Dear diary,
October 13, 2011
I ended up staying in town and went to visit that woman that Jacob told me about. She seems very kind and isn't frail but would obviously need help doing general repairs. The kits were away but it looked like she had a full house. There were drawings all over her fridge and her walls were filled with pictures of kalons of all ages-- I assume some of them were previously under her care and that others are newer. The woman's name is Aysha Mae Parks and she's been living on her own for quite some time. She showed me around the grounds but I barely remember where things are. The house is understandably large to be able to hold her and all of the kits.
Aysha told me that she needs some repainting as well as floor and wall repairs. I'm not sure how to do some of those things but she's going to watch over me so that she can give instruction until I get the hang of things. I think it's going to take some time for all of this to be done so I went ahead and made another month's payment for my hotel room. Supposedly, she'll pay me weekly to make sure I'm not out of money for too long. My luck is getting better!
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Dear diary,
October 15, 2011
I went in today to start painting and the children were back. There were seven of them and I kept forgetting their names so I had to write them down to avoid forgetting. There's Maisey, Kaleho, Aki, Orpheus, Fawn, Willow, and Daeva. I hope that they won't get too in the way while I'm working because I'd hate for any of them to get hurt. I'm going to get some dinner so this entry is going to be cut short!
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Dear diary,
October 16, 2011
Today I did some painting and the kits hung around me a majority of the day, Willow especially. She kept asking about where I was from, why my hair is colored so funny, and why I have metal in my lip. Aki, another orphan, hung around with her and they took turns asking questions. I have a high tolerance for kits and their antics so it wasn't a bother; I kept painting and they asked to their heart's desire. At one point they even helped me paint and attacked me with the brushes, thankfully I was wearing the same outfit from the barn so it wasn't a big deal.
Aysha made us all spaghetti for lunch and I met the rest of the kits again. One of them, I believe his name was Orpheus, kept to himself the entire time, he only ever looked at me and never said anything. He seemed sweet and just probably doesn't know how to talk with new people. I went back to paint after with Willow and Aki. Fawn, one of the other kits, came up after she had helped wash dishes and watches us paint. When I asked her about herself she talked about loving her ukulele, I'm thinking of asking her to play a bit for me tomorrow. These kits are so lovely I hope that someday they all get the love they deserve.
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Dear diary,
October 17, 2011
Somehow I've turned into a babysitter and a repair man. The kits have taken a liking to me and try to get me to play with them all the time. Usually, I wouldn't mind, but Aysha is paying me for painting and fixing the house, not to watch them. She did mention something about paying me extra cash to help chaperone them for Halloween. I can definitely see how watching after all of them at once, especially on such a big holiday, could be difficult. She showed me some of their costumes and invited me to go pick pumpkins with them tomorrow. I haven't ever done it before, I'm rather excited.
When I left the house this afternoon, Maisey almost hit me in the head with one of her tennis balls. She mentioned something about practicing for a school team by hitting them against the side of the house. At least it's brick, right? Willow gave me some brownies that she'd made. No fast food dinner for me! They're pretty good too, I didn't expect someone her age to be quite so skilled in baking. I'm going to shower and relax with some movies.
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Dear diary,
October 18, 2011
The pumpkin patch was so crowded and everyone got really excited over it. For the most part, everyone stayed together, but we lost track of both Kaleho and Orpheus. Daeva found them by the food stand but Aysha reprimanded them on their foolishness anyway. I bought them all snacks from the stand and we ended up going through the corn maze at Aki's insistence. Aysha took Kaleho, Orpheus, Fawn, and Daeva while I took Maisey, Willow, and Aki. They declared themselves my troop and kept playing in the stalks. It was really fun being able to relax and have a nice time with them all.
When we met up again, we went to get some pumpkins. Aki tried to get the biggest one in the field but it couldn't possibly fit in her van so he had to settle for a smaller one. Everyone got a normal sized one then two smaller ones-- Aysha said it was a tradition for the kits to decorate the smaller ones with marker, glitter, sequins, etc as personal projects. The rest of the pumpkins would be carved and put on the porch. I bought the both of us pumpkins and she seemed flattered; I don't think she does them herself most years. Tomorrow we are going to carve them!
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Dear diary,
October 19, 2011
The kits had a blast today with the carving. I made mine a simple design but some of them got so creative with it. There was a spider, a cat face, a big swirl, a scary face, a sad face, a happy face, and a wolf. Aysha did a more complicated and realistic looking face; it's truly stunning. I helped put the candles in and we all took a picture of them lined up on the porch with the kits behind their pumpkins. She brought out the craft stuff and they spent the rest of the night working on their miniature designs. Most of them just had glitter and random sequins but Willow made a pretty pattern out of hers. These kits impress me more every day.
I'm going to put together a skeleton outfit for Halloween for chaperoning. Aysha is going as a witch, I'll be a skeleton, and the kits have all of their outfits. Maisey is going as a professional tennis player, Aki wanted to be a wizard, Kaleho is a pirate, Orpheus is a scarecrow, Fawn is going to take her ukulele and be some sort of musician, Daeva is going to be an astronaut, and Willow is a doctor from some show she watches.
As soon as I find some dark clothes and white paint, I'll be set!
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Dear diary,
October 25, 2011
Everything went perfectly! All the kits had a great time getting candy around the street and I even took them to a festival that was more in town. Some of them got their faces painted and the others had spray on tattoos. There was one house that gave out full packs of candy to everyone-- I could tell that Aysha wasn't stoked about it but the kits lost their minds over their little hoards. I ended up getting a piece or two but let everyone else have whatever I didn't want. Before we left, Aysha got a picture of all of us together in front of the house in costume and we look pretty cool, I will admit.
It's wild to think of all that's happened. I didn't ever mean to stay here this long but they're like the family I never had. Aysha is more than a mom to me than my biological mother or Miss Martha could ever be. I still miss my online friends but soon I'll have the time to message them. I wonder how mother and father are, and if the company is still running smoothly. I haven't heard anything from them. Not a single time has either one of them tried to call me or reconnect. I suppose I can't be bitter at them forever. When Aysha and I talk about them she tells me to better than them because in the end I'm going to be the way I am and my parents can't influence me forever. She's right, I just don't like admitting that there's a rift in my family. I wish that I could have a normal family that cherishes me no matter who I want to be with or how I want to look. I suppose that I have my own right here with Aysha and the orphans, though. The thought of that makes me very happy.
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Dear diary,
October 30, 2011
My parents are dead. I got a call this morning from their lawyer that they'd passed in a car accident around early yesterday morning when a drunk driver hit father's truck and sent them off the road into a ditch. A witness said they rolled six times and then stopped against a tree. Aysha gave me the day off and the kits haven't talked to me at all. I feel like my head is swimming. It just doesn't seem possible that they could be gone. I haven't seen them in what feels like forever but at the same time it feels like yesterday that we all were on the cruise for my birthday.
Their lawyer is going to come discuss things with me this week so I'll be deciding what goes to who, since I am next of kin. I literally don't know what to do with myself anymore. I didn't regard myself as close to them but that is still a huge piece of my life that is gone. It's not like we could have reconciled anytime soon, I just wish that I had the opportunity to try to.
I'm writing this later in the day, we just had dinner. Aysha came to bring me food so I didn't have to leave this room and said that if I wanted, she would employ me here and I could stay here. The spare room I've been in all today could easily be turned into my bedroom and that would mean I don't have to stay at the hotel in town. I have a lot to think over.