I sighed. I’d already described everything about my bug’s eyes just about as well as I could.
“Is it bothering you that I’m recording this?” he asked.
“No.” I was all about science after all. I was tired, stressed, and I couldn’t escape the heavy feeling that I had disappointed everyone.
“You were talking about another color. Can you elaborate on that at all?”
Inwardly groaning, I did my best to explain the color. “And it makes me kind of hungry,” I admitted.
“Really,” he said, as another truck flew past us. “Fascinating.”
“Does this place look like a deserted insane asylum to you?” I asked Finn as we went through the entrance gate. “Or is that just from my buggy vision.”
“The appearance to the outside world discourages curious visitors,” Finn said. “Inside, you’ll find a fully equipped modern hospital facility. Remember that your appearance is also disguised while you are here in order to keep you from benefiting from the volunteer work.”
“Do I still have the bug eyes?”
“Yes, but you’re a stocky redhead.”
“Great.”
“You will go by the name Chloe.”
“Chloe?”
“It sounds enough like your name for you to answer to it.”
I guess.
Finn put the car in park and came around to open the door for me. Then he grabbed my suitcase from the trunk. “Don’t forget to text your mother twice a day.”
“You aren’t going in?”
“I have to send you in by yourself. You’re looking for Carly, the volunteer coordinator. She’s expecting you.”
I gave Finn a hug, holding on to him for a minute or two before I managed to pull myself together and say goodbye.
“Your mother will pick you up on the thirty-first,” he said.
I nodded. Then I turned toward the front doors, and rolling my suitcase behind me, walked toward my penance.
I stepped through the door to find myself in a busy, modern hospital. Nurses rushed through the lobby wearing the cartoon-embellished uniforms worn at any pediatrician’s office. An elderly lady sat at an information desk inside the door.
“Hi,” I said. “I’m here to see Carly.”
“Wonderful!” The lady beamed at me as if I were an angel instead of a delinquent about to serve her sentence. “Have a seat, and I’ll let her know you’ve arrived.”
I waited about ten minutes but didn’t stay seated. I couldn’t see much if I stayed by the door, so I walked around, watching parents walk through on their way to the cafeteria which was right off the lobby and doctors in white coats talking quietly to family members in the adjoining glassed-in surgery waiting area.
So far, The Hospital hadn’t proved to be frightening.
Carly was tall and thin with a big smile. “I can’t tell you how much your time means to us, Chloe. This is a horrible time of year for finding volunteers. Many of the parents have obligations at home with their other children, and we rarely have young people available to help out. The children and other teens do so well with the younger volunteers.”
“I’m excited to be here.” I was warming to the idea. It was nice to be needed.
“Grab your suitcase and I’ll show you where you’ll be sleeping, and then we’ll get you some uniforms to use.”
I followed Carly to an elevator and down to basement 3. The fluorescent lighting and white floors didn’t dispel the creepiness of being so far underground.
“We try not to use this floor for patients,” she said. “It’s not as cheerful down here without any natural light. So we use this wing for our volunteers.” She opened the door to room B3-91 and ushered me in. The room had a twin bed, a wardrobe, an adjoining bathroom, and a television mounted on the wall. “You can leave your things here. I’ll give you a key to the door so that you’ll have some privacy.”
She handed me the key, and I slipped it in my pocket. Then I set down my things and went to the hall, and she locked the door with her master key. “Now we’ll tour the facility and you can grab some lunch. You can pick up your uniforms after that.”
This place wasn’t so bad. It was lonely, and it wasn’t home. It wasn’t disturbing or frightening like I’d feared.
Moments after I’d had that thought, a boy with a giant elephant head walked slowly by us. He had some combination of traction and a walker which supported the weight of the giant head. I considered my bug eyes. I was lucky all right.
As Carly led me down the young children’s wing, I heard crying and then screaming. My chest tightened. How was I supposed to help out here when every noise and sight freaked me out?
Later I met Carly in the cafeteria to have dinner with the other volunteers. She was standing at a table where two guys and three girls were sitting. They all appeared to be teens or in their early twenties. They weren’t seeing me though. They saw a chubby redhead when they looked at me. All five of them stared at my bug eyes. I tried to pinpoint their punishments. One of the guys had lobster claws for hands. The other had an alligator tail that stretched out behind his stool for at least six feet. I couldn’t see anything wrong with the girls. Was I the only “bad” girl here?
