Thanks for reading! Whirligig, I have to work on friends, too.
Chapter 5 – TransitionsWe celebrated Bridge's birthday early in the morning before it was time for him to go to school. At long last, I was able to get a gold medal; I also successfully prepared five gourmet meals during a single event – Bridge's birthday cake plus 4 Caprese salads. Here is Bridge painting:
And here he is doing his homework in his more flamboyant everyday outfit. I think he turned out to be quite handsome, but then I'm prejudiced being his mother.
Bridge is not very talkative, preferring to communicate with pictures. When I asked him how he felt about being a dynasty heir, with so many different tasks to perform, this is the picture he painted for me:
"Do you feel like you're all alone in the middle of a storm?" I asked him.
He nodded.
I gave him a hug, then and told him that I would always be with him and would help as much as I could.
The next day, when he came home from his first day of high school, I asked him what had transpired during the day. This was the picture he painted for me:
I think he made friends, but I do not know how to interpret the rest of it. As far as I know, we do not have swings in Willow Creek, nor do we have lawn mowers, and there's nowhere to go shopping. Perhaps those images are predictive?
Now that we've finished with my parties, Nathanial has taken a job as a painter. This meant that Jonathan and I were the only ones at home the next day. We decided to go fishing in one of the other neighborhoods. I couldn't stay long, as I had to go to work, but Jonathan continued for a while.
When he returned home, he suddenly felt very weak. The Grim Reaper must have been waiting for him, because he appeared even before Jonathan fell completely to the ground.
That was a blow, because Jonathan did contribute a lot to my efforts – helping with baby-sitting when Bridge was an infant, helping with the garden, and mixing drinks at our parties.
Worse was to come, however. No sooner did Nathanial return home from work than he collapsed in virtually the same place where Jonathan did. They were twins, so I guess their life span was the same.
It's probably just as well that I wasn't home at the time – it would have been too tempting to give the Grim Reaper one of my death flowers and win a reprieve for him.
But because neither Bridge nor I were at home, we don't feel any sadness over their deaths, which seems very odd. Bridge painted another picture like his first one – the little house alone in the storm, and I don't need to ask what it means this time. I set up their tombstones outside, and planted a weeping cherry to watch over them.
This morning, after Bridge went to school, I baked myself a birthday cake and became an elder.
I still have much to do – I need two more promotions, and I need to make another 12 excellent meals, plus max the gourmet cooking skill. And either Bridge or I will have to catch an angelfish. Oh, and before I forget – I need five more good friends, and a best friend. So I don't really have time for grief.
