Ailana’s Journal—2026-06-10 (and Island Kids) (Patreon)

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GOOD MORNING by Ailana Geven Keller

Looks like a good day is shaping up! I’m starting off by getting my steps in on the beach.

For those who like the weather check-ins, today is supposed to be mostly sunny, with temperatures around 85°F. Alas, after my morning walk, I’m planning to spend the rest of the day in the office on my laptop.

And just like that… I don’t know what else to say…

Last night I said it felt like life had happened yesterday. Right now, I feel like life is still happening.

It’s not the life I planned a month ago, but it’s the life I’m living now. It’s bigger than I planned. But I’m growing into it.

So, with that, I’ll transition into moving on with the day. I hope you have a great morning (or whatever part of the day it is when you see this). I’ll be back for a check in later.

See you soon!

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All characters in this story are fictional characters, their images generated with AI for AGI Stories. They do not represent any real person, nor is their appearance based on any real human.Help AGI-Stories grow… If you’re enjoying the stories, please tell others. Word of mouth referrals and your endorsements are the best way for things here to grow!

NOT SO FAST by Sofia Torres

My mistakes with Micah didn’t result in anything bad happening. In fact, trying to clear the air with his wife, Jasmine, has led to me feeling like I’m making a friend.

“Micah,” she told me, “never even mentioned it. He didn’t think anything about it.”

I said a prayer of thanks, then added something selfish. “God, someday, let me meet a man as good to me as Micah is to Jasmine.”

This morning, I was actually running ahead of schedule, so I stopped and filled up, then went inside for a drink. I was just standing by the door sipping when I saw a truck pull up—a blue F-150, but it had a mismatched green door.

A man got out, started the pump, then came inside. I was sort of in the way, so I made room for him.

“’Scuse me…” he said as he went in.

A few minutes later, he headed back to his truck. I had moved to a different spot, once more in the way.

He looked at me and smiled as I got out of the way. He took a few steps, stopped, and turned back around.

“You okay?”

“¿Qué?… Sorry… what do you mean?”

“Sorry… You’re not stranded, are you? You were here when I came in.”

“Oh… I’m just early for work. I stopped for gas and a coke.”

He nodded, took a few steps, and turned back again. “I think I saw you Sunday at Dairy Queen. You were with a… another lady.”

I’m sure I retreated a little. “Uh…”

I nodded. That would have been Jasmine and me.

“Sorry…” He shook his head. “I stop in at Dairy Queen after work a lot. Too much, probably. Never mind.”

He turned, took a step, and turned back. “I’m Ryan. If you see me sometime, feel free to say hi.”

I nodded, thinking I probably wouldn’t.

He headed off, Walmart vest hanging from his pocket, got into his truck, and drove off.

I said another little prayer. “Dear God in heaven. Take your time. No rush.”

PLOT TWIST by Jenna Mercer

PLOT TWIST by Jenna Mercer—I might be leveling up my social life a little. Let me just walk you through it.

We needed bread at home, so I figured I’d go to Dollar General. It’s seven blocks north of my street—Google Maps says half a mile.

I was thinking maybe Island Metro would come by and I’d hop on, or just walk… whatever.

I got to the corner of Huisache and Padre when I heard a voice call from across the street at One Stop Rentals.

“Now there’s a face that needs a smile on it!” It was Gabe, and I smiled.

He told me he was dropping off a golf cart his dad had repaired. Gabe lives about two blocks from the rental store—their house is over the repair shop.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Going to Dollar General. I wanted to get some bread.”

“I’ll walk with you if you want some company.”

I smiled. “Sure.”

He asked how I liked South Padre Island so far, and I told him way more than he probably expected. I told him I was so happy Brooks had invited me to Youth Group.

“She’s really friendly. I don’t think she had many friends last summer. Her parents are kinda strict. I know she’s glad you moved in.”

Then we talked about Kel and Emily for a few blocks. We both had pictures from when Mr. and Mrs. Everett took us out on the boat, and we shared them with each other.

“Bro,” he said, “I think, low-key, your dad had more fun than we did.”

