geyser
They gather round and watch as it blows, scattering the letters high into the air. Every hour they do this, piling the letters over the blow-hole, cheerful red and blue plastic shapes muddling together waiting to be launched.
The fountain of water make the Earth seem like a diving whale coming up for breath. The song is too low to hear, but sometimes you can fool yourself that you feel it. When the geyser dies down they run off to find the letters, only to find them scattered in little groups of two or three, "AEK" or "WBO". Some of them still live in hope that one day it might say something worth reading, but most lost faith long ago. Slowly they stoop to pick up the letters and return them to the pile.
