September by Lizz Shepherd

September 24th

We are still allowed to blog. I found that out last week, and I was happy to hear it. With so much of the Internet gone now, I am glad blogs are being allowed. I made sure I understood the rules before starting this blog- we can write about what is happening to us as well as what has happened to us in the past, but conjecture is not allowed. I had that clarified by the local group, and we cannot conjecture about the future or guess what is happening in other parts of the world.

I’m pretty fine with that, and I’m glad we can tell people what’s happening with us. For me personally, I love September. I love it when the leaves change and the air turns crisp and cool. It’s the 370th day of occupation, and I recall now that I took great comfort in the changing of the leaves last year after it all began. I am taking that same comfort this September.

September 30th

My daughter has been playing outside all day, and I’m glad it isn’t too cold yet. Sometimes it gets cold in late September, but not this year. I have to admit I like spending time outside, even when they buzz over the house. I saw a ship this morning that was quite a bit larger than most I’ve seen. It had blue lights on the side instead of the reds I usually see.

Lillian is 11 and has several friends that live nearby, even if they aren’t necessarily within walking distance. When they closed the schools a few weeks ago, I was glad she still had friends she can play with. It’s important to me that she gets regular exercise and that she has kids to socialize with. Socialization skills are so important for everyone.

October 5th

I’ve been trying to get on a blogging schedule, but it’s been difficult. Some of the local stores are gone now, and it has been harder to get supplies. Some of those stores disappeared during the night a few days ago. The inventory disappeared, not the physical locations this time. Anyway, they have closed them now due to a lack of inventory. That’s put more people out of their jobs. When I drive through town now I have to try to avoid the beggars who hassle cars coming through.

My daughter has been happy this week. It still isn’t cold, and I am still content to spend some outdoor time with her. We’ve been starting a cold-weather vegetable garden. It’s nice that there are a good number of gardening sites still online. I do miss YouTube though. That was a fun site. I saw someone in a YouTube t-shirt the other day, and it made me smile.

October 9th

There were loud sounds last night. The neighbors told me the sounds came from a few miles away. I am glad they were that far from my house. I don’t like loud sounds. I have read on other blogs that they also hear the grinding sound. I saw two fast ships this morning flying over the neighborhood across from ours. When the ships first came, I actually thought it was a kind thing when they destroyed all of our weapons. I thought it was good for us.

Right now, I am unhappy about the lack of inventory in town. It’s gotten harder to get into town, and the aliens are now trying to keep people from being on the street to allow for traffic to pass through. I’m glad they are doing that.

October 12th

The loud sounds came again last night. They remind me of the grinding sound my car makes when I park too close to a curb, but on a massive scale. This is the third night we’ve heard them this month. They sounded louder and closer this time. Sometimes I check on Lillian in her room during the night when I hear the sounds. Sometimes I stay away from her room so I don’t frighten her when the sounds come. She has not asked many questions about the sounds. So many strange things have happened over the past year that kids see all of this as the normal world.

We actually have a few small sprouts from our garden. They are tiny so far, but I am glad to see them. Lillian was quite excited by them. She danced around them and sang a gardening song she made up.

October 15th

I received a warning after my last post because it contained conjecture. We are allowed one warning. I would like to apologize to my readers for allowing conjecture into my post.

Over the past few days, we have been nurturing our plants and trying to find open stores in town. We found a sporting goods store that sells a few things we wanted. They also had some food, so I was happy to see that. They were snacks and energy bars, but I was surprised to see them. Unhealthy foods are gone of course, but seeing granola bars was a welcome sight. I do miss candy and chips. I was always a fan of chips. But I think it’s great that we don’t have unhealthy foods on Earth anymore.

October 18th

The news is still on TV, and we watch it every day. I like seeing the other places and how they are coping with a lack of supplies. The news told us last night that the removal of unhealthy foods is what caused this food shortage. The newscaster said the plan is for the aliens to pick new foods for factories to make.

