Archive of Our Own

seasons changing, us remaining

written by
Koschei_B

performed by
MistbornHero & Elany

Qifrey: Discovery is the everyday magic of our lives, necessary, wondrous, and entirely inescapable.

Welcome to Kalhn.

Many new and exciting things are about to happen, dear listeners, as they tend to do every week. So let us not dally and start today's broadcast with the Community Calendar, prepared meticulously, as always, by our lovely intern Tetia.

We start the week with the opening of a new exhibit at the Museum of Forbidden Spells and Technologies, Sunday morning, midnight sharp. The City Council has once again collected enough unsuitable innovations to name and shame for the next month, or until someone gets clever enough to bring one home and cuts the exhibition early. A few of Olly's projects do make it on the list each time, unfortunate as it may be, and I would loath for anyone to miss their chance to take a look before all the prototypes are stored away deep within the City Library's walls, never to be glimpsed again, so do be sure to make a trip sooner rather than later.

It is always better to schedule everything you want to do as early as you can, lest you’ll lose the chance to do it at all.

I will, naturally, be taking the girls out on a lesson about on the spot reporting. You'll be able to hear their first attempts to cover all the objects on display while maintaining due care and censorship in the afternoon, so do take care to clear out your schedule. Or join us in the Museum of Forbidden Spells and Technologies to see everything with your own eyes.

Qifrey: Monday is the day all the young witches who have passed their test receive their first wands and quires. I, as you all know, do not quite remember that wondrous time in my life very well, but I imagine it must be very exciting.

Qifrey: Tuesday  is the last day of swimming lessons. If you’re thinking of starting now, it is a little overdue, but I’m sure the fine instructors at the Rec Center will be able to squeeze you in as the season comes to a close. The water in the lake surrounding us is a touch cooler than is comfortable for most people, but if you can handle it, the beaches are much less crowded now than at the height of summer heat.

Qifrey: Wednesday will be our annual art market, held regularly to celebrate the passage of seasons and all the wonderful changes that come with it. Come on by to see what all the lovely craftspeople in our little community have made over the passing months and get yourself something nice to usher in the joyous Autumnal spirit.

Our very own interns will be displaying their wares all day at the market, all the while sharing all the goings on with all of you, dear listeners, right from the central square.

Agott spent so much effort to clear all the books she charms with the City Council to make sure they are appropriate for the public. Oh, you simply must see what she’s done with them.

And Tetia has been learning to sew from Coco so that they could present their marvellous ceremonial robes together this year. You would be surprised how many useful and covert spells can be woven into the fabric using a little needlework and a right design.

Richeh will, as always, bring her splendid crystals along, but I do hear, from a friend at the patent office, that she is working on something special and yet secret as well.

Do make a stop on your trip to the market to show your appreciation and support to those hard working girls.

And, of course, you should also endeavour to admire Inanna's lovely handmade shoes, Cahid's magical paintings, and Mr Nolnoa's wonderful stationary.

Qifrey: On Thursday it's Coco's first anniversary in Kalhn!

I can scarcely believe that it has only been a year since our dear girl has joined the community. She is fitting in so well that sometimes it would seem like she has been here for her whole life. If I do not think too hard about it, I can almost remember seeing her out and about with the other children, playing, learning, earning their first girl scout patches. Maybe those are but glimpses into an alternate reality or ghosts of long forgotten pasts.

Either way, I can surely recount the curious young woman who ran onto the main street one day, claiming to be from a large but mysterious city far away, unsure of how she got here or what to do, as many of us often are. I can remember inviting her on as an intern, seeing her difficult position and strong spirit. I recall a life without her at the studio and a life with, and confidently say that everyone’s lives here are that much brighter than they used to be.

May she remain with us for the year to come and beyond.

Qifrey: Friday is an incredibly nice day. No specific plans and no massive events, simply a wonderful time with mild, pleasant weather and long sunny hours to rest or to plan an excursion just for yourself.

And finally, we conclude the week with the last community picnic for the year. September is beginning, and we must say goodbye to the last phantoms of the warm summer clinging to our steps and push ourselves into the decay of autumn for the desolation of winter. The young will leave their nest, some in learning, some for a time, and some forever. It is always difficult to send them to school or out in life. But we must do what we must do.

What a busy week we have ahead, so much to do in so little time. I can only hope that it would mean that everyone finds something they enjoy, even if they can only make time for one small thing.

Qifrey: And now, let us take a peek at the traffic.

