Lou's sister came back into the kitchen with the mail: her rejection letter and a newspaper. She sat down at the table that the pink light was touching just as Lou stumbled in. Lou started making coffee, then noticed that her sister was still staring at the letter in front of her.
"You OK?", asked Lou.
"Yeah I'm OK", said Lou's sister, "I just got another job application rejected". She traced spirals on the paper with her finger. "It's fine, it just seems like everywhere I try..."
"Oh I'm sorry", said Lou. "Was there no luck with the shoreline thingy? The one where they wanted you to measure the tides?"
Lou's sister shook her head. "They said they've got all the data now, it's too late. It's all automated. They can predict the tide without us"
"Ugh, well I bet it'll flood tomorrow and they'll realise that they needed you".
Lou's sister laughed, "Thanks. But it's fine, I'll just apply to something else. Something has to work out. I've got the skills. It's just that the job market is so saturated..."
"You'll get something", said Lou, putting the cup down in front of her.
They sat in silence for a while, Lou's sister flicking through the ads section of the paper and Lou staring at the rim of the coffee cup as she sipped from the other side. She admired how persistent her sister was, how she picked up the next thing as soon as one wsa dropped and went on. She did what had to be done and was happy when she had to be happy to keep going, and Lou wished she could do that so consistently without falling into depression and getting stuck when that didn't help anyone. Her sister was wearing pink striped pyjamas and hair rollers and slippers and she was patiently underlining advertisements, and in the pink light she was quite beautiful.
Lou leaned over the paper. There were ads for dry cleaning, for missed connections and lost love, for hedge trimming and drain cleaning and -
Lou stopped. There was an ad that said...
DO YOU DREAM OF HER?
Seeking all who have dreamed of an angry girl within a shell within a cliff within an amethyst lagoon. She gets into your head and if you have seen her you will know. Please write to Erin, at drawer 32. You are not the only one.