Chapter 94
Chapter Ninety-Four
Private Message | EchoZone Internal Chat
From: DeadStrings
Subject: I’m here
Otis has officially made peace with cats. I think that counts as personal growth—for him, at least. One of us is learning how to coexist and become a better person.
Things on my end have been a little sideways lately.
I mentioned the family stuff, and while it’s not all cleaned up, the fires have mostly cooled.
That said, I had to shift a few plans around.
Or maybe it’s less of a pause and more of a detour—I enrolled in a couple of community college classes here in San Francisco.
One of them is an intro to cooking. Don’t get your hopes up just yet.
We’re still at the “how to boil an egg without triggering a smoke alarm” stage.
Otis and I also found a few new places where we can volunteer. And I started giving music lessons to the neighbors’ kids. It’s small, low-volume stuff, but it’s movement. It’s not the blueprint I imagined when I decided to rebuild things, but it’s happening. And right now, that feels like enough.
How are you holding up?
I’ve been thinking about what you shared.
I’m still sorry about your father—not just the fact that he’s gone, but the layers of truth that came with losing him.
That’s a strange kind of grief. One that’s not easy to talk about because it doesn’t fit neatly into sympathy cards or polite conversations.
So if you want to talk, I’m here.
And if not, you know what to do—send music.