The Mexico Mission

I just found out today that the orphanage in Mexico which I visited over the summer needs some help raising money.  I am not going to go into full detail, but here is a link to the article by Tammy Sorenson Davis, explaining their latest doings, and what they need: https://www.gofundme.com/fp4ntqfk
Please, if you have any money, will you please donate.  Or, if you could just spread the word, that'd be helpful too.  The orphanage is changing lives, and the kids there are amazing and deserve a loving home like they have now.  However, if you could just spread the word, that'd be helpful too.  Thank you

To-Read List

In the beginning of the year, I- along with my sister and friend- each made a list of five goals that we wanted to get done by the end of the year.  One of my goals was to read 75 books.  However, it is not going very well so far, and I've only read 41 books.  But that is not what I am here to talk about.  I am here to create a list of the books I want to get done this fall (yes, I realize it is not fall yet.  But it will be soon, so close enough).  I will make a list of the top fifteen books I want to get done reading, and then we'll see if I have read them by the end.
1. Forest Born- Shannon Hale
Rin is sure that something is wrong with her…something really bad. Something that is keeping her from feeling at home in the Forest homestead where she's lived all her life. Something that is keeping her from trusting herself with anyone at all. When her brother Razo returns from the city for a visit, she accompanies him to the palace, hoping that she can find peace away from home. But war has come to Bayern again, and Rin is compelled to join the queen and her closest allies--magical girls Rin thinks of as the Fire Sisters--as they venture into the Forest toward Kel, the land where someone seems to want them all dead. Many beloved Bayern characters reappear in this story, but it is Rin's own journey of discovering how to balance the good and the bad in herself that drives this compelling adventure.
2. Enchanted- Alethea Kontis
It isn't easy being the rather overlooked and unhappy youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week. Sunday’s only comfort is writing stories, although what she writes has a terrible tendency to come true.

When Sunday meets an enchanted frog who asks about her stories, the two become friends. Soon that friendship deepens into something magical. One night Sunday kisses her frog goodbye and leaves, not realizing that her love has transformed him back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland—and a man Sunday’s family despises.

The prince returns to his castle, intent on making Sunday fall in love with him as the man he is, not the frog he was. But Sunday is not so easy to woo. How can she feel such a strange, strong attraction for this prince she barely knows? And what twisted secrets lie hidden in his past—and hers?

3. Cascade- Lisa T. Bergren

Mom touched my underdress—a gown made six hundred years before—and her eyes widened as she rubbed the raw silk between thumb and forefinger. She turned and touched Lia’s gown. “Where did you get these clothes?”

Gabi knows she’s left her heart in the fourteenth century and she persuades Lia to help her to return, even though they know doing so will risk their very lives. When they arrive, weeks have passed and all of Siena longs to celebrate the heroines who turned the tide in the battle against Florence—while the Florentines will go to great lengths to see them dead.

But Marcello patiently awaits, and Gabi must decide if she’s willing to leave her family behind for good in order to give her heart to him forever.

4. Dragonwitch- Anne Elisabeth Stengle
Who Will Dare to Face the Dragonwitch? 
Submissive to her father’s will, Lady Leta of Aiven travels far to meet a prospective husband she neither knows nor loves–Lord Alistair, future king of the North Country.
But within the walls of Gaheris Castle, all is not right. Vicious night terrors plague Lord Alistair to the brink of insanity. Whispers rise from the family crypt. The reclusive castle Chronicler, Leta’s tutor and friend, possesses a secret so dangerous it could cost his life and topple the North Country into civil war.
And far away in a hidden kingdom, a fire burns atop the Temple of the Sacred Flame. Acolytes and priestesses serve their goddess to the limits of their lives and deaths. No one is safe while the Dragonwitch searches for the sword that slew her twice…and for the one person who can wield it.
5. Shadow Hand- Anne Elisabeth Stengle
This is a tale of blood.
And love.
And the many things that lie between.
By her father's wish, Lady Daylily is betrothed to the Prince of Southlands. Not the prince she loves, handsome and dispossessed Lionheart, but his cousin, the awkward and foolish Prince Foxbrush. As her wedding day dawns, Daylily flees into the dangerous Wilderlands, her only desire to vanish from living memory.
But Foxbrush, determined to rescue his betrothed, pursues Daylily into a new world of magic and peril, a world where vicious Faerie beasts hold sway, a world invaded by a lethal parasite.
A world that is hauntingly familiar. 

