Lake Mariposa Part Fifteen

“In what ways?” asked Rick.

“Well, one morning Misty got out of bed at a much earlier hour. Previous to this Misty might not wake up until four in the afternoon. She came downstairs for her usual cigarette and coffee but instead of going back to her room for awhile, Misty went to the bathroom and had a shower and washed her hair. During the last couple of months Misty might do this only once a week. This was the second time in two days,” said Sasha.

'' The after her shower, she came to the breakfast table to visit with us for awhile. Previously, it appeared that carrying on a simple conversation drained too much of Misty's energy. She just had just one pancake and two strips of bacon and then lit another cigarette and poured herself another coffee,” Lloyd added.

“Misty started to talk very quickly and would get very annoyed if one of us tried to make a comment or ask her a question. She would get impatient if one of us didn't pass her the salt or pancake syrup quickly enough,” said Sasha.

“Misty then put her cigarettes in her pocket and told us that she would be back in the evening,” said Lloyd.

“Then when Dad asked her where she was going, Misty told him that it was none of his business and then stormed out of the house,” said Sasha.

“That was the first day that we noticed that Misty had suddenly changed, “said Lloyd. At first we thought this change was for the better. After all, Misty wasn't spending all of her days in bed and she appeared to have got her energy back.”

“Too much energy as we quickly found out,” added Sasha. '' Misty would be out all day and all evening and then when it was bedtime she couldn't sleep.”

“Exactly,” replied Lloyd. “Misty would still be up after midnight playing her stereo very loud. I'd ask her to turn the volume down as the rest of us were trying to sleep.”

“This didn't go over to well with Misty,” added Sasha. “She would turn her music down for about twenty minutes and then up would go the volume again.”

“This turned out to be the least of our concerns with Misty. I often didn't know where she was going when she went out or who she was with. It wasn't with her usual friends as some of them would still phone to ask for her,” said Lloyd.