Sun Signs (6 page)

Authors: Shelley Hrdlitschka

Tags: #Juvenile Fiction, #General, #JUV000000

BOOK: Sun Signs

3.7Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

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From: cosmicgirl
To: 2good4u
Subject: Re: data collection
But 2good, you’re only a teenager, still in high school! (Well, not actually “in,” but you know what I mean.) Don’t you think you’re a bit too young to be a director or producer?

Kaleigh

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From: 2good4u
To: cosmicgirl
Subject: Re: data collection
“As is our confidence, so is our capacity.” (William Hazlitt)

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From: cosmicgirl
To: 2good4u
Subject: Re: data collection
I guess you’ll be a director/producer after all, because you sure do have an overabundance of confidence! (Wanna share some with me?) Just think, soon I’ll be able to say I know a famous actor/ director/producer! Cool.

Kaleigh

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From: blondeshavemorefun
To: cosmicgirl
Subject: data collection
Hi cosmicgirl,

Today I read my horoscope at the end of the day. (I’m still thinking about the chicken/egg thing.) It said that Leos would be feeling particularly spiritual today. Interestingly, I spent most of the day chatting in the Jedi room when I wasn’t doing schoolwork. What do you think of that?

blondie

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From: cosmicgirl
To: blondeshavemorefun
Subject: Re: data collection
Aha! We get closer to solving the chicken/egg mystery! Seems you don’t have to read the horoscope first in order to make something happen!

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From: starlight
To: cosmicgirl
Subject: Reporting In
Hey Kaleigh,

Chris and I have pronounced ourselves “soul-mates.” (We’d like to be a lot more, but you know how it is when one of you lives on an island and the other one lives on a boat traveling IN THE WRONG DIRECTION.) Anyway, does that sound “spiritual” to you? Today’s horoscope said that we’d be feeling spiritual today.

Shari

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From: cosmicgirl
To: starlight
Subject: Re: Reporting In
It works for me. blondie found his spirituality in a Jedi chatroom.
I’ll have to check in with 2good.

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From: cosmicgirl
To: 2good4u
Subject: Spirituality
2good, did anything spiritual happen to you today?

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From: 2good4u
To: cosmicgirl
Subject: Re: Spirituality

Kaleigh, Funny you should ask. While in my dressing room, resting, I heard some weird noises coming from the closet. For lack of any other explanation, I decided it must be a ghost. Some people have skeletons in their closets. I have ghosts. Is that spiritual enough for you?

2good

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From: cosmicgirl
To: B.A. Stargazer
Subject: Greater Understanding
Dear B.A. Stargazer,

In this week’s forecast for Gemini, you suggested we “communicate, and greater understanding will occur.” I guess that’s one of the reasons I keep writing to you, even though you don’t write back. I’m hoping for “greater understanding,” so I’ve decided to tell you even more about some of the stuff going on in my life. Knowing that it’s unlikely that we’ll ever meet in person, I feel safe sharing this with you.

I do school through correspondence because I have a form of cancer called Ewing’s Tumor (the tumor is on the bone in my right leg) and I’ve been undergoing treatment for it for the past year. I’m in the hospital as much as I’m at home, so it’s easier for me to do school this way. I haven’t told my distantstudybuddies (other correspondence students) about this because I like the diversion of talking about other stuff with them, but the truth is, I’m really thinking about the disease 24/7. I live it and breathe it. So do the people around me. That could be why my old friends have stopped coming to see me. They just can’t handle it anymore.

I’ve read that I have a 60% chance of surviving this. That is supposed to make me optimistic. I try not to think about that other 40%, but it’s hard not to. One of the other patients at the cancer clinic pointed out that if a planeload of passengers were told they had a 60% chance of arriving safely at their destination, everyone would immediately bail. I wish I could bail from this disease.

So, I’ve had surgery, I’ve had chemotherapy, but some of the tumor remains. I’ve now started radiation therapy. As you suggested, I’m trying not to let fear rule my life, but really, how can I not? I’m too young to die!!

By the way, you also said in the last weekly forecast for Gemini that we should be agents of creativity. I definitely think I’ve been one for my Leo subjects. Each of them is really giving some serious (and not so serious) creative thought to horoscopes. The results have been interesting.

Anyway, I’m sure you wish I hadn’t dumped all this on you, but now that I’ve communicated, I’m waiting for “greater understanding to come.”

Your Gemini friend,

Kaleigh

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From: starlight
To: cosmicgirl
Subject: Confrontation
Yikes! Today’s horoscope said that the time was ripe for a confrontation! I sure hope it isn’t with Chris. I’m being very very careful about what I say to him today. Maybe I’ll go pick a fight with my dad, get the confrontation thing out of the way so I know it won’t happen with Chris.

Shari

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From: blondeshavemorefun
To: cosmicgirl
Subject: data collection
Cosmicgirl, after having a major feud with my mom, I read my horoscope for today and was not too surprised that it said the time was ripe for a confrontation. Mind you, the time is always ripe for a confrontation with her. That’s the trouble with this distant learning thing. We’re both at home all the time. She works at home. I work at home. That’s way too much time together. Anyway, you can note another “hit” with the horoscope. And how are you tabulating all this data anyway?

blondie

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From: cosmicgirl
To: blondeshavemorefun
Subject: Re: data collection
blondie, I wish you hadn’t asked (about tabulating). It’s become a nightmare! I have all this wonderful data from you guys (and girl) (girls and guy? you still haven’t told me!), but I don’t know what to do with it. Each of you has been reporting when there is a “hit,” as you put it. That’s great, because that is what I set out to prove. But no one tells me when there is no hit. And I think I blew it when I suggested you do daily, weekly, monthly and yearly checks. That just makes it even more complicated! I guess I thought that I’d get better results that way. To be honest, right now I’m tired and I just feel like scrapping this whole project. Tell Mr. Selenski that I quit! Actually, that’s not quite true. I’m having fun hearing about each of your lives. I’m getting to know you better than I ever would have otherwise. (I was in need of some new friends.) I’d like you to keep the data coming in. I just don’t know what to do with it all.

