Hey Diary,

  I finally met a whale! It… wasn't all that exciting. It’s not that the whale was dumb or anything, she just had things to do. And those things didn't involve talking to a tiny neko on a beach somewhere.

  Talking to those tiny fish was more fun.

  So yeah, that was disappointing, but hey, now I know.

  Right now we’re in a town called Earring. The beaches around here apparently have lots of stones that can be used for magic wash up on them, so people collect them and turn them into earrings to sell. Everyone knows basic rune carving. All the shops have at least one jewelry display case. I’m pretty happy with my current assortment, so I didn't get any, but we all had to look at them.

  Echo says earrings aren't the main type of magical jewelry in non-neko culture. I hadn't noticed, but she only has six earrings! And then she has a charm bracelet with the other stones she needs to wear. Which doesn't seem practical. I mean, there are times when she’ll have to take the bracelet off. Whereas with earrings, once they’re on, you kinda forget they exist and they just sit there, doing their job.

  Yeah, necklaces are a thing here, Mom made me wear a necklace with a tracker whenever I left the house, but that’s more a temporary, when-you-need-it type thing. Not an everyday thing.

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  Besides, with the charms, what if one comes off and you don't notice? Then suddenly you’ll be at risk of, I don't know, breaking a bone when you fall, and not even know it! You’d have to check pretty much every day that they’re all still on.

  Not practical at all.

  Anyways, seeing all the pretty shinies was fun.

  Oh, I still have sand in my hair. It’s embedded into my scalp. I got it out of mostly everywhere else, but I feel like I’ll never be completely sand-free for the rest of my life.

  I wonder if people who live around here just see sand in hair as a fact of life. Like a thing that’s unavoidable. I mean, none of the inns we’ve stayed at have had carpets, because getting sand out of carpet is hard. If they make adjustments like that to their houses, what adjustments do they make to their hair care routines?

  Huh, there’s a crack in the wall here, next to my bed. I hadn't noticed it before. I wonder which earthquake it’s from. The earthquakes are getting stronger, and some buildings are getting damaged. I hope not too many buildings come down when the big giant earthquake hits.

  It’s only three weeks away. That doesn't sound like a whole lot of time. I feel like I need to do more to prepare, but I’ve been doing everything I can. We’re warning people, and I’m telling all the animals to stay calm.

  I don't know what I could do to help more. I’m sure if I thought long and hard about it I could think of something, but all the obvious things have already been done, I think.

  It’s late. I'll let someone else do the thinking tonight.

  Signing off,