Chatterbox: Chirp at Cricket

Abigail pads over to the bathroom and swings open the cabinet door. She scans quickly over the contents of the shelves. Shampoo, extra toilet paper, and aha! On the very top shelf, there it is. She stands on tiptoe and reaches up as high as she can go, fingers finally closing on the hard cardboard edge of her goal.

A small, paper box, containing precisely one bar of soap.

Abigail walks outside and places it on the ground, smiling dryly. She carefully places one foot upon the soap box and lifts her other, balancing precariously. She shuffles her first foot over slightly so that both her feet are squeezed next to each other, barely managing to stay stable all the while.

"Um, hi," Abigail says hesitantly. Nobody notices a small, poofy-haired eleven year old balancing on a soap box, passing by on their daily buisness. Abigail takes a deep breath and begins again.

"Everyone." She says as loudly as she can. "I'd like you all to listen to me, please." Abigail feels gazes turn to her and inhales shakily. No backing out now.

"Look. There's some confusion around here right now, to say the least. And. . . I don't think anybody really likes it. I know I sure don't. But we're a family, a big, crazy one, but there you are. Families go through some tough times, and hard bits. And you know what? They stick together. 

"That's the way things are. Happy smiley faces and rainbow unicorns are there, but so are stormclouds, and sad days. That's life, y'know?

"I don't want another war. I feel fake, continuing to say this, when everyone already thinks it has begun. I wasn't here for the first AE War, but I was here for the Nostalgia War, and. . . It was horrible.

"I'm not going to get into what exactly it was like, the feelings that ran through my head, because I can sum it up in a sentence.

"I cried a lot." Abigail closes her eyes and feels a tear slip down her cheek.

"I did. War on CB isn't good. I don't think you need me to tell you that. It's downright terrible, in fact. It's easy to think, like right now: Agh, this seriously sucks. Let's just go hide under my bed and leave until things are better.

"I thought that in the past few days. Many, many, times. But you know what? I'm not going to. I don't hold it against you if you're leaving because of this or taking a break. I felt like doing that too/ I know how you feel.

"Yet I'm staying. I'm not going to run away and let you guys fix it. I'm going to stand, stay, and try to fix things. I want to say, There's no problem. We DON'T NEED to fix things.

"But, guys, we do. I'll say it straight. There is a problem, and it's kind of important. Some things need to be decided, and some need to be fixed. It's not going to be super-duper easy, but we can do it, though. We can agree. We can fix it, we can heal. We can make it better. I believe in you. I believe in. . . us. 

"We just need to decide some things. Make some rules. Get a consesnus. I propose a few guidelines." Abigail unrolls a large sheet of paper.

Abigail's Suggested-And-Totally-Unofficial Alter Ego Guidelines

Alter Ego: An alternate personality one sometimes reverts to usually to show a different side of oneself; i.e. sarcasm, nastiness, insanity.

a. Amount of AEs should be from one through three (1-3) per person. Recommended amount is 2.

b. Take time to develop your AEs. Create slowly. They're more fun to write for if they are developed and human. (On a similar subject, avoid OPness.)

c. Use common sense on which threads to bring your AEs onto. The subject is usually a good indicator, and the tone of the writing.

d. Read AE posts and get information about existing AEs prior to making one.

e. Be unique! Try to make your AE singled, seperate, and memorable from the rest.

f. If you do not want AEs on a certain thread that you created, state it clearly. 

Abigail folds up the poster again. "If anyone has any obejections or additions, then by all means. I'm defenitely not trying to make strictly enforced rules, I am just giving suggestions.

"Next, I would like to mention something slightly unrelated. It annoys me when it is said that CB 'used to be better' and now it's 'too crowded, fast paced, whiny, everyone you knew is gone', etc. 

"Some of those things may be true. Others I disagree with. I'm not trying to point fingers or nitpick, but honestly? Times change, m'kay? We can't just freeze CB where it 'used to be'. We're a part of the world and the world grows. 

"Sure, our community is bigger now. There are a lot more of new threads. That can be a bad thing or a good thing depending on how you look at it. 

"So just use some tact, okay? It makes me feel uncomfortable and sad when people rant about 'Old CB'. What is Old CB? I wasn't there for it. Did I miss out? Do you think me less because I wasn't there in the time in which you believed was better? Do you value your friends from that time more than the people here now? Life goes on. People leave. Things changed. CB is different, but if you look only to the past you will ignore the good things of the future."

The wind whips tendrils of hair around Abigail's face and she swallows hard.

"It's not awesome right now. I know that. But complaining that everything used to be better and that it's all the fault of so-and-so, this-and-that, won't help. It hurts, honestly.

"I'm not trying to start another NW, believe me. That is the last thing I want to do. I just want to bring that to your attention, okay? That's my opinion. I am entitled to one, and you are too.

Abigail bit her lip. "Finally, Critic, Mandy, and Hobbes. They wll come back. I promise that. I don't know if anyone has missed them, but I have. I felt like it was the right choice for the time being, with all. . . this. It was kind of scary and hard for me when I felt like there was so much pressure to only have two AEs. I misunderstood some of the implications and over reacted. They'll be back soon, once things are decided.

"Thank you for reading all this, if indeed you have. I probably rambled a lot, and I will not be pleased to have any rude comments. I encourage you to state your opinions, but be kind, okay? Just remember that, always, not just here." 

Abigail sighs and steps off the soap box. She kneels and scoops up the cardboard container,  which is slightly crushed by this point. Taking a long look at the world around her, she finally walks back inside and slams the door.

"Be kind," she whispers to the closed door. "I love you all."