The Program

Chapter 3: The interview

There was a small commotion behind the door, though Daisy couldn't make out what was said, and a voice that called out "Be with you in a sec!" After a few minutes a large bulky Aboriginal woman with short bleached hair stepped out from the door, the sides of her head were shaved and a large cowlick styled in the front. She was wearing loose black jeans and a yellow jumper, along with a necklace with a heart on it.
"I'm Moora," the woman said "How can I help you?"
"I saw this ad in the newspaper and it had this address on it" replied Daisy, realising just how silly this all sounded as she spoke, in the process losing her train of thought.
"Ah! Curious to what it is?" asked Moora.
"Uh yeah, just curious I guess."
An awkward silence wafted over the room for a second.
"So what exactly is this place?" Daisy asked.
"We are a charity run respite, we use some lesser known methods to help people relax and cope with life. Everyone who works with us is a paid volunteer. Sadly not everyone is suitable for the program so we do require a short questionnaire to be filled out, weather you are volunteering or entering the program. Would you like one?" responded Moora, the speech practiced but her voice truly cheerful.
"Hold on hold on, I've still got a lot of questions" Daisy said.
"Like for one, why is there no info about this on any advertisements? And what lesser known methods? Does this cost money? How does it work?" She rattled off, slightly overwhelmed.
"The ads, as weird as they may be, are made because they tend to draw the people more likely to be accepted into the program. I can't really tell you the methods because we find that it works better if they are slowly introduced, but everyone is allowed to leave at any time and is allowed to say no, comfort is of the utmost important to us. No, it doesn't cost money, depending on where in the program you end up, participating is free, and as I said volunteering is paid. How it works is you'll take a questionnaire and from that we'll offer you either a volunteer role or to participate in the program. Not everyone gets in but I think you will" Moora says, gently smiling with the last few words.
"Why do you think I'll be accepted?" Asked Daisy
"Ah just a feeling, I get it with some people" Moora reasoned.
"Ah, okay."
"So would you like to apply?"
Daisy thought about it for a second, half of her telling her this is all ridiculous and she should leave, but the other half of her both curious and knowing she needs a rest from everything and this could be it.
"You okay there hon?" Moora asked after a minute or so of Daisy deep in thought.
"Oh, yes, sorry" Daisy sputtered out, a bit disoriented by being pulled out of her conflict. "Yes, I'll do it"
"I'm glad!" Smiled Moora. She handed Daisy a few forms. "You just need to fill these out, should only take 10-15 minutes. We'll give you a ring tomorrow or so after we process it. Once you're done just give the bell a ring, I got to go check on something so I'll be back soon"
"Thank you" responded Daisy.
Moora walked back over to the door and, before returning to the room behind it, said "Just give me a yell if you need any help love!" She gave a wave and disappeared behind the door again.

****

Daisy sat down at the coffee table, with the forms on a clipboard and a pen attached to it. She begins to fill out the form.
The first few questions are normal. Name, phone number, address, occupation, that sort of thing. Then came questions about Daisy. "Do you have any pets?" "No" she wrote down.
"Do you have any children?" "Absolutely not" she thought.
"How do treat your friends? How do your friends treat you? Are you happy with your relationships?"
Daisy jotted down the answers quickly, and moved onto more of the questions.
"What's your favorite movie?" She thought about this one for a bit, movies were one of the harder things to pick what she liked. She settled on her childhood favorite, and one she still quite enjoyed, Ponyo. From there, the questions seemed to continue to shift into learning about her. "What's your favorite colour?" "Green" she wrote. "What's your favorite food?" "Easy," she thought to herself, "pizza." "What's your favorite animal?" Another question that Daisy had to mull over, settling on otters as her answer.
There were many more questions like those, asking about what she liked, didn't like, her favorite and least favorite things, etc. She eventually got near the end of the form. There were only a few questions left. "Do you have any disabilities or special requirements we should know about?" she thought for a moment, and wrote down "No"  into the answer box. "Do you need help procuring time off to join the program?" that one was easy, "No" she wrote. "Do you consent to this information being shared within the organization to better form a plan and work out best placement for you?"
This question made Daisy stop. Was she really going to go this? In all truth she did not know much about this program, what happens in it, or really anything that it's meant to do. She admitted it was a little suspicious how it was all set up. She did notice, however, that under the question it was stated "You may withdrawal your consent for sharing this information, or placement in the program, at any time." That, the fact that Moora had seemed very welcoming and caring, and that this was meant to help people who were stressed out and needed to recover, tipped the scales in her mind. She checked the little box, and signed her name on the signature line.
Daisy moved back over to the counter and rung the bell again, pretty soon Moora came back from the back room and returned to the counter.
"All done?" Moora asked.
"Yep, what now?" Daisy replied.
"I just take that from you, and we'll process it and call you tomorrow with some more information"
"Ah awesome, thanks"
"Well, hopefully we see you tomorrow then!"
"Yeah," Daisy smiled "see you tomorrow hopefully"

****

Daisy woke up to a phonecall the next morning, in her tired state only vaguely recalling the previous day, she was caught half off guard by the voice of Moora.
"Hey Daisy, It's Moora, I'm calling about you application"
"Oh, uh, yeah! Hi!" Daisy responded groggily
"Well, I'm pleased to tell you that you've been accepted as a participant, if you'll accept it"
"Sure" Daisy responded, "is there anything I need to do? what happens next?"
"Well the next step is you come and stay with us! most stay a few weeks, and while you can leave any time you like, we recommend sticking with it for at least a week. it is a big change for a lot of people, so trying it out for a week helps you figure out if it is helping you."
"Oh, yeah. When do I come in? and what should I bring?"
"A few changes of clothes, maybe a few small things to keep you entertained, and of course anything that helps you feel comfortable" Moora replied joyfully. "You can come in any time, even today if you want, everything is set up and ready for you to come along! Any time between 7am and 11pm we can receive you."
"Ah okay, I think I'll come today then? I need to pack but I probably will be there tonight."
"That's amazing hon! We'll see you tonight then" Daisy could hear Moora's smile over the phone
"Yeah, okay, see you then" Daisy answered back.
She hung up the phone and flopped down onto the couch.
"What am I doing" she asked herself again. She knew she should have looked into it more, she shouldn't have signed up to it on a whim. But she also knew she needed the break and that she was curious about it. The people there seemed nice enough.
Daisy shot a message to Skye, telling her everything that happened the day before. Skye told her to be careful, but that she couldn't find anything bad about the place online so it was probably fine.
And so, Daisy started packing a small suitcase with a few changes of clothes, her phone charger, and her computer and computer charger.
She called a cab, and was soon off back to the building.