Carly waved the folders she held to motion for me to sit in one of the empty chairs at the large table. After I sat, she spoke, “Normally we have a significant amount of overlap, and the new arrivals can be paired with a volunteer who has been here longer. We’ve found this technique invaluable in helping you adjust. Since it’s the holidays, we are short on help.” She glanced down at the top folder and handed it to the guy with the claw. Then she handed each of us a folder with our name on it. “Go ahead and open them. Each of you will be working with one room of children, and I’ve given you a brief description of each child and their particular needs. Try to learn their names by morning. You’ll eat here at six a.m. and then report to the assigned room by seven.
“For those of you who are working off selfish magic, I have included an estimate about when you can expect to physically return to normal.”
I turned to the page with my estimate. I couldn’t read the small print. Sighing with frustration, I closed the folder.
“You may select anything you like for dinner,” Carly said. “Then you may choose to spend the evening however you like.” She smiled. “Once you finish familiarizing yourself with the children’s profiles.” Then she left.
The guy with the claw scowled at the other girls. “What’s up with you guys? Why are you even here? Are you actually here voluntarily?”
The blonde girl sneered back. “They need some of their help to be fully functional. How much help can you really be with those crawdad hands?”
“Lobster hands,” he mumbled back.
The girl turned her attention to me. “Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to be rude to you. Just him.”
“I’m starving,” Alligator Boy said. He stood, revealed that his tail was supported by a small cart with wheels. “I’m getting food.”
The skinny girl with frizzy, curly hair stayed behind when the rest of them went to eat.
“Do you want me to read that for you?” she asked.
I didn’t, but I had no choice. “I’m Z—Chloe,” I said.
“Frannie,” she said.
I handed her my folder.
“You should be back to normal by Wednesday.”
Wednesday. I had been afraid I’d have to wait much longer.
Frannie read the description of each of the kids. I had some serious work ahead of me. “I can come to your room after we eat if you want,” she offered. “I can read it again, and you can copy it down in a size you can see.”
“Thank you,” I said. “You are a lifesaver.”
Alligator Boy returned with his food and sat down.
“You ready?” Frannie asked, motioning with her head to the food line.
“I guess.” I stood and walked out to wait for her before going up for dinner.
r /> When Frannie reached my side, I did a double take. She was way shorter than me. It was then that I saw her legs. Chimpanzee legs reached from the bottom of her dress to the floor. She didn’t have shoes on her primate feet.
I smiled at her.
She looked uncertain. “Ridiculous, I know,” she said.
“No,” I told her. “I’m just glad I’m not the only ‘bad’ girl here.”
A grin spread over her face.
“What was your estimate?” I asked.
“Friday,” she said.
I wondered what she had done, but I didn’t ask. Instead I headed toward the trays and silverware as Frannie ambled along behind me.
Frannie worked with me until I’d learned the information about each child. It wasn’t until she left to go to her own room that the melancholy set in. I was bored, lonely, and restless all at once. I couldn’t stop thinking about the Council deciding the fate of my powers. I couldn’t sleep. Watching television was impossible with my vision issues. I tried reading, but even with the text so large that only one word fit on each page, I couldn’t manage.
Jake was probably mad that our Christmas celebration was cut short, and now he’d be completely baffled by my sudden “visit” with my grandparents. My efforts hadn’t done my mother any good, and I’d disappointed Finn. Then there was the mess with Anya.
I cried for hours. Crying didn’t provide the usual comfort because, for some reason, my bug eyes didn’t make any tears. Exhaustion and sorrow overwhelmed me, and I finally slept.
Frannie stood just inside the cafeteria when I walked in the next morning.
“I am so glad to see you,” I said.
She grinned. “I’m eating pancakes today,” she said. “I never allow myself to.”
“Good idea.” I took her lead and loaded my tray with every breakfast food I could possibly want.
We sat at the same table, off to the side, but none of the others showed up.
“There’s Alligator Boy,” I said as he got a tray and got in line.
Frannie laughed at first, but then she gave me a questioning look. “Please tell me you don’t call me Monkey Girl.”