<< Previous

Katie's Diary

Day Five:

Waking up today, I can truly say I felt a bit better.. other than being extremely hungry and lonely. I reflected a while on what I'd been through the past few days, and chatted with both myself and Norman. Things couldn't be much drearier.. but at least I was alive... And definitely hungry. I waited as long as I possibly could before eating yet another cold can of soup - I still really wasn't sure what to do with those supplies I'd pilfered from the bistro. With a satisfied belly, I set out for the junkyard to try to find some more tools for inventing.

Need some tools - but somehow, I doubt a pipe is going to help....

I found a whole lot of scrap, and an old screwdriver and claw hammer, which both seemed like they would be a big help... but not much more. With a determined sense of inspiration, I tried to invent something else.. anything would have been good.. but all I did was manage to set myself on fire again. Being that it was already dark, despite my now rather ragged clothes, no way was I going to go out to scrounge some new threads. Sighing deeply, I threw some darts at the wall for stress relief.. and then threw some more after I broke the toilet AGAIN! Well, at least I'm getting better at unclogging it!

Finally, near tears of frustration, hunger, loneliness, and a sense of pure hopelessness, I curled up in my little cot bed. I couldn't even muster up enough energy to read the cookbook or a novel or play darts. I ended up simply crying myself to sleep.

Day Six:

So I guess it is true. Things somehow always look a bit better in the morning. Stalling for time before eating my one meager meal of the day, I once again pedaled through the fog and complete, eerie silence for the junkyard. It was practically becoming my second home! I managed to find a nice set of wrenches Ol' Jim had apparently stashed in the bathroom cupboard (who would have thought to look there??) and quite a bit more scrap. I ended up taking three trips to bring home all the little bits of junk I found in my bike basket, and stored things neatly away in my invention bench. I also took a short trip back to my parent's house to get some of my other clothes to replace the rather singed ones I had on.

Then, wearily, I sat myself down for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with my faithful Norman as my companion. He didn't have much to say, but talking to him seemed to make me feel considerably better, and, after cleaning up my bowl again, I stubbornly set myself to the task of inventing.. anything. After yet another fire mishap (perhaps I should give it a rest with the gas powered blowtorch!), and the second shower in a can hastily employed in two days, I did finally give up for the day. I set myself down for an entertaining read of "A Magnetic Attraction," which raised my spirits considerably. I then picked up the cook book and read as much as I could by torch light before finally being too tired to make out the words anymore. I did, however, feel that I finally learned some things about cooking.

Learned Cooking

How I wish I'd taken those cooking lessons my mother had always wanted me to take.. but there had always been tomorrow to take them. Now, those tomorrows were gone... and I was left to another lonely night of sleep.

Day Seven:

So... today makes a whole week of being in extreme survival mode - all by my lonesome. Well, except for Norman. But he doesn't even move - or talk back.. so does he count? I suppose he has to, for what's left of my sanity's sake! After some deliberation, I decided that I wasn't going to take my usual junkyard trip, but instead really dedicate myself to inventing something.. anything. So, to get myself started on my day in a better way, I decided to try making peanut butter jelly sandwiches.. on crackers. Tasted a little odd, but certainly better than the horrible canned soup. As a bonus, it was far more filling!

After a pep talk with myself and Norman, I set myself to "determined" mode, and practically attacked the inventing bench. I had plenty of scrap and tools, so those weren't an issue.. and I was convinced that if I just fiddled around enough (and avoided the blowtorch for a while!), I'd have a brainstorm. Luckily, it turned out I was right.

Yay! A widget!

Turns out I managed to make some sort of Tentacled Wind-Up Thingy. Fairly useless, but cool nonetheless. Perhaps the next thing will fix phones and radios? Wishful thinking, but it's all I have right now. I set back to work, and, with thoughts of being able to disassemble things a bit easier, I eventually made a Smasher widget - I'll try it out later. With a little more tinkering, I even made a little doggy-robot looking toy.

Made a toy!

At least Norman won't be all alone anymore! And I raised my inventing skill, as a bonus. All these successes left me feeling pretty good about myself, .. well, until I broke the toilet again. Fixing it was satisfying, however, and I feel much better at handiness. I celebrated by playing darts until I was exhausted, and settled in for as comfortable a sleep as I've had.. well, in a week.

>> Next