dated Monday March 30

[loveasthouwilt]

After Karolina and I had parted ways and I'd had some time in the temple to think and shed the rest of my tears in peace, I knew I ought to find Trisha and give her the bracelet Zozie had left behind; Karo and I had agreed Zozie would want her to have it, and that I should be the one to pass it on to her. Wiping my face and tying back my hair, I

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[ihearttomgordon]

"Hi- Phedre!" she said, each word separated by a bounce on the trampoline.

When she was on the ground again her fingers found the metal outside of the trampoline and fidgeted with the fasteners. "You weren't going to try it were you?" she asked. She couldn't really imagine it, but she would have liked to see it.

[loveasthouwilt]

"Believe it or not, I have done," I said with a smile. "I used to be fairly good at tumbling-- gymnastics, you would call it. This is perfect for practicing."

I did not know how best to begin this; I had never had to explain a disappearance to a child before, and was fearful of letting my own sorrow bleed through and make it worse on her than it was already like to be. "I came to find you for a reason," I told her. "You are friendly with Zozie, am I right?" I could not yet bring myself to speak of her in the past.

[ihearttomgordon]

Trisha nodded, suddenly wary, the smile slipping from her face. When grown ups wanted to tell you important stuff, they never just said it. "Zozie's my friend," she said. Her tummy suddenly felt like it had a tiny minnow swimming around in it. It felt the same way as when Webster had led in about Joe and him. Something's changed was the thought that came and went. Everything changes. And you can't do anything about it.

[loveasthouwilt]

I could see the mistrust writ clear on her features, and I sighed inwardly. Much as I had been, Trisha was smarter than her years, and I knew it was no good dissembling. "I am very sorry to be the one to tell you of this, but... it seems Zozie has gone back... back to where she came from." Despite my best efforts, I felt tears begin to prickle at the corners of my eyes again, and swallowing, I knelt before my young friend and pulled out the bracelet. "Karolina and I... we found this in her things, and thought she would like you to have it."