part 10 {lib}

“Let’s just say I had an interesting day at work,” she answered. She then related everything that had happened that afternoon. “I guess she couldn’t wait to get rid of Ursula,” Eliana finished.
“She did mention something about leaving for Guatemala at four o’clock in the morning,” Addison remembered. “To tell the truth, I kind of have Ursula on trial. Mrs. Kirk said that when she gets back from Guatemala she’ll come and visit to see how Ursula is doing, and if she’s happy, I get to keep her.”
“And if she’s not?” Hayden asked.
“Then she goes back to Mrs. Kirk,” Addison answered.
“Well, I foresee that happening anyway,” Hayden said. “Mom barely let me keep Elliot, and he doesn’t run free.”
“True. But don’t worry about it. I’ll just set my persuasion skills to work and I’m sure Mom will relent. In the mean time, I think Ursula will sleep in your room, Hayd.”
“And you can sleep in the garage,” Hayden answered sweetly.
Eliana laughed. “How about the shed?” she suggested. “For Ursula, not Addison,” she clarified.
“Yeah, I guess that’s where she can stay for tonight,” Addison agreed. The three were silent for a few minutes.
“How’s your mom’s book coming?” Hayden asked finally.
“All right, I think. I talked to her about it a little when I got home from school. She said she somehow got Mr. Hogland locked in a closet with an eggplant and she’s not sure how to get him out, but otherwise, she’s moving ahead. She promised to let us read it before sending it to her editor.”
“Not to change the subject or anything, but my mom was saying that their having internships at the office next week, if you’re interested,” Hayden told her.
“Your mom’s psychiatry office?” Eliana asked.
“Yeah. It’s super fun to go there after school,” Addison answered. “She’s got the most interesting patients. There’s this one man who only speaks Polish because he’s afraid of learning another language. And then there’s the lady who only wears floral patterns because of some jungle obsession dealio. It’s fascinating,” he finished, his voice full of enthusiasm.
“It does sound interesting,” Eliana agreed.
“And we all know that you like weird stuff,” Hayden said.

As the oft quoted Lemony Snicket so profoundly put it: "If you are allergic to a thing, it is best not to put that thing in your mouth, particularly if the thing is cats." I quite agree. I'm sure it's the same with hedgehogs.

Have a fabulous life.