6. Princess of Glass- Jessica Day George
Hoping to escape the troubles in her kingdom, Princess Poppy reluctantly agrees to take part in a royal exchange program, whereby young princes and princesses travel to each other's countries in the name of better political alliances--and potential marriages. It's got the makings of a fairy tale--until a hapless servant named Eleanor is tricked by a vengeful fairy godmother into competing with Poppy for the eligible prince. Ballgowns, cinders, and enchanted glass slippers fly in this romantic and action-packed happily-ever-after quest from an author with a flair for embroidering tales in her own delightful way.


7. Palace of Stone- Shannon Hale
Coming down from the mountain to a new life in the city is a thrill to Miri. She and her princess academy friends have been brought to Asland to help the future princess Britta prepare for her wedding.There, Miri also has a chance to attend school-at the Queen's Castle. But as Miri befriends students who seem sophisticated and exciting she also learns that they have some frightening plans. Torn between loyalty to the princess and her new friends' ideas, between an old love and a new crush, and between her small mountain home and the bustling city, Miri looks to find her own way in this new place.
Picking up where "Princess Academy" left off, and celebrating the joys of friendship, romance and the fate of fairy tale kingdoms, this new book delivers the completely delightful new story that fans have been waiting for.

8. Battle of the Labyrinth- Rick Riordan (re-read)
Percy Jackson isn't expecting freshman orientation to be any fun. But when a mysterious mortal acquaintance appears on campus, followed by demon cheerleaders, things quickly move from bad to worse.
In this fourth installment of the blockbuster series, time is running out as war between the Olympians and the evil Titan lord Kronos draws near. Even the safe haven of Camp Half-Blood grows more vulnerable by the minute as Kronos's army prepares to invade its once impenetrable borders. To stop the invasion, Percy and his demigod friends must set out on a quest through the Labyrinth - a sprawling underground world with stunning surprises at every turn.

9. The Last Olympian- Rick Riordan (re-read)
All year the half-bloods have been preparing for battle against the Titans, knowing the odds of a victory are grim. Kronos’s army is stronger than ever, and with every god and half-blood he recruits, the evil Titan’s power only grows.

While the Olympians struggle to contain the rampaging monster Typhon, Kronos begins his advance on New York City, where Mount Olympus stands virtually unguarded. Now it’s up to Percy Jackson and an army of young demigods to stop the Lord of Time.

In this momentous final book in the New York Times best-selling series, the long-awaited prophecy surrounding Percy’s sixteenth birthday unfolds. And as the battle for Western civilization rages on the streets of Manhattan, Percy faces a terrifying suspicion that he may be fighting against his own fate. 
10. Oregon Driver's Manual- I know, boring, right?

11. Josh Anvil and the Gathering Storm- Bruce E. Arrington
Fourteen-year-old Josh Anvil is back on Earth, having rescued his grandparents from oblivion. After his interview makes him the laughingstock of the world, he returns home to face school finals, mind-numbing nightmares, demanding FBI agents, and teacher clones. Meanwhile the Earth’s atmosphere is heating up toward Triassic period levels, and no one seems to know why.

With a new girlfriend and a promise of basketball stardom, Josh’s life seems to be getting more bearable. But is it only the calm before the storm?

12. Torn- Margaret Peterson Haddix
Still reeling from their experiences in Roanoke in 1600, Jonah and Katherine arrive in 1611 only moments before a mutiny on Henry Hudson’s ship in the icy waters of James Bay. But things are messed up: they’ve lost the real John Hudson, and they find what seems to be the fabled Northwest Passage—even though they are pretty sure that that route doesn’t actually exist. Will this new version of history replace the real past? Is this the end of time as we know it? With more at stake than ever before, Jonah and Katherine struggle to unravel the mysteries of 1611 and the Hudson Passage...before everything they know is lost.

