Tuesday

Tuesday

     Still no sign of Mama or Joe. Dad seems fine. He is working all the time which is usual for him but it makes the house very quiet. I did some laundry today, just the way Mama showed me: darks together in cold water, underwear, socks and pyjamas together in warm water.  After I took all the clothes out of the dryer I found a small piece of paper with the words “Rosemary Heights” and part of a phone number. What does that mean? I think it's my mother’s handwriting but I'm not sure. Is it a name or a place? Is it a clue? I googled it and there were so many listings for Rosemary Heights I'm not sure what to think.  I feel cold and sad without Mama here but I am also not sure what to do. What if something bad has happened to her? I just don’t understand why she has not called me. My mother has always kept in touch with me so the fact that she hasn’t makes me think that something is really wrong. But where could she be? She only has her purse--- no phone, no car---where is she and why not tell me? 

     I noticed that some of her flowers were sad and wilted so I spent a lot of time watering everything. It made me feel better to know that I was helping her and that all the flowers and plants would look nice when she came home. I also looked after the chickens some more and swept the driveway. I have been really busy all day today which helped me feel happier and made the day go by quicker.

     Later I made a salad like Mama showed me to do with everything from the fridge. I put pears and sunflower seeds and a bit of feta cheese--- not too much because I am lactose intolerant. When I say that Dad says that he is just intolerant. He’s not that darn funny. 

     I keep walking around to see if there are any more clues, like in the mystery books that Mama likes to read. Tonight I just feel sad. I miss her and I don’t like living out here in the country without her. All the other houses are so far away and some of the people in them I don't know. Most of them are okay though. Anyway, the dog we have is nice. But Red is not the best company when I feel down. At least she likes to cuddle. But mostly she wants to eat and run around. She has been sticking pretty close to me the last few days, almost like she misses Mama too. Anyway I don’t mind it. I'm lonely too.

     When I asked Dad about where Joe was he seemed a little worried. As far as I can tell. He asked me a lot of questions like when was the last time I saw him and what car had I seen him drive lately. I guess the problem is that usually Mama keeps track of Joe and with her gone too no one knows what is going on. He asked me to keep my eyes open for Joe and I said that I would. At least he didn’t ask me to keep my eyes peeled--- that sounds so gross. Whoever thought of that was really a weirdo.                           

     Also Dad asked me about school which I hate because I never have anything good to tell him. Yes, I went to Foods class and Textiles class and Glass Art class and yes everyone was okay and I even told him that Ms. Bay was fine. I usually don’t ever lie but after a while you learn not to tell the whole truth unless you want to spend all night talking about something you don’t want to talk about. Ms. Bay is not all that nice to me. I don’t think that she likes me and I am sure that she doesn't understand my learning disability. All I know is that everyone in all my classes stays far away from me whenever Ms.Bay is with me which is like all the time, except at lunchtime. I am not sure why someone who doesn't seem to like kids gets a job working with them. One day when I wore purple sweat pants and a purple hoodie to school Ms. Bay told me that I would have more friends if I didn’t wear purple all the time. It seemed kind of mean because purple is my favourite colour and I don’t have any friends at school anyway. Mama called the principal and told him what she said. It didn’t make too much difference though. Ms. Bay was nice to me for one day and then she wasn’t. One person who is always really nice to me and listens to everything I say is Robin, the special needs bus driver. She is my “Bus Mum”. She is so smiley and makes me laugh every day. Some days when I don’t want to go to school, she makes me glad that I did!