Correspondence from the envoy
Translated from fourteen hertz. Some feelings did not survive the trip.
- Day 0, Far-Far
The Department notices a small blue planet that has not filed a happiness return in four billion years. A form is sent. The form comes back unopened. An envoy is appointed.
- Day 40, somewhere dark
I sing at fourteen hertz. Space, being lonely, leans in to listen, and the distance folds. Nobody warns you how much space wants to talk afterwards.
- Day 41, this address
Arrived. Opened the branch. The office is a patch of shade and a feeling of being looked after. Form 7, Proof of Gentle Intent, was filed with the nearest gull.
- Day 212, still here
Humans are very good at being happy and then checking whether they are allowed to be. The Department has no form for this. I have started one.
- Today, roughly
Nothing to report. Somebody stood in the shade for a while and looked up. That is the whole job. I have recorded it as a success.
- Do not feed the envoy. It is watching its figure.
- Happiness may be collected in person, or left to accumulate.
- Complaints must be sung. Low notes are processed first.