Lochlainneach

The Letter

December 2165

Princeton, New Jersey, USA

ELLIE POV

"I can't see my reflection in the waters.

I can't speak the sounds that show no pain.

I can't hear the echo of my footsteps,

Or can't remember the sound of my own name.

Yes, and only if my true love was waiting;

Yes, and if I could hear his heart a-softly pounding.

Only if he was lying by me,

Then I'd lie in my bed once again..."

Ellie liked to sing old folk songs at an open bar on Friday nights, not for fame or anything, but just because it was something she enjoyed. Plenty of other people sang original songs or covers of popular songs, but Ellie just felt a special connection to songs of the past. She accompanied herself on the guitar, a skill she decided to learn when she was ten and Stephanie took her to the Princeton Record Exchange. It was the oldest record store in the country and sold lots of old vinyl albums from two hundred years ago, as well as a lot of newer albums from newer artists. Of course, newer albums took over the majority of the shop, so Ellie had gone to the back and picked through some old records, finding a record titled 'Sandy' by a singer by the name of Sandy Denny. Stephanie couldn't understand why Ellie wanted that album so badly, but she bought it for her anyway, and once Ellie played that album, Sandy Denny became her favourite singer. She took to Google and searched every song she could find by Sandy Denny, loving every single one of them. She put them on her phone and listened to them through her AirPods all day, every day, and then for Christmas that year, she asked Stephanie for a guitar and guitar lessons. Ever since, Ellie has been emulating Sandy Denny and her beautiful bohemian style.

Once she had finished, she bowed to the audience that clapped for her, and holding her guitar by its neck, she climbed down from the stage, being stopped by a guy with a beer in his hand. "Hey there, gorgeous! You've got a beautiful voice. Has anyone ever told you that?" he asked her, and Ellie gave him a forced smile.

"Oh, a few times," said Ellie, trying to get away, but the guy clearly had more to say.

"Who sang that, anyway? Lady X? Lady X makes music like that, doesn't she?" asked the guy, who was clearly drunk.

"Um, no," Ellie replied. "It's an old singer, Sandy Denny," Ellie told him.

"An old singer? What's a pretty girl like you doing singing old grandma songs? Why not sing something modern?" asked the guy, now getting on Ellie's nerves.

"What, like Mill Yoo, who doesn't even have any real instruments in her songs? No thanks, I'll stick with my 'old grandma music'," she said to him, pushing past him and joining Gaia and her girlfriend, Lilibet, at the bar. Gaia had short dark hair cut in a mullet style, her brown eyes hiding behind a pair of thick-rimmed glasses, while Lilibet was the total opposite. Lilibet had long rainbow hair and dressed in bright rainbow colours, a direct contrast of Gaia.

"Who's your friend?" Gaia asked Ellie, who scoffed.

"Just some stupid frat boy," Ellie replied, pushing her straight red hair off of her shoulders. "Are you guys gonna stay longer?"

"Yeah, Gaia's gonna read some of her deep dark poetry," said Lilibet, teasing her girlfriend, who narrowed her eyes.

"I'm reading 'Emily's Lament' tonight. You know how it makes all the frat boys wet their panties," Gaia replied, and Ellie couldn't help but laugh.