Lucretia Villagraab: Week Two
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I began the week with the first of my gold medal parties -- a toddler play date for Martha.
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Most of our guests enjoyed themselves, but Bismuth Zargon apparently became so embarrassed when someone realized he was an alien (like it's hard to tell, what with the blue skin and pointy ears) that he spent most of the time hiding in the bedroom.
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On the other hand, one of our guests, little Robin Gotfry, had such a good time that she didn't want to leave.
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Of course, the true test of a successful party is whether those who weren't able to attend are unhappy about that. Spencer was still too young so he had to miss out on the toddler play date of the year.
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Soon after her play date, Martha was due for her birthday. She spent some time playing spaceship with me. She's such an imaginative child that I'm sure she'll turn out to be very creative.
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When she woke up from her nap, she was ready for cake.
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Sadly, Martha wasn't the only one in the household going through a life change. We were all distressed about losing Vivian.
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I hurried Dennis away from the house, hoping to keep him out of the Grim Reaper's vicinity. But as i watched him run down the beach, I had a premonition that our time together wouldn't be long.
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We said our good-byes at the top of the lighthouse.
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As soon as we emerged from the dome, Grim was waiting for him. I pleaded for him to be spared, but the Reaper was relentless.
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We all had so many happy times together; it's hard to believe those days are over. At least I do have a few photos to help me remember.
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With Vivian and Dennis gone, we made a few changes in the house. Martha and Olivia moved into my old bedroom, along with some of their toys.
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They became good friends, even though Olivia is older.
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In fact, Olivia was the next to age up, becoming a beautiful teen.
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She's also our live-in babysitter, looking after Spencer when Eric, Alice, and I all have to work.
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And she'll be around to take care of little Denis, too. Yes, after Dennis died, I discovered that I was pregnant.
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With the room swap, I took over the space that had once been Olivia's. I now have my own balcony...
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And the stairs that lead up to the area I call my garret, which is perfect for writing. I've locked the door to my room so that I'll have a little privacy.
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Thanks to my ancestor's portrait, I now have an idea for a story, which I'm sure will be a best seller.
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Lucretia finished writing in her diary and closed the book. She hadn't said everything she could have, but then, with two inquisitive youngsters in the house, it was probably better to be discreet. Yes, the diary stayed in her pocket, and yes, the door to the room was locked, but diaries could fall out of pockets, and locks could be picked.
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Then Lucretia went upstairs and began working on her novel. She wasn't sure yet whether it would be a romance with a touch of horror, or a horror story made more terrifying by a dash of romance. She would leave it to her publisher to decide how to market it. With a title like The Vampire's Bride, it could go either way:
It took Letitia several months to finish cleaning the old painting she'd found in her grandmother's attic when they cleared out the house. At first she didn't know what it might represent, for it was almost entirely black except for a few gray splotches. But when a face finally loomed out of the darkness, she knew that it was a portrait of her ancestor, the one that family legend said was a vampire.
His lineaments were not handsome, but his eyes were compelling, even mesmerizing. Letitia hung it at the foot of her bed, where it was the last thing she saw every night before going to sleep...
