the summer i was ten

[deepest_magic]

Bella is ten. School has let out; she spends one week at the beach with Renée, celebrating, and then from there Renée drives her up to Forks, and drops her off, with many hugs. Charlie picks her up, with some hugs, although not as many; it's not his way. Bella settles in for the summer. It is, if nothing else, cooler up here.

Comments

[neverbeatme]

"And how does that one work?"

[deepest_magic]

Bella thinks of examples, and finally says, "I have sort of a script I run through when people interrupt me. Not a script really - more like - a flow chart, that depends on who did it and when. I still don't like it, but I don't let it make me be mean, anymore, unless for some reason I think that will help."

[neverbeatme]

"Hm," says Elizabeth.

[deepest_magic]

"What?"

[neverbeatme]

"Filing the fact that you don't like to be interrupted."

[deepest_magic]

"I'm glad," laughs Bella. "Anything like that I should keep in mind about you?"

[neverbeatme]

She shrugs. "There's not really stuff that I get annoyed about like that."

[deepest_magic]

"That sounds useful."

[neverbeatme]

"I'm too busy figuring out why people do things to get mad at them for them."

[deepest_magic]

Bella laughs. "Have you got me much figured out? I can always use more perspectives."

[neverbeatme]

"I don't think I know anything much about you that you don't know. Yet," she says. "I'm still collecting data."

[deepest_magic]

"I'm curious about what you know that I do know. I like to know how much I telegraph," laughs Bella.

[neverbeatme]

"Nothing specific is jumping out at me right now."

[deepest_magic]

"Keep me posted."

[neverbeatme]

She shrugs. "Okay."

[deepest_magic]

"Do you want to actually try any of this stuff? It's not like teaching you to ride a bicycle where I know where to start."

[neverbeatme]

"I don't really know where to start either," she points out. "So I'm trying to figure out how it all works first."

[deepest_magic]

"Okay. I'm not sure what else to say without concrete examples to work though. It would be like teaching someone to add without any numbers, only this is more personal so I can't just make up some numbers."

[neverbeatme]

"Hmm," muses Elizabeth. "Maybe it's just not the kind of thing you can teach right when you decide to. Because the actual stuff to write about, the 'numbers', isn't there."

[deepest_magic]

"Maybe. So I guess you should let me know next time you have a thing to process or decide or change about yourself?"

[neverbeatme]

"How do you decide what to change about yourself?"

[deepest_magic]

"I notice something's not - working. When I'm just sort of flailing around like a turtle on its back, or worse, and I need a way to flip over and accomplish stuff from there."

[neverbeatme]

"...I don't think I've ever done that," says Elizabeth.

[deepest_magic]

"Lucky you," laughs Bella.

[neverbeatme]

She grins.