"Sensei? Can you come here please?" Donatello's voice called, and I turned toward my technology driven son. His face was one of confusion, and I asked the first question that popped into my mind:
"What is the matter, my son?"
"Well, um, you got mail," Donatello's astonished voice replied. My eyebrows rose in confusion, only in part to the mail explanation. My son was at the computer, so he must have been talking about that unusual new mail service called 'email'. I did not have one of these 'emails', nor did I know how to use one.
"You must be mistaken," I shook my head. Of all my sons, Donatello knew how against technology I was. Why would I have gotten myself one those 'email' contraptions? What ever happened to simply writing a letter? It was much more personal, and worth so much more than a two sentenced reply.
"Um, I'm not," Donatello was shock stricken serious, and he looked like he was trying to figure out a complicated equation...which was never a good thing, usually. "'To That Weird Rat Guy Splinter'," Donatello read from the screen. "There are no other mutant rats that I know of, and even if I did I'm sure they wouldn't have your name."
I moved toward my son, and he vacated the computer chair so I could sit down.
I looked at where Donatello's finger was pointing, to a line that read in the subject line: 'To That Weird Rat Guy Splinter'. I looked at the sender's name: Laura Sumner.
Do I know a Laura Sumner? I don't believe I know anyone by that name.
"I do not know this woman," I told my son, shaking my head, puzzlement in my tone.
"Just read the email, because she clearly knows you," Donatello responded, and opened up the email for my perusal before leaving me alone with the electronic letter. I still preferred handwritten notes and letters to this online artificial one.
Dear Splinter,
Let me guess, you don't got a clue as to who I am. That's okay, I'll mend my broken heart somehow. Maybe by the end of this you'll have an idea as to my identity, but if you don't that's alright.
We only met once after all.
It's been a couple weeks since we met, and I'm sure you're happy to have things back to being relatively normal. No more 'visitors', and your boys are back under your roof!
Or is it concrete since you're underground?
Well, as for me and my daughter, we're doing pretty good. I took the couple thousand mile trek to reach the West Coast, and I absolutely love it! Besides, my baby and I needed to put some distance between our past. Why let that ruin the future? Hollywood isn't as fun as I thought, more tourist trap than anything. I think I'll take my little girl and come half-way back. I was thinking Oklahoma, Kansas maybe.
My baby girl is slowly getting better, but has a while to go. I put her into speech therapy, told them that she took a vow of silence when she was little or something like that. She says to tell you hi, and that she hopes giving up her necklace kept you and the boys safe.
I kinda miss the big city. It always was fun, so much mischief to be found! But, I bet you'll be glad to hear I haven't gotten into that much trouble since we parted ways. Congrats, you were able to keep the Shadow Thief in line.
For now at least.
I just thought I'd give you an update on what's been going on. Do you know who I am? Or my baby girl? She really does wish she could have said good bye. Or at least wrote it down, she really does not like to talk anymore. Such a shame, she was a total chatterbox child. Oh, and that little nickname you gave her, you were close. Her name's Krista.
Remember to cut loose every now and then, Splinter my dear. Life wasn't made to be boring, there's to much fun stuff out there!
Best Regards and Winking Grins,
Laura Sumner, retired thief and mother of a shadow girl
I blinked, rereading the letter immediately. Laura Sumner? Who was-Who was Laura Sumner? I was confused, but starting to put the pieces together.
Especially the part about her daughter.
"Krista, her name was Krista..." I murmured, shaking my head in disbelief.
"Booyah! Level thirty three, baby! Yes!" Mikey shouted, jumping up and doing a victory dance as he cleared another video game level.
Yes, they had come back. They decided they didn't like being apart, when all they had known was each others company. My house now didn't know a moment of peace, and it might as well have been like the four boys were teenagers. Donatello's inventions blew up on a regular basis, Raphael was destroying punching bags and fixing motorcycles, Michelangelo was a video game-a-holic, and Leonardo was forcing himself to become an even better martial artist and leader.
Despite their faults, they were on their way to becoming great people.
"Who's Krista?" Raphael asked as he passed by my chair, wiping grease off his hands. He must have been with his mechanical toys...
"My daughter, her name was Krista."
"Wait, you mean Kage?" Leonardo broke in, startled to hear that name again. I had been sure I would never see my daughter again, but here was her mother, emailing me as if we were pen pals.
"Yes. Her name is Krista. Krista Sumner..." I trailed off, still shocked to finally know her name. Even though I had her true name now, I was certain she would always be Kage to me. I doubted she would mind if I continued to call her Kage, that was who she was to me.
Krista, while an elegant name, was not the girl I had come to love as a daughter.
"What are you all talking about?" Michelangelo pouted, seeing his three brothers and I standing together.
"How to send you to military school, what else?" Raphael snorted.
"You can't send a legal adult to military school," Michelangelo responded loftily, and then he looked a little unsure. "You can't, can you?"
Raphael just shrugged in his signature way that seemed to say, 'I don't know, can I?'
"So, it was Kage who emailed you?" Donatello asked surprised.
"No, her mother sent the 'email'," I shook my head. I still could not understand the demand for such informal communication systems, but I did know I was going to follow the rest of the population as I asked one question. "My son, how do I send one of these emails?"