Little Cherine Book 06 - BPost025

arthur-grafo8 (60)in #sfandf-fiction • 4 years ago

Robbie offered to take Robyn’s body to the void in stasis, but we all protested. We want her here with us, even if it means we have to care for her body.

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Before Robyn went to Haven, Robbie voiced his worry. “Haven, Robyn is like a younger version of you. Even if you both had the same body age, she is still younger. She is more innocent, never having suffered and hated as you have. Do not let this merging steal that from her please. Take from her sweetness as much as you want, but do not spoil her for us.”

“I have nothing to offer her Robert. She is brave, so I cannot even offer that to her.”

“Don’t sell yourself short love, you have many qualities that make you special. Let her find them.”

Wendy and Dommi went into Haven’s mind first and then Robyn. Without warning us, Candy went to them also. She went out of curiosity, wanting to see how we had seen her.

Robyn does not ‘fit’ in as Candy had with Wendy. She is not made out of Haven’s memories and ego only, having been formed out of a mixture of her soul and mind and ours. Robyn lay open, totally exposed to Haven (I do not think I could do that, not even for Robbie) and Haven was careful not to invade her and rifle through her mind. With Dommi and Wendy guiding her, she sort of merged, in a limited sense, both of them retaining their individualities. As should have been expected, Haven duplicated more of what came from us than from herself. When it was understood what is happening Dommi stopped her. She explained what is happening to Haven.

*We do not think you should be doing this Haven. We are not looking for another Robyn, we love you as you are. Please be more selective, taking only what you see will benefit you as a Meéjeiran. Throughout the years to come we will dance often in the void, exchanging motes. Whatever you see in any one of us that you want, you will be given. My mothering instinct if you want; some of Latreia’s appreciation of beauty; Roberto’s need to protect, whatever it is, get them from the source. That way you will both stay distinct individuals, different from each other.*

Instead of Robyn becoming restless, wanting to return to her body, she slowly settled in and we sensed her becoming like a child with her mother. They ‘talked’ and growing closer, bonded, Haven becoming the mother Robyn needs. Wendy and Candy were worried by this development, afraid that either Robyn might not want to leave or else Haven might cling on to her. Dommi calmed them and demanded they withdraw.

They opened their eyes and immediately looked at Robyn, relaxing when they saw Cherine’s arm on her chest.

“We must allow them more time. I did not expect this to happen, but I’m very glad it did. Being a mother will give Haven the stability she needs. From now on, the present and future will be more important to her than the past.”

A few hours later Haven opened her eyes. Her face was softer than we have ever seen it, her green eyes darker and warmer. “May Robyn stay with me for a few days? Would it harm her body?”

“We can look after her body Haven, as long as you take care of her properly while she is with you. She might want to fully merge, you must not allow it, fight her if you have to.”

“Why? I love her Dommi, I want her with me.”

“If you merge she will not be with you. There will be no Robyn for you to love. Is that what you want?”

“No.” She began to cry. “Oh Robbie, I love her so much!” He took her in his arms while we all sent her our love.

The change in Robbie is unbelievable! He is truly happy at last. Haven represents far more than just one soul saved. She is, in his eyes, a vindication of all Cherine means to the future. He is acting like one of those ‘saved again’ Christians, talking as if he wants to convert us and our Cherinian visitors to Cherinianism. His excitement seems to be firing up everyone, boosting them after the meetings when he’d halfway convinced them that the future holds nothing but dire warnings for us.

As for Haven and Robyn, there is a new sweetness to both of them, but there is also a certain bitter-sweet yearning. Robyn now prefers a younger body age and the two of them are inseparable. Athia is feeling a little bit lost; she has no cause to champion and her friend has a daughter of her own to love now. Cherine is devoting more of her time to Athia and their bond is also deepening. This is a good time for all of us. I only hope Arthur doesn’t feel the need to send us on new adventures just yet so as to make his story more interesting again.

3742

Something was hinted at during the trial, which I feel like explaining now.

Robbie spoke of new Talents beginning to appear. He was not strictly correct, for we are certain that Talents have been appearing for thousands of years, but they either were killed or were afraid of their gift, maybe because of being religious or out of superstitious fears. However, much has changed, with science fiction and fantasy stories, plus our media (mostly films), igniting a yearning in millions of people for some kind of power that can make them be a super-hero.

