The Harder I Swim, the Faster I Sink

Chapter Four

"Hey Bella, are you done with the floor yet?" Laika asked as she perched on the Empress General's friend Rowan's bed. Her friend was down on the floor mopping, while she wrote a letter home.

"No," Bella grunted, trying to reach all the way under the bed. "How's that letter coming along?"

"Oh, it's alright. I have so much to tell them! I mean, I know we've been here for two weeks already, but it feels like no time. I'm just having so much fun!"

"Fun is not usually a word used to describe work," Bella replied.

"I know. But this work is."

"For you."

"Oh, come on. What's got you in such a sour mood? Is it the Cantaloupe still? You know she didn't mean to insult you in front of everybody."

"Seemed like that to me."

"You always assume the worst intentions. She was just correcting you."

"I didn't need correcting. I was already fixing it."

"Whatever."

After a few moments, Bella asked, "Get any letters from home yet?"

"No. I really thought Ayden at least would have written by now! I mean, I know he's busy, but he promised to write every day."

"Maybe the post is just slow."

"No, it isn't, because Brianna got a letter from her stepdad all the way in Hartville."

"Now who's assuming the worst intentions? Maybe he's busy. Or maybe he just forgot. Boys are very forgetful sometimes."

"I guess so."

"You just wait and see. You'll get a letter before the week's out."

* * *

"Bella, Bella, I got a letter!" Laika cried, running towards her friend waving the envelope in the air. "I got a letter from home!"

"Congratulations!" Bella said, stifling the pain that came with someone else getting a letter from home. She would never get a letter. Her father sure as anything wouldn't write, and her mother was too busy with her siblings. She tried to push down the pain and be happy for her friend. "That's fabulous!"

"I know, right? It's from Ayden." She tore open the letter, eagerly scanning its contents. Her face fell, and then she suddenly threw the letter away.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what does it say?" Bella cried, running to catch it before it blew away. Laika was huddled up in a little ball sobbing. "It's okay, honey, it's okay," she said, rubbing her friend's back. "I'm sure he didn't mean all he said."

"It's not what he said — it's what he didn't say!" Laika choked.

"What do you mean?" Bella asked, confused.

"Read it" was all she said. Bella opened the letter and looked at it. DEAR LAIKA, it said. I AM WELL. HOPE YOU ARE TOO. THINGS ARE FINE HERE. I HAVE FOUND A JOB IN SILVERVEIL. YOURS FOREVER, AYDEN. Bella looked up, confused.

"What's so bad about it?"

"He doesn't say anything!" her friend sobbed, distraught. "He only says he found a job! That's not a letter; that's a — that's a — a telegram!" She burst into tears again. Bella rubbed her back.

"Hey, it's okay. He was probably just busy. Maybe he wrote this just as he was leaving. Or maybe the job in Silvervale is top secret and he can't say anything about it. Don't assume the worst."

Laika sniffed. "I guess so. But it's just so — so uncharacteristic of him! I'd thought he would have at least written a half page. This is only five sentences!"

"Five sentences can say a lot," she suggested.

"Yes, but he doesn't. He doesn't say anything. I hate him," Laika fumed.

"Whoa, whoa, chill out. He's send another letter. You'll see."

* * *

"Did he send you a letter?" Bella asked as Laika trudged by despondently. As she passed, she handed her a letter. Bella scanned its contents and sighed. It contained no more than the last one. "I'm sure he's very busy," she suggested half-heartedly. Even she was running out of excuses to explain Ayden's lack of correspondence.

Emma, a smart and brave brunette who Laika had befriended, walked up. "Any news?"

Bella shook her head. "Just as empty as the last one."

"How many weeks has it been? Four?" she asked.

"Five. I just can't understand it. He was so into her before she left. What happened?"

"I don't know," Emma replied. "I really don't know."