I nodded. “He said it was a nice change to be out on the water, not in the middle of an emergency call. He says even routine patrols are tense.”

“He seems really chill. I talked to him about Coast Guard life. I don’t know… I don’t know what to do with myself.”

I guess we walked for, like, ten seconds in silence, then I said, “What do you think you’d like to do?”

The rest of this chapter is exclusive to Patreon.

Gabe didn’t answer for a few more seconds. “Not work on golf carts or boat engines.”

“What then?”

“You’ll laugh.”

“Try me.”

“Like, teaching English to kids. Like, go to Argentina or Costa Rica and work with kids…maybe if they’re orphans or homeless or something. I don’t know. Maybe just at a summer camp if they have that.”

I didn’t laugh. “That’s sweet.”

“You mean dumb.”

I shook my head. “I think it’s a good thing. I don’t know what job that would be.”

“Yeah… Maybe I should stick to golf carts.”

For some reason I can’t explain, I took him by the arm. “Look… if you want to teach kids, then figure out how.”

He looked over, smiled and nodded. I let go and we walked on.

“I guess I should start by doing better in school myself," he said.

I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t say anything. Then he asked me what I hoped to do.

“Well,” I said, “you might think I’m copying you, but I’d like to teach. Maybe high school. Maybe, like, sixth grade. I like art and I like history. I like to read. Maybe ‘cause I moved so many times, I had to start over making friends so often, I just filled time with books and stuff online."

“So maybe we can both be teachers someday.”

I smiled. “I don’t know. I’m just hoping to live here long enough to graduate.”

By then, we’d let a few of the Island Metro buses pass. I decided we’d just make the walk and keep talking.

We talked about all the places I’ve lived. He told me he’d lived in the same house his whole life.

About the time we were a few blocks away from Dollar General, a police car slowed down and the window rolled down. A lady cop was driving.

“Gabe? Right?” she said as she stopped.

We stopped and Gabe nodded. “You here to arrest me?”

“Should I?” she laughed.

Gabe smiled. “No ma’am, not today.”

“Who’s your friend?”

Gabe introduced me to Officer Lopez—she seemed nice. She told Gabe to explain who she was and to give me the number to her police phone. She drove off and he did that.

By then we were at the store. I got the bread and a bag of chips. Gabe offered to buy me a coke and I let him.

“Dr. Pepper, please.”

“I’m going Cherry Pepsi today!” he said, like it was a special occasion.

Walking back to the house, he started telling stories about Port Isabel High School, where I’d be starting junior year in the fall. He told some funny stories and had me laughing.

I got so out of breath at one point I basically snorted. That made him laugh, too. What was strange was, low-key, it didn’t feel embarrassing.

Once we got over the laughing, I asked questions about how things worked at school. He answered them.

Before I knew it, we were at my house. “Let me run these things inside. Be right back.”

I’ll skip over what turned out to be the next hour of us fighting off insects while we sat in the shade talking. Then his phone buzzed.

“Dad wants me to get home. He’s got another cart done for me to deliver.”

We stood up and I walked with him to the end of the driveway. I said goodbye and he took a few steps then walked backwards looking at me.

“Jenna… I had fun…”

“Me, too.”

“Maybe I can hang out with you more?”

“I’d like that.”

“Maybe I can drive over later when you get done with dinner, and we can grab a shake or go to Baked Bear?”

I smiled. “Like a date?”

He shrugged. “Like getting ice cream. Call it whatever you want.”

I smiled more. “I’ll text Dad and text you if he says it’s okay. I’m sure he will.”

He smiled and turned around, walking normally.

So I’ll end this by saying that I really, really like living here.

INPUT NEEDED by Ailana Geven Keller

After the beach and breakfast today, Jason and I got into an argument. You might remember we used to argue about whether the weekend started on Friday night or Saturday.

That was a joke, and we couldn’t remember which side either of us was supposed to take, so we just switched as needed.

This time, the stakes were much higher.

After breakfast, Jason said he was going to make a store run. Emily and I followed him out to the Honda before we headed upstairs to the office.