Even Arthur told me, quite a while ago, that when he was a kid, he placed a plank sloping up onto a large crate and he would run up it and, as he jumped off the crate, he would try as hard as he could to fly like Superman. Something else he admitted that puzzled me: I asked him who he preferred, as a kid, Superman or Superboy? He said his big hero was Superman (and Captain Marvel). I had expected the opposite answer, as I thought he would identify better with someone closer to his age.

Anyway, I have a real life example available. Close to the time when Allan picked a fight that ended in the protector being arrested, we were sitting at a coffee shop by the Politia circle - the Kefalari coffee shops were all too busy to fit us. Those, the customers, at the Politia coffee shops tend to be older, usually from thirty five and older and most of the tables have only men. They talk about politics and football, but just like the younger generations, they also love to gossip. It is no surprise that they were soon gossiping about us and we pretended we could not hear them.

Dommi noticed a man, in his fifties, who was sitting alone. Although he noticed us and even realised everyone is gossiping about us, he pretended to ignore them and continued studying his newspapers and magazines. There was an air of feeling self-satisfied with his life and himself and we could sense he enjoys sitting at this place, happy to be on his own. It was almost as if he did not feel he should be sitting here and it made Dommi curious.

“Roberto, the man I was watching, I have a strange feeling about him.”

Robbie checked him, but Cherine spoke first, “He has a gift.”

“Is he a potential?”

“No, I don’t think so, something about him is not nice. I don’t feel he is really bad, it is more as if he has done something…I don’t know, I would have to break our rules and check.”

We debated the pros and cons of our options. The first one we agreed on without argument. We must find out about him, we dare not allow him to disappear without us learning whether he poses a potential threat.

The big question was, do we spy on his thoughts or memories, or do we use methods Normals employ for finding out about him, such as detective work. That way we will only find out whether he is believed to be nice or not - and maybe how he made his money, but what his gift or power is, is likely to remain a mystery.

Wendy asked Robbie, “When Angelo approached us you did not hesitate to examine him, to see what his gift is…”

“Not quite true, my sweet Wendy, he approached us using his gift against us, which gave me rights I do not have with this man.”

“A question,” Jade started, “our rule, is it not too inflexible? If we do not intend punishing the man if we find he used his power in an evil manner and all we intend to learn is what his power is and how much of a threat he might be, are we right to stick to our rule, perhaps endangering ourselves and others - even Normals?”

I said it for Robbie, “Jade, we dare not make any changes to our rule, it must remain inviolate…forever. If you are right and he is a potential threat, we’ll face the danger when it exists - we will not invade his mind and rights out of cowardice. As for him attacking or hurting Normals, it is the only argument that may sway us into breaking our own rule, if anyone can show the risk is…serious and likely to happen.”

“Can we afford to take the risk, Sam? How can we assess the risk to Normals? We will only know for certain after he hurts a Normal - and as far as I am concerned, by then we will be too late.” Dommi turned to Robbie. “What if he uses his power to harm a child?”

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Robbie shook his head. “Ask Cherine, we did not sense that he is really evil, just not good enough to be linked. I’ll take a chance with him.”

Ashia suddenly grinned. “Ordinx, looking like an Anadir can meet his soul and ask him what his gift is. That would not be breaking our rule and it won’t give him a hint about Cherinians existing. Maybe he’ll be frightened of Ordinx and tell him the truth.” The idea of anyone being afraid of Ordinx felt odd to most of us, but we loved her idea. Of course Robbie thought it was very clever of her, so we knew who is going to be the special one that night.

Ordinx was amused by the idea, especially touched by the fact that his daughter thought of it, but he is a practical man and was quick to see how useful an answer we have to a problem which is bound to recur over the years, so he did not think up any arguments against the idea. He only asked that we be available for identifying the soul when he arrives in the void.

Some of us took turns lightly monitoring the man, we found out his name is Stavros Nicolaides, and without us intending it we gained an impression of what he is like. It only served to confuse us further. On a night when it was Aganthi watching him, he left his body and went to the void. Aganthi called to us and instantly rushed to meet with Ordinx.

