FROM: VLADISLAUS STRAUD (personal)

TO: CALEB VATORE (personal)

Caleb,

It can be difficult being ageless sometimes. The people we once knew slip through our fingers.

I am reminded of the passing of the spring season, when by the time we are ready to appreciate the freshly sprouted flowers, the snowdrops have come and gone, the tulips have begun to wilt.

I am writing to let you know that McKenna Bernstein has died. They won’t print it in the papers because it’s not their etiquette, but it was a suicide.

More and more people are succumbing to wasting sickness in the current climate. She is not the only one I’ve seen go in this manner and it troubles me.

The people are getting restless. For what kind of misery could the young girl have been enduring that it was preferable to end her own life? I shudder to think.

I agree with you that we should pity the Mortals because it is they who are least-equipped to deal with our changing world.

STRAUD

P.S. Would you like to commemorate her with a word or two at the T&C?