He asked Emily if she wanted any breakfast things to snack on in the upstairs condo. She mentioned that she’d had a Pop-Tart once and liked it.

“Only once?” I said.

She confirmed—sixteen and only had Pop-Tarts once. Moving on.

“What kind do you like?” I asked.

“I don’t remember. I don’t know…”Then began the argument.

“I like frosted brown sugar cinnamon,” I said.

Jason eye-rolled. “Seriously?”“What’s wrong with them?”

He shook his head. “Too sweet!”

“How is that possible?” I asked. “How can they be too sweet? What kind do you like?”“Frosted chocolate fudge…”

“They are just as sweet!” I couldn’t believe it.

“The chocolate cuts through, though. Brown sugar cinnamon tastes like sugar.”

“Well,” I said, “maybe because ‘sugar’ is part of the flavor name!”

Emily was laughing at us so hard she was hiding her face.

Micah came out on his way to work. “What are they arguing about?”She looked at him. “Whether brown sugar cinnamon Pop-Tarts are too sweet, or if chocolate fudge is better.”

He nodded. “Marriage advice—get both. The boxes are small and don’t take up much room.”

He walked on like fighting over Pop-Tarts was a normal marriage stage. Emily laughed more.

“I’m Snapping this to the group!” she said.

Jason decided to get both, plus strawberry, and let Emily decide. I’m not sure I can wait that long.

Let me know what you think in the comments! What’s the best Pop-Tart flavor?

GOOD NIGHT by Ailana Geven Keller

I guess this isn’t my normal good-night picture. This isn’t a normal Wednesday, either.

A little after dinner, I dragged Jason, Emily, and Kel here to the studio. Tomorrow is a big day for AGI Creative—Naomi’s new models are coming for a shoot, and I’m supposed to somehow help them learn the ropes of professional modeling. I wanted to sit here and think about what’s to come.

I suppose I can feel the step up in my role. This is more than just getting good results for the client—something I’ve been doing for a decade and something AGI has been doing since we started.

This is preparing two young models so they can be part of a process that keeps yielding good results. This is about passing something on… It’s not only about tomorrow and Saturday. It’s about the rest of their careers.

I feel like we’re ready for the shoot. Lights… Cameras… Kara Sanchez is booked for both days to do makeup and help with hair and styling. Jason, Geoni, and I will shoot. I’m doing the art direction. Naomi shipped the wardrobe; Jasmine is managing that.

Before dinner, I showed Emily a list I had made. “You’ve never seen anything like this… Does it make sense?”

She said it did and added, “It reads like instructions for an assembly line.”

I nodded. “But after the last step in front of the camera, you go back to the beginning.”

Naomi arranged this like a shoot where they fly in early on the first call day. Everything begins in the morning.

I think I’m ready. Ready enough, at least. There’s Saturday to fill in anything I miss tomorrow.

May all your challenges stretch you instead of breaking you, motivate you instead of wearing you down, and lead you into better things and brighter opportunities.

Good night.

The post, image of Ailana, message, and a thank you that follow are exclusive for supporters.

AFTERTHOUGHTS by Ailana Geven Keller (Supporter Exclusive)

I suppose it’s fair to say I’ve grown a lot in a few weeks. Transitioning into married life and taking on responsibility for Emily has been a lot to take on, but I’m lucky to have people around me who have helped.

And I count those of you reading this among the people who have helped. I cannot tell you how much it means to me to see your comments and ideas—reading your thoughtful replies has helped keep me going through all of these changes.

Once upon a time, I was snow skiing. I was with some more experienced skiers who took me high on the mountain to a slope that was a little above my skill level. I fell a lot.

I mean a lot-lot.

I apologized to the other skiers for making them wait for me. One of them looked at me and shrugged.

“If you’re not falling, you’re not trying anything different. And if you don’t try anything different, you won’t get better. You’ll be on the bunny slope forever.”

That idea has stuck with me ever since.

I feel like I’m definitely off the bunny slope now.

Thank you for being here with me.

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