*Am I imagining you exist?*

*You’ll have to decide for yourself. Who or what do you think I am?*

Stavro remained motionless as he considered the question. *I have no reason for creating something like you, but you neither look like an angel nor a demon…not those the saints have described. Have you come to take my soul?*

*Here, now, you are a soul, your body waits for you where you left it. I have no use for your soul, but I am interested in learning from your mind. On your world, there are none who have extra abilities - psychic abilities? Those I see who visit here are nothing but souls caught in a dream - your people are truly that limited and poor in psychic energy?*

*If I answer any of your questions, will you answer mine?*

*Is it not more acceptable that we each only answer those we are comfortable answering? It is better than us trying to mislead the other. Is this your first time of being aware while visiting this plane?*

*I have other vague recollections of it. Do you live in this…plane?*

*For hundreds of thousands of your years.*

*You avoided answering me previously - are you either angel or demon?*

*I am neither, nor can I answer you if you ask whether there is a god or devil, for I know not of either of them; mostly they seem to be creatures people of your planet are knowledgeable about.*

*You have a question?*

*I too have a question left unanswered. Are there any of your species who have psychic gifts?*

*I have never believed in such people - all those I read about who claim they can heal or fly, not one has been verified.*

*Apart from one - the one you call Jesus?*

*He is the Son of God, not a psychic!*

Ordinx hesitated, not certain how he should continue, as he felt Stavro has no intention of opening up and admitting to having a gift. He decided to try a more direct approach. *What about yourself? I can sense you have an ability, a psychic gift.*

*Not that I know of, what I do have is a talent which, it seems, few people of my world have, but it is not a psychic power. Intuition is a natural ability which is acquired through training - even our animals have it, for they can sometimes sense a predator is close by, ready to attack them. It is only the result of noticing signs without knowing it and forming an impression that warns me when something is wrong. For instance, I have trained myself to notice details that help me form an impression of how I should react to others - especially in business - you have such a word?*

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*A form of trading? Yes, we do. You must be very successful then, if most people do not have such a sense, an intuition.*

*I have no interest in acquiring a vast wealth. As long as I have enough to live comfortably, there is no sense in being greedy. Are you a trader?*

*I am a teacher of the very young.*

*If you are a good teacher, it must mean you also have developed an intuition which helps you know when the children have not understood you?*

We withdrew from the sharing from Ordinx as they continued their discussion, and I think Ordinx relaxed and stayed with Stavro for some time. When they parted, Ordinx visited us on our World. He greeted us, but then sat silently, deep in thought.

“When I was asked to try and learn what his power is, I think I felt it is a good solution, because I also had a feeling that he is probably using his gift in a way that harms others. He is not a very nice person, but he is not evil, just selfish and uncaring. Robert, once I learnt what his gift is and how he uses it, I began to feel bad about what I was doing, which is why I told him more than I had intended telling him about myself and my people. You do realise he is not using just intuition, that he does have a psychic gift?”

Robbie nodded. “Yes, he has a mild form of the gift Angelo had when we first met him. As for what you did for us, we understand and you will not be asked to do it again.”

“You misunderstand me, Robert, I would not object to doing it again, should the need arise. Robert, if I do it ten times and only once do we uncover something evil and save others from harm, of any kind, I will not feel I should stop what I am doing.” He chuckled. “For some time I and my people must be careful about appearing in the void in our body shapes, for he intends visiting me again.”

Robbie glanced at Jade, thus indicating he is sensitive to her thoughts. She told us, “What Ordinx said about not feeling good about interrogating Stavro, I was thinking that if we were Normals and we suspected someone of breaking the law, we would report him to the police and then not worry about it anymore. We might feel a bit bad about it if the police tell us he is innocent of what we suspected, but we will justify ourselves by saying that we did our duty and it was a good thing we did, for there were indications of something being wrong.

Nobody ever thinks about how the police feel about investigating someone, maybe invading his privacy and causing him problems, when they find him innocent of breaking the law. Do they feel dirty, or do they just see it as being a part of their job. Robert, aren’t we also, each and every Cherinian, the equivalent of policemen for the Cherinians?”

It remains a gray area for us and I doubt (and hope) we will never grow comfortable with doing this kind of thing, for if we do, then we will be less than we are today.

Perhaps it is due to our staying at home, doing nothing exciting, for the imps got together on a number of escapades, mostly out of a mild sense of mischief (humour). As an example, they enjoyed jumping to England to search for a child on his/her own and appear to the child as fairies. They conscripted Candy and she would sometimes sing for the kids. They felt safe doing it as the English are eccentric and many of them believe in fairies, elves and such things. Marian (of all people!) encouraged them, saying they are bringing a bit of magic to the lives of the kids.

One little girl was walking the fields with an intense look of concentration on her round little face, a hoop net raised and ready to swoop down on some poor unsuspecting butterfly. Jade decided she did not like what she could sense of the girl, so she got them to appear in front of her as fairies.

