My shoulders lifted as I wrapped my arms around myself from the sudden cold air, squeezing my eyes shut. “I’m sorry this place tends to have a mind of its own.” 

“What is this place exactly?” 

She tilted her head, looking up at the sky. “It’s…” trailing off her gaze shifted back towards the river. “The soul domain… or you may know it as a spirit realm.” 

Spirit realm? 

“There are so many roaming around on this side as we speak.” 

“What do you mean?” Am I surrounded by ghosts? 

The girl let out a sigh soon beginning to explain what she was referring to and so far I’ve gathered that this was the bridge that connects souls, both living and dead. The girl explained what the purpose of the bridge was… which made sense for the most part. According to her, I was far too young to even attempt the process of connecting the two sides. 

From the information it was like making a coin, there's always two sides. Though currently, I was only one side of this metaphorical coin. I wasn’t fully developed therefore I could not get my other half to complete the process. 

“Young Lotus, when you’ve grown to a level that your other half will accept, I will bring you back here to meet them and you will both become one…” she smiled at me before looking behind her as if she heard something. With a light hearted chuckle she looked back at me, “but until then please go back to your mother, she’s very worried about you. Make sure to watch your head.” 

Watch my head?

“Oh, um right, okay… goodbye then,” I bowed with a wave before turning on my heel to find an exit. 

“Goodbye Nicholas,” she smiled, with a cheerful tone. At first, it didn’t register what she said but when it did, I turned back. “What did you say?” without an answer, my body was yanked backwards and I sat up in the living room, bumping heads with Amelia. “Ow, that’s what she meant,” I muttered. “Mommy, Lotus is back from the soul bridge,” Amelia said, rubbing her forehead. 

Lydia opened her eyes, turning her head in my direction as the black pupil expanded. A light sigh escaped her lips, “thank the divine, are you okay?” She asked. I only nodded, giving her a smile but it was clear she didn’t believe me. 

Before she spoke up again Amelia shot up, “it stopped raining!” It was raining? 

“Come on!” She grinned before running out the door. My eyes shifted towards Lydia and she smiled gesturing for me to go ahead. “Mimi, wait for me!” I pushed myself to my feet and ran after her. 

Why did she suddenly stop? 

Looking from her to the sky I froze, unable to process what I was actually seeing. “What the… What is that?” 

“I don’t know,” she responded while we both stared in awe at the blanket full of stars. The dark clouds that were once flooding the ground beneath my feet, were now floating alongside these large creatures. With the moon light shining over the large creatures made it seem unreal but… are those whales? 

Not being able to tell I just assumed, I’ve never seen a whale before but I do know they’re huge animals. Their large bodies covered half the moon while they passed, traveling east I presume. 

I wonder where they’re going. 

The ground shook ever so slightly while they communicated with one another. The distance didn’t help my hearing but I oddly understood them. Amelia hummed, smiling up at the sky, “where are they going?” 

“To meet family,” I answered without thinking. She glanced at me, nodded, then looked back at the sky. We watched them in silence, not saying a single word to one another. It was calming in a strange way. 

Lydia walked outside and judging by her reaction this wasn’t common. With a blissful expression she stared up at the sky, her gaze soon shifting towards me. My only reaction to her looking at me was to smile and she waved me over once the whales were long gone. 

“Are you ready to read your letter?” She asked and I nodded, running inside. “Miya come inside, it’s late.” 

“Coming!” 

Running inside, the letter was sitting on the couch, covered in dirt. Did it just get here? I wonder how letters are delivered, I never saw anyone show up. 

What’s this? My brows knitted together and I brushed the dirt off the letter. There was a seal, it was obviously a flower, I want to say it was an orchid but I could be wrong. I don’t have much knowledge on flowers to know the difference. 

Amelia walked inside a few seconds before I sat down on the couch. Carefully peeling the seal off the folded paper I opened it attempting to read what was said. 

What? 

Either Elijah has really bad hand writing or I simply can’t read this language. It’s more than likely the latter because he clowned me on my handwriting before. 

“Read?” I held the letter up to the two ladies near me hoping one of them would take it. Amelia grabbed the letter and handed it to our mother. Lydia sat down next to me and cleared her throat, “Hello kit…” she began showing me the letter as she read it. “I’m sorry I could not make it to your birthday, I’m quite busy preparing for you, Amelia and your mother.” She placed her hand atop my head before continuing, “I hope everything is going well and I miss you very much. Your mother told me you woke up a few weeks after your third birthday. I’m glad you’re okay.” 

Lydia hummed giving me a look, “Have you been practicing your reading and writing?” Oh, I completely forgot about that, I should maybe start practicing. “Remember what I told you before, it’s very important. Now, I know it’s exciting to have magic but make sure to be careful and don’t overdo it. Happy birthday my son, and I can’t wait to see you again when you arrive in the capital.” 

Lydia smiled, running her fingers through my hair, “I love you and make sure to tell your sister the same, take care of each other. I’ll see you all soon. Love, your father.” 

That was pretty short, he must be really busy. I wonder what he’s doing to prepare for us. 

“Sorry he couldn’t be here today in person,” my mom apologized. In which I quickly shook my head, “it’s okay, I have you and Mimi.” She hummed, placed a kiss on my head and then closed the letter back. “If you want to write a letter to your father, we can do it tomorrow when the weather clears up.” 

When Lydia stood up and left, Amelia tapped me on my shoulder with a grin. “Lotus, I wanna show you something mommy taught me.” 

“Uh… okay?” She grabbed my hand and pulled me down the hall towards her room. When we got there however she shut the door which made me very suspicious. What’s going on? 

“Mommy said that this is only for when you’re really scared and it makes bad things go away.” She explained running over to the window covering it up. “Bad things?” I whispered and she giggled walking back over. I don’t like this. 

It was quiet for some time as she held her hands together as if she was asking for something, yet she didn’t say a word. Amelia shut her eyes, muttering under her breath, “lumière.” Nothing happened for a few seconds which was expected, but then a bright light manifested in her hands, lighting up the entire room. 

“Woah.” 

“Mommy said that it’s better if you knew this one over any others.” She walked over to a glass jar that was sitting on the floor, dropping the ball of light inside before quickly shutting it. 

“You don’t have to be scared of the dark anymore.” She smiled, handing me the jar of light, “how did you know?” Amelia shrugged, her smiling still lingering on her lips. A quiet, “thank you,” slipped from my mouth and Amelia placed her hand on my head, “happy birthday L.”