4

My Very Greatest Friend Ember,

I am very happy to report that I am in love as well, so we shall not have to argue with each other about your wonderful sounding 'Just Edward' when I come home. But don't get excited just yet, I have yet to meet the man you have dreamed of me with for myself. But its this place, this place is like a dream. and I love it here. Of course I miss you, and my family, but I'm so glad that I took the chance of coming here and that this is the location for me to have adventures, before I come home and have to take on all the responsibilities that father has yet to give me.
I am also very happy to report that the lovely scarlet gown was too precious to put into the non-necessities pile I created. And I hope to wear it again soon. Perhaps to your wedding. Or some other big event.
Please do not worry about the bugs and nearly capsizing. I am still alive and have gotten used to the fact that bugs are everywhere. And you can't stop them. But the beauty of the islands makes the small critters everywhere endurable. And I suppose you could say that it adds to the ambiance of the lush islands.
Poor Mr. Rush! I feel terrible that he didn't have the opportunity to sweep you off your feet the way that Mr. Stone did. But since Mr. Stone has now taken to you and you to him, I'm sure that the second most eligible bachelor in London will have young ladies swooning when he walks into a room without you at his arm.
I can't contain the delight at your news of Edward! What a perfect way to meet and fall in love! It sounds like your wishes have finally come true. I think that all that was missing was a full moon to brighten the garden. I'll say it again, what a perfect way to find love!

Oh no! Its time for dinner, I forgot. There will be more to write in the morning after the suffocating air of dinner has passed. Goodnight!

Next Morning:
Yes. More and more to write after dinner. Well, shall I start?
Every morning I wake up and have a wonderful day filled with happiness because of my love for the thick green foliage of the rain forests. And ever night at dinner, I change my mind. Ah! The agony of a delicious foreign dinner. Yes, the dinner itself is delectable, but the company I am forced to keep is more then much less than that.
Let me give you a list of words to describe the company...
Humdrum.
My spirit is stifled by the insipid company I keep at dinner.
There is a party of four at dinner every night. Uncle Greggory, his partner Charles McKinley, and the American scientist a Mr. Bailey who called Uncle here, and to whom I am invisible.
Now, about dinner. No one but Uncle and Mr. McKinley speak to me. I run out of things to say. And I feel like I must say something to keep the entire situation out of the uncomfortable silence that squeezes its way into our conversations when nobody has anything else to say. If you were here I could at least not have to talk, and let you do it for me. Its tiring to have to speak all the time, almost non-stop through the three courses served every night. Maybe I should run away for a night and have a picnic by the cliff side observatory in silence. You are my very best friend, and my close second friend is silence, which never seems to want to stay by my side. Its exhausting to try and keep a conversation going. I don't know how you do it. When I went with you to all the parties and balls and other socializing events I always bothered you about talking too much, and made you leave early with me. I'm so sorry, an I promise I will never do it again. I now long for the days that you did all the talking, while a silent me stood behind you like a shadow. I can truthfully say that, those were the days.
I suppose you will want to know about the rest of the trip to the island, after what happened on the way with the people in the caravan who called me Narcissus, and the small town that I couldn't pronounce.
Well, nothing too extreme, but I don't have very fond memories about our arrival.
Starting at the beginning...
After leaving the town of a word I cannot say, our traveling conditions were upgraded to a very nice little boat to take us to the island, and a group of native horses to take us to our final destination. I don't know where those horses came from or how there was enough room on the boat for them, or how they survived the little craft, but they did. And I am now eternally grateful for their presence around our encampment like dwelling.
Anyways, when we finally arrived at the site where we would be living for the next while, Uncle told me that the scientist that had called for his assistance, with a certain project of his, would meet us later at the cliff-side observatory for dinner later that evening. And that I had exactly four hours to unpack and prepare for the meal. He also said that it would be best if I arrived there early. He said that Mr. Bailey did not tolerate any excuse for being late to an event. Then he turned and left me standing in the doorway of our newly built habitation, and started walking up the hill to where I assumed the observatory was.
I turned to explore the place that I would be living for the rest of our stay with great enthusiasm and in that moment was completely overcome by exhaustion. Our long journey was finally over for the time being, and I had time to recuperate. So before the weariness could completely take over my body, I sluggishly crawled up the stairs to find my room. And at the third door I peeked into, I was greeted with the joy of finding a place, that was mine, in which I could rest up for dinner. And with a renewed energy I ran up the the newly made bed and jumped onto the covers, ruining the work of whoever had taken the time to make it look nice, and fell asleep on the spot. Not taking time to notice anything about the beautiful room except for the bed and the window which was opened just a crack to let the cool breeze from outside cool the now occupied space.
I had the best sleep since leaving home, without dreams and deep. And when I awoke, I was invigorated. I had more life in me the I did when I took the first step of these long travels. I walked over to the window and looked out over the silent, and dark foreign land, and then thought about what I had just thought. 'Dark? I was supposed to do something...Oh no! Dinner!' I rushed up the the vanity mirror and made sure that after sleeping I was still presentable, then slammed the door open and almost flew down the stairs and out the homes entrance. In the time it had taken me to walk up the stairs, find my new room and fall asleep, I was up the tall hill and in the doors of the nearest building which I prayed was the observatory. As soon as I had passed through the mammoth doors I was greeted by a man whom I took to be a butler or valet of some kind who was quite young and good looking. When he saw the look on my face and heard my heavy breathing he immediately guessed why I was there. He took me to another set of doors at the end of a long and dimly lit hallway. I thanked him, took a deep breath, and entered the room.
I suppose that I should have knocked instead of imposing on the occupants conversation, but I was in such a big hurry that I hardly took the time to think of a way to put my apology. But I didn't so it was a much bigger embarrassment to me.
I walked into the room and received silence and a glare from a man I didn't know. And whom I took to be Mr. Bailey. I was somewhat prepared for the silence, but was taken by surprise by the glare. And was so shocked that I blurted "I'm sorry." turned, walked back out the door, and left. It was only when I exited the mammoth doors that I realized that breakfast had been almost nine hours before, that I had skipped lunch, that I had just given a terrible first impression to our host, and that now I had no dinner to eat. And dinner from now on was going to be an something that I would not look forward to for quite a while.
I had just stepped out of the light of the observatory when I gave a quiet sigh and looked up. My breath was whisked from my lungs and I couldn't take another one. The stars were absolutely beautiful! The most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life except for the time when Heath was teasing Sarah Fenton by tugging her braids and her father got angry and pulled him home by the ear to tell Father what he had been doing. I think that was the only time someone stood up to my father and Heath, the bonehead. I'm sorry, I'll finish now.
The stars, were obviously gorgeous. And I was compelled to just stand there and stare at them. So I did. I don't know how long I had been standing there, but I was startled out of the daze I had entered into, by a voice. The words spoken by the voice were amused and it seemed like whoever was speaking them was laughing at some unspoken joke, "How was dinner?" That was all they said, but it was enough to push me a little too far. I turned slowly turned around and without looking into the voices face, stomped on their foot. Then once again I turned, and ran down the hill as fast as I could and back into the house, up the stairs, and into my room once again, this time with angry energy burning within me, and that's when I realized that I had done something terrible, and that I should apologize, I also noticed how nice that vanity was.
Since that time I have tried to find out whose foot I stomped on, and I think I have figured out who it was, but my pride has kept me from apologizing. Also, I have only spoken to a numbered few outside of dinner. The rest of my time is spent around one of the villagers who I call 'Silla, a girl about our age who can speak our language, and time other then that is spent exploring.

I hope you are still doing well, and I'm so glad about the happenings in you life!

Your Stomping Friend,
Lavie