Chapter 8: GrowthMacaria, frustrated at the slow progress of her efforts to complete childhood aspirations, turned to her father for advice. “How do you do it, Dad?”
Mr. Gamboa thought for a moment and then said, “Well, I don't sleep. You do seem to lose a lot of potentially productive time by spending it in bed.”
Macaria agreed, and with the help of sleep potions ended up completing three out of four possible aspirations before her teen birthday.
“I would have got the fourth one, too,” she complained, “but none of the other kids are awake at three a.m., and I needed them to be my friends. It's too bad they don't have good parents like mine to teach them to stay up all night.”
Alas, the busy pace of the household meant that some members were a bit neglected. Jamaal stepped away from his gardening to feed Cerberus one evening, and found the cowplant had departed before he got there.
Mr. Gamboa was distraught. Patches/Cerberbus had been his first friend in his new life, and his unceremonious exit from the living realm left a large empty space in Mr. Gamboa's heart, as well as his kitchen.
He filled the kitchen space with a fish tank, but the new residents lacked Patches' personality, and they also smelled terrible. He'd stocked the tank with a few old fish he'd caught for fertilizer, and while they swam about quite energetically, Jamaal suggested that perhaps they were not as fresh as they might be.
Mr. Gamboa nodded his agreement, and restocked the tank with fresh, store-bought specimens in time time for Macaria's birthday.
He gave Macaria one last squeeze, and ushered her toward the cake. Almost before they knew it, he and Jamaal found themselves face to face with a teenager.
Macaria immediately developed a fascination with yoga, and took to spending her nights practicing poses in front of the windows in her room. She ceased to eat anything other than coconut carob cake, and that very weekend dragged her father and uncle out to the new spa for classes.
Mr. Gamboa gamely attempted to join the class, but found himself unable to communicate with the instructor, so spent the time perfecting the one pose that felt natural to him.
Jamaal skipped the class in favor of the meditation garden.
Macaria sought him out there later, and was excited to instead find one of her own kind in disguise. They exchanged a secret handshake and promised to hang out again later to trade observations.
Mr. Gamboa was pleased Macaria had found a friend, but found himself unable to share her enthusiasm for the spa, and, eager to direct her adolescent effervescence toward other interests, he suggested a trip to the park.
Jamaal headed off to work, and Mr. Gamboa gratefully settled in for a bit of fishing while Macaria grilled up dinner.
He noticed a teenaged companion join her for dinner and sighed with satisfaction. Their conversation seemed to be particularly absorbing and went on late into the night. “Good,” he thought, “I'll bet she's not thinking about yoga at all right now. A little healthy socialization will be the perfect distraction.”
