April 1st, 1936

Current time: Two o' clock PM

As suspected, he's bringing in another one. Even though he'd sworn to me that the last one would be the end of it, he's still going through with this. I tried to change his mind, I begged for him to reconsider but he'd struck me with an iron fist on the cheek. Now, while Father is inside the Mayor's study discussing the arrangements, I stood in wait beside the library. In my hands were a few new books in my hands. I held them close to my heart with one arm while covering my brittle lips with a stained handkerchief using my other hand.

I'll be putting my best effort into remembering even the smallest of details, but it's proven itself difficult. Let me see if I can recite this accurately... I must warn you if you happen to be reading this, I may leave a few things out by mistake. It was such a silly encounter now that I look back on it, but I still somehow feel the need to share it.

After Father hit me, I immediately showed myself to the door. In no way was I interested in staying with those horrible people any longer. And certainly not in listening to their unpleasurable conversation. Besides that my coughing grew relentless again. So without disturbing any "important" conversation, I stepped out of the building.

The breeze felt crisp brushing against my reddened cheekbone, all the while stinging it like ten hundred little needles probing at my skin. It wasn't an unusual thing to me, yet it was still agitating. There was just something about it that irked me more than usual, I suppose. Perhaps it was the time and place, or maybe it was since I had already been feeling ill before. I'm still unsure.

I need to try writing a little faster otherwise one of the nurses might come into my room and see.

As I said before, I was standing outside the town's library carrying some new books I'd salvaged from inside it's crumbling walls. I remember thinking of how dusty they'd been on that shelf. I began to wonder how many must have passed by it without so much as a sideways glance.

I pitied them for not being as new and sturdy as some of the books being checked out. How their edges where torn and pages ripped, not from constant use, but from being constantly dropped and scuffed over the years. I thought about how neglected and abandoned they seemed, outcasted on their plates of wood.

The moment I touched one of them I knew what they'd seen and the things they hadn't. The number of paper cuts it'd given to women like me and how not a bead of tea had been spilled onto its untouched hardcover. In a strange way, I related to those books. Now here they lay open on my by my dresser, waiting for someone to touch them again.

I had been standing there for almost forty minutes, I believe. I remember my chest growing heavy, making it hard to breathe. A large jell-like lump formed in my throat, building to be larger the longer I kept it back.

Just before I was ready to throw in the towel, a voice called from down the street.

"Oh my goodness! Are you alright there, Dear?"

Her voice sounded soft and generous, but at the same time, it seemed almost too innocent. There to my right approached a woman with a pale complexion, no lipstick an no sign of any makeup whatsoever. Her eyes shone a sky blue, complimenting her white-

Furr.

She was a monster.

And I don't mean the inhumane kind that robs markets or murders people. I mean the kind that varies from the human race.

She appeared to have been that of a goat woman with off-white horns just barely growing outwards from the frontal bone of her head and droopy ears that resembled that of a dog's stretching down to her breasts. She dressed in a fine violet fabric dress that contracts just below her ribs and continues to run down to her calves. She looked at me with worry, a steaming hot straw basket of sorts in her hands and all bundled up in a knitted blanket.

I open my mouth, but I'm unable to find my voice. I'm not racist, but at the same time, I'm not used to monsters voluntarily speaking to me. Especially not considering almost everyone in town knows who my father is and of the connections he has up his coat sleeve.

"I...I beg your pardon?"

She holds the basket with her arm by its handles, removing her blanket and wrapping it around my shoulders. I flinch, automatically filled with the worry of some other human coming by and assuming that this too kind of a lady was harassing me. So, not wishing for her to be caught up in trouble due to the likes of me, I try removing the blanket from my shoulders. I was feeling too hot anyway.

"No, please. Keep your blanket." I reassured her politely.

"But Child, how washed your skin looks! And your cheeks are-"

I kind of chuckled at her worrisome expressions. I wasn't feeling any worse than I normally would. Then again she didn't understand that. So I simply told her that I have always been this pasty skinned. The goat women 's frown seemed to blossom up into a kind smile, her eyes sparkling and warm.

"I see. Oh, and do forgive me for touching you, dear. I only meant well-"

"Really, Ma'am. It's quite alright. So please, think nothing of it."

She sighs, smiling generously down at me, wind blowing in the fur of her cheeks and neck. She doesn't take the blanket back from me though. Instead, she stands with me a while longer making decent small talk.

"Thank you, Miss Evelyn, you are the only kind and polite person I have come across all day."

"Is that right?"

"It is indeed. It seems everyone, whether it be your kind or mine, have been in a rather foul mood as of late. It's gotten to be rather ridiculous if you ask me." The fact that she was so willing to speak her mind alongside someone who could potentially sell or enslave her at any moment pleased me. I was glad to know that at least one of them had that kind of courage and strength.

I smile, having a sympathetic relation to her irritation.

"I agree with you one hundred percent."

"I am glad to see that we are on the same page then, my child." Somewhere in the conversation, she had asked for my name, just to suffice her curiosities. So, I told her despite the rules.

She and I continued our conversation until she had remembered something and told me that she must be going. Before she left she made sure I had the blanket wrapped around me and my books. She also let me have a taste of the pie she kept in her basket. It was a bit chilled now, but still the most scrumptious thing I had ever put in my mouth.

Even now I drool at the thought of it.

Though she gave the impression that nothing was wrong in the world and all was right while she cheerily walked away, I knew better. They say that the eyes are the window to the soul, you see. Well, when I looked into hers I could how much pain there was. I saw all her struggles and all the things she feared, including people like me. People with power pooling in their palms and people with enough money to buy as many slaves as they wanted. People like my father.

Once he came back to look for me the mark he'd embedded on my cheek had almost vanished and I was feeling better than before when I stormed out of the mayor's office- The same place the goat women had headed to. Father stated that "it" should arrive in two days time. So on Friday, as I had expected. Those damned "shipment" periods never did take too long. It's a shame.

While we waited for our car to pull up, Father commented on my new found source of comfort.

"I see you bought yourself a blanket while I was away. Didn't I tell you it would be freezing out? Serves you right for not bringing a proper jacket." I never did tell him where I got it from and I had completely forgotten we were still in the winter months.

"Yes, I remember. Forgive me for not listening, you were right."

I hated saying those words.

Oh, and before I end this entry I do remember one more thing.

As we got into the car I remembered that kind older woman, and how sweet she had been to me. And then I remembered her worry for my health, her worrying that I was catching a cold even though I was running a high fever. 

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 I changed the name of this book to "Yellow" because it correlates with the story more than the previous title did. I hope you all enjoy the new look and the new chapter! I hope to see you muffins latter, much love! 

~Eko Skye