Character Interviews!

Man, I don't know what I wanna do, except I know I don't wanna be like my mom when I'm as old as her because she's really annoying. So I guess to not be like her I won't start drinking. They always say it's bad in school, but I KNOW it's bad because drinking makes my mom act really stupid. So why would I ever want to do it? Don't want to. I like talking a lot. And some people say I'm funny. So I thought maybe I will be a stand-up comedian. Don't know what I would joke about though. I do like takin' care of the baby so maybe also I can be a mom. I'll figure it out when I'm done goin' to school.

[Melanie to SHO!:] That would be dumb. My mom would KICK MY ASS if she found me bringing the fairy-baby home. She got SO PISSED when I brought in a cat. No WAY would she let me keep a baby. Even if the baby does magic tricks. With the cat she said stuff like YOU ALREADY EAT UP ALL MY FOOD AND MONEY AND NOW YOU WANT ME TO PISS MORE AWAY ON A CAT? DO YOU HAVE ANY MONEY NO YOU DON'T! DO YOU WORK FOR MONEY NO YOU DON'T! I think babies eat more than cats too. Plus usually my sister's friend walks me home and if the baby followed me no way would I get to even get her in the door.

[Melanie to SHO!:] Well it's not like I'm the boss of her. I like playing with her and all but if she goes somewhere else or goes to fairyland or something I can't do nothin'. If she never came back what am I s'posed to do, call the cops and say my fairy is missing?

[Melanie to SHO!:] I don't really remember. Nothin' important. I went to school and had stupid crappy homework and my sister and her friend didn't want to help Mom with any food so they argued about who was going to pick up fast food and who was gonna pay for it. They didn't ask me what I wanted and I didn't really care. Sometimes they get me somethin' and sometimes I just eat crackers or whatever.

[Melanie to SHO!:] Nothin' really. I got back home and I was tryin' to figure out what to pack to take with me. And it just got really scary 'cause I didn't like thinkin' I could only take as much stuff as I could carry with me. But even if I made a couple trips it was still like "ahh once I leave I have to really do it 'cause if I come back after a long time I'll be in trouble." It's fun to think about leaving and PLAY runaway but really doing it felt really different. It all just seemed too big and too real all at once and I wasn't ready, so I just stayed home instead of going back to meet the baby. I dunno really if she cared. She's kinda dumb.

[Melanie to SHO!:] Not really. When I decided not to go back I was worried she was gonna be expecting me so I was sad, but when I went the next morning she didn't seem to care that I didn't go through with it. She prob'ly didn't really miss me. I think baby brains are kinda spacey that way, even if they're super baby brains. Anyway I can always actually run away if I decide to. I just can't go BACK once I leave, so I have to make sure I really want to.

If you read up on "homeschooling", you might be able to talk your Mom into signing the form, if you assure her you'll take care of everything else. Depending on your state (which is not revealed in your story), there may be other requirements, like taking a test every year, or being "evaluated" by an independent professional. If you do bad on the test, you'll know what things to work on yourself next year (you get another chance), and an evaluator should give you pointers also - although you would have to be pretty lucky to get one that understands your situation and doesn't report your Mom for lack of involvement. Hopefully you are not in a state where the parent has to submit scope, plan, and sequence for approval - because you would have a hard time coming up with that for your Mom!

[Melanie to Stuart Gathman:] Homeschool? I'd rather no school. But I'm not stupid or nothin'. I don't know everything but I prob'ly know most things that're important. I'd rather go to school than be at home, too, but I'd rather be on my own than at school OR home! If someone was gonna teach me a different way than school does, they'd have to show me how to do it. Right now I'm okay with what I'm doing and if anybody tries to catch me and send me away I'll just get the baby to beat them up, haha.

[Note: Suspension of disbelief dictates that Melanie understands that this question is in reference to "the baby," since she doesn't call her "Ivy."]

[Melanie to Thomas:] Uh, it's kinda more like I'm her mom? I know not really, but I babysit her all the time and tell her what to do and clean her messy self and make sure there's food. She's not really my friend even though we spend a lotta time together. She's too young to really be friends. I guess it's closer to being her big sister, but I do a lot more for her than my big sister does for me.

[Note: Suspension of disbelief dictates that Melanie understands that this question is in reference to "the baby," since she doesn't call her "Ivy."]

[Melanie to Thomas:] How to clean poop off a pudgy butt without barfing? I dunno. I definitely feel like I care about something more than I used to before when nobody was really all that happy that I was there.

[Note: Suspension of disbelief dictates that Melanie understands that this question is in reference to "the baby," since she doesn't call her "Ivy."]

[Melanie to Thomas:] Wow, I wonder if she has parents?? I mean I know she's magic but yeah I guess she might've had parents. I guess what I would do depends on what THEY do. I mean if they left the baby out in the cold and just didn't care about her or something, I'd probably want to kick their asses for them. (Even if they have magic like her, and could beat me up.) But I once read a story about fairylands being different from here. Like time goes by different there. So maybe it goes slower where she's from and her parents don't even know she's gone yet? But if I met her parents I think I would really like to give her back to them so I know she's safe, but still get to visit her.