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[anunluckypenny]

[Penny has been MIA since October thirteenth. Close friends and workers at the Centers knew about the first disappearance, when she stayed in the hospital until the twenty-third.

Fewer people know about her second disappearance. Suffice it to say, she never returned to work after the first visit.]

Last month was awful. I'm sure plenty of people're still recovering from it... and maybe there're a few who won't ever get over it completely. If you're one of those people, don't hate yourself for not being able to put everything behind you. What's important is that you're still here.

What I mean is... you know, life's hard. There're plenty of good and beautiful things in the world--in all worlds, I mean--but there's also pain and suffering. People get hurt for no reason, people die senselessly or way too young, children starve to death, zombies attack. It sucks. It really does. Almost everyone here has seen awful things... had awful things done to them. But we're all still doing what we can to live.

I'm not going to say that everything happens for a reason or that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger or anything like that. Everything just happens, and some of those things are terrible. Sometimes we can bounce back from terrible things. Sometimes they hurt us so much that we'll never be the same again. Either way, we keep on living. We keep appreciating beautiful things like love and sunrises. No matter how much we hurt or suffer, we hang on because we're strong enough to get through the bad to get to the good. The strength to do that comes from us, not from what happens to us.

It takes courage to live. I think that's what I'm trying to say. A lot of courage.

I hope everyone's doing okay.

Comments

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[anatural]

[Korra's been checking the network a little more since she and Chekov fought. She's still not really talking to anyone, but when she sees Penny's post, there's a pang of guilt.]

Hey. Glad you're doing okay.

audio;

[anunluckypenny]

Thanks, Korra. Are you okay? Joan said you haven't been around.

[Not accusatory, just worried.]

[anatural]

I'm fine. Sorry about that. [She'd feel less guilty if Penny was angry about it. Ugh.]

I....uh... I don't think I'm going to be able to keep working at the Welcome Center, though. Some stuff has come up at home, and...yeah...

[anunluckypenny]

No, don't worry. It was a crazy month.

[Not angry, just sad!]

That's okay. Don't forget to pick up your last paycheck, though, and if you ever need anything, it's totally fine to ask.

[anatural]

Yeah. [You don't know the half of it. (Of course, Korra doesn't know any of it for Penny. Oops....)]

Thanks for understanding.

[anunluckypenny]

Not a problem.