Time and Dirt
(First Day -- Previous Day -- Day 24 -- Next Day)
Day 24
Heliopause Colony on Planet Vertumna, Medbay
“Solane... I’m back again. Back here where I can hopefully be a bit in peace again... I never realized how much I appreciated this. Aside from some of the whirring and wheezing here it’s like the quietest place in the colony now, I think, no shouting, no screaming, no manticoral noise coming from the garrison that lays itself over everything like some morning fog, except it’s THE WHOLE DAY LONG. Ugh.
Even at home there’s shouting now... admittedly mostly by me. I never knew I could be this irritable. Maybe really it’s because I’m not getting enough sleep anymore. My mother keeps telling me to not cut back on it, that sleep deprivation isn’t *worth it*, but I can’t keep up with work otherwise anymore! At least not if I ever want to see you again the next ... months, I fear. It’s so frustrating. And... below that it’s even scaring me a bit. I don’t really fear a lot, but being cut off from you...
It’d be like depriving a flower from sunshine! ... Because, remember what you once told me after I joked about how my mother calls me? That I’m not just a little ray of sunshine, but the entire sun? I don’t want to have to picture you withering here away.
Like, like some of the flowers in the park under the gazebo already did now because, uh, I didn’t get around to watering them anymore the past week or so with everything that’s been happening. I still feel bad for them, and because I know you and your mother liked those in particular. But ... our food crops really have to take priority right now. E-even if it also can mean letting ... letting weeds, I mean... ugh, I- I don’t want to abandon our friends we raised together in the park, but what can I do at this point, Solane?
I can’t let the xeno barn work be delegated to someone else forever, either. Who knows what is happening there now. What if Governor Lum has some *ideas* for those as well? But how could I even find time for that on top of everything else...
...
Dear stars, Solane, I’m nodding off here again. I’m sorry, I think I need to leave... I’ll make it up to you and we’ll spend more time together again, soon.
...
Wait, what are these weird boxes and devices here near your bed? They weren’t here the past days. Are... aren’t those more weird medical devices and ... substances? Ugh, what is Doctor Instance planning now? You probably just need a bit more rest, right? I think so at least, so I’ll better leave you to it. See you tomorrow, Solane...”