katrea | viridiplantae

Katie goes on a strawberry kick for an entire week.

Her hair turns dark pink.

If it is cloudy for several days in a row, or if Katie doesn't go outside, she drags herself around the house like there are weights attached to her and is more likely to fall over.

On the other hand, after the pink hair incident (of which she aesthetically disapproves) she stops eating for three sunny days and nothing happens except a gradual lightening to blonde. She does drink plenty of water.

Katie decides she wants to be ginger and starts eating a lot of papaya and sweet potatoes and pumpkin and mango and carrots and tangerines and orange bell peppers and cantaloupe and peaches and kumquats and vegan caramels and, of course, oranges. Sometimes she eats red and yellow things, too, but she is careful to balance them out; if she feels like eating something green she covers it in turmeric. The limited variety doesn't seem to do her any more harm than the dearth of two major macronutrients ever did. (She will eat, if encouraged, avocados or tofu, whole peanuts and quinoa - she is not completely void of potential sources of fat and protein - it's just that they seem irrelevant.)

She trips often enough that going around in optimal sun-absorption outfits is kind of a problem: if she scrapes her knee in front of a witness, someone might notice the distinctly unbloody fluid - sap? - that she contains. The compromise is long pants, sleeveless shirts, and light cardigans thrown on if they're going to walk somewhere which she can omit for just lounging on the front steps in the sunshine.

She reads a book about plants. She holds her breath for fifteen minutes before getting distracted and absently starting again. She wonders where she came from and who put her in a basket on Chris's doorstep and why.

She learns to tell people clearly and firmly that she is a "strict vegan". If questioned about her reasons she tells them that she loves animals. Nobody wants her carted off to be researched.

(She is not such a strict vegan as to eschew honey. Honey is fine by her.)

Mercifully, she looks five by the time she is officially five - actually, she looks more appropriate for five than she did for three; she's still slender and oddly-proportioned, but that adds up better for a kindergartener's height than for a toddler's.

She is nervous about going to school and is holding Chris's hand very hard.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

katrea

Katie eyes the playground. "They will let me out of the building some of the day, right?"

From:

queensidecastle

"Yes. Two or three times a day, usually, I think."

From:

katrea

"That's good, I don't want to fall over more than usual."

From:

queensidecastle

"Yes. Falling over is unpleasant."

From:

katrea

"Yeah." Katie sighs, and peeps into her lunch, and hugs Chris.

From:

queensidecastle

Hugs.

(Her lunch is composed of one hundred percent food.)

From:

katrea

"You'll come get me in the afternoon?"

From:

queensidecastle

"Yes I will."

From:

katrea

"Okay. Love you."

From:

queensidecastle

"Love you too."

From:

katrea

Katie goes bravely into kindergarten.

She is waiting out on the sidewalk near where the buses congregate when Chris comes to fetch her.

From:

queensidecastle

"Hey you," says Chris. "How was your day?"

From:

katrea

"It was okay. Kind of boring. Ms. Keenan let us draw though, and I did go outside, but she thought I should be running around, so I told her I don't run, and she argued with me but I still didn't."

From:

queensidecastle

"If Ms. Keenan keeps pestering you about that, I can come argue with her for you."

From:

katrea

"Okay. I don't think she knows why I wouldn't run. She said everybody falls sometimes and you have to get up, and I do get up but that's not the point, but she didn't get it. I did go on the swings to make her leave me alone. The swings are okay."

From:

queensidecastle

Chris nods.

From:

katrea

"She read us a story, but I can read faster than that."

From:

queensidecastle

"Lizbeth has much the same problem."

From:

katrea

"Are they still gonna read me stories out loud really slow when I'm all the way in second grade?"

From:

queensidecastle

"Yes, but not nearly as often. Mostly with her it's things like the teacher telling everyone to take some time to read one chapter of a book, and Lizbeth finishing two instead."

From:

katrea

"That's annoying, why do they do that?"

From:

queensidecastle

"Well, I'd guess they tell everyone to read the chapter because they want everyone to read the chapter, and they give everyone plenty of time to do it because most people don't read as fast as Lizbeth."