July 3 and 4: On these days in Pen Pal

On July 3, Kaya's pet crow Sumi brought her Em's message in a bottle, and on July 4, she wrote to her mother about the experience--and she wrote back to Em.

Here is what she wrote her mother. She was staring into the fires of the Ruby Lake, and then. . .

I couldn’t keep looking at it for long, though. It’s too bright. It paints itself permanently on your eyes, the way the sun will if you stare at it. I closed my eyes and saw black spots where the lava had been especially bright, and when I open...