Monday, May 7, 2012

Senara at School


Hi everyone. This is Bree. Sorry it's been so long since we posted. Things were pretty busy for Blakeney at work, and then she got sick with a bad cold, so no one really had a chance or the motivation to do computer stuff. Blakeney is feeling better now (although still coughing enough to tempt us to spray her with Lysol,) but then we had another difficulty... we lost our blog password and couldn't remember it.

No problem, right? Just click the lost password link, and have it sent? It didn't turn out to be quite that easy, though, because Blakeney has a backup e-mail address set as the default for the blog, so her primary account doesn't get so cluttered with blog related messages - and no one could remember the e-mail password, either! :-P

We finally got it all sorted, though, so we're back in business. :-)

A few news updates to share:

Kaya, Fiona, Marie-Grace, and Cécile found out their casting for their spring ballet stuff. Every spring, their dance school does three performances - a recital that all the students are in, a story ballet for the more mature dancers, and a gala performance where the very best in the school get to dance with some professional dancers who come in from out of province for the event. All four girls got parts in the recital and the story ballet - and Kaya even got cast in the gala! Go her! Kaya will be performing ballet and modern. Those four girls are planning to blog soon about their upcoming dance adventures, so I don't want to steal their thunder by spilling too much, but we're all very excited for them!

Also, we have some werewolf news. Sunday, the 6th of May - the day it was before we hit midnight, which has now come and gone - was the official full moon for the month. Gia transformed into her wolf self then, and Saturday night too. We expect that she will turn tomorrow also, because her general pattern so far seems to be that she turns the day of the maximum full moon, and one day before and after.

But... but... our werewolf hunting for the wolf that bit her was also semi successful. We didn't figure out who it was, and we lost the trail before we figured out where he or she lives (we weren't close enough to even tell if the wolf was male or female,) but we did snap a picture, and comparing it to GiaWolf, we're sure it was the other werewolf.

We took the picture on Tuesday, May 1st.

I know what you're thinking. Not a a full moon. Not even close. Gia wasn't even feeling the itchy twitching yet that tells her it's getting to be time to change, and the other wolf was in full wolf form. So what's going on? Is the other one a different kind of werewolf?

We don't know. It's all just speculation at this point, and even sightings of it are few and far between, so it's hard to figure anything out about that werewolf. It's not like Gia, where we can observe day to day how she adjusts and reacts to things. Speaking of adjusting and reacting, Gia is getting a lot more used to what she is. The shock has worn off. (As, I think, has her initial assumption that werewolves must all be monsters or animals.) This month, she seemed very confident about transforming, and she admitted today that her wolf form is starting to feel as natural as her human one. That's good, I think, since she can't change being a werewolf, so it seems the most healthy for her to accept it rather than fighting it.

There's one other big piece of news, and that's about Senara. Because we're supposed to be teaching her about humanity (which we aren't exactly experts at ourselves, but beggars can't be choosers,) and human kids are required by law in Canada to go to school, we thought it was important for her to try it out if she really wanted to know how we live.

It was just sort of a process of elimination to decide whose class she should join, since we thought it would be easier for her if she was with someone she knew. Senara isn't sure of her exact age because the fair folk don't keep track of those things in the same ways that we do. She looks like she's between fourteen and sixteen or so, though, and that's what the school officials will perceive her as. Fortunately we don't need to worry about paperwork since she isn't staying permanently; we just introduced her as a visiting relative rather than registering her, and that was fine.

Felicity and Josefina go to a French immersion school, and Senara doesn't know French - she's not really here to learn a foreign language, she's here to learn about social stuff, so that school didn't seem like the best place for her because she'd miss so much not understanding what people were saying. Clare is home schooled, which works great for Clare but kind of defeats the purpose of Senara spending time with kids her own age all day. That leaves Kirsten and me as potential company. Kirsten is fiercely competitive and not very patient, so in the name of family harmony we all decided that I would be Senara's escort at school.