By the way, why are you a distant learner? If you don’t get along with your mom, wouldn’t you be better off at school?

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From: cosmicgirl
To: jselenski
Subject: Progress Report #3
Dear Mr. Selenski,

About my science project. I have good news and bad news. First the good news. My Leo subjects are sending me lots of data, which records all their “hits.” (“Hit” is the word we’re using to indicate when a horoscope has come true in some way.) We’ve had some good conversations about the nature of horoscopes. I have learned a lot about these three studybuddies, and everyone seems to be having fun.

Now the bad news. Do you remember in your last letter you asked me if astrology was testable? At the time I thought it was. I still do. What I can’t figure out is how to tabulate all the data I am collecting. Also, I wish I’d narrowed down the scope (how’s that for a good scientific word, Mr. Selenski?). You see, my Leo subjects are reading daily, weekly, monthly and yearly horoscopes. I should have just stuck to weekly, or even daily. Then I’d be able to say something like, 2 out of 3 subjects had hits on Feb. 21st, or whatever. As it is, I am drowning in paper and stories around the hits.

And about your sign. You can’t be Cancer (sensitive and moody), and I’m sure you’re not a Gemini because you don’t seem to be anything like me. That really narrows down the field. You must be a Virgo: practical, logical, dedicated and critical. Right?

Going star-crazy,

Kaleigh Wyse

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From: jselenski
To: cosmicgirl
Subject: Re: Progress Report #3
Kaleigh,

I am very pleased with the progress you are making on this project. I’m glad you discovered on your own that the scope (yes, very good word) was too unwieldy. Remember, the Scientific Method is Seven Steps to Discovery. The point of these projects is not simply to come up with a fabulous final report. It is in the process of conducting an experiment that so much can be learned. You thought you were narrowing down the variables by only using one astrologer’s forecasts, but now you realize that there were still too many variables. The best way to learn things is by trial and error. Well done!

Now, more good news. It is not too late to start again. Not with a new topic (scared you for a moment there, didn’t I, Kaleigh), but with a fresh start to your data collecting. Don’t throw out what you’ve already collected, but ask your subjects to respond only to their daily horoscopes and you will more easily be able to tabulate the “hits” and “misses.”

Now, about my sun sign. I’m glad you don’t think I’m sensitive or moody. And I’m delighted that you think I am practical, logical and dedicated. It’s true. I am. But why do you think I’m critical? And maybe I’m more like you than you realize. After all, how well do you know me? How well do you know anyone you meet online? Are we not just a summation of the character traits we choose to show? I once marked a science project on body language. Although it was not the best project I’ve ever seen (oops, there I go being critical again!), the student did demonstrate that we learn a lot about a person by meeting them face to face and picking up visual clues.

Just something very unscientific to think about.

Yours truly,

Mr. J. Selenski

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From: cosmicgirl
To: 2good4u
Cc: starlight; blondeshavemorefun
Subject: Data collection
Dear Leo Subjects,

You have been giving me awesome data for my science project. THANK YOU! Trouble is, you’re doing such a good job that I just can’t keep track of it all. I’ve been in touch with Mr. S. and he suggested that we narrow “the scope.” From now on, I’m only going to tabulate hits on daily horoscopes. (Forget the weekly, monthly, yearly — way too confusing!) To help me even more, please put the word Hit in the Subject of your email, and then tell me what happened. If there was no hit for you, please write No Hit in the subject. That way I’ll know you haven’t just forgotten about my silly little project that day. I will set up a graph with days of the week and the number of hits that happened that day. I think that is the proper way to collect scientific data.

Makes sense?

Your star-crazy friend,
Kaleigh

Feb. 11

Dear Twin,

I believe I did just what I was told in this week’s horoscope, but I’m no further ahead. I communicated—a lot—with everyone —but what greater understanding do I have? None. SWEET F. ALL! (Sorry, twin, but I’m getting a little aggravated by my lack of understanding, as well as by this tiredness that I just can’t do anything about.)

Fear? Oh yeah, I’ll just tell myself not to be afraid.

“Kaleigh, don’t be afraid.”

“Okay. I won’t be.”

Right.

I’m beginning to wonder if Ms. Stargazer is as wise as I once thought. She’s clearly never had a life-threatening disease, or she wouldn’t say such stupid things.

But I think I have been a good “agent of creativity.” My Leo team has really jumped on board when it comes to my project. Thank God for them. In fact, if it weren’t for them … I better not go there.

Mr. S. is like so wrong about us needing physical clues to get to know a person. I think it’s just the opposite. By meeting online, we don’t let physical stuff get in the way of getting to know each other. It doesn’t matter whether my clothes are cool, or whether I’m tall, short, fat, thin, hairy or hairless. I could have a big nose, buckteeth, zits. It doesn’t matter. When you meet online, you get right to the heart of matters, right to what’s important. Mr. S. is just old and old-fashioned. His generation has not caught up. He probably thinks he needs to form one of those encounter groups — or whatever they were called — to really chill with his pals. I can just see them, sitting in a circle, the candles are lit, they are meditating … Oh! Now they are astro-traveling! Watch out, Mr. S. Come back! We need you to lead us to greater scientific knowledge! Forget about your feelings — you’re a scientist!

All this ranting is tiring. I need another snooze …

Your twin

More Experimenting

Forecast For the Week of
Feb. 12 – Feb. 18
by B.A. Stargazer