Forever, or a Long, Long Time: Theory #1–Chapter 7

by Caela Carter
Fourth-grader Flora and her younger brother Julian believe they were never born because they have bounced around different homes and cannot believe that they will ever have a family whom they can live with and love forever.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Theory #1–Chapter 7, Chapter 8–Theory #742, Chapter 18–Theory #0
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. instinct
    inborn pattern of behavior often responsive to stimuli
    Human mothers like to love their babies forever. But mice have instincts, which mean they need to live on their own soon after they're born.
  2. obligated
    caused by law or conscience to follow a certain course
    "I want you and Julian to go to that school because there are small class sizes and lots of individual attention and teachers who are contractually obligated to love you. But we aren't Catholic so I don't care if Ms. K makes you name mice for religion homework."
  3. exaggerate
    enlarge beyond bounds or the truth
    There were kids everywhere. Crawling on walls and hanging from the hooks in the ceiling. Dr. Fredrick says "That's your trauma exaggerating the memory" but this list is about what I remember. Not the truth.
  4. filter
    device that removes something from what passes through it
    Other people have filters, Dr. Fredrick says. I imagine them as little metal gates in people's lungs, which they can close to catch some words before they pop into the room.
  5. trauma
    an emotional wound or shock having long-lasting effects
    He says it's one of the side effects of my trauma. He says that kids who have been through a lot, like I have, sometimes have trouble expressing themselves.
  6. bound
    headed or intending to head in a certain direction
    "She says as long as you keep up this improvement, you're bound for fifth grade!"
  7. loophole
    an ambiguity that makes it possible to evade an obligation
    Does she know I figured out the bathroom loophole?
  8. nook
    a secluded place, corner, or recessed area
    At the end of the living room there's a little nook with our table where we eat breakfast and dinner.
  9. resilient
    recovering readily from adversity, depression, or the like
    "I'm not sure I'm ready to...I...what if it destroys them?"
    "You have to have a little more faith in them," Dad says. "They've proven they're pretty resilient."
  10. grimace
    contort the face to indicate a certain mental state
    He jumps awake and grimaces but then he grabs the roll and shoves it under his pillow.
  11. foster
    providing nurture though not related by blood or legal ties
    He somehow managed to grow the right lung filters even when we were in foster care.
  12. suspended
    supported or kept from sinking or falling by buoyancy
    We believe in Forever. We do. But our belief is thin. It's a tightrope suspended above a deep, dark canyon.
  13. abyss
    a bottomless gulf or pit
    The minute someone shakes the rope, we could fall into the dark abyss of foster care.
  14. scrawl
    write carelessly
    There's messy kid-writing scrawled on the back.
  15. impatient
    restless or short-tempered under delay or opposition
    "Flora, we want to know what you mean. But we don't mean to be impatient. Take your time. Put your words together slowly. Then we'll figure this out together."
  16. appropriate
    suitable for a particular person, place, or situation
    Ms. K explains that she's going to be the first judge of new mouse names. She'll go around with an eraser and get rid of names that are not appropriate, which include names of real people and names that are mean and maybe some other names.
  17. nuzzle
    nestle or cuddle together
    After school, Julian, Dad, and I are in the ice-cream shop, sitting at our favorite booth in the back on the right. Julian nuzzles into Dad's big shoulder.
  18. tremor
    a small earthquake
    The ground shakes under our feet, tremors from the Creature of Change who is treading too close to us again.
  19. tread
    stomp heavily or roughly
    The ground shakes under our feet, tremors from the Creature of Change who is treading too close to us again.
  20. insist
    be emphatic or resolute and refuse to budge
    "I heard the whispers!" I insist.
  21. horizon
    the line at which the sky and Earth appear to meet
    "I think maybe we came from dogs," Julian says.
    "Or maybe the television," I say. "We came right out of it."
    "Or we crawled out of the horizon," Julian says.
  22. stride
    significant progress
    "You've made some huge strides over the last few months, Flora, but I need you to really focus on these last few weeks of school. You're passing fourth grade by the skin of your teeth right now. You really need to work hard and pass almost every assignment until the end of the school year if you want to go on to fifth grade."
  23. lull
    make calm or still
    Dr. Fredrick is talking and talking. I'm letting the kindness of his voice lull me into a trance while I ignore the words he's actually saying because they don't work for me.
  24. trance
    a psychological state induced by a magical incantation
    Dr. Fredrick is talking and talking. I'm letting the kindness of his voice lull me into a trance while I ignore the words he's actually saying because they don't work for me.
  25. confidential
    given in secret
    "Shouldn't we have this conversation...confidentially?"
  26. reassure
    give or restore confidence in
    "Actually," Dr. Fredrick says, "I think it's important that they hear the entire conversation so they can be reassured there are no secrets."
  27. abysmal
    exceptionally bad or displeasing
    Their records were... abysmal. There were a ton of unfinished sentences and question marks.
  28. sibling
    a person's brother or sister
    I don't know anything about their birth mom, except that they're biological siblings.
  29. camouflage
    exploit the natural surroundings to disguise something
    There's a brown crumb on his chin. There's another on his cheek. His skin almost camouflages them, but I see them there.
  30. verge
    the limit beyond which something happens or changes
    We are on the verge of being too loud. It's midnight. We could get caught.
Created on Mon Sep 26 11:26:00 EDT 2022 (updated Mon Jul 31 16:56:38 EDT 2023)

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