Dear Charlie:
Woo-hoo! The interview went really well! Now, I just have to wait for all my references to clear and for the HR department to decide.
The interview lady was extremely nice, and she was impressed with how patient I was when she had a few computer problems that kept me waiting. *shrugs* I'm a patient person. She also said when the interview was over that, on a personal note, it was a pleasure to meet me, which made me feel damn good. Heh.
*grins*
Hopefully, I'll hear by the weekend. Until then...here's another character letter!
Bryn Scott / Na'saki
For the longest time, I didn't know who I was.
Oh, sure, I knew my name. I knew my adopted family and how I fit with them. I knew my job, my best friend, my home. But I didn't know who I was without those things, those people.
Then, Jita and Taro showed up, and my whole world turned ninety degrees to the left. They are aliens, and when they showed up on my porch less than a month ago, they casually informed me that I'm an alien, too.
I don't need to tell you how I reacted to that. Suffice it to say that, after the initial "the hell you say" phase had passed, I realized that what had never been right about me in my entire life as a human was perfect for my life as an Ino-din. And I am an Ino-din. The last female of my kind.
Which, of course, leads to a whole new set of problems. As the last, it's my duty -- sometimes a privilege, sometimes a burden -- to bring forth more pure-blooded Ino-din. That means, of course, that for the last month, I've been...mating with...both the two remaining full-blooded Ino-din males.
That's a trial in and of itself. Add in that I have only the vaguest idea of what it means to be Ino-din, and you have an idea of how...interesting...my life has been lately.
And then...there's Duji. Duji is the half-Ino-din, half-human son of my mate, Taro. I may straddle the line between human and Ino-din, as I was born one and raised the other, but poor Duji is stretched between the two. Stronger than a human but weaker than an Ino-din, he has the ability and understanding of more, but too many limitations to fully succeed.
This makes for a serious problem between the two of us. Add in that he's supposed to see me -- someone totally new who is far stronger even now than he'll ever be, but who has no idea of the extent of her abilities -- as a mother figure, stir rapidly, and then stand back and watch the explosion.
And now, I stand here -- tied by both duty and by heart to this child who claims to hate me -- and shake with mother-bear rage as a stranger...as an alien holds a vicious-looking talon to Duji's tiny, vulnerable throat. I see the fear he tries to hide as that alien freak lifts him by his hair and holds him like a shield before its chest.
He sees me, and he utters the word that will change my life forever, that will awaken the Ino-din rage that I have never understood and couldn't imagine buried within myself. His blue, blue eyes -- no Ino-din eyes, those -- light up with hope and salvation, and he speaks, and Bryn Scott is lost in the burning, loving fury of a mother whose child is threatened -- of Na'saki, mate of the Ino-din Prince and mate to his Guard.
"Mama!"
I am Ino-din, and my race is borne of war. And now, it's time to prove it.
© Copyright 2005, Molly Burkhart