Tales From Talimara

Orianu's Letter

In the Stellar District of Cryaria, many well-established families live. One of them is the House of Miridenk, distinguished business people with a well-respected history. Their eldest daughter and heiress, Orianu, attends day school at the Cryarian Lakeview Academy, and shares her thoughts about one of her friends in a letter to our present.

My name is Orianu Miridenk. My middle names are Ellie and Matilda. For the sake of formal introduction, I am Orianu Ellie Matilda of the Cryarian House of Miridenk. I am presently eighteen biocycles old but have lived for over fifty years. It's strange how we're still in school after all this time. You would think history asked itself the question of why people still come to school when all the knowledge in the world is now available at the snap of a finger. I'm serious. It's true. Or maybe I'm the only one who activates her mindgate projections that way.

You know, to me it actually makes sense that we would choose to write letters to the people on Earth living in the past. The way I see it, we know that people lived here in the past, but we can't say the same about the future. Agreed, Talimara was founded to last forever, and as of now it's done over four thousand years' worth of it. Nowadays we call Cryaria the City of Eternity, and it seems to be coming truer every day. Some of these letters we write will be sent back to earlier Ages of Talimara; others will be sent back to the period before the Age of the Ancients. Maybe if you're from that time, then I'll make it simple for you to understand. This continent was still known as North America then.

So, to tell you a bit about myself! I am the eldest daughter and heiress to a powerful Cryarian House. My ancestors owned one of the largest commercial giants in the Talimaran Interior, and we have lived in Cryaria for close to twenty-four centuries. So I guess you could say- pun intended- that we have a strong capital heritage. Let me tell you who else lives here, though. Don't think I'm silly. Socialites like me are big on gossip. Or if you prefer, think of me simply as a blessed teenaged schoolgirl. I'm serious. That's generally how I think of myself. My little brother and sister have more idea of how to perceive how wealthy our family is. I just use allowances to make sure I'm well-dressed, and have on a floral perfume and a nice set of jewelry when I go to school every day.

Why? We girls like to be as eye-catching as possible. I'm sure it was the same in your time. But the girls who attend the Academy- the Nationally-renowned Cryarian Lakeview Academy, no less- have more to worry about than your average schoolgirl. If you knew how many famous children attend the Academy you would understand. Now, I'm not going to name each and every single one of them, but I will tell you a bit about Normando Maltek.

He is a darling. He's not my darling, of course, but I just like to think of him that way sometimes. He's the darling of Nurra Paradise, who is quite simply the most beautiful socialite who ever attended our school. They share such a lovely story. Classical childhood-sweetheart kind of thing. Met when they were six years old, first day of school, you know it. And they even share a birthday! Now I agree they were born for each other and I got over it years ago. I'm not a jealous girl anymore; now I'm just a very proud friend. They're both in the bioyear above, but grades don't really matter to us nowadays. If you're nice and sociable and kind, you can be anyone's friend. How genuinely fortunate I am to know Normando Maltek. His family has an ancestry dating back to the Conquest and the birth of Talimara. Moriodamus Maltek, who is more than a bit of a legend, became the first Consultor-General of Cryaria, and ever since his descendants have been our military leaders. They've protected us for four millennia.

Of course, in her history Talimara has not fought many wars, but whenever she did the Malteks were right there to see it through. Many girls in Talimara idolize Imbrullia Maltek, one of the most prolific female Consultor-Generals, who lived during the Age of Tranquility. But getting back to Normando. He's such a great person and an awesome friend to have. He's distinguished, eye-wateringly handsome, and such a gentleman. We're only "good friends" but my heart still flutters a little whenever he hugs me to say hello or goodbye. He often invites me whenever his family holds social occasions, too. I love his family! His parents are good people, his sisters are wonderful friends and his little brother is simply too cute to believe. He's a nice gentleman too, in many ways a littler Normando, and he spends time with my younger brother and sister. They're very cute when they play together.

I suppose you think I have it made here in the capital, hailing from a wealthy House, with everything I need and could want, and in many ways you're right. I have loving parents, adorable siblings and a magnificent set of friends. I belong to the cool group, do well at school and have brilliant dreams for myself when I graduate. But you know what? All the glitter of the Celestial Age may present a wonderful sense of optimism, and I've only been able to embrace it fully now. Songs are sung and stories are written about how great our civilization is and yes, I agree! Things have never been better for the human race. And yet we can never solve the problem of love. Now I'm sure this question is as old as time itself. How can I have boy problems if I don't have a boy? There's the issue right there. I'd like to think I'm one of the prettier girls in school. Many boys tell me I look beautiful and that I'm a radiant soul and all that, and it's very flattering. Even Normando Maltek, gorgeous as he is, told me once that I am a wonderful person.

That still makes me smile whenever I think about it. That was when I was eleven years old, however, and a lot has happened since then. Now we've all grown up in the glorious capital, a city of dreams for many people, but I find myself still nursing my oldest wish. To be in love with someone who feels the same way about me. I've had many boys who liked me before and I've been on plenty of dates and all, but I've never really been in love except with Normando. Maybe I should tell him. Tell him how much he really meant to me, all those years ago. I hit a low spot when I was twelve. Struggling with emotional chaos. Crying myself to sleep every day. Once when it was at its worst my best friend calmly talked me out of taking my own life.

I suppose you think to want to kill yourself because of love is a silly thing, and now that I think about it, it's true. It was also quite funny to listen to Jasmine talk to me about love and things. Jasmine Bellerio is the best friend I told you about. She's a whimsical, funny, weird friend of mine who is also close friends with Normando. He doesn't know I loved him. He doesn't know I nearly died because of him. I'm sure I wasn't the only one. I hear gossip-stories in school that are shielded from his ears. I wonder how he did it, going with Nurra when so many other girls were hurt so terribly because of it. I'll tell you how. It's the way he feels. It's no secret that he's struggling too, having to turn down girl after girl after girl after girl simply because he's in love with somebody else. I'm certainly not like him or Nurra, but I can tell you that being a celebrity child- no matter how small- is tricky.

You can understand how I feel, can't you? I have several boys who like me, and they don't like each other very much. I wish they would stop and understand. I could never love them and what's worse is that I could never explain why. I feel that if they're going to be heartbroken because of me they at least deserve to know why, but I can't explain it even to myself. Sometimes I think being rich and pretty and pleasant and nice is a curse. I can't attend all the social gatherings without feeling bad, because whenever they look at me it's with a look of longing and desire that I could never return. On the bright side, however, at least I'm not like Normando or Nurra. To society and the socialites, I'm just an average girl, because apparently socialites are generally heartbreakers.

I think love was simpler in your time, when there were fewer celebrities and romantic clashes. In this way, I think all of us here in the Age of Transcendence have an innocent, childish yearning for the past, and I mean the distant, ancient past. Back when there was no such thing as digital technology and humans still dreamed of going into space and defying the laws of physics. It probably would be very troublesome, but I think I would find it interesting in the same way you would find our culture interesting. I wish there was a way for you to see it. I hope I've given you a good impression, in the absence of reality. That's all I could ever do for you. But I hope it's enough! Be well in your time.

Orianu Ellie Matilda, Cryrn H.o.Mrdnk

Cryarian Stellar District, TY 4309