Journal the Eleventh

[theabjectauthor]

Good afternoon, everyone. First of all, I apologize if I am interrupting anything important you may be involved in, in which case you may close your journal and weight it down with something significantly heavy, such as a can of pineapple juice or a stuffed animal with a crucial artifact cleverly hidden within, and carry on about your business.

Those of you who have a moment of free time to spare, I thank you for listening. If we have not already met or spoken, my name is Lemony Snicket, and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Several months ago, I proposed a forum and a gathering of sorts for those in residency who enjoy the collection and sharing of knowledge, of many forms and sorts. For those of you interested in a list of exemplary qualities, I would be happy to share my previous announcement with you.

But to save time, and eschew any particularly verbose redundancy - a phrase which here means "avoid being both repetitive and unnecessarily wordy", which is not honestly a valid word, but will do for the sake of clarity and brevity - I would simply like to say that anyone who wishes to volunteer for discussion and other pleasant pastimes may meet me in the library, upon the second floor, this Saturday morning at half past ten. A pleasant brunch will be served, and hopefully we can all become properly acquainted with one another.

In the meantime, you may direct any questions to me over the journal, or in person - I will be spending the remainder of my afternoon in the games room, if anyone would care to join me at cribbage or any other similar recreation.

[he pauses, about to say "with all due respect", then remembers that he is not dictating a letter, simply a message. oops. improper rhetoric simply will not do]

I hope that you are all having a pleasant afternoon, or that circumstances change if you are not.

[and true to his word, anyone who wanders into the Game Room this afternoon will find him sitting at a card table, playing himself at solitaire with a root beer float nearby, and a chair opposite him pulled out, invitingly]

Comments

[the_effect_she_has]

It's all right - a lot of people have been dealing with the same thing. It's hard to know how to face grief, even when you have faced it many times before.

[theabjectauthor]

Well-said, Katniss. Grief is rather like an unpleasant medicine ... from time to time, it is necessary to swallow it down in order to stay alive and carry on, but every time we are handed the spoon or small, mass-produced plastic cup, it tastes no better than the first dose we were given - indeed, it only serves to remind us how terrible the experience was in the first place. But the taste does fade in time, as does the illness.

[the_effect_she_has]

Precisely right, Lemony. We need to get through the bad taste in our mouth, to start to heal. So ... just give people some time. Hell, give yourself time. You've been shoved into a position where hell is breaking out all around you. Get your bearings.

[theabjectauthor]

Oh, I have them - it is why I have been spending so much time in the library. The world is quiet here.

[the_effect_she_has]

I've never found peace indoors ... I suppose that's a mark of how different we are.

[theabjectauthor]

I, for one, am glad for our differences. It would be a terribly boring place to live if everyone in Paradisa were the same.

[the_effect_she_has]

Considering how this place tries to crush us together? I think it's a mark of how much we want to keep our individuality.

[theabjectauthor]

And how resilient we are in being able to do so, as well. ... I have to say, Katniss, I admire your tenacity.

[the_effect_she_has]

[She's quiet for a moment, her grey eyes casting down.] I've been weak. I know they've gotten close to breaking me ... have broken me, but I have to survive. Sometimes, I think that is the only thing that keeps me sane - this terrible need to live, no matter what. Even when I've convinced myself that I am going to sacrifice myself - I live.

[She smirked, bitterly.] If I didn't let the Games take that from me, I am certainly not going to let a pile of bricks.