So far, it's going well. I think Senara is liking it. It was strange to see her in normal clothes instead of the green robe we're used to, but she wanted to fit in with humans rather than looking like one of the fairy folk. She's quiet at school, and she's made some acquaintances... but she's struggling to make close friends because although she's very interested in other people, she shares almost nothing about herself. Not even with us, and she's living with us, let alone with kids she meets at school. It seems like people aren't quite sure what to make of how tight-lipped she is.

I don't think it's just fear that she'll spill something about her real identity - because we already know she's not human, and she barely tells us more than she tells anyone else. I think there's another secret she doesn't want anyone to know.

We still doesn't know what that secret is. We've gotten two hints, though - one of which is really worrisome.

The first day of school, someone asked Senara how long she's staying. To my surprise, because she's never told us that... she answered. She said, "I'll be gone on Midsummer's Night." Later, I looked up when that would be. I think she means the Summer Solstice, which will be June 20th. I was kind of surprised that she was being that specific. I assumed she didn't know either. Interesting, but I'm not sure what to make of it.

The other thing was the scary thing, and it happened on Friday afternoon at school. Senara and I were partnered up in English class for an essay we were writing about what we want to do when we grow up. I said my career goals - I'd like to be a counselor or a librarian, and a writer too. Senara said that sounded good, but didn't reply with her own, so I asked outright, and she looked at me like I was crazy.

"I'm not going to be around long enough to have career goals," Senara said patiently, like she was talking to a small child.

"Well, yeah, I know you won't be here," I replied, speaking very quietly so the other students wouldn't overhear, but they were all distracted with their own group work. "But you're going to have a... fairy-type career, right? Like dancing or making stone circles or collecting flowers? Or maybe creating mysterious bargains or bestowing horrible curses or eating people, if that's more your speed?"

Senara shook her head. "I'm not going to last that long, Bree. I won't have any kind of career."

Huge alarm bells were ringing in my head. Was this some kind of suicide thing? But no... she sounded regretful and sad about that, like she wished it was different, not like she was depressed and had given up. No, I thought - she must be in danger. Serious danger, if she thinks she's going to die.

I've tried to ask her more about it dozens of times since, but she won't say anything. She's even more clammed up than before. I think she said too much, because she thought I already knew, but it was a total shock to me. Now that I've tipped my hand that I have no idea, she's not talking. We're really worried, but I don't know what to do or how to help.

So... good and bad news. Positive and negative things. Happy and scary. That's life, I guess!

Love,
Bree

9 comments:

  1. Hi Bree! I've missed your posts, so I'm glad to see that you're back! Congratulations to your sisters and friends for getting the dance roles. I'll be sure to let Samantha know when one of you posts about it- I'm sure she'll love to hear about it! I'm glad that you got a picture of the werewolf. Senara seems as if she is hiding something. I wonder why she knows when she will "leave". Do you think the fairies are forcing her to leave?

    Love,
    Reese <3

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  2. Bree says:

    Hi Reese, it's good to see you. We've missed a whole bunch of your posts, I've just realized. Our blog roll seems to be having an issue, and nothing recent you've written is showing up. We look forward to reading them. :-)

    At first we assumed that Senara was going to leave when the fairies told her to... but now that she's talking about not living very long, and that makes me wonder if she thinks she's going to die instead. We'll have to figure out how to protect her. We just don't have a lot of time to figure it out, and she's not budging on the talking thing.

    Love,
    Bree

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    1. Bree says:

      Hi, Bree again. I removed your blog from our roll and then added it back again, and that seems to have solved the posts not showing up issue. Hopefully we won't miss any more!

      Between the new blogger setup and the switch to .ca URLs for us, there seem to be a lot of glitches lately. I hope they sort it out soon!

      ~B

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  3. Bree,
    My sisters and I are very excited you seem to be forging ahead with all this new information.
    First of all, send our congratulations to the girls regarding their spots in the big dance program. We can't wait to hear how they do.

    That is exciting about the werewolf. It sounds like you are getting closer to finding out who the werewolf is, but it seems like it just brings up more questions to solve. Have you found any pictures on the Internet to find out what type he could be or from what species he/she is from?

