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Dear Toby.

I know. I'll write again tomorrow, he says, at which point he vanishes off the planet. But this is why I wanted this blog so that I could do just that, go and come back and it wouldn't matter, I'd still be able to write letters to you whenever I wanted. Well an awful lot has changed since I last wrote, but we can't go into all that now, I have a story to finish.

Dear Toby,

Dear Toby,

Stars on the water! Where do I even start? This has been a totally mad time, I've had so much going on! I've had to cope with all kinds of conflicting feelings, events overtaking me so fast that I didn't know whether I was on my head or my feet! As well as the family things I've had my humans to look after, not forgetting the day babies, my work to do, a holiday to go on, and, and, oh well, you'll see.

Dear Mama,

Well, this is a new way to begin. This one isn’t going to be a letter to my mother, because even in death (yep, I said it, death, so blame me, I don’t care), anyway, even in death I wouldn’t say the things I’m about to say to her.

I’m jealous of a character in a movie. Isn’t that just the stupidest thing you’ve ever heard? It is to me, and I’m the one thinking it.

Dear Mama,

Not much happening the last couple of days, just humdrum stuff. Nicole is gearing up for a major cleaning of the apartment because we’re all going to be away. Nicole and I and the babies are going to see her family for three weeks, then a friend of hers for another week. Anyway, she wants the place clean before we leave so we don’t have to come back to anything but just the usual dust, especially because we’re getting another baby while we’re on this trip. More about that later, but it means we’ll be going with two young babies and coming back with three.

Dear Toby,

This one isn't going to be very happy, so hold on to everything. After I'd finished writing last night, I texted Mum. For a while, there wasn't any reply, then at about ten, when I was just getting ready for bed, she rang me.

"Our bert," her voice was very quiet. "Sorry, I 'ad to wait for 'im to go to sleep. It's bad news."

"What's wrong, Mum," I asked, "Does Gwen know?"

"Gwen wasn't sure so she asked Kori to come, you know she sees fings no one else can. She knew. It's a thorn, Bert. A thorn of the low country. In 'is stummick."

Dear Toby,

Dear Mama,

Humans are so peculiar sometimes! Or maybe it’s just my human. One day she’s trusting me to take care of both of her children, one of whom is almost as big as I am, for the whole day, and the next day she doesn’t trust me to clean up after she breaks something! What? I just don’t get it!

Dear Toby Juggins,

I have heard l call you that and it made me smile, so it stuck. I want to tell you about today because it has been so incredibly, really really good!