Phantom Hunters | Saphir Casters Academy

33 | Struggles of a Letter

XXXIII | STRUGGLES OF A LETTER

    Kael stared at the blank piece of paper on his desk, waiting for words to appear. He refused to acknowledge the crumpled papers around the trash bin that had been in the shoes of the blank piece he was currently staring at.

    He held Lana's letter in his hands, reading it over and seeing if she mentioned what she would have liked to hear. Then, he stared out the window, which looked out into a small wooded area. He could barely see the trees under the moonlight.

    He picked up his pen for the umpteenth time and hovered it over the paper, contemplating his words. He had never written a letter before, but he never imagined it would be so difficult.

Dear Aunt Lana, he wrote. I have been well at the academy.

    He paused. What else did he have to say? He released a guttural noise of frustration. It just wasn't working. What could he tell her? That he got into trouble and had three weeks of community service? That Roder had followed him to Saphir Casters Academy and continued his torment? Or maybe tell her how Kly was still a rarity even when they were living in the same dorm?

    Dropping the pen, he banged his forehead on the table. "Think, think, think." Each word was simultaneous with another bang. "What would Aunt Lana want to know?"

    Once again, he glanced at her own letter. It was simple, with not too much information, yet Kael knew that she, Hont, and Afia were well. She was worried about him, but she had accepted the fact that he would pursue the career of a phantom hunter. How could he relay his own messages to her without giving her useless information like how the bristles of his toothbrush were getting messed up?

I miss you.

    No. He splotched the last bit out.

Kly has been taking good care of me. I have also made a lot of new friends. Wynt is from Sqorjick. He taught me how to the people of Sqorjick say bye. One day, when we meet again, I'll show you. He plays an instrument called the viola, and he's really good. He doesn't like to perform though. Rita is from the southern part of Bijou. She says she used to be a farm girl. I guess that explains why she always wears overalls. Tyra is from Rumivia. She's really proud of her country. She always wears armor, but I'm not sure why. Maybe it's a Rumivian custom. Fadhia is a girl from Arridia. She's even more talkative than I am, as unbelievable as that sounds.

I also met this boy named Garun. He's from Orachea — the country of bluebirds. He's really distant. I want to be his friend but he never lets anyone to get close to him. I don't know why. Do you have any advice?

    Kael paused, rereading his letter. He didn't know if he was doing it right, but he knew Lana wouldn't be too mad if he didn't follow a certain structure. After all, she never taught him how to write a letter, so that must have meant he could do it however he wanted.

I met Roder here. He's still really mean, but he doesn't disturb me as much as he did when we were back home. I think it's because he's in a different class. I'm very happy here. And I'm safe so please don't worry.

    He scratched out the please.

In my fitco class, I learned what it's like to use different weapons. I still want a sword, though. We also started designing our insignias. Mine doesn't look too pretty, but our sigils class teacher promised our designs would be improved by a professional artist. She's really nice. I like her. Aside from Kly, she's probably one of my favourite teachers. She reminds me of you when you talk to Afia — really gentle and sweet.