    Poor Senara! I think she is really scared and just doesn't know where to turn. maybe the fair folk have warned her about sharing too much. Since this beating around the bush isn't getting to the bottom of this, have you thought about being direct with her, but in a non-confrontational way. Tell her that part of learning about the social aspect of humans is learning how to trust. You all take care of each other because there are no surprises among families because you have each other's backs. If she is in trouble, you can be there for her. Good Luck!

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    1. Bree says:

      Hi, good to see you again. :-)

      Kaya, Cécile, Marie-Grace, and Fiona say thanks for the congratulations!

      We're definitely getting closer to finding out about the werewolf. Okay, technically the main thing we've found out is that this particular werewolf seems very out of the ordinary. (At least using Gia as a point of comparison.) But... that's something, I guess? At least we know.

      We've tried looking up information on the internet. The problem is, it's hard to know what's true and what isn't. There's a lot of stuff out there about werewolves that is blatantly absurd, and that's easy to ignore. The problem is, there are also a lot of things that are plausible but contradictory. So it's hard to know which of the plausible things are actually true.

      The one thing we've been able to narrow down is that anything that refers to hereditary werewolves can be ruled out, since Gia was bitten. (It's unlikely she had any kind of latent werewolf gene that would be related to members of the local populace, since she's an immigrant.) We haven't found many pictures to compare ours to, though. Most are very blurry, or art - and the art ones are interesting, but the truth/fiction question comes up again.

      I think you're right about Senara. She's obviously scared, and she hasn't decided whether we're trustworthy enough. Ordinarily we'd give her time to decide that on her own... but if the date she told us is true, time is one thing we don't have a lot of.

      I had tried several different approaches to talking to her. Asking outright. Hinting. Pleading. Being stern. Trying to beat around the bush and get to it from another angle. So far, nothing has worked. I'm going to try your suggestion of wording, though. I'll let you know how it turns out.

      Love,
      Bree

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  4. Hi Bree,

    Things have been super busy around here as well. I missed a few of your blog posts and had to read back a few to figure out who Senara is. She sounds like an interesting fairy. That's too bad that she doesn't think she will be around much longer.

    I'm glad that Gia is doing well! I hope to have more time to blog and read blogs so I can keep up better on what's going on. Take care!

    Emily

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    1. Bree says:

      Hi, Emily! It's nice to see you again. We certainly understand being busy, and we hope you'll get a chance to update us about your life soon, too.

      Senara is interesting indeed. We actually like her a lot. She's a nice person, and very smart, and she has a good sense of humour. It's just hard sometimes that she doesn't open up. If she did, it might be easier for us to help her stick around.

      We're glad Gia is doing well, too. Thanks for your concern for her!

      Take care. :-)

      Love,
      Bree

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  5. Sorry Blakeney has not been feeling good, we know how that is because Mama was sick for awhile after her cruise and we are all just now getting back into the internet .. first place we gotta start in blogs is reading all the posts we missed of yours. We are waaaaaayyyyyy behind.

    I hate those lost password issues, irritating for sure, life is crazy sometimes, glad that you got it all figured out and are back.

    Congrats for the girls with the dance casting, We are sooooo excited for them and cannot wait to hear what all they are doing with it, I am sure it will be in some of the posts we read next, we have six more to read, LOL!! The girls here I am not sure what all they are doing, we were gone and everyone has been so busy we have not talked enough.

    I am happy that Gia is getting more used to her wolf self, I know it still has to be hard to be a werewolf after being normal for so long. I hope you find the one that bit her and help others be safe too.

    I am glad that Senara is going to school and seeming to enjoy herself, I am very worried as to why she is not thinking she will live for a long time, I hope you guys can get down to the reason and figure out how to save her. I feel so bad for her, it must be hard to have such a horrible secret and not be able to share it and talk about it. Scary!!

    Hugs,
    Taryn

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    1. Bree says:

      Thanks, Taryn! Sorry to hear your Mama was sick. I hope she's doing better now. Blakeney is back to good health. I hope you enjoyed your cruise, too!

      We're way behind on your blog after our trip, too. ;-)

      Thanks for the good thoughts about the dance events, Gia, and Senara. Good friends like you make the scary stuff seem not so bad after all.

      *hugs*

      Love,
      Bree

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