The doctors have brought us together and after introductions, they've said, "Well, let's talk about whatever you guys want. Today is a day for you." I've noticed that some therapists will say this and then direct you to do something they want anyway. And that's more or less exactly what the three attendents do. One gets out some goldfish crackers and stale Oreos [I don't know why, but it seems that every hospital has a stash of stale vanilla Oreos and if you stay in a ward for too long, you'll be rewarded with the occasional Oreo. Why are they always stale? Who knows? It's a mystery.- Ruby] from a bag while another prepares cups of water for us. A final one produces a jigsaw puzzle. It's a thousand piece one of an ocean. There's a lot of fish and coral in the picture on the box. It's something to do instead of talk, I guess, which is a good thing, because there's a boy who is using sign language and I don't know it at all.

There's a blind girl, and I don't know how she'd be able to participate. But one of the techs comes up with a very clever solution- she asks Earnestine to feel the pieces and put them together with the edges. Her brow wrinkles in concentration as she tries to match a couple of pieces together. I pick a few out, edge pieces that look like a bright coral, and slide them surreptitouly over to her. A few minutes later, she says, "Oh!" and lights up in pure delight. "I think I've got one, does it work?" she cries. The girl with epilepsy- Sophia?- turns to her excitedly and cries, "Yes, you've got it!" She picks out pieces of similar colors and passes them to Earnstine to put together. Between the two of them, they're able to put together quite a bit of the puzzle.

Another small girl, whose name I have forgotten already (I chastise myself- I can remember she has Chron's, but I can't remember her name? Pathetic), pipes up suddenly, "So, what's your favorite color?" This is a very important thing, it seems.

One of the others, Paige, answers shly, "Green, I suppose."

"I like green too," I say.

"It's a nice color," the teen girl says, "but I like blue best. What about you, Luke?"

The sign language boy- I guess he must be Luke- tries signing something back that she seems confused about.

One of the attendents suddenly brings over some paper and pencils. "If anyone would like to draw," she says. The girl with Ondine's Curse grabs some paper and begins scratching away. She writes,

"I like purple and white- like jasmine flowers!"

Shyly, the boy Luke writes, "I like blue, also."

Sophie yells, "Oh, you can't see it, huh, Earnestine? Okay! I'll be your eyes today! Jasmine likes purple and white, like jasmine flowers! And Luke likes blue!"

Earnestine smiles, a beautiful, radiant smile. "Thank you! I'm glad for my new eyes, Sophie."

Sophie laughs. Somehow, it seems we're all getting along and communicating better than I expected. Perhaps we can make good friends. 

This is Oliver. I'm creating changes in him so he's not a copy of me. I think he'd be like an alternate universe version of me- where things turned out a bit different when getting SZ, where I look different, like chocolate, have a dog, have crushes, etc. I'd like Oliver to be able to get along with everyone.

Lacey~

One of the attendants asks "Would anyone like to draw?" I immediately wheel myself over and grab a couple of pencils. Jasmine, the girl with Odine's Curse, snatches some paper and writes, 'I like purple and white- like jasmine flowers!' Luke writes, 'I like blue, also." I come over and write, 'Green is my favorite!" When Sphie realizes Ernestine won't be able to see the peices of the puzzle they're working on, she shouts 

"Oh, you can't see it! I'll be your eyes for today!" Ernestine laughs. 

"I'm glad for my new eyes, Sophie." 

Luke, Jasime and I communicate through writing, as none of us really like to talk. We'd pass the pad of paper around, and one of us would write something, such as 'What is your favorite book?' or 'What kind of music do you like?" Once, I wrote, 'Do either of you like to draw?' Jasmine perks up and pulls a sketch of two birds out of her bag. One bird is flying away, looking back at the other, who is perched on a telephone wire. It's quite an amazing drawing. The birds are so detailed, even though they're small. They look like they could fly off of the paper and into real life.  

~~~

Sorry it's so short, I'm out of ideas. 

Here's Lacey:

Leafmist, please crop off the web address that shows at the bottom and resubmit the art. Thank you!

Admin

Sophie~

Earnestine and I are doing a puzzle together; I pick out the pieces with the same color and she puts them together. It's quite fun, actually, and I can do it while talking. A few people communicate using paper, so I try to read them aloud for Earnestine. My reading is still a little shaky. Just last year, I'd read my first real book. "Do either of you like to draw?" I sound out, even though the question probably isn't for me. Jasmine pulls out a drawing of two small birds, and I gasp. "How do you do that?"

She shrugs, looking kind of embarrassed. Oops. "Here," I say, taking out my drawing of the sun and moon. Good thing I brought it. "I draw, too. These are like my earrings, see?" I lift up my hair, showing them off. Then I look at Earnestine, and blush. "Oh, right. One of my earrings is a silver moon, who I have named Edna, and the other is a golden sun named Harold. Not real silver and gold, of course. They have eyes, too." Lacey examines my drawing, and I wait to see what she has to say. 

"That's pretty good. Are you going to color it?" she says. I didn't even think of that; I might as well. The nurse has laid a box of colored pencils out on the table, and inside it there is a silvery colored one. Lacey has the yellow, though, so I start on the moon. I imagine Edna with long, fluttery eyelashes and piercing grey eyes, but I can't get the pencil to do what I want, and it ends up looking like a misshapen blob. Eh. Now Lacey has returned the yellow to the box, so I start on Harold. He turns out much better than Edna. "Done!" I exclaim, signing it in the bottom right-hand corner. "If anyone wants this, they can have it."

Earnestine and I return to the puzzle, which has a good portion of the pieces put together. In the picture, fish swim around a reef while a diver snaps photos of the wildlife. I wonder if I'm more like the fish, swimming around endlessly with only basic goals, or the diver, who is on a mission and a job to do. Or the coral, just waiting there, moving only when something else pushes me. I decide that I'm a mix of all three; I always keep swimming like the fish, but have goals like the diver, and stay rooted to the people and places I love, like the coral. And, like the water, I can be peaceful or destructive depending on how you look at me. I admit, I can be a little too blunt at times. It's better than being a fake, a person who talks behind others' backs. To me at least. Earnestine and I piece together a green-blue fish, who I subconsciously give a name, Casey. It's sounds like 'Kay, see?, which is ironic because Earnestine can't, at least not yet. It's as if it's saying, 'Kay, see? Everything will be all right. It certainly will, I think, as I smile at my new friends. It will be much, much more than all right.   

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