WC: Day Eighteen < | Challenge Home Page | > WC: Day Nineteen

Finally finding a time when the living room computer was free, Marlin sat down, and looked around almost guiltily. He hadn’t felt safe trying to writing with anyone nearby in the house, so he had waited until he could find a rare moment alone. His brother Milo was at the library, his sister was out with her friend Riley, Dad was at a work meeting, and his mom was in the backyard in her garden while trying to watch his toddler brother, Timon, who was playing in the sandbox. And his new baby sisters… were actually sleeping for a change, in his parent’s bedroom. He was supposed to be listening for them to wake up from their nap so he could tell his mom they were up, but this had seemed like the perfect opportunity to write a letter to his new pen-pal.

Nervously, he clicked on the letter from Caelan, and re-read it for the hundredth time. He didn’t want to forget anything. Then, with a gulp, Marlin clicked back to the “new message” window on the browser, and hesitantly started typing.

Hi Caelan!

I'm so glad you wrote to me. Finding a new friend is so exciting, but somehow also terrifying, you know? I'm sorry you and your siblings are all having to live apart for now. I hope it isn't going to last forever. I can't imagine not seeing my family every day after school. In fact, my parents have had two new babies since the last time I wrote you - which is part of why it took me so long to write back. New babies - especially twins - seem to take up the whole family's time in a big hurry. They're both girls, and they're so cute... but they're definitely too small to play with yet. The most I'm allowed to do is talk to them, and what I'm doing now - which is waiting for them to wake up from their afternoon nap so I can tell Mom they're awake again.

How exciting to have a new hairstyle! Is it long, or short, or somewhere in between? I keep mine kind of long, because I love the way it swishes when I move, but most my friends at school tease me about it. I don't understand why. Maybe it's just because I'm a little bit different. I definitely don't understand why "different" seems to also mean "bad" for some people, but it is.

Sighing, and looking around, Marlin wondered what else to say. He had no idea how long he had to actually write before his baby sisters woke up, but he felt he should say at least SOMETHING else. Hearing some crunching noises, he turned to look to the other side of the room, and smiled to himself. Laika was eating some of her dinner, but, apparently sensing Marlin’s gaze, looked up with her one green eye.

Marlin turned back to his letter, and started writing again.

I don't like thinking about other people's opinions of me, so I guess I'll change the subject to something more fun. My dog, Laika, had been living at my friend Rowan's house for a while. (I think I mentioned them in the last letter - they're the one who talked me into signing up for this penpal thing.) With the new babies, we had to find a new place to live. Our old house was just too small for all of us. I can't imagine having as many siblings as you have. How did you all fit into one house?? Now that we're in our new house - which is still kind of an old house - Laika has finally been able to come home. I missed her so much. Sometimes I feel like she's the only person around here that I can really talk to - even though she's not really a person. At least she listens - and doesn't tease me for being different. She's kind of different, too. I've never met another dog that has two different colored eyes. She's a lot of fun to play with, too. She likes chasing balls, and I'm trying to teach her some new tricks. My parents taught her to lay down and sit, but those aren't really fun tricks. I hope I can teach her to roll over or beg or something. I think that would be really cool, don't you?

Suddenly, Marlin noticed the first sounds of the twins stirring in his parent’s room, and realized he needed to wrap up this letter fast. Grabbing his phone, he scrolled through his latest photos until he found a good one of him and Laika from yesterday when Laika had finally come home. Quickly, he uploaded the photo, attached it to the letter, and put his phone back down to finish typing.

This is a picture from last night when Laika finally got to come home. Isn't she such a pretty dog? Her fur is very soft, and she likes wearing her little bandana. I think it makes her feel like one of us humans. However, I need to go, the babies are waking up. I can't wait to see a picture of your new hair! I hope you like it as much as I like my hair. It's awful to feel like you don't like something about yourself! I hope your violin lessons go great, and I'm super glad your therapist asked you to sign up for a penpal. It will be such fun to get to know each other without worrying about fitting in!