13. Caught- Margaret Peterson Haddix
Jonah and Katherine are accustomed to traveling through time, but when learn they next have to return Albert Einstein’s daughter to history, they think it’s a joke—they’ve only heard of his sons. But it turns out that Albert Einstein really did have a daughter, Lieserl, whose 1902 birth and subsequent disappearance was shrouded in mystery. Lieserl was presumed to have died of scarlet fever as an infant. But when Jonah and Katherine return to the early 1900s to fix history, one of Lieserl’s parents seems to understand entirely too much about time travel and what Jonah and Katherine are doing. It’s not Lieserl’s father, either—it’s her mother, Mileva. And Mileva has no intention of letting her daughter disappear.

14. Golden Daughter- Anne Elisabeth Stengle
Masayi Sairu was raised to be dainty, delicate, demure . . . and deadly. She is one of the emperor’s Golden Daughters, as much a legend as she is a commodity. One day, Sairu will be contracted in marriage to a patron, whom she will secretly guard for the rest of her life.

But when she learns that a sacred Dream Walker of the temple seeks the protection of a Golden Daughter, Sairu forgoes marriage in favor of this role. Her skills are stretched to the limit, for assassins hunt in the shadows, and phantoms haunt in dreams. With only a mysterious Faerie cat and a handsome slave—possessed of his own strange abilities—to help her, can Sairu shield her new mistress from evils she can neither see nor touch?

For the Dragon is building an army of fire, and soon the heavens will burn.

15. Storm of Lightning- Richard Paul Evans
Michael, Taylor, Ostin, and the rest of the Electroclan go on their most dangerous mission yet as the thrilling action continues in this electrifying fifth installment of the New York Times bestselling series!

The resistance movement has been compromised.

The Voice is in hiding.

Their families are missing.

Can the Electroclan pull together to defeat the Elgen once and for all?

Editor's Note:  Sorry about the white stuff.  I don't know how to fix that.

Fatal Flaws

“I don’t know, Percy, but every hero has one.  If you don’t find it and learn to control it… well, they don’t call it fatal for nothing.”  -Annabeth Chase (The Sea of Monsters)

  Today’s post is about hamartias.  Now, you might be wondering what a hamartia is, and for that I will answer this:  Hamartia-  A fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a hero or heroine.

  But in this post we are going to be calling them fatal flaws.  Fatal flaws were first introduced to me when I read The Sea of Monsters in the Percy Jackson series.  Annabeth Chase was explaining to Percy fatal flaws after she had just learned what her’s was:  Hubris, deadly pride.  After reading this, I began to give each of my characters a fatal flaw, and I’ve been having a lot of fun with that.  

  In the Percy Jackson series they claimed there were only seven fatal flaws.  Well, studying more upon this claim, I have actually found ten.  I have decided to share these ten fatal flaws with you, and give you an example for each flaw.  There will be examples from, Lord of the Rings, Sherlock, Merlin, Once Upon a Time, Michael Vey, Tales of Goldstone Wood, and The Hunger Games.

Ambition-  A strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work  Ex. President Coin (The Hunger Games)-  Here is a spoiler:  President Coin dies because of her ambitions.  Coin has been locked up in district 13 for all her life, and she has suffered through much loss.  She blames President Snow for her pain, and wants to take over Panem and continue the Hunger Games.  To succeed, she gets all of the rebelling districts on her side, and it even looks as if she is with the good.  But then in the last few chapters it is revealed that she is power-hungry and vengeful.  She is overly ambitious with a demented mind intent on killing the children of her enemies.  

Curiosity-  The desire to know a fact or about an unusual object, and can usually not be suppressed  Ex.  Peregrin Took (Lord of the Rings)-  If you have ever seen Return of the King you remember the scene in which Pippin (Peregrin) takes palantir, not being able to suppress his curiostity.  In this act, Pippin puts his own, and everyone else’s lives in danger. “You always have to look, don’t you?!”  -Meriadoc Brandybuck in Return of the King

Fear-  An unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat  Ex. Prince Lionheart (Tales of Goldstone Wood)-  Prince Lionheart is  reasonably afraid on his adventure like anyone else.  Naturally, he cowers when he faces a dragon, and fears the mob when they want to kill his only friend.  But he takes this fatal flaw a step further when he turns over the heart of his love to the dragon, and exiles his only friend in the face of danger.  This ruins his love, and completely alters the life of his friend, while he becomes lonely and unlovable.  

