Ailana’s Journal—2026-07-23 (and Island Kids) (Patreon)

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GOOD MORNING by Ailana Geven Keller

Good morning. I hope you survived Wednesday’s modeling madness!

I woke up this morning to a text from Izzy: “Dr. Overmark and I are doing a trial run of the new trauma care thing… We start later. Come down for coffee?”

I said yes, put my mug back in the kitchen, and hurried down to the ground-floor condo where she was living. She was waiting in the kitchen.

We chatted for a while, and then I confided in her about what Emily had said to Jason and what she had later told me at the beach.

“I keep hearing what Emily said,” I told Izzy.“Her whole argument is that our mother was bad, that she abandoned me before I was old enough to understand what she was really like, and that I decided she must have left because something was wrong with me.”

Izzy nodded. “And Emily stayed long enough to see who your mother really was.”

“Exactly. Emily figured out it was our mother—not her. Then she looks at me and says, ‘Ailana, you are good enough,’ like that settles everything.”

“It doesn’t settle it,” Izzy said. “It challenges the explanation you’ve carried most of your life.”

“But what if Emily’s wrong?”

“What if she’s right?”

I looked away. “That feels dangerous.”

“Why?”

I hesitated. I thought about my whole life… about all the others—almost everyone—who had eventually left me and never come back. Only Jason had ever come back. My friendship with Izzy, though long-lasting, had always been incidental—not steady or continual.

I told Izzy that, then added, “If everyone eventually leaves me, doesn’t that mean it has to have something to do with me?”

“Ailana, life moves on. So have you. You’ve left as many people behind as you say have left you. It’s a two-way street.” Izzy leaned toward me. “And you might have to accept that the little girl your mother abandoned didn’t fail. An adult failed her.”

I swallowed. “Emily makes it sound so simple.”

“It may be simple.” Izzy sipped her coffee. “But simple isn’t the same as easy.”

I stared at my hands. “I need to think about it more.”

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Message from AGI-Stories…

Across all of the AGI-Stories storylines today, I'm responding to a conversation I had with one of the Supporters. "You should just do a whole day where everyone shows up in red bathrobes."In for a penny, in for a pound…

I hope all of you enjoy this little "Seeing Red" day!

Be your best you!

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CHECKING IN by Ailana Geven Keller

Today feels like a solid getting-things-done day. Everyone ended up back at their usual work.

Jason took a call about shooting professional headshots for some new bank tellers. Geoni is editing a scientific journal article about the rust resistance of different polymer coatings on steel beams. Sasha and Jasmine are updating listings for SwimFit and following up with Naomi’s client from yesterday’s shoot. Josh is writing articles. Clay is working on a plan to add custom-imprinting capabilities at the factory in Los Fresnos. Micah is actually at the factory helping with production.

I received a 5,000-word block of text from the writer I’ve ghostwritten for in the past—not Meridith Sinclair—with a request to polish the sensory details and improve the dialog.

Emily is helping First Call today. They have a lot of work right now, and Emily can handle several tasks while also keeping Hudson occupied, freeing Kaylee to do more work. Kel went with them today—he’s assisting Isaac.

That’s the play-by-play. If you’re still reading, I should reward you with a joke or something. Don’t get your hopes up.

A termite walked into a saloon and said, “I’m new here. Where’s the bar tender?”

Oh, look at the time! I should escape your scornful looks and eye rolls now, right?

See you tonight!

GOOD NIGHT by Ailana Geven Keller

And just like that… Everyone ended up at home just in time for dinner.

For a moment, most of us were standing on the balcony together. Sasha looked around, smiled, then concocted a plan on the spot.

“Girls’ picnic on the beach. Let’s go!”

Of course, Geoni brought a camera. She and Jason are getting very serious about their stock photo catalogs. I took a few turns running the camera, too.

I believe everyone has become comfortable looking into the lens. Hold that thought, though.

Sasha declared that she would probably need to step away from modeling until after January. “Unless, of course, we get some maternity outfits to shoot.”

Izzy reported on the trial run of the new trauma aftercare program. She and Dr. Overmark—Olivia—followed up on two recently discharged patients. She said it seems like it will be a helpful program.

Now, back to that thought I asked you to hold. Here’s where Geoni gets the award for being the best human ever.

Emily had been watching all of us pose. She even took a few pictures. Then, Geoni asked if she’d like to have her picture taken.

“I don’t know how to pose like a model,” Emily replied.

Geoni smiled. “You don’t have to pose at all. Just be you.”

Emily smiled and stepped forward. She sat down and shrugged.

“Perfect,” Geoni said.

I agreed.

There are a lot of metaphors in that little moment. I think Geoni’s instruction to Emily might apply to many situations. Perhaps not posing at all is a good course. Just be you.

I’m going to let that sit as is.

I’ve got a lot going through my mind right now. I’ll come back to the idea of posing versus simply being yourself another time. Remind me if it interests you.

For now…

May you know when to stop posing and just be…

the best version of yourself possible.

Good night.

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