Dear Eden

[Intended for Eden Despereaux, if you are not her...well, read it anyway. It might help you too. But then please give it to her, if you don't mind.

-Sieve, Managing Darkness and Light.]

Dear Eden,

Wherever you are, I hope you are well. As you probably know, we have all been looking for you for years. You very well might be the key to all this, and we could sorely use your help.

I heard you were interested in our story, so I thought you would like to read this, that way you'll realize you're not alone.

I just want to warn you, this story is true. It is also funny, slightly depressing, and very confusing. I mean, I was there and I still don't understand half of what's happened to us. But obviously you need to know. It will help you decide if you want to join us.

It started....hmm, maybe 4 months ago? Yes, that sounds right.

Before I go into a more detailed version of our story, here's what you should know:

My name is Caetlyna Everlee Sieve Rona Stringe Shattenjager (pronounced Shawn-yager, by the way), and I recently turned thirteen. I’m a quadruplet. My sisters are Celsey, Constance and Cezebel, but I’ll get into that later.

 My brother's name is Ariel Nehemiah Harmon Basil Shattenjager, he's nine, and Friday “Patience, Hope, and Glory” Shattenjager is our baby sister, who is four months old. Yes, we have tons of middle names – blame the parents.

The facts: ('cause I’m lazy and for easy reference.) (and I think I hear footsteps...)

Me:

I’m kind of the leader of our particular band of Volunteers. I’m not really sure why.

I put my periods up high, as you can see>...<

I don't like rules without reasons, (I don't really like authority at all) and I hate when adults think kids are less intelligent than them just because we're younger. I also hate when people are mean to each other. I dislike nearly all things mainstream (i.e books, TV, radio, news, fashion, etc)

I’m deathly afraid of corn fields, holes, (and by extension, deep water – though I love to swim – and port-a-poties).

We all have some...special powers (usually of the mental brand, and then a...passion, you could say), for example, I have psychometric abilities, which means I can tell stuff about an object or place by touching it (like where it's been, who owned it, what happened there, etc). I also have a passion for research, but mostly I’m just a historian.

(I’ll also add what we look like, so that – hopefully – one day you'll see us and approach us and we can stop searching for you. (but then again, we have been in the same sandwich shop at least three times, as they have the best pastrami for miles, and I know I saw you there, but you ran out before I could say anything))

I have long curly dark brown hair, and big brown eyes. Nothing fancy. I have lots of freckles and I’m about 5'3 or 5'4.

Ariel:

He's shy, smart, sweet, caring, and honest. He's pretty much the perfect brother, and you can tell him I said that.

He has the ability to feel what the environment around him is like, and even control it. It's called ecological empathy. He also has a lot of knowledge of natural remedies and really extraordinary eyesight.