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 Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 2:07 pm
"Momma, I wanna go -outside-!" she whined, arm flopping down the side of the couch so that her hand-- covered in red bumps-- brushed the floor.
"Well, you cannot," the asian woman walked through the room carrying Kisala's younger (troublesome) sister and not even looking in the older girl's direction, "You are too sick, and we do not want to spread the disease."
Though, it seemed to Shiori that spreading the disease would be a good thing for any children who got it-- the chicken pox were apparently much more dangerous if you got them as an adult. Shiori was lucky that as a monk she'd managed to get her body to a state where it was almost completely resistant to disease, or else she'd have had to worry about catching it from Kisala since her homeworld had no such thing.
"But it -sucks- having to lie here on the couch and do nothing all day." Kisala whined, tilting her head back over the arm of the couch to stare at the dull wood ceiling. Lying about like this was probably the most boring thing -ever-, especially for a girl who spent most of her days climbing trees.
"I never said you could not do -anything-, just that you could not go outside."
Kisala sulked,
"But the only things worth doing are outside! What am I supposed to do in here?"
Shiori had never before had any desire to have a television, but at this point, she felt she probably should have gotten one-- at least for emergencies like this.
"Well, you could try practicing your reading. Or grooming your bonsai."
The girl made a face, rolling her eyes, "Booooring. I wanna run and climb trees and stuff!"
Shiori sighed, trying to think of things the girl could do inside that might entertain her-- but she'd never had a child before, and all the indoor activities she knew of were for adults, and Monks at that. Most adults didn't find sand pictures and meditation entertaining.
"I do not know what to tell you, Kisala."
Ajiiel seemed to snicker from their mother's arms, reaching out and making motions as though pulling Kisala's hair.
"That is -not- the sort of entertainment I want, Ajiiel." She leaned back against the arm of the couch, groaning loudly and stretching her fingers as though scratching her legs though she didn't actually touch them.
"This sucks."
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Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 4:56 pm
Journal Entry:
WE'RE GOING TO THE ZOOOOOOO! Momma said that once I felt better we could go. I'm still feeling pretty cruddy right now, but I'm trying to get better really fast so we can go. I drank a bunch of juice and I've been drinking some water, and sleeping a lot and lying about and watching TV, even though it's boring. I'm still bored, though. I wish I could go outside and play.
And Ajiiel's really annoying and keeps jumping on me when I'm lying on the mat and stuff. She can barely stand, but she likes trying to stand right next to me and then falling right on my stomach. I got even with her, though, I pulled her hair -back- when she pulled it, and she cried and cried and momma told me not to do it again, but I don't care because it was worth it. She won't pull my hair again soon, I think!
But anyhow, back to the zoo...I'm so excited! I was looking through all the books we have about animals to pick out which ones I want to see the most.
Momma says that not all of them will be there, at the zoo, but I think that most of the ones I want to see will be. I mean, some of the cool animals I've already seen before-- there are frogs and lizards and stuff in the pond over by the gardens and everything, but most of the really really cool animals are at the zoo.
I wanna see the TIGERS. They're all big and orange and black and stripey and stuff. The book on them says all sorts of neat things. They eat meat and they can swim and they're sooooo big and playful and stuff.
I'm really thirsty, but I don't feel like getting up, though. Still sick. It was hard to get up this morning to go to the bathroom. Mama says I got a bit of a fever, so she gave me this really nasty tea to drink. I haaaate it when she makes me drink teas. They're always icky. I mean, yeah, they make me feel better, but do they have to taste so gross? Can't they make yummy teas? Well, some teas are yummy, just not the ones that make you better 'n stuff.
But one of the girls at school said that medicine tastes even worse, so at least Mama's not making me take that stuff.
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Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 4:57 pm
When morning came, she found that all her chicken pox had become nasty crusty lesions instead of just spots. Her mother had read that this meant she was no longer contagious. This, and the fact that her fever was gone made for a very bright and cheerful girl bounding into the woman's room and pouncing on the bed,
"MAMAMAMAMAMA!" She squealed, shaking the woman, "I'M BETTER!"
Shiori, for her part, responded with amazing patience and, even more amazing, managed not to be startled but instead slowly allowed herself to awake, reaching a sort of calm that even Kisala's screeching could not reach.
