Son

A mild fall is being chipped away by the first frosts of winter. The pile of leaves that we worked to make giant is slowly become smaller and smaller as the crisp wind takes the leaves away. Although I do like the snow, winter has never been my favorite season. The energy of the world just vanishes as everything hibernates quietly. I miss having Cadriethiel around. Her excitement for winter made the season made things much more enjoyable.

I called her to see how she was doing, but I mostly wanted to hear her voice. Cadrie told me that she is doing well. Nothing has been too hard, and she's slowly and steadily been moving up in her career. She knows it will take a couple more years at least before she gets any real sort of influence though. Cadrie also told me that Anondil is doing just fine as well. He can finish books faster than she can believe. At first, Cadrie couldn't understand how he wrote so fast. Then she remembered that Anondil doesn't need to sleep like we do.

Comings and Goings

Things have quieted down the past couple months. I am very grateful for that for I knew controlled chaos would reign once again when Nikara and I had our children. As per my word, Nikara has quietly stayed in the house or yard as her boy grew. Well, I say grew, but it was very hard to tell. Nikara barely gained a bump even as she reached the last weeks of pregnancy. When  I took her to check-ups, the doctors always told me everything was fine. Some mothers, due to their body types and the baby's position, don't show very much. How lucky for her, I thought a bit enviously. My pregnancies have always result in a prominent stomach. It would be nice to not have so much extra weight to get in my way.

Help Support Morning Musume's 52nd Single!

In case you're not familiar with Japanese Pop music, Morning Musume (Moo-sue-meh) was founded all the way back in 1997 by the well-known singer, songwriter, and producer, Terada Mitsuo. He commonly goes by the name Tsunku.

Besides being a successful producer, Tsunku is also proficient in the refined activity of trolling other people

Tsunku held an audition to find a female vocalist for his band, Sharan Q. He would use the five runners-up from his audition, Nakazawa Yuko, Abe Natsumi, Iida Kaori, Fukuda Asuka, and Ishiguro Aya, to be the first generation of what would become Morning Musume. Yes, the first generation. Morning Musume is known for its ever changing lineup. Girls will graduate for various reasons- they grow out of the pop idol life, they want to follow other interests, they get too old, they get involved in scandals- while auditions are held almost yearly for new girls to replace them. Each time new girls are added, they are referred to as being part of a generation. There have been eleven generations so far, and overall, 34 girls have been a part of Morning Musume.

Trouble in Paradise

The two and a half months that had passed since we arrived in Monte Vista had been perfect. However, the tranquility our family found could not last forever. I'm surprised that it lasted that long. In every land, even the my dear elvish one, there are those with dark hearts. It was late one night when a thief broke into the house. The siren was tolerable this time around thanks to my room being furthest away from the alarm. The thief ran away before he could even get past the foyer, but this unwelcome intruder would be the first to trigger more unfortunate events.

Monte Vista

It took us six days to reach Monte Vista, the new town we would be living in. Thankfully, the long trip was nothing like the torture of the week-long drive that took me to Appaloosa Plains. I had my daughters around this time to talk and play with. I kept thinking though that now I am nearly twice as far away from home as I was before. The elvish lands really do feel like nothing more than a dream to me now. It's quite hard to believe my home and this new place are even on the same continent. I honestly believed that I had been tricked somehow and we had actually traveled overseas. Monte Vista is even more beautiful than Appaloosa Plains, and the atmosphere is so completely different. Even Nikara had no more complaints when we pulled up to our new house.

Goodbye

In my time here I've learned of the phrase "The straw that breaks the camel's back." Ureliel's death was that straw, although in reality the weight was more of a giant boulder. My state was already so fragile. Now I can barely hang on. Most mornings I wake up feeling suffocated from the sobs that result of this horrible dream of mine that I keep having. Elrunamir and Ureliel are there, but they disappear into darkness despite all my efforts. I'm left in that darkness with only the feeling of despair and loss. Unfortunately, those feelings don't vanish even in the waking world.

The Second Punch

Slowly, a little by little day by day, I've learned to go about doing what I need to do cheerfully even though Elrun is gone. Keeping myself busy is what helps the most. Nikara and I spend a lot of time outside now that she has gotten older. She grows to look more and more like her father with each day that passes. Yves hasn't been able to afford the trip over, and I don't have enough by myself, so the two still haven't met. The two talk on the phone all the time though. It's enough for now.