Seeing Red Read Online Free Page B

and dying as Rose did last
month.
    Jill is doing great. She said her first word, Nana,
when she saw a banana, and she is walking. She’s the light of
everyone’s day. There are times she worries me because she’ll be
playing and then abruptly stops and stares at nothing for what
feels like hours. I can’t get her to come out of these spells. It’s
happened three times now. Eventually, she snaps out of it and
resumes whatever she was doing. I’m concerned she’s having silent
seizures. Mike says he remembers reading about this briefly, and it
is a form of epilepsy, but there are other symptoms associated with
epilepsy that she doesn’t seem to have. “Only time will tell,” says
Mike.
    Trent finally figured out how we could make
pencils—if you can call this a pencil—out of bark. He also was able
to make paper—more like a papyrus-type thing—out of all the coir on
the island. It is almost like hemp paper. It’s great because now we
have an endless supply of things to write on.
    We haven’t seen a plane in months.
    -Helen
    “Look, you wrote these, Jill.” Alexander said and
started reading out loud.
    August 1, 1998
    I’m sad for Oly and Xander. Mary died. She got stung
by a puffer fish when she went for a swim in the lagoon. I loved
Mary. She was a very nice lady. I don’t know what to say to Oly and
Xander. They are so sad that their mommy died. They are only eight.
I’m nine years old, so I understand better. I love them. They are
my best friends. I told them that she was going to get hurt by the
fish, but no one listened to me. As Helen always says, “Today is
the last day of some of your life. Don’t waste it.” So I’m going to
see if the boys want to play.
    -Jilly
    May 1, 1999
    Alexander is my best friend. I like getting sweet
potatoes and onions best because I’m sick of all the coconuts.
Yuck! But Xander and I climb trees together every day to get
coconuts because we need the coconut water. Xander got a point
today in our ongoing never-ending game because he got the most
coconuts. Oliver stands at the bottom and catches them. He says he
does that so that they don’t break when they hit the ground, but I
know that he’s afraid of heights. What a baby. He’s always telling
us to be careful when Xander and I race to the top or see who can
climb the highest. I hate that he calls me Jillian instead of Jilly
or Jill. It makes me feel like he’s mad at me. Oliver is dumb—dumb
and boring.
    -Jilly
    “Thanks a lot, Jilly.” Oliver said, making it a
point to accentuate Jilly . “I hope I’m less dumb and boring
now.”
    “Hey, I was like ten years old. I always liked you
best, if that helps.” She said with a wink.
    “Yeah right, these journals are very telling. The
truth finally comes out after all these years. I knew you loved
me.” Alexander retorted with a sexy little grin.
    “Don’t flatter yourself, Alexander.” She rolled her
eyes at him. “I’d totally forgotten about that game we used to
play. It was like 1759 to 879. I was winning.” She laughed.
    “You were most certainly not winning. I was kicking
your ass as I always did. I will read through every single one of
these journals to check the final score. I wonder if you wrote it
down.”
    Jillian laughed. She had missed these two so much.
They continued reading . . .
    May 2, 1999
    I hate Alexander. He pushed me today, and I fell and
scraped my knee. I went to collect seashells along the beach to add
to the bucket I keep by my bed, and I saw a strange shell. It was
so pretty: point for me for getting such a beautiful seashell.
Helen says it is a cowrie shell. It’s different than any other I’ve
ever seen. It’s big and pink and very shiny. Xander saw me staring
at it and took it from my hand and ran away. I tried to catch him,
and when I did, he threw it into the ocean. I hate him. I threw a
rock at him, and I know it hurt because I heard a yelp and then
maybe even a cry. I ran into my room and cried by myself. I call