The news also tells us when there are new rules to follow. Today had a story about how kind the aliens have been to the elderly. I’m glad we can’t conjecture. It is a good rule for us.

October 21st

The grinding and scraping sounds were very loud last night, so loud we couldn’t sleep well. Lillian came and got into bed with me after a few minutes of it. Her bed is close to a bank of windows. I have decided to keep her in my room from now on with the sounds getting louder each time we hear them.

Our little garden sprouts are getting bigger every day. It’s fun for both of us to watch them grow. We were able to get into town this morning. We were unable to find gas, and the car is low now. It’s getting too cold to spend time outside now.

October 24th

The sounds were so loud last night that Lillian and I had to cover our ears. We were both feeling afraid and decided to give up on sleep once they finally stopped. She is afraid of the aliens now. I don’t like seeing that in so young a person, but that’s the way it is. She doesn’t see her friends as often anymore. Some of the parents are afraid to travel. Others, like us, are now out of gas for their cars. I am glad we still have telephone service. It’s nice that we are allowed that. She talks to her friends daily on the phone.

October 27th

A neighbor gave us some gas yesterday, so we were able to go into town and get some food. It was nice to see town again. It has changed a little since the last time we went. It isn’t as clean, though the aliens have been asking humans to clean up the downtown area. I am glad they finally forced a few people to do it. I saw them walking behind the humans who were cleaning, and that seems like it’s an effective way to get things cleaned.

They are also keeping people in the Licensing Bureau to issue all of the new licenses we need. I got my family license and my house license two days ago. The Licensing Bureau is quite efficient, and I didn’t have to wait long to get either. It’s important to get your licenses when you have gas in your car. For those who have gas now, go. There are stiff penalties for not having the right licenses. I am glad there are still gas stations. While we were out I was able to find a little gas.

October 31st

This time of year used to be Halloween. I am sad that we don’t have candy anymore. My daughter has no costume. We did make some shapes out of leaf mounds we put into yard bags, though. We picked up yard bags on our last trip to the sporting goods store, and I came up with the idea to make them into Halloween shapes. We filled a few of them with leaves and then shaped them into festive shapes with rubber bands.

The crops in the yard are coming along well. Lillian likes seeing how much they grow each day. We both enjoy that and watching the news. Sometimes we read blogs. I’m glad we have a lot of books around the house. We have both been reading a lot.

My job ended a few days ago. Many management positions have been replaced with aliens who want to oversee those businesses. The business I worked for was one of them. I liked being a manager there. The aliens have said they are better equipped to be management. It’s true what they said– human managers could be abusive and were nearly always biased. I’m glad they are currently opening new businesses and allowing so many human businesses to stay open.

November 3rd

This week has been cold! It’s been so cold that we covered the crops at night. The articles we read said this protects plants from cold wind. We did that, and it looks like it worked. The plants are healthy and still growing. Lillian can’t play outside anymore because of the cold. When they shut the phones down, she was mad that she couldn’t talk to her friends. She was mad until we saw on the news about the gas rationing coupons. It’s true that humans were using too much gas.

We got into town this morning. The inventory of the sporting goods store had actually increased. They had a lot of food there, and there was a line going out the door. An alien manager was there making sure no one rushed the door. He or she stood guard outside and let the employees know what to do and when. I’m glad those people still have jobs.

November 6th

When Lillian’s mother died more than a year ago, I blamed myself. We felt defiant back then. We didn’t see the many ways we were still able to enjoy our lives. Every day I find something to be thankful for. I am thankful for Lillian. I am thankful we’ve lasted more than a year when so many people haven’t. I am thankful we were able to get seeds for so many foods before there was a run on them. I am glad we still have our house. A neighbor told me today she saw houses that had been completely removed when she was out this morning. I saw the same thing two weeks ago. There has been nothing about this on the news.

The noises last night were so loud they shook the house and ships have been flying over all day. Lillian is afraid to even go outside. I’m glad we still have so many books to read.

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Lizz Shepherd is a freelance writer living in Alabama. You can follow her on Twitter at @LizzShep

Image by LearningLark