It was a bright sunny spring day in the city of Silverview. This victorian city had a sense of elegance thanks to the magical looking forest surrounding it. The Glassy River ran through the middle of the it splitting the city in half. The preferable way of crossing the river was to walk across the Crimson Bridge.
On the west side of the River, lived the people belonging to the middle class and the working class. The market, the school and City Hall also were located here, making it the busiest part of the city. Little children were often playing the streets, while the adults were either buying or selling food in the market or gathered at City Hall, to see what the city officials would do.
The upper class lived on the east side of the river, which had a much cleaner and polished look compared to the west side. It was normally quiet over there, but today it was busy due to the preparations of young Mirabell Darleston's 10th birthday.
The Darlestons were the second richest family in Silverview, and lived in a beautiful manor that had an exquisite garden behind the house. Vester and Leonora Darleston were a couple that cared about their family, and provided the best for them. Only the best food, clothing and tutors were meant for their children. However they were also a couple that you wouldn't dare cross. If you somehow have gotten them upset in any way, they would do anything to ruin your family name. That's why everyone that wanted to stay on their good side did whatever they could to help prepare for this celebration.
Gabriel Darleston, the only son and eldest child of the family, did his best to prepare for his little sister's birthday. He put on a long sleeved button shirt, then his pear colored vest with his brown trousers, white socks and black loafers. He combed his brunette hair. Once he was done with all of that, he picked up a small wrapped box. With permission from his mother, he decided to give his birthday present to Mirabell early this year.
He left the room with the box in his hands, unsure where his sister would be, so he walked up to a maid that was sweeping up the floor.
"Excuse me, Elinor?" He called out to the maid.
"Oh Master Gabriel!" Elinor said, startled from being called by the young master, "What can I do for you?"
"Have you seen my younger sister?" Gabriel inquired, "I have something that I would like to give her."
"Oh she's out in the garden." Elinor replied.
Gabriel looked out a nearby window and saw Mirabell, with her brunette hair brushed and wearing a purple dress, skipping through the garden and looking at the flowers.
He thanked the maid, and headed down the marble halls. Passing by some of the servants, finally he reached the door that lead to the garden. He pushed through the door, and stepped outside. He walked through the garden until he reached his sister.
"Mirabell!" He called out, "I have something for you!"
Mirabell stopped skipping, turned around and smiled when she saw her older brother. She walked over to him, her ocean blue eyes beaming with joy.
"Hello, Gabriel!" Mirabell then noticed the box in his hand, "What is that?"
"Oh this is the birthday present that I got for you. Mother said that you can open it up now if you wish to." He replied.
Mirabell gratefully took the present and opened it up. She saw a scarlet colored book, she opened it and was shocked to see that nothing was written in it. She flipped through the pages to see if there was anything in it at all.
"Uh, Gabriel? There is nothing written in this." She said in a confused tone.
"Well that's because it's a diary, you write about your life in it." Gabriel explained.
"Oh! Thank you!" Mirabell hugged her older brother.
Gabriel hugged his sister back, "You ready to go see Hope? I know she has a gift for you too."
"Oh yes! Come on, let's go!" Mirabell smiled.
Mirabell walked over to the backgate of the iron fence surrounding the house. Gabriel followed, then he looked around the garden to see if anyone was looking. When he determined that the coast was clear, he opened the backgate and lead Mirabell out.
The walked to the forest, and started trekking through the many trees. The natural appearance of the trees, and the way the wind seemed to make the leaves dance, made the siblings feel safe as they looked for a friend. Soon they heard the rushing water of the Glassy River, finding their friend Hope standing by it.
Hope was about Gabriel's age, and was more muscular than most girls. Her long onyx colored hair was put up in a ponytail, and it looked like she hadn't brushed it in a while. She wore a dirty white button shirt, a green corset and a dark blue jacket. Her brown boots and part of her grey trousers were soaked from walking through the river. She also had a brown satchel hanging from her shoulder.
