Cinderella died. She was here for less than a week, and she is dead. We did everything exactly as they told us. And she up and died. I discovered this the other night, after Ava went to bed. Actually, Ava was awake, and trying to fall asleep as I worked at the desk next to her, and Cinderella was on my left, about 10 inches away. Something made me look at her, and I noticed she was at the bottom, very still. I looked closer, and she was not ‘breathing.’ I just stared at her in disbelief. And panic.

The next morning, Ava managed the news pretty well. She did not fully understand it, but we buried her, and upon doing so, Ava stood for a while over the ‘grave’ and then announced “Now she does not have a name anymore!”

Other questions included whether or not she would change color, if we should give her breakfast, and why she did not stay very long.