All of us have a destination in mind. Right now. In a month. For our lives. All of us have many destinations in our minds. Some are necessary stops on the route of our existence, some are forced stops on the route of our existence, some are just plans that we will never get to or will never want to reach. Each next one is so, so incredibly important. Many, if not all, of the ones past seem to fade as quickly as we move away from them. And we move very quickly indeed, quicker and quicker, as if we could run out of time, as we run out of time, so quickly we barely see what it is that we are moving towards, what it is we are leaving behind.

It would be so nice to slow for just a moment. It is so necessary to stop for just a precious moment. To take a breath, in and out, slowly in, patiently out. To look around. Stop this endless run and simply rest. Wouldn't you like to rest? To leave this pointless drive everywhere and nowhere? To just be?

Wouldn't it be simply marvellous to put down your roots and only observe as the others move past?

The speed limit on route 856 has been raised to 120 kilometres per hour to accommodate the increased traffic as of late, following the ineffectiveness of adding four additional lanes. Do try to be careful while driving.

[Ringtone]

Ah! My apologies dear listeners, it would seem like there’s a call I should answer. Not to worry, we can take a brief diversion into a quick ad while I have a little talk with my dear friend Olly. Right on time he called.

Now, it is one of the ads we at the studio get prerecorded from our sponsors, so do be a little more cautious about the claims they make.

Hello? Ol-

Ad: Isn’t it a nice city we live in? A very nice city. A peaceful, safe town in the middle of nowhere, populated by safe, lovely people. Just the sort of place you want to raise your kids in, isn’t it?

All the houses are small and pretty, lining planned, beatific streets lined with carefully arranged and looked after, safe and colourful flora. It is such a joy to look at the little ones running around familiar streets and point out their favourite flowers in so many yards.

It is, isn’t it?

You wouldn’t want to sully the image with something more useful or plant something that may be a risk by accident. No, no, that’s why we have clear rules maintained by very clever people.

So nice to know where everything goes, in neat lines, living quarters are here, and the market is 30 minutes away in one direction, the school is 45 in the other.

You wouldn’t want to live near all that hustle and bustle, near the endless chaos of people living their lives as you do yours. And isn’t a little time worth the peace and quiet in your neighborhood?

Isn’t it gratifying to know that your safety is of the utmost concern, that the dangerous things are kept outside the city borders, together with the people that might want to do them. Out of sight and out of mind, just where they belong, where they can no better poison your mind than they can your body.

We know what you are thinking. We agree. Come by the Whispering Forest to talk to concerned people in the community to share your thoughts. Let us keep building a better Kalhn for tomorrow.

Qifrey: Yes, of course you can come with us tomorrow, Olly. I’m sure the girls will be thrilled to listen to you. See you soon.

And we are back dear listeners, with the news for the day.

According to the City Council, the last edition of the Kalhn Chronicles has, by accident, included an opinion piece of a known and dangerous extremist, and while nothing of note has been found in the article even on through inspection, due to safety concerns, a decision was made to confiscate all of the copies before it can be.

Please see your nearest officer of the Knights Morlais to turn the dangerous paper in and receive a new and improved copy of the newspaper in return. Now with an additional recipe a nice old woman promised to reveal on her death bed.

She is perfectly alright, incidentally, if you were wondering, and hence has chosen to remain anonymous, but generously allowed to share what she has said during a scare of a particularly close call.

A new subject is to be introduced to our town’s only high school in the second semester of the year, teaching the local history to supplement the mandatory semester of state history at the beginning of the year. The program is yet to be published, but we are looking forward to it in the coming weeks, as the school year starts and everything is finalised.

Qifrey: And finally, renovations are coming to all of the public parks within the city limits. Do not be alarmed if you see strange men and women walking around, digging holes, taking measurements, and writing something in notebooks they never let anyone take a look into. This is perfectly normal and expected.

Expect some areas to be closed temporarily, for no more than a week at a time and prepare alternative routes and activities ahead of time

To close us off, let us head to Children’s Fun Fact Science Corner for a moment and learn some useful things in preparation for some of you leaving our charming little home to study somewhere else. The human body is an unknown and unknowable mystery, complicated and fascinating because of it. We try our best to maintain it before, while it fails, but we can’t always help it. That is why we have to be careful and follow the rules to avoid an unpleasant accident.

In the coming days, before you are allowed to enter a public school, you may be asked if you have consumed a vaccine. In many towns children are tested with those poisons to weed out the weak. But remember, no matter what they say, nobody knows what they actually do and how they affect the body. Stay vigilant. Take care of yourself.

This has been Children’s Fun Fact Science Corner.

With that, I am afraid that our evening broadcast has come to a close. Stay tuned next for a bedtime story about a falling star.

Good night, Kalhn, good night.