" You Can't Leave All Behind"

Posted on 25 Aug 2025 @ 10:57am by Lieutenant Commander Riah Amberlyn XMD

536 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Fractured Accord
Location: Amberlyn's Office :: Sickbay
Timeline: After Ceremony - Before Departing SB 369

// 0223 hours :: Day of Departure from SB-369 //

::: Amberlyn’s Office - Sickbay :::

It was unusual for her comm message chime to interrupt her breakfast this early in the morning, really the middle of the night. The ship would be departing in a little under 4 hours. Riah had avoided the Mess Hall and obtained a bagel, cream cheese, a bowl of strawberries and a large mug of coffee from the Sickbay replicator and sat to enjoy them in the quiet in her office. She took a sip of her coffee. It was still too hot to really enjoy.

The message notification was marked “Personal.” She didn’t recognize the name of the sender: Crystal McLaughlin. She opened it to find an image of an actual handwritten letter. The penmanship was clear and readable, large and slightly backhand, with some of the dots on the “i”s and all the periods being especially large.

It began …

Hello Riah Amberlyn

Do you know who I am? I didn’t think so. I’m Crystal McLaughlin and I came into this world on the Earth equivalent of August 21, 2411. Now you know who I am. I said on my 14th birthday, I was gonna write a letter to my mother, even though I never met her, never knew who she was. My Mother, with a capital M, helped me track you down and is sitting here as I write this, because I’m sure I’m gonna cry. I’ve cried a lot of times since I learned my biological mother didn’t want me. I was 7 when I finally understood that Amanda and Roger McLaughlin were not my biological parents.

You have a pretty name. I wonder what you look like. Do you have long blonde hair like me? Are your eyes blue? Do you like cats? What’s your favorite food? Mom says I should not hate you because we don’t know what happened in your life that made you leave a baby behind, and I’ve had a very good life with my Mom and Dad. So, I don’t hate you, but I wanna know why? I want to know who you are? Where you live? What you do?

Mom says you can answer back if you want, but I shouldn’t get my hopes up. But I think you will write me back. I would if I got a letter from my daughter, so I think you would too.

Crystal
~~

Riah had exhaled slowly for the entire time it took to read the letter, sinking deeper into her chair with every sentence. Memories clashed and she had trouble swallowing. Was this then the beginning of a nightmare she had feared and dreaded all these years?

After reading the letter a second time, she tried to breathe, and it was like her heart had filled her chest, leaving no room for her lungs. Heat welled up from her belly into her throat and soon her whole head felt like it would explode. She laid forward, rested her forehead on her arms, and tears flooded forth. She could barely be heard, “Computer, shut my door.”

~~~
LtCmdr Riah Amberlyn, XMD
Chief Medical Officer
USS Arawyn

 

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