“Are you using the net to catch butterflies?”

“Who said that!”

“You can see me, so why are you asking? What’s wrong, haven’t you seen a fairy before?”

Jade was planning something nasty to make the girl acquire a little empathy for the tiny creatures she was killing. Candy asked her to wait awhile.

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“Fairies aren’t real!”

“If we aren’t real then you must be dreaming.” Candy said.

Little round face stared back at her solemnly. “I’m not dreaming!” She swung her net and caught three tiny fairies. Allowing Candy to lead them, they waited. “There! Wait until I show teacher that I have a fairy collection. I bet no one else has one!”

“Are you going to stick a pin in us?”

“I don’t think so, I bet everyone would be more jealous of me if I have live fairies.”

“Why do you want everyone to be jealous of you? That won’t make them like you.”

“Who cares!”

“Sit down for a few minutes, I’m going to sing a fairy song for you.” Candy did not wait for her to obey and sang. Though the little girl did not hear any words she soon had tears falling, plop - plop, one by one from her eyes. The song was taken from her own heart and was about a girl who was unpopular, fat and ugly. The song exposed her to all the pain she has learnt to hide from herself. When the song finished, Candy was wise enough to guess that she will become angry once her tears dry up, so she spoke earlier than she would have wanted to.

“I can also sing happy songs, but not when I am a prisoner. How would you like to make a fairy deal?”

“I’m not letting you go! What is a fairy deal?”

“A big people deal is when you promise to do something in exchange for something else and then you don’t keep your word. When fairies make a deal they always keep their word.”

The child did not really have a chance, they were breaking our rules and manipulating her mind (mainly through her emoting).

“What kind of deal? Will you make me thin and pretty?”

Candy flew through the net (as far as the child could see), circled around the girl and returned into the net.

“You are not really fat, not much. You have big bones for your age. What is more important Jane? Being silly-pretty or having some good friends?”

She thought about it for a while. “If I’m pretty then I’ll also have friends.”

“Not really. They will be jealous of you, but they won’t be real friends. I would prefer to have friends who really like me and care about what I think and enjoy being with me.”

“Candy is right Jane, friends are more real and they are forever. Much better than being pretty.”

“I would like to be pretty.” She said wistfully.

Cassie laughed. “You have three fairies so three things will be given to you. One of us will make you a little bit thinner. The other will then make you a little prettier and Candy will help you make friends.”

When she agreed to their terms, Candy began the first lesson.

“You cannot have friends Jane, even with fairy magic, if you are not a real friend also. Today and tomorrow we will teach you how to be a real friend. When you are ready, we will tell you what you must do to make some magic happen.”

Jane was nobody’s fool. She’d realised that the fairies can fly out of her net. “Why are you making a deal with me since you can get out of my net?”

“We let you catch us Jane because we wanted you to become our friend. We had to first show you we trusted you, so that you could believe in us. I’m going to sing you another song now. This is what being a friend is all about. If you are brave enough to listen to my song with all your heart, it will teach you what you need to know.”

3746

“Dommi, we broke our rules. Did we do wrong?” They let her, and us, see.

“Roberto mou?”

“Your decision Dommi.”

She turned to me. “Sam?”

“All I can do is argue their case for them Dommi. The rule is a good one and necessary. It should also be enforced very strictly. Having said that, I would argue we should have occasions when we waive the rules. First of all, the rule should be enforced more strictly when dealing with adults. Children are in a learning stage of their life when their personality or character is being moulded. If the rule is broken only for the good of the child then it should be allowed. However, those who break the rule should not be the final judge. At least three other Cherinians, of at least other families, or, preferably, Cherinians of other species, should decide if the problem justified it. I’d say that in all cases, including this one, none of the three should be of the same family as those about to or who have broken the rule.

I do not advocate zero tolerance when applying the rule to adults. There have been and will be occasions when we have to break the rule. The good coming out of it should be overwhelming and we should not be allowed to bend the rule if it is only for the good of others. It must also benefit the one whose mind has been raped.”

“I think Sam has put into words the feelings you have about it Dommi?”

“Yes.” She then spoke to the three, “We will watch you and judge you on the basis of how successful you are at helping Jane. If we are in doubt, we will have to ask three other species to decide.”

“But we intend helping her!”

“Not good enough Jade. You do not break the rules because of good intentions. Make her a better person, help break through her defences so that she is able to relate to others and your success will justify your breaking the rule.”

