Letters: Emily to Gentian 1

Dear Gentian,

I saw your profile and I just had to write to you! I’m so glad I happened to browse through the pen pal site again! You’re a real Plant Person? That’s so cool! And Gentian – that’s a really pretty name. And you do martial arts too? That’s neat! My brother practises Sim Fu, but I myself haven’t tried any martial arts. It looks really neat, though.

Oh, sorry. I didn’t really start this off very well. I guess I could edit this, but then I probably wouldn’t be able to express how excited I am to meet you. At least not that well.

So let’s back up a bit: Hi! My name is Emily and I’m a normal human girl who lives with a pretty big family in a small countryside town. I’m adopted and I have three siblings, two of whom are also adopted. I’m pen pals with Lenora, and she told me about you at one point. So imagine my surprise when I saw you were taking part in this too! Well… I would have been even more surprised if some others from Lenora’s social circle hadn’t also taken part in this. It’s so neat that you guys are all finding this project. This project has been lots of fun for me, and it has helped me make new friends. I’m not very good at making friends, especially if I need to talk to them. So I figured writing would be easier.

So, I’d really like it if you wanted to write back and we could talk and share experiences about life. But if you don’t want to, then that’s okay too. I really liked your profile and you seem like a nice person who has seen lots of life and everything. You were a scientist? Or well, I guess you still are even though your profile says you’re between jobs. I’m glad your experiments didn’t backfire horribly. I mean, becoming a Plant Person doesn’t seem too bad. In fact, it seems like a pretty awesome thing! Do you plan on still doing something science-y in the future or do you want to try a totally new job?

I’ve been reading a bit about Plant People because they interest me. I read that you need water but not food to survive, and that if you want kids you have to grow them in a garden. That sounds neat to me; growing kids in a garden would be way better than pregnancy. I’ve never been pregnant but I know enough about it to think it’s kind of icky. At least compared to gardening. Do you have kids? Do you need to be out in the sun in order to photosynthesise or something? Do you start wilting or do you just get sick if you don’t get enough water? What do plants talk about to you? I have a friend who also talks to plants. He loves to garden too, and he’s really good at it.

I sometimes remember my biological mum talking to flowers outside our windows. Sometimes I try to talk to plants too. My adoptive family has really lovely flower bushes in the yard. Some of them are behind iron fences and they look like they’re in cages. But they don’t seem to mind; they bloom all the way into the late autumn, bright and cheery. I mean of course iron bars don’t matter when the plant is already bound by roots but is also free to move its pollen around.

I should probably tell you a little bit more about myself, I guess. I mean, I’m jumping all over the place in this letter. Well, like I said, I have three siblings, but my two sisters have already moved out. Though now they’re staying in our house because my oldest sister is getting married with her girlfriend. My oldest sister is super nice and she’s very artistic. Her girlfriend – or fiancée at this point – is nice too. She likes talking to me and even let me borrow this really pretty necklace she has. My other sister is super cool; she’s studying communications and graphic design at the university, and she has a dark sense of humour that I really like.

It’s been nice to have my sisters back, but the house is so busy now. Mum, my sisters and the fiancée are like a hurricane together. A hurricane of wedding-planning. They’re making phone calls and testing recipes – my adoptive mum is a professional chef – and planning invitations and the wedding venue… it’s crazy! I usually go outside or to my room to stay out of the way.

My brother and my adoptive dad stay out of the wedding’s way too unless they’re really needed. Usually they go upstairs or stay in the living room. Once I saw them doing my brother’s homework together, sitting behind the living room’s armchairs as if they were in a trench. My dad is really nice too. He’s working in the town council. My brother is really smart, and he’s also one of my best friends.

And me… well, I’m me. The youngest in the family. I like music and I play the guitar. I love books too. What kinds of books do you like? I mostly read fantasy and detective books. I also really love nature, so we have that in common too! I take lots of walks outside and sometimes just bask in the sun. After school I often go to the nearby park and do my homework there. I did that today too. And tonight there was this monstrous rain shower that hit us right out of nowhere.

I went outside because the sound of rain was soothing. It was like the swoosh of a waterfall, but less crushing.

I felt like I had stepped into another world. A world of water and the calming, swooshing sound. I jumped in puddles and loved every minute of it. Once I got inside my dad smiled and told me to take a warm shower so I wouldn’t get sick.

I guess my point is that I think that nature is always full of so many lovely, wondrous things. I really like that my hometown has plenty of nature everywhere. I figure Plant People would like it here. I’ve gone to look for Plant People a couple of times, but so far I’ve had no luck. I’d love to meet a Plant Person. But it’s already awesome that I can write to one! But that’s not really the only reason I wrote to you. I meant it when I said you seem really nice, and I liked the part in your profile where you said you love life and want some people to share lives with. My life may not be that interesting, but I’m ready to share at least bits and pieces of it and I would love to hear about your life too. If you want to be my pen pal, that is.

I hope you have a lovely day.

Regards,
Emily

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