Backlund.
"Fors, you look anxious." Xio put down the morning paper, her voice full of concern.
It was eight in the morning, a time when Fors should still have been sound asleep. Yet there she was, pacing the living room in her nightgown, her uncombed long hair a tangled mess. Clearly, she had been at this for quite a while.
Fors seemed not to hear Xio and kept muttering to herself.
Xio tilted her head. "No what?"
"A letter!" Fors suddenly stopped and clawed at her hair as though she were about to fall apart. "I still haven't received a reply!"
"A reply?" Xio blinked. "From that devoted reader of yours?"
Fors nodded emphatically, her cheeks flushed with agitation. "It's been over two weeks! He's never gone this long without replying before."
Seeing her friend's rather exaggerated reaction, Xio tried to reassure her. "Maybe he's just too busy. Didn't you say something had happened to his family?"
"Of course I know that!" Fors planted her hands on her hips, wearing an expression that said she had already considered it. "That's why I specifically sent him a hundred pounds to help him get through it."
"A hundred pounds... Good heavens! Since when were you this generous, Fors?" Xio's eyes widened. She nearly jumped out of her chair, staring at Fors in astonishment.
Fors immediately raised her chin. "What's that supposed to mean? Am I usually that stingy?"
"Uh..." The corner of Xio's mouth twitched. "What I mean is, you just gave him a hundred pounds for nothing?"
"Um..." Xio's remark left Fors feeling a little guilty. Her confidence promptly deflated, and her gaze wandered. "Ahem... Well... I only lent it to him. He was having trouble, wasn't he? I was just helping him tide things over."
"He was my very first