If you haven't read my previous Dollanganger fic, I recommend you do that first to get some context.

Ok so nobody asked for this but I'm writing it anyway - a 10 part (this time, fully planned and hopefully scheduled) spiritual successor to Four in the Attic, One in the Kitchen. Think of it as 10 glimpses into the Dollanganger children's lives between 1960 and 1968, as they grow, change, and adapt to life. This isn't every page from Camilla's diary, just a selection so to speak.

Needless to say, this is super canon divergent and written entirely in Camilla's voice. Hope you enjoy! This is really self indulgent though, so more for me than anybody.

Thanks again!


June 25, 1960

Hello Diary,

For my first entry, I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Camilla. I'm 18 years old, and I live with my four siblings in the upstairs apartment of Miss Miriam Emer of Cherry Falls, Illinois.

It's been two weeks since we arrived here on the train from Virginia. It was crazy that we even got this far, and not just in the physical sense. Yes, it was hundreds of miles and many, many hours, but it's the fortune we had of even succeeding. As soon as we got off the train here, once I'd decided we were far enough away from Virginia and safe in a motel, I went through a newspaper and headed straight for the classifieds. Then, it was call after call on the payphone, trying to find a place.

It didn't actually take too long, just three or four different ads. Miss Miriam wasn't far from the motel and was willing to interview me the next morning to rent out the upstairs level of her house that she'd converted into a small, two-bedroom, fully furnished apartment. I jumped on the opportunity immediately. That night, I ran to a drug store to grab some food and toiletries and hair dye. To be safe, I bleached my hair blonde and cut a few inches off. If anybody was going to be looking for me, I wanted their job to be a little bit harder.

Miss Miriam a really kind old woman, maybe 65 or so? She's never been married, never had kids, just retired from a long position as office staff at a local manufacturing plant. Really genuine woman. She was surprised to see such a young woman seriously interested, but she liked my spunk, I guess. I spun this tale of me being freshly 21, our parents dying in a fire, and me being granted custody of my four siblings, how the youngest two had inhaled smoke and gotten sick. She seemed to believe me, and that evening she had me bring them over to meet her. She absolutely LOVES Carrie and Cory. I guess they remind her of when her nieces and nephews were little.

Needless to say, she had us move in immediately. She even gave me a reduced rate on the rent as long as we all help out with chores. I wasn't going to argue with that.

In the larger bedroom, me and Carrie share a bed, and Miss Miriam was able to find a cot for Cathy. In the smaller one is Chris and Cory, again sharing a bed. It's better than nothing, though Cathy confided that it was strange to not be sharing a bedroom with her other two siblings, especially Chris, anymore. I hope that the feeling will pass soon. This is for the best after all.

Since the school year is over, I couldn't enroll anybody yet, but I've decided to tutor them the best I can. Since last weekend, we've gotten everyone library cards, and I've been spending my free time borrowing age appropriate schoolbooks to get Carrie and Cory up to the proper levels. Cathy and Chris did a good job, but not quite enough to get them into second grade in the fall. It's not their fault, of course, but I suppose it's better than nothing. Cathy and Chris themselves have done alright, they just need some more of the advanced mathematics to get ready, and I wasn't exactly great at that while I was away at school.

I've also started to borrow some legal textbooks and files from the library. It's all under the guise of curiosity, of course, but I need documentation to enroll everyone in school and, more importantly, get myself a job. I have plenty of money on me, most of my inheritance, but it's going to run out eventually. I don't even have documents to get myself a bank account. Therefore, I've made do with storing my cash inside drawers and such.

It's a lot of work to play the part of single mother. I'm really glad Miss Miriam has offered to help out when she can in regard to watching Carrie and Cory. Right now, she's showing them her garden, and they love it. Just like I can remember, all those years ago, they refuse to wear shoes outside, and instead wriggle their toes in the dirt. Carrie is holding the watering can, and Cory is listening (as much as he can with his short attention span) to all of the types of flowers in the beds and how to care for them. The summer sun has done wonders for them. Already, they're much less pale and their cheeks are filling out. Their appetite is unparalleled. They still have a persistent cough, but that too is slowly fading. I think things are really getting better.

Speaking of appetites, I've got to go now. It's almost dinner time and I have to start chopping vegetables for a casserole.

I'll come back soon, tomorrow, I think.

Camilla D.