Bonus: Illustrated Fanfiction About Me!!!

A couple of super talented folks got together and made an illustrated story about me. It's called "Melly Mills vs. The Schoolyard Bullies" with text by Realsmall and illustrations by That Borrower!

This story is so neat!!! It didn't actually happen to me, but it could have, and wouldn't it be great to put some bullies in their place??? Maybe someday I'll do something in the real world that's as brave as I was in this story--Heh-heh!!!

Also, DustinM wrote a blog entry that might be true about how Giant Girl Ruined My Vacation--'tho it wasn't my fault he came to town on the same day that I did!!!

Great work, guys. Keep them coming!!!

Life in My America

Happy birthday, America!!!

For the first fifteen years of my life, all I ever saw of America was my family's farm. Now there's also the Appletons' Orchard and the nearby town, but that's still not enough for me to get a real sense of the place. I've read about the Grand Canyon, the Rocky Mountains, San Francisco Bay, Amber Waves of Grain, and all that stuff, but none of it seems real to me. That's why I always think of America as just my farm and anything else I can see with my own eyes.

I'm sure the real America is still in good shape this year, but I can't say as much for my America here at the farm. There's no feed left for the cows, and for some reason the regular supply deliveries have stopped coming. I'm pasturing the cows in the corn and wheat fields to keep the pasture grass from being nibbled too short, so it's good I wasn't able to buy any seeds during my disastrous stroll into town. If Pa were still alive, those acres would be covered in crops instead of cow-nourishing weeds.

There's really not much left to feed myself with, either. I emptied the larder during the winter. This spring I got by on milk and eggs, but there aren't any more eggs since I couldn't feed the chickens anymore. So now I'm down to cow's milk and whatever table scraps Mrs. Appleton can spare.

In the past, Pa used to celebrate the Fourth of July by grilling steaks, setting off fireworks, and playing patriotic music on the stereo. "Melly," he'd tell me, "whatever else you are, and whatever else you become, always remember that you are an American." According to the Internet, that means I'm supposed to have a decadent lifestyle and unlimited freedoms, but I don't.

I'm starving to death, alone in a shed!!!

Out of the Shadows

I had a dream about Freckles, the man or woman or boy or girl I can't quite remember while I'm awake. In the dream, Freckles was at the farm with me, back when Ma and Pa were still alive. There was a whole lot of taunting, and Ma said for Freckles to leave me alone. And oh, she was so mad at Ma for that--yes, she was a she, I remember that part now!!! Miss Freckles was a girl with freckles and long orange-red hair. She was always frowning, always shooting daggers of resentment with her eyes, and she was just as tall as me!!!

Now that I'm awake, I don't know if I was remembering something real or just having a stupid crazy dream. There's nobody else as tall as me, so who was this girl and where did she go???

Stupid crazy dream.

Returning to the Scene

Mrs. Appleton and Mrs. Johansson have been arguing and negotiating for a week about me and my lack of a proper wardrobe. Of course, I'm not allowed to participate in the discussion at all!!!

There's state money that can be used to make clothes in my size, but only if three different local stores don't have anything for me to wear. Obviously Mrs. Johansson will have to hand over the money, but she's making Mrs. Appleton get a signed statement from every store manager in town that they tried their best to fit me into something and failed.

That means I have to go back into town!!! The same town where people smashed their cars while looking at me!!! The same town where people tried to chase me away with rifles!!! The same town where they shot me with tranquilizer darts and chained me to four lamp posts cuz I was trying to buy seed for my family farm!!!

Mrs. Appleton says I don't have to go right away, cuz it will take a while to warn the police and town government that I'm coming. She swears that this time I won't get shot by anyone, but I'm not so sure.

I don't wanna go!!!

Brotherhood

Okay, that so didn't go the way I expected.

I walked over to the Appleton house, just like I said, and peeked into Jay's window. I had to bend over a little to do it, since Jay's room is only on the second floor. Jay was sprawled with his head at the foot of his bed and his sneakered feet propped up with pillows as he read a paperback book with spaceships and aliens on the cover. Do all boys read upside down like that? I had no idea!!!

