400 miles behind me

January 1: During the White Elephant gift exchange, people were hungover from the previous night and getting tired of watching my mom talk conspiratorially between me, Dylan, and Dad. “We know you’re working out ways to freeze the gifts you want. You don’t need to keep whispering to everyone.”

January 2: I looked away for about a minute and Wiggins was suddenly racing around the living room, dripping wet. I walked to the backyard and saw a pool of water at the lip of the pond with a trail of tiny paw prints leading out of it.

January 3: On every drive home, dad requests that I update him on our progress throughout the day. I usually text him around Buttonwillow, and without fail, he responds that we are in UFO territory.

January 4: I cry almost every time we unload the car. As we park, I am relieved to finally be able to walk around and have my bed again. But then it dawns on me how much this place just isn’t home and I have left my real one over 400 miles behind me.

January 5: We met with Daisy, but her test with Addie did not go well. She lunged at her and got so worked up that she snapped at one of the handlers. We were her last hope for finding a safe place to live. Her story will end unhappily and all too soon.

January 6: Sometimes I feel like a secondary character in my own life. I don’t get my own overarching plot, just bit parts whenever the real hero happens to be nearby.

January 7: Valerye gifted me a fuse bead cat she made over winter break. It has a alternating neon pink, blue and purple along its legs, its tail, and in a thin line across its forehead. It looks like a cartoon kitten that got interrupted halfway through a jazzercise video.

January 8: The school changed their schedule, so now our response shifts are an hour and a half long. I had mine today and spent the entire time running up and down the stairs.
“Why are all the problems on the third floor?” I asked. I collapsed in my chair and breathed heavily.
Miss Jen looked across the table at me and shrugged. “Must be the high altitude.”




much love,
hedgie