She is doing well at her new school and she made some friends. Sometimes right after school she goes to Paul nextdoor, to play with his son Alan. Paul built a playhouse in his garden for the children.
Every Sunday we go to Rotterdam, to visit aunt Janny. And while Brenda stays with her aunt, I visit my cousin Cynthia in a nursing home, who is still in coma. Brenda stays with aunt Janny, as seeing her mother like this upsets her too much. She is too young to understand.
While I am with Cynthia I always tell her how Brenda is doing. The doctor says that maybe she can hear us. So I keep talking. And when I don't know what to say anymore I read a book to Cynthia. I hope she understands and likes what I choose, because I have no idea what kind of books she used to read. Maybe she does not like reading. I did not know my cousin very well. Which I regret now, because it's Brenda's mother. I hope one day Cynthia will just open her eyes and say: "Hi Arnoud, how nice to see you here." But there is still no progress at all.
I feel a bit double about this, because when she wakes up, Brenda will go back to her mother and I will be alone again. This made me think. I would like to have a family of my own. And children, many children.
But there are not many women on this island. Since there is a military base, all the women are only interested in soldiers.
Kaylynn keeps talking to me about a soldier named Phil and about the firefighter she met recently. She says she put me in her 'friends zome'. That is what women always do, put me in their 'friends zone'.
My neighbor Paul already found a new wife. She is a bit a dumb blonde, she almost burned down the place because she was playing computer games while cooking.
My neighbor Paul already found a new wife. She is a bit a dumb blonde, she almost burned down the place because she was playing computer games while cooking.
I was interested in Kaylynn's friend Danielle, and I asked her for a date. But she said she is already seeing someone. It's that old guy who lives nextdoor to Kaylynn's, Christian Love.
Danielle gave me a present for my birthday. It's a robot. She said her neighbor got one too and he fell in love with this robot, called Hermine.
What does she think, that I am some kind of pervert? I want a real wife, a woman of flesh and blood and not some machine. I felt a bit insulted by her gift and have not talked to her since.
But I got curious and activated the robot.
I did it outdoors, I was a bit scared. I took her out of the box and put her in the grass. Then I pressed the button to activate her. I had to give her a name and chose Lilian.
I must say, Lilian is quite intelligent. One would almost forget she is not human. Almost. But, as Kaylynn would say, I put her in my friend's zone. I am not like that guy with his Hermine.
I did not know they could make robots like this. It's amazing. Lilian is a great help in this household. She works in the greenhouse.
She planted lots of flowers in the garden and started making bouquets, which she sells to the tourists.
She is a good cook, she makes very tasty meals, mostly with ingredients from our own garden. I had to get used to this at first, because there came green sparkles from the food, but Lilian says that this is because it's healthy.
Also, we have new neighbor, he works at the military base, but somehow he does not live there, he lives in this old house at the Kanaalweg Zuid, which is not far from here. He is a bit a strange guy, he does not look very healthy and he seems a bit nervy and jumpy. I am not sure what he is doing at the base. Maybe he just works too hard.
Sometimes he comes over for dinner, but he never invites us back.
I have found a way to make some money. We made a sort of museum of my house. And some neighbors here did the same. So many tourist pass by and they always look at my house. When I invited them in, they are delighted to see how people lived here in the past. My house is still in old state, with the furniture of the poor farmers who lived here for generations. So, I thought, why not ask a small entrance fee to all these people. After all they drink my coffee and I spend a lot of time showing them around.
On my website I advertise for this service, together with the neighbors we organized a tour, they can print out a map, start at the church and follow the route and at several places they can take a look inside. I have some visitors every day. It's not much, but maybe in summer this will get better.
So, all is going well, except... I can't get Kaylynn out of my head. I even tried to find a job at the military base, hoping to impress her by wearing a uniform. But there were no more vancacies.
And then I applied for a job on the mainland, as a police officer. I am in training now. It's good that we have Lilian to take care of the house and Brenda, as I am making long days.
I don't know what Kaylynn will think about my uniform, but at least Brenda is very proud of me.
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