From the Journal of Caleb Dooley Friday Jan. 9

[not_a_haint]

Caleb frowned, crossed out Gibson, and wrote Dooley. A new name. One of many things to get used to.

January 9, 2026

I was born in 1917. I don't know what month precisely as my memories before my time with the Absher family are hazy at best. Miss Ellie wanted my first memory of living with her to be a pleasant one so we celebrated my eleventh birthday the day after we arrived at her home in June.

Apparently I had been telling people I was “almost eleven” when Floyd brought me home.

Now I'm approximately eighteen. According to the identification that arrived from the Walkers at the same time I got my acceptance to my current residence, my birthday is June third and that's good enough for me.

But am I eighteen or am I ninety eight? (Note to Self: double check that math) Because I seem to have traveled almost a century into the future which, might have been the plan. Anyone looking for me would surely have lost the scent after that long.

On reflection...

“Upon reflection?” Caleb muttered. “Eh, who'm I tryin' to impress.”

On reflection, the time travel is the hardest part. People from other planets? Moving to another plane of existence? That's just accepting something new.

“If only that were so easy for everyone.”

Not really so different than meeting someone from another country. Not that I've ever met anyone from another country. Isn't that a kick, I meet someone from outer space before meeting someone from the Old Country. Unless Miss Dooley counts, she sounded foreign anyway.

I think that was her name, though she never told me. She said she felt responsible for me and I still don't know what she meant by that, but I'm guessing that my new last name came from her. Or maybe I just want it to have. Doesn't every orphan dream of being adopted by someone special?

He had to pause for a moment, blinking away tears. He'd been fortunate to be raised away from many prejudices but sadly “men don't cry” had not been one of them.

Why is the time travel so hard? It's a change in my own circumstances and means I have more to learn than I'd anticipated but did I really lose all that much? I barely remember my first family. I left my second family behind a long time ago. Miss Ellie had to give me up and even though I got letters from her and Miss Marcie I haven't seen her since.

Maybe I just miss the Devil's Cradle and this is just me being homesick. I got so caught up in the adventure of going to college that I didn't really get a chance to contemplate it all before being hit with the scope of my new circumstances. I knew I was never going back there.

Is it possible that anyone I knew is still alive? I don't know how I'd find out. I don't know if I should even try. Not all the people who may have been looking for me were mortal (or even people) and asking questions might just put me back on their radar.

Maybe I should just focus on catching up. History, technology, and culture. Technology might need to be my priority. It may be a minor miracle that Sairis and I didn't burn the school down on Sunday.

Miss Arden was helpful in that regard.

And pretty, though he didn't write that down.

And it's kind of comforting that Sairis is in a similar situation. Also it's kind of funny that I met him without any expectation that I'd see him again. I'm still not sure how that works, since even HE didn't know he was coming.

I suppose I could ask Mr. Stark but at the same time, that seems like it would be prying.

In any case, first week of school, and even though it's been thoroughly discombobulating, it's been aces too. Time to get to reading.