WC: Day Ten < | Challenge Home Page | > WC: Interlude 2

After the crazy night before, Jaz did a bit of a sleep in, and chores and breakfast was in full swing by the time they wandered downstairs.

All the kids were pitching in, and Jaz felt super guilty for not being awake in time to help, but a soft word from Wendy dissipated the guilt.

Sighing, Jaz turned to the busy kitchen to see what was for breakfast.

Trying to stay out of the way, Jaz grabbed a plate of eggs and toast, and headed out to the backyard table to eat.

… Which only reminded Jaz about the monster from last night, and the shadows under the bushes made them really nervous. Jaz, unfortunately, was now afraid of the dark.

Wendy was in the kitchen, baking a birthday cake, when she noticed Jaz looking around fearfully out in the backyard. Immediately, Wendy put the batter in the oven, set a timer, and headed outside to help the youngster. Clearly the monster had really rattled Jaz.

Wendy caught up to Jaz as they were dumping their mostly-full breakfast plate in the trash past the backyard fence, and Jaz nearly jumped out of their skin.

Jaz apologized over and over for having to wake up Wendy, and for wasting food… and Wendy had to interrupt them just to get a word of comfort in edgewise. Wendy thought quick, and suggested that Jaz try getting confident tonight, and brave the backyard in the dark. Maybe that would remind them that they had nothing to fear from the dark.

Jaz sighed, and took a deep breath. It was certainly something they were willing to try, because being too afraid to be able to eat Wendy’s amazing food was something they wanted to avoid at all costs.

Just then, the timer went off in the kitchen, and Wendy herded Jaz back inside so they could come help frost the cake. Anything to distract the scared youngster, and remind Jaz that the dark was still okay.

Not too much later, with a cake frosted like a Hamburger, everyone gathered in the dining room to watch Carlo blow out his candles. Becoming a teen was a momentous milestone for him, and Wendy worried to herself about him starting high school the next day.

The confetti flew, and everyone blew their horns, celebrating with Carlo. Wendy told him they’d go shopping for his new clothes later in the evening, and hurried to cut the cake for the youngsters that were eyeing the cake hungrily.

Everyone wolfed down their cake as Carlo quickly changed into some of Matt’s old clothes for the meantime and headed back downstairs. Typically teenager-ish, he sat down at the table for cake, and was immediately engrossed in his phone, texting his friends.

In the office, Timika was working on her aspiration instead of eating cake. Eventually, Penny followed her in there, and got to practicing her typing on the computer typing game.

Far overhead, Layla had started working on their school project for the Science Fair in the attic (the only place that had enough room for it)… and Carlo wandered upstairs to help her until Wendy was ready to go shopping.

Before long, Wendy called upstairs for Carlo, and Matt took Carlo’s place in helping Layla. Jaz sat down in the dining room, breezed through their homework for tomorrow, and then sat there, wondering how to get confident enough to go out in the backyard by those scary bush shadows. Finally, at a loss, they went to ask Matt if he had any ideas.

Matt smiled, led Jaz downstairs and got them a confidence-boosting drink out of the freezer. “How about this?”

Jaz hesitated, then asked, “Is it safe? I mean, what does it TASTE like?”

Matt chuckled. “It tastes like blueberries, actually. Sometimes I use them when I have to go into work and pitch a design of mine in front of my bosses. It always gives me the confidence to do it even when I am afraid.”

“You get afraid, too?” Jaz asked, flabbergasted to find out that a successful adult like Matt was confessing to getting afraid at all.

“Of course I do. The key is, confidence combats the fear. Strut your stuff, and you realize that the fear was just silly to begin with. At least – it works for me!” Matt said, and held the funny frozen potion to Jaz. “Try it!”

Taking a deep breath, Jaz drank it down, making a face at the overly sweet blueberry taste. They handed the bottle back to Matt, squared their shoulders resolutely and marched out to the backyard, pretending they weren’t holding their breath in fear.

After a couple of tentative marching around the backyard, the fear started to dissipate. A couple more rounds, and Jaz stood confidently by the scary bushes, took a deep, calming breath, and felt the fear just melt away.

From inside, Matt saw this and a broad smile came across his face. The weird blueberry drink worked yet again. He rinsed out the vial and put it in the dishwasher to be cleaned later. Trying to look like he hadn’t been keeping a close eye on Jaz, he hurried to the living room to turn on the TV and look comfortable in front of a football game.

A few moments later, a smiling Jaz came in the back door, waved jauntily at Matt, and headed down the hallway. Again, Matt hid a smile, and tried to pay attention to the game.

In the office, Jaz asked Layla politely if they could use the computer next. Confessing they were procrastinating on finishing their project, Layla relinquished the computer and went to climb the attic ladder to finish it.

Taking a calming breath, Jaz signed into the Pen Pal website, and gasped when they noticed the notification that they had an actual message in their inbox!

Clicking it, Jaz read the message carefully, having to work REALLY hard to not squeal out loud.

“Hello Caelan, we’re so happy you decided to sign up. If there is any problems, or you have any questions, you can just write us a message here and we’ll answer as soon as we can. And remember, there are no stupid questions!
For now, we’ve matched you with another pen pal Applicant, Aguila (he/him but exploring options). Please write a quick letter to him, a little introduction, just to get your conversation going. You can click on their name and write it directly to them, and then they’ll write you back and so on.
Greetings, the “Letters around the world”-Team.”

Taking a deep breath, Jaz closed the message, and clicked on the new button to send a letter to their new pen pal. The cursor sat there and just blinked mockingly at Jaz on the blank message. Once again, thanking Matt in their head for the potion, Jaz shook the tension out of their arms and put them back on the keyboard. Hesitantly, They started writing their first letter, trying to think of exactly how to say hello to their new friend, Aquila. (…Continued in Interlude 2…)

Bonus Images:

This is Carlo’s attempt at dressing himself. Poor guy. LOL. EA… do better.

Also, here’s his new traits. Will add this to his bio on the cast of characters page.

A/N: If you’re watching carefully, you’ll also notice Jaz’s story finally has it’s own real title. “Adventures with Jaz”!

WC: Day Ten < | Challenge Home Page | > WC: Interlude 2