I knocked to get his attention, just like I always used to knock on Ma and Pa's window when I needed to talk to them. It was never any big deal with Ma and Pa, but I guess it's different when you're not expected. Jay looked at the window, saw my face, and shrieked like a little girl--or how I'd imagine a little girl might shriek, since she wouldn't be able to get any more shrill or high-pitched. Jay fell off his bed, mid-shriek, and scampered toward the door like an insect with too many legs to work them all at the same time. He misjudged the distance and slammed his head into the wall.

I tried not to laugh while he was rolling around on the floor, but it was hard cuz he looked sooooooo funny!!! Somehow Jay got back to his feet and staggered around in a daze. I motioned for him to open the window for me but he was so out of it, I had to push the window open by myself. It was unlocked, 'tho I'm sure it will be locked from now on.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"I thought this was your wash day," he said. "Aren't you supposed to be washing your cows and stuff?" For someone who's been avoiding me, he sure knows a lot about my routine.

"I'll do that later," I told him.

"So what do you want?"

"I thought you might want to shoot some hoops." That was a phrase I'd learned from Doc. Shoot some hoops, like the ball is a weapon and the hoops are target practice. I held the ball up to the window in case Jay didn't know what I meant.

"I don't want to shoot hoops with you!" he shouted.

"Look, I'm sorry about what I did a couple weeks ago. Maybe I can watch you eat an entire pie and we can call it even?"

Jay seemed to recover his courage, and actually gained a few ounces more courage than he'd ever shown before. He even took a few steps forward, close enough so I could probably have reached into the room and grabbed him. If I'd wanted to, I could have pulled him outside and shook some sense into him!!!

"You don't get it, do you?" he asked. "I didn't want to be your foster brother, and I sure don't want to be your friend. Now go away and leave me alone!"

I was too stunned to speak. I was too stunned to do anything but retreat back to my shed, while Jay bolted his window and pulled down the shade. I'm still stunned, and probably couldn't speak right now except that my fingers almost seem to be typing by themselves.

Before today, Jay had just been an annoying boy who lived in the Appletons' house. But he really is my foster brother now. And he will be my foster brother for as long as Mr. and Mrs. Appleton keep taking care of me. Me and Jay probably won't ever be friends but we still have a family connection, and neither of us can break that.

I've never had any siblings in my life, but now I have a brother!!!

The Bigger Person

My dream is to play in a real basketball game with two teams wearing numbered uniforms, but that will have to wait at least until the school year. For now I'll have to aim low, which is why it might be fun to challenge Jay Appleton to a game of HORSE.

Jay hasn't spoken to me since that day with the pie, and I feel awful about that. I see him sometimes, looking out his bedroom window cuz it faces my shed. But when I wave to him, he just disappears. I don't have much experience with how long people are supposed to stay mad at each other, but Jay seems to be way over the limit!!!

I can't wait forever until Jay gets over being mad, so I'll have to be the bigger person--like they say. I'll just march over to the Appleton house, knock on his window, and ask him to play some HORSE.

HORSE

I'm getting better at shooting free-throws from the half-court line at the hoop outside my shed. I still miss more shots than I make, but I get a piece of the backboard or rim most of the time. Dr. Crisp taught me a shooting game called HORSE that only takes two people to play, and I can play with a "handicap" so my height isn't so much of an advantage.

And by the way, Dr. Crisp has a really good outside shot for such an old guy!!!

I thought Doc would be upset that I hadn't done his writing assignment about my earliest memory, but he wasn't. "Memories are tricky things," he said. "It sounds like you've got an important part of your past rattling around that big head of yours, but you can't force a memory to come until you're ready for it."

Maybe. I guess. No matter how hard I try, I can't put a face to the shadowy person in my mind. All I get is freckles and red hair, and it makes me angry. What I don't know is whether I'm angry at Freckles or at myself for forgetting him or her so badly.