Finally Hope noticed the siblings, "Oh hey, rich-kids. I was wondering when you'd get here."
"Hello, Hope!" Mirabell smiled, then ran to her and gave her a hug.
"Hey, birthday girl. I made something special for you." She then pulled out a jewelry box out of her satchel and showed it to the young girl.
The jewelry box had a jewelled pink and purple butterfly on it, and Mirabell's name was engraved on top of the box. Mirabell smiled brightly at the wonderful gift.
"It's so beautiful! And it has a butterfly on it; I love butterflies! Thank you so much!" Mirabell thanked.
"You're welcome, and you'll need this." Hope then pulled out a necklace with a silver key on it, the end of the key being shaped like a butterfly. She put the necklace on Mirabell, "You'll need this to open the jewelry box."
Gabriel was astonished by the craftsmanship of the jewelry box, "Did you really make that yourself, Hope?"
"Yeah I did, Gabe. This may be a shock to you, but not everybody needs servants to do everything for them." She smirked.
Gabriel simply rolled his eyes at that, "Very funny. Well I wish that Mirabell and I could stay longer, but I don't want Mother or Father notice that we're not at the manor."
Hope stood up and sighed a bit, "I really hate this whole social order thing, it's keeping us from being friends, Gabe. We've been sneaking off to see each other, for how long has it been? Eight years now, and four years ago you introduced me to Mirabell here. We should take a risk, and see each other outside of this forest."
Gabriel scratched his head, "I don't know, you know how my mother can-"
She interrupted him, "Just try for me, okay?"
Gabriel got flustered when he looked into her bottle green eyes, "O-okay. I'll try."
Hope smiled at that, "See you next month, rich kids."
Hope transformed into a black panther and jumped across half of the river and swam the rest of the way. She gave one last look at the Darleston siblings and disappeared into the forest. Something inside Gabriel pushed him to transform into a tiger and go after her. He knew that was crazy though, he could never do something like that.
"You like her, don't you?" Mirabell teased her older brother.
"What?! No!" Gabriel blushed, "Let's just go home now."
Gabriel and Mirabell headed back to their manor through the forest. Gabriel carried the jewelry box, since it was difficult for Mirabell to carry that and her new diary while walking in a dress. Finally they spotted the iron fence of their manor and walked towards the backgate. They carefully went through, and fortunately for them, there was no one in the garden to catch them sneaking back in. They walked through the garden and headed back into the manor. They thought that they were in the clear, until a familiar voice to them yelled out.
"Goodness gracious, Mirabell! You got your dress all filthy!"
Lady Darleston walked up to her children and stopped when she noticed the key around her daughter's neck and the jewelry box in her son's hands.
She raised an eyebrow, "And what are those? I don't recall ever buying those."
"Oh, this is a surprise gift that I got for Mirabell. I thought she could use a jewelry box, so I ordered for one to be made." Gabriel told her, hoping that his mother would believe his lie.
For a few second it seemed like she didn't believe it, she inspected the jewelry box and the key. Then she gave a little smile.
"Well it certainly looks well-made, and you know I would want nothing but the best for you two. Getting this made for your sister was a wise decision. Now come Mirabell, let's get you changed. Here, I'll take the jewelry box to her room." Lady Darleston received the jewelry box from her son, and lead her daughter back to her room to get changed.
Gabriel breathed a sigh of relief. He was glad that his mother bought the lie. He never wanted to be caught in a lie by her, knowing his mother can be scary when lied to. His thoughts went back to Hope, and he looked out the nearby window and stared off into the forest. Something about that young woman, always made him wonder what was going on in her mind. He knew she was different than other young women that he had met before. He liked that. Gabriel knew that he promised that he would try to meet her in the city, and he was going to do that. For some reason he would take any risk for her, and nothing was going to keep him from her. Not even stupid social classes.