to Lelia - Chapter 9 - Uncertainty

“Where are we going to host the science symposium? It has come to my attention that the wisps expect to spend some of their time here discussing multiverse physics with Purple."
Sarah lifted her head from her research to find herself face to face with Roberta. She didn't hear her come in, but that wasn't an unusual occurrence: her private office, the spacious one with its own VR room, covered lanai and garden was anything but. Sarah had long abandoned the expectation that if somebody wanted to stop by, use the equipment or borrow something, they would bother to ask her.
"I assume that any number of conference rooms in this impressive building will prove adequate," she replied.”

Letters to Lelia - Chapter 8 - Nonlinear Time

“Sister, did you finish the table placementcards?" sister Jesse asked sister Benedict."I thought you said you needed themWednesday," sister Benedict replied."Today is Wednesday.""Today is Monday.""I'm pretty sure it's Wednesday."Sister Benedict looked at her calendar. Itsaid Monday. Sister Jesse looked at hers. It said Wednesday."One of us must be losing her mind," sisterBenedict mumbled."And it surely isn't me," sister Jessereplied.”

Letters to Lelia - Chapter 7 Abolishing Fear

“Sister Novis," Lelia whispered, so softlythat Novis, who had just returned from a rock climbing expeditionand was struggling to put away her gear on a high shelf, almostdidn't hear her."Oh, sweetie, I didn't expect to see youhere, I thought your mother kept you busy with the preparations forthe ceremony, your input is very important, you know!" the sistersaid, cheerfully."Not as much as you think. Bondingceremonies are very prescriptive, other than the actual cloudsinvolved, there isn't much that can be changed," Lelia replied.”

Letters to Lelia - Chapter 6 - Status and Rhetoric

“Places, please!" Lily spoke, a littlesharper than she wished. She had shouted directions to staff,friends and caterers all day, and her voice was giving out alittle."Sister Joseph, you will lead theprocession, followed by sister Novis and Sarah, then Seth willbring the rest of the group from the left side of the podium. Sys,queue music," she instructed.A soothing melody poured on the beach,making Purple hum, delighted."Stop!" Lily interrupted the immortal bliss."Where is Humon? He is supposed to stand right behind Lelia,according to tradition.""And the approved list," Seth couldn't helpherself.”

Letters to Lelia - Chapter 5 - Out There

"We are going to wear our ceremonial robes,I assume?" Seth entered Sarah's apothecary.Sarah was mixing perfumes, she and Sys hadcome up with the idea of creating a scent to match the lavendergauze and flower arrangements, even though the plant decorationswere still in question on account of the dragons' appetite. Thesmall shed was saturated with a clamor of floral scents, whichshouted at each other so loudly one could no longer tell themapart. They all ended up in a overpowering blend, screeching insharp tunes of lavender and hyacinth. Lilac tried too assert itselfas a top note too, but it was trounced by the other two scents, andwhimpered helplessly at the end of the lab table where its openvial resided."Good Heavens! Open the louvers, you can cutthe smell with a knife. Whatever it is you are working on rightnow, throw it away it and never consider it again!" Seth protested,stifled by the heavy fragrance. "How can you even breathe in here?I'll never get this smell out of my clothes!""It is a process," Sarah defended theobnoxious perfume.

Letters to Lelia - Chapter 4 - Living in Context

“Who is waiting for Jimmy and Jenna?" sisterNovis poked her head through the door that sister Roberta had leftajar. The sister was revising a last minute idea for thefestivities, secretly offended that Lily was so adamant about nothaving anything happen that wasn't already approved. What abore!"I thought you were," she stopped from herwork to look intently at sister Novis."Nobody told me anything, you worked withJimmy a lot during the last three months, I thought you alreadyarranged something, we all assumed..." the sister defendedherself."All of you always assume, what a punishmentfor the scientific mind!" sister Roberta philosophized. "When arethey supposed to arrive?""They already have, if you'd check thesolenoid room..." sister Novis gently suggested."Oh, dear, they're locked in. How long havethey been there?" sister Roberta started panicking.”
 

Letters to Lelia - Chapter 3 - Who Are You?

“Did you see my notes?" Humon asked,shuffling the pads on Lily's desk. Lily lifted her eyes from themound of packages, reminders, and party decorations that had beenslowly accumulating around her ever since they got the blessed newsthe Bonding Ceremony was going to be celebrated on Terra Two.Her maternal desire to be of assistance toher eldest daughter was fighting an older, more personalityspecific urge to dump everything at once and take a trip to aregion of space she hadn't visited before. She realized, whilethinking this, that there were no regions she'd never seen, andstrained her overwhelmed mind to figure out if and where she sawHumon's work. She jerked, aggravated.”

Letters to Lelia - Chapter 2 - The Gates of Perception

“Who is in charge of the hors d'oeuvres?" Sethasked."Sister Abigail," Roberta replied, focusedon a delicate piece of machinery that needed soldering under themicroscope."You're not serious!" Seth yelled, makingRoberta's hand shake for a second.The pen slid over the board, covering itwith a slobber of molten metal. "Thanks!" Roberta snapped, snatchedthe slide from the microscope and threw it on the growing pile ofsimilar slides in the trash can, proof that the sister had keptvery busy the whole morning."Who in their right mind would put sisterAbigail in charge of cooking anything?" Seth continued, like a slowgrowing storm, ready to strike at any moment."Do you realize that I've been working onthat board for the last six hours and I finally got it right?"sister Roberta growled at Seth."That means your next one will be evenbetter. Who put sister Abigail in charge of the hors d'oeuvres?"Seth asked, deadly calm.”

Letters to Lelia - Chapter 1 - Love.Purple.

"What exactly are you doing?" sister Roberta asked Sarah, who was fumbling with a knotted bunch of ribbons, growing more frustrated by the minute.
"I can't believe I'm wasting my time with this! Where is Sys? Why can't we just remake this?" the redhead abandoned the struggle, her cheeks flushed and her eyes gleaming furiously. "Can you take this to your lab and bring me back a fresh spool of non-knotted ribbon? You have no idea how many things I have to do right now, all at the same time!"
"I think I beat you in that department, my dear. I haven't even started the staging for the light show, so if you'll excuse me..." Roberta left before Sarah had a chance to pass on to her the ribbon unknotting challenge.
"What. For. Use. Ribbon." Purple inserted their unavoidable wisdom. "Wisp. Think. Matter. Worthless. Anyway."

Letters to Lelia - One Thousand Years Later

Vlor Consular Mission in Airydew, Terra Two, July 2nd, 3245
Beloved Lelia,
My eyes well up with joy seeing you all grown up and ready to set out on your own path. Many centuries passed me by, they brought me challenges and successes, knowledge, wisdom and occasional silliness, and they opened my eyes to the universe, this strange and wonderfully complex, multi-layered reality I could never have dreamed existed.
Of all the precious gifts this unbelievable dream ever gave me, you are the greatest, my child, for I can’t even fathom what you are, or how you fit into our limited understanding of existence, half real, half thought and gifted with the perception of a lot more dimensions than us humans can grasp.