"Kisala, stop shouting. You will wake your sister," she informed the girl.
Kisala quieted instantly-- the last thing she wanted was for Ajiiel to be awake. She wanted some peace and quiet while she could still get it. And her mother's attention-- that was hard to come by, too, with Ajiiel screaming and biting and hitting and destroying things.
"Sorry, momma," she whispered, looking around to make certain the littler girl wasn't already awake and heading for their mother's bedroom.
"I'm all better, though! All my chicken pox have scabs on 'em and I don't feel so sick."
Shiori nodded thoughtfully at this. They had been fortunate-- Kisala hadn't had one of her glowing incidents during this illness. Shiori wasn't certain the girl would have been able to deal with both incapacitates. Would she even survive if it happened?
She'd have to start supplementing Kisala's diet. She knew of a few herbs that would serve as vitamins to boost the girl's immune system. And Kisala certainly was active enough to keep her body in good condition. As long as they were smart about things, they could hopefully keep her from getting too sick too often.
Kisala, however, didn't seem to even think about this. Her mind seemed entirely set on the idea that she could now go outside again. The girl tugged on her mother's arm anxiously,
"Can we go to the park and play? Pleasepleasepleaseplease?"
Shiori shook her head,
"We can't just leave Ajiiel here by herself, Kisala. She's too young to take care of herself."
The girl pouted a bit, torn. She wanted to go out and play, but she also didn't want Ajiiel to come along, and she -did- want her mother to.
"Can't one of the monks watch her?"
Shiori shook her head again,
"It is meditation hour, Kisala. All of the monks are too busy."
Besides, she didn't want to saddle any of them with the angry, biting toddler unless she had to.
"We could play a game here, though," she offered the girl.
Even if it wasn't quite what she wanted, it was still alone time with her mother, so Kisala nodded sadly,
"All right, I guess."
Shiori smiled,
"And then after Ajiiel wakes up, we can go to the zoo."
"YEEEEEEEEEEEEES!!"
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Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 8:04 pm
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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 3:01 pm
Journal Entry:
I SAW THE TIGERS!! They were so awesome and big and beautiful!! There was this lady there who worked with them and she came out and told me a whole bunch of stuff about tigers. Then she went in and showed off how they jump in the water and swim and can do some tricks and stuff, but only when they want to. She said that tigers are really really dangerous, though, and that sometimes even when they're raised by people they still bite and can even kill people!
And then we met this new boy that I hadn't seen before. His name is Eirwyn and he's little and really cute. He's got these big fuzzy white ears and stuff. I think he's probably as little as Ajiiel, maybe littler. We watched some of the animals together, and he liked the tigers too. He even yelled at them like me, only without real words 'cause he's too little to -really- talk. And Mama seemed to like his Papa, Orion. They were talking a lot and stuff, but I was busy watching the tigers and talking to Eirwyn.
I read on the placard that there's some tigers that are in danger from humans, too. Because of cutting down trees and stuff. I told Mama we should plant some trees to help the tigers, and I think we're going to do that when it's not so cold anymore. It's a little bit too cold now to do it. That will be really really fun! Mama says we do lots of other things to help the tigers too, like turning the water off when we brush our teeth and buying things from the local farmers instead of the big stores and stuff.
Ajiiel's come down with Chicken Pox now, too. She's all itchy and stuff. It makes me kind of happy because she was so awful to me when I was sick and because now she's sort've less active than she was before. But, then, I feel bad for her 'cause I know what it was like when I was sick and it wasn't fun at -all-. But still, she kinda deserves it for being so -mean-. I think she got it from me anyways, so that makes me feel better, even if I do feel a little guilty.
Mama's having a hard time with it, though. Ajiiel's even meaner and crankier since she's sick, so Mama's got her hands full trying to keep her from being too mean. I don't think she's left our quarters at all since Ajiiel got sick. 'cause it's just too much to try to keep her under control with other people around and stuff. I wonder who's taking over for her at the Temple?