Feeling Inferior-  Feeling of little or less importance or value  Ex. Ron Weasley (Harry Potter)-  Ron always felt inferior to everyone around him.  His quidditch teammates, family, and friends- especially Harry Potter himself. This leads him to doing some stupid things, like not trying his hardest at quidditch, and refusing to talk to his best friend when he needs help.

Holding Grudges-  Clutching onto the feeling of resentment harbored because of some real or fancied wrong  Ex. Regina (Once Upon a Time)-  Regina’s- a.k.a The Evil Queen’s- fatal flaw is holding grudges.  She holds grudges like you would not believe.  For an example, a tragic accident happened to her when she was about twenty years old, the little girl who had caused it was about the age of twelve.  After seven years or so, when the girl was nineteen years old, she FINALLY acted upon her resentment.  Which she had been planning to do for years, but hadn’t yet.  In order to kill the person she held the grudge to, she took over an entire kingdom, and killed her own father, mother, and her most prized possession.  

Personal Loyalty-  Devotion and reverent allegiance to a loved one, an object, or a belief  Ex. Samwise Gamgee (Lord of the Rings)- In Lord of the Rings we see continually that Sam is extremely loyal to Frodo Baggins- sometimes we wonder if he is a little too loyal.  We see several times that Sam would die for Frodo, or worse.  Those with the fatal flaw of personal loyalty are dangerous because they would destroy the world to save their friends.

Power-  The amount of authority one gets over their own life, someone else’s, or an entire population  Ex. Dr. Hatch (Michael Vey)- This Dr. Hatch guy has a huge lust for power.  He is seeking to create an army of electric kids, and build up the trust of the governments in each country.  After he has succeeded in both, he will attack the world and shut off all it’s power.  He will kill all the normal humans off, and become the king of electric children.  And he is totally succeeding so far, there is no other person who surpasses his lust for power.  

Pride-  A feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired  Ex. Sherlock Holmes (BBC’s Sherlock)-  Sherlock Holmes is EXTREMELY proud and arrogant in the amazing show of Sherlock.  His best friend, John Watson, continually reminds him so, calling him a clever, arrogant brat.  To display all his cleverness to the world, he continually does stupid things to show that he is right.  For example, in the first episode, Sherlock was forced to eat one pill out of two- one would kill him, the other was harmless.  

  But right as he was about to, he realized that the gun- which was pointed at his head- was a fake.  He put the pill down, and was going to leave but his attacker asked him if he knew which pill was the right one.  Sherlock turned back around, and foolishly went to eat the pill, just to prove he was right.

Selfishness-  Lacking consideration of others  Ex. Torstyn (Michael Vey)-  One example of selfishness, is Torstyn.  There was once when he and his so-called “friends” were eating, and a boy began flirting with one of the girls.  Torstyn, being protective and all, fried his brain.  Then a doctor came over, and asked what happened- also asking if they would call nine-one-one- and Torstyn promptly refused, going back to eating his spaghetti.

Vanity- Excessive pride in or admiration of one's own appearance or achievements  Ex. Daylily (Tales of Goldstone Wood)-  Daylily is explained as a very beautiful girl.  Every boy wants her, and she is respected for being the baron’s daughter. But when she spent five years under the breath of a dragon, she is only- well, maybe not quite only- concerned with the fact that she is not as pretty as she once was.  

People in real life can have fatal flaws too, for example, out of these ten, my fatal flaw is ambition.  I get more ambitious than what is good for me, and sometimes takes on too much.  A friend of mine has pride, and another one also has ambition.  My sister, Leah, has the fatal flaw of curiosity.

What’s your fatal flaw?  

Realm Walkers: Gifted Demigods

Here is the new installment of Realm Walkers called, Gifted Demigods. This is written by myself, Emma Nikki, and from darling Thacia's point of view. Enjoy!

Thacia and Addy trailed around the museum in a daze, trying to remember where they were at.  Science?  Thacia asked herself.  Something about a science?  Oh!  That’s right we’re in a musuem!  Why’d I forget that?  She contemplated this for a moment, then remembered something utterly life-changing, and turned to Addy.  “Addy!  I had a dream last night!”  she shouted, which drew the confused eyes of others in the crowd of the Rocket and Science Museum “Really?”  Addy asked confused, as if still dazed.  Then her entire face lit up, “Hey!  I did too!”

