capsicum

[katrea]

Katie settles in pretty well into the house, and later, when a bed has been obtained, into Lizbeth's room. She wears Lizbeth's hand-me-downs to start, then gets her own clothes; she doesn't have strong opinions about what she should be wearing, but the sizing on Lizbeth's old things isn't really right, and there aren't all that many still lying around anyway.

She has inexplicably tidy handwriting - inexplicably has handwriting at all; inexplicably can spell fifteen words in twenty instead of zero - which she uses, rather a lot. She makes a list of things that are food and magnetizes it to the fridge for reference, adding to it when she locates more things that are food, and when she is trying to tackle complex books she takes notes on who all the characters are so she doesn't have to page backward to remind herself, and she discovers journaling, even though she doesn't have that many events to record.

One day, the event she has to record is: Chris says to morrow she wil go to the DMV and shud not have us ther becas it may take six ours. We wil be baybe sat. If I hav ben baybe sat be for I do not remembre it.

She is curious about the imminent babysitter, and is up bright and early on the day when same may be expected.

Comments

[more_capable]

"No. Everyone else just does it without trying, and we couldn't stop if we wanted to, and if we did stop we'd die."

[katrea]

"I don't think I can start, then."

[more_capable]

"I didn't think so either, but I wasn't sure."

[katrea]

"Okay. But I don't seem to have to thump to be alive."

[more_capable]

"Yes," she says.

[katrea]

"That's okay then." Katie takes the stethoscope and goes to listen to the fridge.

[more_capable]

Virginia shifts so she can see into the kitchen from where she's sitting, and pays attention to Katie while she does her math homework. Rather more attention to Katie than to the math homework, in fact.

[katrea]

Katie listens to the fridge, and the microwave, and then she lets the microwave go empty for five seconds and listens to it while it does that, and then she listens to the kitchen window.

[more_capable]

She seems to be having fun. And continuing to be alive.

Virginia is confused.

[katrea]

Eventually Katie is bored of the stethoscope. She puts it back in its box and goes to sit by the window and look out at the sun.

[more_capable]

"Please don't look right at the sun," says Virginia. "Doing that can hurt people's eyes, and you can't always tell right away how hurt they are."

[katrea]

"But Giiiina, I like the sun," says Katie, turning to look at Gina. "It's bright and it's pretty."

[more_capable]

"You can look at other bright pretty things," she says. "But not this one, because it might hurt you."

[katrea]

"It doesn't hurt to look at though."

[more_capable]

"It might still be doing bad things to your eyes," says Virginia. "The only way to know for sure that it isn't would be to keep doing it and see if you go blind. I'm not going to let you do that, because I don't want you to go blind."

[katrea]

"Oh. I don't want to go blind."

[more_capable]

"So don't stare at the sun."

[katrea]

"What if it's like thumping?"

[more_capable]

"It might be like thumping," she says. "But I'm not sure it's like thumping. And I don't know a safe way to find out. Staring at the sun is not a safe way to find out."

[katrea]

"I hope it's like thumping. I like the sun."

[more_capable]

No response from Gina.

[katrea]

Katie starts browsing the bookshelf.

[more_capable]

...Gina observes this.

[katrea]

Katie picks out a book she hasn't looked at before, and hoists herself up onto the couch where she was previously sitting, and reads.

[more_capable]

...Well okay then.