“Candy? It was your decision and the others followed you. Be careful you do not give Jane a temporary solution. To do so would be far worse for her. You have to help her make fundamental changes so that she benefits for all of her life.” Candy is not cocky like the other two and she nodded at Cherine, agreeing, but her face showed she was a little cowed and her heart was racing.

The next day, Candy first checked that the lessons of the previous day had been learnt and she continued teaching by showing her how, why and what has to change in her. Showing her directly in her mind is far more effective than speech can be. Each part of the lesson feels like she is having an epiphany, discovering and seeing what she has done to push away any potential friends. The main part of the lesson was in learning how to accept herself as she is, to like the person she is becoming. All three did what they could to boost her self-image.

“Jane, it is a miracle how fast you have learnt. I think your heart was waiting for someone to free it. You are a very brave girl. Come here tomorrow for your last lessons, but in the meantime, think about who you would like to have as friends. Be careful who you choose. Think of what they are like as people, forget about who is pretty or ugly. If you choose a person who is selfish, her friendship will be shallow. Give them points for kindness, thoughtfulness, loyalty to their friends. Take away points if they constantly need to show-off and prove they are better than you. If they are always talking about themselves, what they have or what they’ve done or say nasty things about others, take off points. You want friends you can open your heart to without fearing they will judge you or repeat what you told them to make others laugh.

You collect butterflies, but your collection is of dead butterflies, pinned to a board. Friends must be like butterflies that dance in your heart. You must never try to pin them so that they belong to you.”

Instead of finishing off with a song, the three of them sent to her feelings of love. With it was a feeling of her being treasured, of being someone important. It shattered Jane and she sat on the grass sobbing her heart out.

3747

The third day was for reinforcing what she had been taught, for examining and finding what she had rejected, understanding why she had and showing her why she was wrong. By now she was a very nice person. It should not be thought that the intervention of Cherinians can turn a nasty person into a nice one. Underneath the bitterness and fear there must be a good and loving heart aching to be released, wanting to dare to dream and fly. Luckily that covers most of the adults and nearly all of the children.

“Have you chosen Jane?”

“Yes, but they will not like me.”

“If you chose wisely they will. Did you choose wisely?”

Silently, not admitting it, she struck a name off her list and replaced it with another.

Watching through the girls, it struck me how wonderful kids are, even those of Normals. Jane had accepted from the first day that magic had entered her life in the form of three fairies and did not waste time and energy denying their existence as an adult would. Surely it proves they are also creatures of magic?

“Invite them to come here with you tomorrow. Do not worry, if they are free to come they will. Do not get disheartened if any of them say they cannot come. Our magic will be working for you, but maybe their parents ordered them to go home straight after school or they have to go to extra lessons. If they can come, they will. Once you are walking here with them you can tell them they are about to meet three fairies. Do not tell them while you are at school as it will be very tempting for them to tell others and make fun of you. They are not your friends yet, even though they will agree to come.”

“Jane. When they become your friends, it will be because we will help them see what you are like inside you. When that happens you will also become prettier. Won’t you treasure their friendship even more knowing they liked you as you are?”

“Like you did?”

“Exactly.” Cassie added, “You do know that you are our butterfly, a beautiful butterfly that flies around in our hearts?”

All of us broke our rule and peeped in on her emoting and thoughts that night, until she fell asleep. It was so innocently beautiful! The three glowed as they felt her, joyfully hiding away these moments in their minds for the future.

Jane woke up and was out of bed within a second. Her parents wondered what had got into her. At school she did not wait for interval but rushed to those she’d chosen soon as they arrived. She told them she has something special she wants to show them and they agreed to meet her after school. Whatever her teachers tried to teach her that day was totally wasted on her and she annoyed them with her fidgeting.

“This is a real secret, you have to promise you will never tell!” Out of curiosity of course they did. “A few days ago I went to catch some butterflies to add to my collection. You won’t guess what I did catch!”

She made them try to guess, almost hugging herself with glee as they guessed all kinds of insects. She saw they were losing interest, as most girls are not very interested in bugs.

“I caught three fairies.”

“I should have known you’d bring us out here for something stupid. I bet you still believe in Father Christmas.” The other two laughed.

“No, I swear! I really did, but they made a fairy deal with me so I let them go. They promised to sing for me and some friends. Wait until you hear Candy! She is wonderful.”

“A fairy called Candy!? What are the others called? Toffee and Liquorice?”

