Journal, Day 83

Our benefactor was sick yesterday, and required treatment. Forced to drag the youngest children, she also made the elder male join in the festivities of trekking to the medical office for the proper care. We waited for close to 60 minutes, which might have well been days. During that time, the youngest female could not halt touching the rock waterfall in the center of the lobby, despite being told numerous times to do so. The elder male knocked over someone’s tea on accident, and the younger male sat in a quiet stupor, which likely meant he was contemplating something less than savory for later.
 
After finally being tended to, the benefactor took us to the local general store for supplies. The younger children immediately began demanding she acquire a dessert of some sort, while the benefactor, barely feeling human, repeatedly refuted their request. We swiftly made our way procuring items necessary for their afternoon repast. But by the time we left, all the benefactor could hear was the pounding of their voices echoing in her head, so it seemed the perfect moment to initiate an argument in the transportation vehicle.
 
We then journeyed to the pharmacy, where we waited for several minutes just to be told that the benefactor could not acquire her necessary medicines here, but would have to travel elsewhere. The manager assured her that they would only need to talk to the other location, and to have them reach them by landline. Not wasting time, the benefactor contacted the other location right away, and was told that the process could take up to an hour.
 
We then headed home and prepared our late afternoon meal, the younger children instantly absorbed into the media box and a film about an unusual family with an uncle who can conduct electricity using only his mouth. Bickering erupted over how much was being served and to whom, as the elder male was keeping a large portion of the stratified bean concoction to himself. The benefactor, not feeling herself, found terse words tumbling from her mouth in all directions. For a short span, the nitpicking ended. Little over an hour later, the benefactor once again gathered the younger children to travel to the pharmacy.
 
Arriving, the information had still not been appropriately sent. More waiting ensued. More whining ensued. The benefactor’s head felt like it might burst. The pharmacists kept apologizing, which really did nothing to smooth the situation. Near hysterics, the younger female hid in a corner, only accepting comfort from her sibling. After forty minutes of seemingly torture, the benefactor was asked to rejoin the long line and wait more to get her medicine. The children were irate at having to stand on their legs. If the benefactor could cut people with her glance, no one would have left unscathed. Finally, after more muffled apologies, she procured her prescription and they headed home.
 
Upon return, the elder children were swiftly informed that they were in charge of preparing the evening meal. The elder female took offense at not being ‘asked’ if she would like to make the meal, apparently believing she lived in a free state. This even further ruffled the benefactor’s feathers, already on edge from the morning’s frustrations. There would be no democracy today.
 
As the benefactor attempted rest, the younger children were asked to tidy their living spaces. This generated instant disagreement with the elder children on how to proceed with the task, ending with the younger male finding his way downstairs to join the benefactor in watching the alien doctor on the media box, and the younger female taking refuge in the benefactor’s bed to nap with the dog, who is generally forbidden on her sleeping surface.
 
Finally, nighttime ascended, and the elder children did their best to cook a simple meal: frozen vegetable patties and corn. The elder female cooked the patties to a crumble before the corn was properly wrapped and prepared for heating, as timing was never a consideration. When creating meal plates, the corn had to be returned to heat once more as it was still stiff and unyielding. The benefactor journeyed into the kitchen only once, and quickly left, terrified by the sheer number of dishes that had multiplied in the sink for such a elementary dinner. It only furthered her nervous concern that once on their own, the elder children may, indeed, eventually perish.
 
After dinner, the younger male and elder children decided to have the loudest conversation in the world in the kitchen, despite repeatedly being asked to quiet down. Moving upstairs, the noise increased tenfold. Truly vexed, the benefactor send the youngest female as a warning envoy that bedtime would be immediately enforced if the noise did not reach a tolerable level. The younger male made the wise decision to leave with his female sibling and return downstairs, where the benefactor engaged them in a media program about the mysteries of the universe.  Finally, a semblance of whispering quiet fell over the house, and at last, the benefactor could truly rest.