@doomedfist and @inrovina asked for: entry made discussing their hopes and dreams
JUNIPER HAYES’S DIARY, AGE 14
I think Mom and Dad (I can only call them that here, where nobody can hear me or see me, where it’s safe) forgot my birthday this year, but it’s okay because I didn’t forget. I’ve been counting down for days. I’m excited to make being fourteen years old the best year of my life yet. I’m finally not a tweenager or stuck being just thirteen. I’m becoming a real woman.
This year, I hope that Mom and I can spend more time together. She always acts like doing anything with me is like pulling teeth, but I think deep down, she enjoys the distraction from how hard she works. I try to make it as easy for her as possible to relax and have fun. I don’t think she smiles a lot, though. She barely even smiles at Dad.
I also hope that my education gets a little bit more faster-paced. I hate to complain, but I just feel like I’m getting everything so much faster than even the researchers do sometimes. I know teaching me isn’t their favorite thing in the world, but another thing I hope for is that I can make it easier on them to spend so much time with me. I hate feeling like a burden or a nuisance. Maybe it would make them feel better to know what an inspiration so many of them are to me.
They just don’t have to know that that isn’t true at all. I know exactly what they do for a living. When I’m a successful and well-known scientist, I’m only going to use my knowledge for the improvement of all humankind. Nobody is going to get hurt or know cruelty.
Maybe that’s a lot to hope for. After all, I’m celebrating one of the coolest birthdays of my teens alone in a small white room.