  “I’m telling first.  It was this dream where we were in a medieval world, and we had this entire life there, and everything.  The last things I remembered, is we met up with this group of knights, a king, and a sorcerer.  And one of the knights was my brother!  And-”

  “Wait.”  Addy almost shouted, then pushed her hand on Thacia’s shoulder, and froze mid-step.  Thacia froze also.  “I had that dream too.”

  Thacia knitted her brow together.  “You did?”  she paused, “But that’s my dream.”

  “The sorcerer’s name was Merlin?  And you’re brother’s name was Gwaine?  And you never let me have a sword?”

  Thacia gasped.  “That is the same dream!”  

  “Wait a second.”  Addy snapped.  

  “We jumped through a portal.”  Thacia almost whispered.

  “Is this where the portal led us?”  Addy asked.

  They were still frozen in mid-step, looking around with confused looks on their faces.  “But… We have lives here.”  Thacia said.  “And there.”  Addy spoke.

  “This is weird.”  Addy spoke.  “Wait…”

  Thacia watched as Addy dug her hand into her pants pocket, and pulled out a tiny jar of nail polish.  “What!?”

  Thacia took a step back in surprise, “Why in the world do you have that?!  You’re not a daughter of Aphrodite!”

  Addy stared at the bottle in confusion.  “I have never even seen this stupid thing!”  she twisted it around in her hand.  “The brand is Portalian.”  Addy stuck it back in her pocket, and stomped her foot.  “That’s it.  I think it’s real.  Somehow, we have two lives, and this is one of them, where we are Demigods.”

  Thacia squinted her eyes, “But that’s not-  Oh!  Shoot impossibility!  It’s real!”

  In that moment, they heard a roar, and they glanced in the direction they heard it.  A Nemean Lion stood in the middle of the museum, attacking five teenagers.  “There’s a Nemean Lion.”  Thacia stated, tilting her head to the side.

  Addy smiled mischievously, “And what are we going to do about that?”  

  “We’ll begin another adventure.”  Thacia spoke, as she closed her fingers together around an appearing and disappearing hilt- a gift from her father.

  Thacia and Addy sprinted through the panicked crowd, and charged at the Nemean Lion, Thacia screaming in rage as she did.  Unfortunately, in that moment, a horrible ice cream sandwich was thrown into the lion’s mouth, and the inside was impaled by two arrows.  Thacia and Addy stopped in disappointment, and watched the kids recover.  They started speaking frantically, and arguing, while one of them picked up the remains of the Nemean Lion.  “Well, that wasn’t awesome.”  Thacia stated.

  “Wait a second.”  Addy spoke.  She crossed her arms, and pointed a hand toward them.  “Don’t we recognize those kids?”

  Thacia thought for a moment, then gasped.  “Three of them is Grover, Zoe, and Thalia.  I don’t know who the other two are though.  

  The kids began running away.  “They’re having an adventure!  Let’s follow them!”  Addy shouted.

  And without speaking again, they rushed after their old friends, and two strangers.  They sprinted after them as they ran across the parking lot.  Following them as the hurriedly passed through a subway entrance.  And chased them down in the cars, searching for them.  Finally, Thacia and Addy found them sitting nervously, jiggling their legs up and down as they sat.  There was no one in the car except for them.  And when Thacia and Addy entered, their three old companions spoke in unison.  “What are you doing here?!”

  Addy placed her hands on her hips, “Well what kind of a greeting is that?!”

  Thacia crossed her arms.  “Who are they?”  a girl about twelve years old asked- she was obviously a Hunter of Artemis.

  “We’re Addy and Thacia.”  Addy spoke.

  “Renowned thieves.”  Thacia stated.

  “Gifted Demigods.”  Addy continued.

  “Annoying mortals.”

  “Disappearing runaways.”

  “And long-time adventurers!”

  “Haven’t you heard of us?”  Addy finished.

  The two strangers stared at them blankly, one slowly shook his head.  “Oh.  What a shame.”  Addy stated, as if it were the most terrible tragedy in the world.

  “Why would anyone know who you are?!”  Thalia yelled.

  Thacia tsked.  “Someone’s got an attitude.”  Addy said.

  “Why are thee back?”  Zoe asked, confused.