Talk to you later,
Marlin

Sighing, Marlin read over the letter quickly, checking for spelling errors, then nervously hit the “send message” button. The little spinny indicator spun around for a few moments, then the “Message Sent Successfully!” pop up showed up. Signing out of the site carefully, Marlin closed down the computer, and called to Laika. It was time to go get Mom from the backyard.

WC: Day Eighteen < | Challenge Home Page | > WC: Day Nineteen

WC: Day Seventeen < | Challenge Home Page | > WC: Interlude 3

Jaz slept fitfully, and by morning, was not in any better of a mood. Also, it was their day to help with chores, so cleaning out the toddler potty was first thing done after a quick breakfast, but before getting ready for the day.

WC: Day Sixteen < | Challenge Home Page | > WC: Day Eighteen

Saturday morning in the Judd household was crazy, but a silent sort of crazy. Everyone was tiptoeing around, trying to let Wendy sleep in. She rarely got to sleep in, and Matt was trying to let her take a relaxing morning while he took care of everything.

WC: Day Fifteen < | Challenge Home Page | > WC: Day Seventeen

By the time school ended on Friday, Jaz was a nervous wreck. They tried their best not to be, but knowing that later was their first violin lesson was giving them considerable anxiety. What if the teacher didn’t like them? What if they couldn’t understand how to play the instrument? There were so many what ifs… Jaz tried to ignore it, but sometimes the mind has a way of running off on its’ own.

At least school was over for the week. Jaz joined the Judd house homework party after school, but was barely able to concentrate enough to get their math homework done. The rest of it was easy, but the math teacher had thrown some new concepts at them today, and Jaz’s brain just wasn’t in the right place to learn it yet.

WC: Day Fourteen < | Challenge Home Page | > WC: Day Sixteen

Another day in the Judd’s household – another hectic breakfast. And Jaz was happily in the middle of it, chatting about school with Penny and Wendy.

After breakfast, everyone scattered to finish getting ready for school, including Jaz. Then, they all scrambled for the bus, and Wendy looked around at the mess leftover from breakfast. With a sigh, she quickly rinsed the dishes, and put them all in the dishwasher to run.

WC: Day Thirteen < | Challenge Home Page | > WC: Day Fifteen

Jaz’s day started as most of their days had lately.. with some good food and family time. Jaz tried not to think about how the good food was still a novelty, which inevitably led to wondering what sort of foods their brothers might be eating this morning. Sighing and almost physically shaking their head to rid themselves of the morose thoughts, Jaz jumped back into the breakfast conversation – which seemed to be centered around teasing Carlo about his crush on Sophia. … Which led to teasing Layla about not having any crushes at the moment … but Jaz didn’t mind the teasing, because it all seemed to be good-natured. Nothing like the teasing and bullying that had happened to them.

WC: Day Twelve < | Challenge Home Page | > WC: Day Fourteen

After a decent night’s sleep, Jaz woke up a bit late, and wandered downstairs to check their email. Nothing, of course, and – just on the off chance – Jaz also checked the pen pal site, and there was nothing new there, either. Jaz worried their lip with their teeth a little bit, then sighed and went back upstairs to get ready for the day. Hopefully their letter would get to Aguila just fine….?

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

Monday morning dawned just like every morning, and Jaz was up early, and ready to start their day. Being that nobody else was up, they headed down to the kitchen and opened the fridge. … Then stood there for a moment and just looked at the bounty inside. It was still a bit of a shock to see a fully stocked refrigerator and have a CHOICE of tasty leftovers instead of having to scrounge cereal with water like back home. With a frown, Jaz shook their head to shake away the memories, and grabbed some leftover BLT’s that looked rather tasty.

WC: Day Eleven < | Challenge Home Page | > WC: Day Twelve

Jaz’s First Letter

Jaz must have stared at that blank page with a hungry, blinking cursor for a million years. At least – It felt like it. They had never written a letter, nor had anyone ever taught them how to, so Jaz was at a complete loss here. Finally, Jaz decided to take a look around the rest of the site, hoping they would have a tutorial on writing pen pal letters.

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.