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Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 6:16 pm
ORP with Polly and Alistair here
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Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 10:56 am
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 5:50 pm
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Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 10:45 am
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Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 2:39 pm
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Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 5:28 pm
Kisala flopped down into the water,
"Cannon baaaaalllllll!" she shrieked as it splashed everywhere, including into the face of the rather angry-looking toddler sitting at the edge of the pool. She resurfaced a second later, beaming until she caught the look on her adoptive mother's face.
"Kisala," the Asian woman's voice was quite calm as she reproached the girl, "Be more careful. The water is very shallow, and you might hit the ground too quickly like that."
The girl sighed, kicking her legs behind her to float on the surface of the pool,
"Allright, mom," she said, though a small grin reached her lips-- she was just glad to have angered Ajiiel. Her little sister had taken markers that morning and coloured all over Kisala's face and arms while she was napping.
Still, it was nice to be out and about and away from the Temple. Shiori had taken the two of them to the beaches of Gambino for a small vacation, hoping it would quell Kisala's summer antsy-ness. The girl just seemed -bored- without proper school to look forward to.
Ajiiel kicked her own feet in the water from the safety of the side of the pool-- she could barely walk in this toddler body, let alone swim properly! But the heat was bothering the cold-blooded child, and the cool water called to her. She sulked, looking at her adoptive mother. If the woman could go into the pool she'd have demanded she be taken there, but Shiori had just tattooed herself again for the first time since coming to Gaia, and tattoos could not, apparently, get wet.
The woman sat down next to the littler girl, letting her own feet fall into the water. It was a calm, rather peaceful day and Ajiiel seemed in a better mood after this morning's escapades.
Kisala dove under the water, coming up on the side of the pool next to her mother,
"Who's the guy with the wings, mama?" she asked, "The one who hangs out here sometimes?"
Shiori smiled,
"That is Tlanextli. He is a friend...of sorts. Just comes here to practice fighting mostly. You do not need to worry about him."
The girl held onto the edge of the pool and kicked out so that she was all but floating on her stomach, watching her mother,
"He has pretty wings," she said matter-of-factly, "but I don't have any. Why?"
Shiori blinked. She wasn't sure -where- this question had come from, but knew that Kisala had taken some interest in birds and wings and flying since their last trip to the Zoo.
"Well, you're not meant to have wings. Some people are not, and some are. Just like your sister has scales and you do not."
Kisala giggled, "Like I'm nice and Ajiiel's not?" she put in. Shiori winked, "Something like that."
Ajiiel leaned forward, trying to bite at Kisala for her comment, but the older girl moved and Ajiiel landed in the water with a big splash. Shiori quickly reached in and pulled the little girl out of the water before she drowned,
"Careful, Ajiiel," she cautioned the little one, "You're not quite ready for swimming yet, I think."
The girl crossed her arms sulkily, looking away, and then got up and walked over to the bench, looking pointedly from her mother to the diaper bag. Shiori sighed,
"Ten more minutes in the pool, Kisala," she cautioned the older girl, "Then you must come home."
And with that, she grabbed up bag and toddler and headed home, knowing Kisala would be all right, and would do as she was told. She, afterall, was the good child...despite her rather wild tendencies.
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Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 1:39 pm
Journal Entry--
There hasn't been a whole lot going on lately. I haven't seen most of my friends in a while-- but it's because I've been busy with school and stuff. I'm learning a -ton- of new stuff, like better spelling and writing and math and stuff. I like the science best, though. I keep hoping one day I'll know enough science to go to outer-space. My teacher says that's what you gotta know to go to outer-space. Maybe by the time I learn there'll be better spaceships, too. Not just the rockets we have now, but spaceships like the ones you see in Star Wars and stuff. That'd be really cool!
I told mama I wanted to go to space. She said it’d take a lot of work, and she’d miss me a lot if I was gone so much (astronauts are gone for –months-!) but, that if I really wanted to that I could do it. I hope I can. I’m not much good at working, though. I always want to be outside, and studying’s a lot easier inside, ‘cause there’s less noise and there aren’t any bugs flying in your books or anything.
It’s getting near Halloween now, too! I’m gonna dress up like a zombie, ‘cause I thought it’d be fun. There’s –lots- of good zombie stuff around Gaia, it wasn’t hard at all to find a costume. And then I’m going to go door-to-door at lots of places and get a –ton- of candy and shove it in Ajiiel’s face ‘cause momma says she’s too young for trick-or-treating or to eat a lot of candy. Hahahaaa!
