Avach's private notes

Jevvica, dear Jevvica,

I danced so long at your ball I’d forgotten another world existed.

A masquerade—how enticing. You chose my mask yourself, and wouldn’t even let me see it. It amused you, you said, that I didn’t know. Some private joke of yours, but I indulged you. Your friends were also amused; some shared joke then, but I continued to play your game.

But you stayed too long behind closed doors with your friends: you didn’t see me lay down my mask and leave.

As I drew the fresh night air into my lungs it struck me that the only mask I had not seen was my own. Was this your joke, that there were others with the same mask? I had not looked: so many people, so many masks—I had no cause for curiosity, nor a goal for my search.

Are we all your toys, your playthings? Will you cast us all aside when we no longer serve your purpose? What would have happened had I stayed until the music ended?

I could return to the ball to see but forgive me if I choose to stay away. There are matters I would attend to, and I forego the seduction of your music. Having set down my mask I will not don it anew for your amusement.

Jevvica, sweet Jevvica,

Soon I shall throw my own party. Then shall we dance, but I will choose the music.