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ac3bd32
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A daily dose of daydreaming heals the heart, soothes the soul, and strengthens the imagination.
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dreams
healing
heart
imaginary-friend
imagination
inspirational
pretending
richelle
richelle-goodrich
soothing
soul
strength
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Richelle E. Goodrich |
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235a3fd
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Your imaginary friend isn't the problem, Amanda. The problem is that you don't seem to have any real friends.
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death
fantasy
friendship
imaginary-friend
imagination
love
psychiatry
real
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Rebecca McNutt |
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afe6e57
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"Amanda, you finally decided to answer the phone," her mom exclaimed after picking up at the first ring. "Where've you been, what've you been up to?" "Mom, do you remember when I was a kid, I had a friend, he was a Personification of the Sydney Tar Ponds, sort of my imaginary friend?" Mandy asked. "No, what in the name of god are you on about?" her mom sighed in exasperation. "Remember? Only I could see him, but he was real and he was my best friend when I was eighteen?" Mandy insisted. "No, I don't remember Alecto Sydney Steele at all," said her mom all too quickly."
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call
canada
cape-breton
conversation
dysfunctional-families
eighteen
family
friend
friendship
girl
imaginary-companion
imaginary-friend
imaginary-playmate
invisible
invisible-friend
mom
mother
nova-scotia
phone
pretend
pretend-friend
remember
sydney-tar-ponds
talk
telephone
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Rebecca McNutt |
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7103481
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"If you were me you'd do the right thing, help your friends, because you're not a coward," Mandy sighed sadly. "I covered up a murder because I was scared to go to jail and I did the wrong thing... well, now's my chance to do the right thing, to save someone's life, because I don't want you to die." "Save someone's life? I'm no one," Alecto laughed morbidly. "A hundred and twelve years is definitely way too long to have survived. You'd be wasting your time and risking your own life...." "This is my life," Mandy declared, smiling sincerely. Alecto just looked concerned and very doubtful as the rain drizzled down the roads and sidewalks, towards the harbour where it fell into the ocean, indistinguishable from all the other water in the world." --
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cape-breton
coward
crime
death
disturbance
dying
friend
friendship
grief
help
imaginary-friend
jail
loss
misery
moral-values
morals
murder
nova-scotia
ocean
rescue
right
scary
seaside
suicide
wrong
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Rebecca McNutt |
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b8b2676
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"Why did you revive me?" Alecto repeated. "Well... uh, well...." Mandy hesitated, her voice full of sudden misery. "They say there are five stages of grief, you know... five stages. denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Not in any particular order. Anyhow, I denied your death, I was angry about it, I bargained with Mearth to try and get her to un-bury your site and I was depressed about the whole ordeal. One thing I just froze up on though was acceptance. I just couldn't accept your death. It was really cruel the way you died, and I missed you so much... Mearth, my parents, the cops, Dr. Pottie, they all thought I was crazy. When people think you're crazy, that label automatically dehumanizes you, because people can use it to discredit everything you say with, "oh, pay no mind to her, she's just this crazy lunatic with a dead imaginary friend." I just wanted to do something, anything to make it all go away, and I decided that I wanted to revive you."
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anger
bargaining
crazy
death
death-of-a-loved-one
dehumanization
denial
depression
discredit
dying
friend
friendship
grief
help
imaginary-friend
loss
lunatic
mourning
revival
sadness
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Rebecca McNutt |
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3808eec
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"I know what I'm talking about, Alecto! When I think of Jud, I think of the times he wanted to be a coal miner, the times he took Wendy and me sailing in the harbour, the times he showed me how to play soccer, but I forgot all the bullying and I'll never understand why. And now you ask me, you ask me what happened once we were in high school. You said you didn't understand what having a family was like, so ask me!" Mandy was shouting at him without even realizing it, her words sharp and unforgiving. "I...." Alecto started, hesitating for a moment. "You don't seem like yourself Mandy Valems, not at all...." "No, go ahead! You want to know what having a real family is like?" Mandy snapped, turning to stare at him coldly. "Ask me what happened, I'll tell you anything you want to know!" "...What happened?" Alecto asked quietly, looking nervous and confused. "I stayed late after school in shop class when I was in grade 9, trying to keep my lousy grades up. I was building a birdhouse, something like that, and that was when Jud and all his popular jock friends came storming in, laughing and swearing like a bunch of pigs," Mandy continued. "So ask me what happened next." "I... I don't want to ask you what happened," Alecto replied. "Ask me!" Mandy yelled. "Alright, what happened next...?" Alecto questioned."
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assault
attack
beat-up
bully
bullying
canada
cape-breton-parents
confession
conflict
cruelty
fight
friend
friendship
high-school
imaginary-friend
nova-scotia
school
shop
stress
wood
wood-shop
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Rebecca McNutt |