I think Boyue’s gonna go with me. Momma wants to stay home with Ajiiel (she thinks Ajii’s gonna be a pain, which is probably true) and Boyue’s been wanting to hang around with me more lately. He helps me with my schoolwork and stuff a lot, too, so he’s cool. Really really smart, and sometimes I don’t understand what he’s saying, but cool enough. He doesn’t like outside the way I do, but he’ll take me out to the deck and we’ll study there and stuff.
Celes gets really jealous of it, but she doesn’t say so. I think it’s ‘cause her and Boyue used to always be so close, but now she’s busy with Rufus and he’s spending time with me and with his girlfriend, Melody, and so they’re not so close anymore.
Anyhow, I gotta go work on my costume some more! I figured out how to make realistic bloooooood!
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Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 9:48 am
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Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 9:11 am
Christmas was slowly becoming a tradition in the Tonbo household. While Shiori had never heard of the holiday before her mysterious appearance in Gaia, the children did seem to love it, and any excuse she could find to get them behaving themselves and getting along was a good one.
"You'd better be good, Ajiiel," she warned the little girl-- who seemed to have at least calmed down a little bit with her latest growth spurt-- as she stuffed her pockets full of cherry bombs,
"Or Santa won't bring you any gifts."
She'd had to explain Santa properly to the younger girl this year, as she hadn't really been paying attention the previous year, and Shiori didn't really know much about the man herself then.
"What sort of gifts?" the girl asked, intrigued. Kisala bounced up off the couch, hurrying over to them,
"-Any- sort of gift," she assured her sister, "Santa is -magical- so he can give you -anything- you ask for, but you have to be good or you'll just get a stocking full of -coal-."
Ajiiel bit her lip. She still had enough of her previous lifetime experiences to have a heavy dose of disbelief in the idea of someone who could magically give -any- gift one could ask for, but...well, Gaia certainly wasn't anything like her homeland, and part of her -really- wanted to believe the idea.
Of course, if this theory -were- true, Ajiiel was pretty sure that no matter how well she behaved before Christmas, she wouldn't get any gifts-- she'd been -way- too bad over the past year or so. Mulling this over thoughtfully, she started unloading the cherry bombs from her pockets,
"Well...I suppose...it's worth a try..." images of shiny plastic jewelry and glitter and stickers floated in front of her eyes. Certainly -that- would make it worth behaving herself!
Kisala latched onto this idea like a drowning woman would a life preserver-- finally, a way to control her hellion of a sister!
"He travels to every home in the whole wide world on Christmas night and drops off lots of presents for all the good kids. His reindeer help, too, with the flying part. And then the elves help make the gifts. See?"
She dragged over the book she'd been reading about Christmas-- lots of pictures, just the way she liked it,
"And there's candy canes and snowmen and all sorts of fun stuff!"
~~~
"BUT I WANTED A SPACE SHIP!" tears fell down the girl's cheeks as she put aside the rather pretty bracelet she'd opened. It wasn't that she didn't -like- the bracelet, she did, but she had had her -heart- set on a space ship, and then Santa had let her down!
Shiori brushed the tears away gently,
"Kisala," she said softly, "You can't always have everything you want. Santa brought you a very pretty bracelet, I think that you should be grateful for what you have."
The girl sniffled, pointing at Ajiiel, "But she got everything -she- wanted! And I was definitely more good than she was all year! I didn't bite people or hit them or put fireworks in the oven or anything!"
Her younger sister scowled-- she hated it when Kisala got like this, rare as it was,
"I didn't get -everything- I wanted. I don't see a neutron blaster or laser knife here, do you?" She shoved her small pile of gifts in the girl's directions,
"Maybe there are certain things Santa just wants us to -work- for."
Working was something Ajiiel could handle, after all. Getting things for free? With no danger attached? Almost boring....not that she was about to give up the beautiful shiny stickers or the glittering sweater she'd gotten. Still, some things just took more -effort-.
Shiori smiled, for once pleased with her younger daughter,
"Exactly. Some things are better earned than given. I'm sure Santa understands that better than anyone."
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