Letter #1 (Dovakhan/Tokana)
Dear Ânâ,
Sitting here on this dirigible to Tokana, I’ve had time to reflect on the circumstances of my departure. I regret the bad feelings with which I left you and the family, so I hope that this letter will clear the air a little.
It all started with night after the graduation ceremony for the National Institute of Polytechnics. There I was, receiving my diploma, but I didn’t feel any different, and moreover, I wasn’t happy. It was as if the thirty years I’ve been here on this Earth and especially the 12 years I’d spent at university had amounted to nothing.
Then, I realised that I wasn’t meant to do what I was doing. Ever since I was little, our parents had been grooming me for this day. Certainly you can remember all the late nights of studying to enter into magnet program after magnet program. Certainly you can remember how I was robbed of my childhood and of my youth by parents wishing to live vicariously through me! You may wonder why I hadn’t snapped before, but the fact is that I hadn’t had a chance to think for myself all along, even as a grown man of thirty!
Obviously I was dismayed and didn’t know what to do. I had nowhere else to go in our society that takes people down a narrow path of specialisation and allows them to do nothing else. So, I was clear that I had to escape society, not just as someone “taking a sabbatical,” but as someone who could no longer be reasonably expected to function in our civilisation. Then, I remember an inspiring book by the name of Songs of Dannistra by Êgâl Sörêd that detailed his travels in Dannistaan and the other islands of the Marian Sea*. I decided to follow in the authors footsteps and voyage in Dannistaan, and perhaps further afield on a never-ending journey that, unlike that of “civilised life,” might bring me some sort of solace.
So, I packed my trunk and set out for home to collect the remaining money from my stipend to spend on a ticket out of Dovakhan. I suppose that was the best part, the fact that I had 7 million Lîröt ($7614) left from my generous state stipend. Anyway, I arrived in Sëlândê that morning and what follows should be familiar to you. You will remember that I claimed some childhood possessions in somewhat of a mad rush as well as some books and personal effects of mine. I must admit, that I regret not having kinder words to bestow upon our parents who, after all, had pushed me to succeed out of love, but I hope you understand. However, I regret most of all that you had to be there visiting and get caught in the middle of the fight. Please forgive me, if you can.
Anyway, I took the noon express to Tschmuschaboumtopolis and the train shuttle to the airport where I bought a one-way airship ticket to Nordu Dannistra City via Âzûr. I have to admit, I had some regrets as the dirigible rose high up into the air and left the coast of my homeland behind, but I also had a sense that I was about to embark on a wondrous adventure.
Hope to hear from you soon. Post me at Post Restante, General Post Office, Nordu Dannistra City, Dannistaan. Also, I now have a free e-mail address that I’ll check from time to time: jan.kariot@dofehabet.dv
Much Love,
Your Favourite Jânîk**
- The Dovakhanese name for the Pacific Ocean
** Nickname for Jân