Midday progress report: 59,565 words. Mostly good ones, I think. Should break 60K today, even if I end up taking some out, as is entirely possible.
“You went away. That was what they said, that when bad things happened, you went away, put your soul in a box and sent it out, journeying on the salt sea. Sarala had never seen a sea, though daddy had promised her one. He had kissed her and said that one day, he would take her away, on a ship that could Jump from one world to the next. Just he and she, on a grand adventure. Mummy wouldn’t understand, wasn’t the sort to enjoy an adventure. Mummy liked a clean house, wanted everything neat and tidy, and she didn’t understand that sometimes, a girl needed to be a little wild, go a little further than was allowed. Daddy had promised his little girl the stars and the moon, had even taken her to the spaceport and shown her the great ships. And maybe he would have, if he’d had the chance. Sarala had kept her side of the bargain – maybe he would have kept his.”