nanowrimo fifteen

“Bailey,” she set her tea down on top of a glass case. “Calm down.”

He kept going on, gesturing with the snake as his voice rose in pitch. “You know, we could all be in danger, and we wouldn't even know it-”

“Calm down.” She grabbed his shoulders, forcing him to stop and look at her for a moment. The poor snake curled more securely around Bailey's hands in the moment. 

--

I am very much in love with Emily Dickinson's 'The Soul selects her own Society' again. Mr. Reardon had no idea how perfect the poem was when he assigned it...

Poems take on such meaning and weight after analysis. 

nanowrimo fourteen

“You have 5 new messages. First message:

“Evie, it's Libby. I wanted to see if you wanted to get some ice cream this Saturday- I found a nice place over here. Amelie wants to see Anthony- Devin can keep an eye on them both if you want to bring him along. Hope you're well; miss you lots. Call back, okay?”

Evie smiled. Libby was her dearest friend- they had first met back in middle school, and were inseparable until a few years ago despite Libby's marriage and child- Amelie was now four- when Libby's job transferred her out of town two hours away. She'd have to make sure to call back- she hadn't been to see Libby in a couple of weeks.

“Next message:

“Are you home yet, Evie?” It was Bailey. “Call when you get the chance.” From the terseness, there was probably another problem. She'd have to get back to him after her tea.

“Next message:

“Evie? Evie? It's spreading faster- I need to talk to you soon to sort everything out. I'm getting worried. Call, please.

“Next message:

“You're not home yet? I really need your help here. We're going to need another isolation room, and I can't- Call.

“Next message:

“Evie, I need you to come back. I can't take care of the issue myself. Let me know when you're on your way.”

nanowrimo twelve

With a lack of anything left to do, he ended up going back to his and Ainsley's room, feeding his fish a light afternoon meal and trying to actually do his homework. However, the small little jolts kept interrupting to the point that, by the time Ainsley considered it 'later', he returned to Rainer lying down on his bed, head ineffectually covered with a pillow.

“Are you trying to strangle yourself?”

“Not really,” came the faint, muffled reply. Ainsley gently pulled the pillow away. Rainer continued staring straight up at the ceiling. “There are too many things in my head.”

nanowrimo eleven

A second jolt, and he opened his eyes. Mrs. Thomas let go of his shoulders, actually looking shaken. Mr. Carroll had moved the cage away and threw his jacket over it. Rainer didn't notice the distressed squawking until it was gone. He was being guided gently to Mr. Carroll's desk chair by Mrs. Thomas as the door opened.

“What's going on?” Ainsley was leaning against the doorframe, his previously tan face pale.

“Rainer was helping Mr. Carroll,” Mrs. Thomas explained. Her arms were crossed tightly across her chest and gave no sign of saying anything further.

“That's all? It seemed like something was wrong...”

“It could have been an accidental summon. You can ask Mrs. Ellis about how to deal with that later.”

“We have to deal with that still?”

“If you aren't feeling well,” Mrs. Thomas continued, “You should go lay down.”

But Ainsley didn't move. “What about Rainer? He looks just as bad off.”

“He'll be fine, we're almost done.” When Ainsley remained, Rainer nodded weakly.

“I'll be back in the room in a bit.”

“If you say so.” He finally left, though he didn't look as reassured as Rainer would have liked, and Mrs. Thomas closed the door behind him.

nanowrimo eight

The shelf was at the end of the bed in the room, so it was narrower than the one he had before. Only the shark tank and a second tank fit on the bottom; the upper shelves still held three if he pressed them together- the food would have to go elsewhere. As for the last tank, well, there was a shelf above the bed that looked like it was made of the same material. Pushing the bed out of the way and grabbing the desk chair, Rainer managed to install the tank on the shelf, finally plugging everything back into the power strip and plugging the strip in.

Ainsley had been in and out the entire time, carting boxes in and placing them far away from the fish things. When he saw what Rainer was planning, he shook his head.

“No way I'm sleeping in that bed. If that falls, you'll end up with a broken bone and fish flopping in your bed.”

“As long as you'll help me get the fish in water,” Rainer had replied to a disbelieving chuckle.

“Sure thing. Then I'll get a doctor.”

“Yes.”

But the room was back in order.

nanowrimo six

She hung up, tossing the phone on the side table; it skidded off and landed on the floor. She didn't care and left it there. Anthony had picked at his peanuts and taken the bigger shell pieces off somewhere. The floor around the bowl was mysteriously covered in small bits of peanut shell. Far more than would be created by the few peanuts Anthony had taken. A moment, then it clicked. She had a very clever bird indeed. Good thing she didn't have guests over often.

Finally, slowly, she sat down in her chair. Her tea was steeped- over steeped, actually. Taking out the tea bag and putting it on the saucer, she took a long sip. Lemon Lift indeed.

She leaned back, determined to ignore the implications of her choice for the rest of the afternoon.

nanowrimo five

Jeremy was already getting the students gathered in groups- Rose and Mollie were already outside, so that meant everyone had to be out of the building. Bailey was already going down the beginning of the line, pulling the snake from the girl's neck and showing her a better way to hold it (she looped it back around, more carefully. It didn't seem like the snake minded so much.), and showing one boy how to convince his parrot that his hand was a better place to perch than his head.

The parrot ended up on Bailey's head, and Evie Thomas laughed at the frowning veterinarian. She watched for a moment, then realizing Bailey was resorting to a quick lesson in familiar handling through energy connection- the sort that they were only allowed to do in a classroom setting- she removed her gaze quickly, going to help Jeremy, who was wrestling with the registration table.