Adventures in Interning: Delivery Penguin

Kaytlyn sat at the desk in her bedroom, writing a letter to her new friend, Vondell. This letter wasn’t a regular note the fennec wrote to her new skunk friend. In this letter, Kaytlyn asked Von if he would be her boyfriend. The two had met at the formal and spent the night together, and then they found out they both had druid training simultaneously. Von and Kaytlyn were almost inseparable except on the weekends. That was when the skunk had to go home to be with his family in Castimeria. Sometimes, Kaytlyn could slip through the portals to visit, but more often than not, all she could do was write letters back and forth.

 

    “Alright, Franz, take this to Vondell, and no peeking,” Kaytlyn hands a sealed envelope to her cape penguin talisman animal.

 

    “Right away, ma’am,” the bird salutes a little before taking the letter with its wings. Franz opened the second-story window and dove out. With a double cartwheel, the penguin landed gracefully before running off down the road. There wasn’t a set amount of time for Franz’s return. Sometimes, it was moments later, while others could be up to a day. Kaytlyn paced her room with nervous anticipation for the return message.

 

    The ravens of Drakethorpe typically returned letters faster, but for some reason, Franz didn’t like them. Not wanting to upset her penguin talisman, Kaytlyn just had him deliver letters for her. Franz seemed to overflow with energy, and while his travel methods were often funny, in the end, he always got the message to where it needed to go. He didn’t need bribing with shiny objects like the ravens. It made more sense to have Franz be the messenger, even if getting replies took a little longer. Kaytlyn wasn’t quite sure what route the little bird took, but sometimes he came back covered in glitter, reeking of sweat and shame. On that day, the penguin took one hour, thirteen minutes, and fifty seconds to return with an answer. Not that Kaytlyn was counting or anything.

 

    “Special delivery,” Franz shouted as he fell through the ceiling onto the fennec’s bed holding an envelope. Quickly, Kaytlyn grabbed the letter, wiped off some transfer glitter, and tore it open. Frantically, the young fox read the letter, then reread it to ensure it said what it did.

 

    “Yes,” Kaytlyn excitedly yelled before remembering her parents were home. Not that they shouldn’t know the good news, but the fox didn’t want them to be all weird about it. For now, Kaytlyn would only tell a few people. The fennec lowered her voice as she whispered to Franz, “I have a boyfriend!”

 

    “Quite good, Miss Kaytlyn,” the penguin nodded as he rolled to a sitting position on the bed. “Would you like me to dispatch a mass mailer to everyone we know informing them of this joyous event?”

 

    “No! You don’t tell anyone. I’ll take care of spreading the word,” the fennec hissed in response. Franz shrugged and took that as a sign to take the rest of the night off. A martini with an anchovy garnish appeared in the penguin’s wings as he settled onto the bed to watch Kaytlyn reread the letter and dance around her room.