  “That is an excellent question.”  Thacia answered.  “But one that can be answered another time.”

  Zoe placed her face into her palm, “No need to answer.  I know already.”  she sounded exhausted.

  “Well, I see two of you don’t want to say hi!”  Addy feigned a pout.

  Then Thacia and Addy turned to Grover, and greeted in unison.  “Hi Grover!”

  “Hey!”  he greeted back.

  The boy stranger glanced at Grover.  “Grover, who is this?”  

  “Percy, this is Addy and Thacia.  Addy, Thacia-”

  “It’s Thacia and Addy.”  Thacia corrected.

  Addy snorted.  “Yeah right.”

  Thacia’s face turned menacing, and she raised an eyebrow, but did not continue.  “This is Percy.”  Grover finished, unphased.  He pointed toward the stranger girl- the Hunter of Artemis- and spoke.  “And that’s Bianca Di Angelo.”

  “Hey.”  Addy greeted, while Thacia stayed quiet.

  “You guys can’t come with us.”  Thalia spoke suddenly.

  Thacia raised an eyebrow, “And why is that?”  she asked, challenging Thalia.

  Thacia felt her anger rise, but then Addy set a hand on her shoulder.  “Thacia, no need to get angry.”

  “She’s not going to let us go with them.”  Thacia argued in a mumble.

  “Yes she is.”  Addy insisted.  “And it’s not her choice now is it?  No, honestly it is Zoe’s choice, but it’s not Zoe’s choice, because it’s Grover’s choice, and it’s not Grover’s choice because it’s Thalia’s choice, but now, I just said it’s not Thalia’s choice, so it’s not Thalia’s choice, it’s Percy’s choice, but it’s not Percy’s choice it’s Bianca’s choice.  But it’s not Bianca’s choice, because it’s the person who’s in charge choicesssssssssssssss”  Addy continued with the s’s for a moment.  

  “The person who’s in charge has to choose what Zoe’s choice is, and then they have to choose what Grover’s choice is, and then they must choose the choice Thalia is going to make- but we’ve already stated several times that Thalia’s choice doesn’t matter, which therefore means the leader’s choice doesn’t matter, but we’ll get to that later- then the leader has to choose what Percy’s choice is going to be, and they have to choose what Bianca’s choice will be, but then one of these people is the leader, which means none of their votes count except the leader’s,which doesn’t count because they voted with Thalia, and Thalia’s vote doesn’t count.”

  “So, don’t you see, Thacia, we are going with them because we’ve decided the leader let us go, because the leader can’t choose for themself, because he’s not real, and only in our mind.  So sad.  So, Thalia,”  she turned toward the confused daughter of Zeus, “That’s why we get to go.”

  Thacia glanced around with a straight face at everyone else’s confused and befuddled faces- actually, no, there was not a word to describe their level of confusion.  Bianca was the first to shake herself out of her befuddlement, “How are you now confused, Thacia?”

  “Oh, I am.  It’s just I’ve known Addy so long I’ve gotten use to her odd logic.”

  Suddenly, the subway train stopped, and Thacia saw Addy give a small smile.  “Well, have a fun time with us joining your quest!”

  Thacia heard Thalia groan as they exited the car.  She heard someone speak behind her.  “Y’all need to get warmed up?  Come on over.”  

  Thacia turned, and saw it was a homeless guy talking to them.  She heard Addy gasp.  “What?”  she whispered.

  “That’s Apollo.”  Addy said.

 “Apollo?”

  Addy nodded.  She’d always been able to see through the god’s disguises.  “You know you’re not completely without friends.”  the homeless man said, shaking Thacia and Addy from their conversation.

  Thacia realized everyone else had stepped forward, and began warming themselves by a fire, talking to the old man, Apollo.  She could tell they didn’t know who they were talking to.  “You kids need a train going west?”  he asked.

  Percy answered yes.  At the answer, Apollo reached out his hand, and pointed toward a freight train named, Sun West Line.  But she only kept her eyes on the train for a moment.  Averting her gaze at the same time as Addy, she glanced back at Apollo, who tipped his weathered hat at them, smiling, and disappeared before anyone else saw the gesture.  Thacia glanced at Addy, and saw her smirk, then say, “I wonder if I’ll be seeing more of my dad.”