The girls were under a slight compulsion to carry on walking, but they were merciless in their teasing of Jane. The three had taught her well for she did not become defensive and nasty. She kept her huge grin and answered them cheerfully. Her reaction puzzled them and they began to feel slightly guilty at making fun of her. They were convinced she is totally bananas, girls at thirteen or fourteen do not believe in fairies, so she must have dreamt them up, but, they decided, she is not such a bad girl, she sure is cheerful!

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“Sit down here, they will come just now.”

“If a fairy appears I’ll probably run all the way home.” The one said, only half joking. Jane’s quiet confidence was making them uneasy and slightly afraid.

“But they’re nice fairies!”

“Thank you Jane. So you brought your friends?”

The three girls sort of tried to scream, but they were quickly captivated by the three tiny fairies flying in front of them.

“You see! I told you they are real!”

Candy softly sang, not a song with any purpose other than the beauty of music and love, a song that makes you happy. Any person listening to her song, but only hearing the audible parts would have wondered that four children would sit with such rapt faces listening to such odd music. For the four though, Candy was joyfully playing the strings of their hearts as if they were violins.

When the song finished Cassie said to the three, “Jane must consider you very special friends to have shared us with you.” Startled the girls looked at Jane and she gave them a shy smile.

Now began the real manipulation. Some of it was the fairies just being beautiful and happy, some was in the songs Candy sang and some was in their conversations. The fairies emoted and made these hours magical for all the girls and then they flew in a circle over the head of Jane. She tried to look up at them.

“We do not allow many big people to see us. We came for you Jane because you have a very big heart. We know you have to keep it a secret about seeing us, but now you will have three friends to share the memory of this day with. Perhaps some day we will meet again, if all four of you wish for it hard enough.”

Cheekily Jade asked, “Jane, have we kept to our fairy deal?”

Breathlessly she answered, “Oh yes!”

“You are able to see now that the beauty in the heart is more important? Girls, what do you say, does she still look fat and ugly to you?”

The healers of the girls had been busy in Jane and from now on she will not have an obesity problem and her features have been subtly altered so that the effect hints at a beauty to come. The three fairies vanished and we stayed to watch as the girls talked in excited voices. By the time they left, the four of them had bonded because of the secret they shared.

Dommi sternly asked me, “Well Sam, do the girls qualify for an exemption?”

I giggled. “You are starting to talk like me.” We had to wait for Robbie to stop laughing. “Dommi, if that had been done as a Christmas present for me, I would have said it was the best gift I’ve ever been given. I can’t believe the imps did something so beautiful. Perhaps they should take Candy with them more often.”

“You’re joking!” Cassie said. “She’s no good at playing tricks on people.”

Candy pouted. “I am!”

November has four days of celebration. We danced the night away to celebrate the wedding anniversaries of Candy, Cassie, Irene, Theresa and Rosie. Rosie prefers celebrating the anniversary of her original wedding, but Robbie tells her (every year) that the second wedding is more important to him, because it was then that she became a true wife instead of the immature little girl she was at their first wedding. That really pisses her off, but she considers it a special teasing of his and would be upset if he stopped.

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On the 11th we celebrated Jade’s birthday. She is now twelve years old, still five years old in some ways and an adult in others - I can’t think of any way that she is twelve except in years. The big birthday is on the 14th when we celebrate the birthdays of Cassie, Latreia (one year old already) and the one that makes this day a ‘biggie”; Dommi’s. Dommi tried claiming she is too old for birthday parties, but none of us would let her get away with that. For her birthday we had hundreds of Cherinians from other realities visiting and of course a number of them from other species.

We finished off the month by making a special day of it for Claudia’s birthday. Why I mention these dates is because we miss so many of them and it was lovely just being a family for a while.

I asked if I could go to Freddie for a short visit. I am troubled by the last communications with Arthur and want to check that he is well. Since they are all worried, they all wanted to come, but I pointed out to them that if we all go, it is likely we will get caught up again in another adventure. In the end it was decided that Robbie, Cherine, Allan and I will go. Allan felt how it affected Jessie and could not bear to leave her behind so he brought her with. Eleni also has a weakness for Jess and gave her a long hug and whispered to her that if she got any time alone with Allan she should make him happy.

Our computers at home and on Freddie have their hard drives and Robbie carries in stasis a third one which is used for updating the other. That way we do not fear losing our diary and all the other data. What about you Arthur, do you make backups?