Hello my readers! I'm so excited for this is the first time I write multichapter fiction. Thank you very much again for your kind reviews in other of my fics. Your reviews really mean so much to me, to every writer actually.

Please, leave some comments. It can be anything you like, or even don't like, or suggestions, or it can be anything regardless of this fic. I can't wait to chitchat about Miss P and her children with you.

Enjoy!

Little Claire's bright blue eyes have been staring at the wall cabinet for quite some time already. It's so high, higher than she thought. Usually, when she wants something up there, somebody will get it for her, so she has never realized how high it is until now. From here, she can see her favorite pink mug up there. It's just a tiny porcelain mug with Mrs. Butterfly and Mrs. Sunflower painted on it. She wants to have a tea party with Miss Teddybear this afternoon and without that cup, this tea party will mean nothing. The tea will not be as delicious as always. Still, it's definitely out of her reach. Should she call someone? Enoch, maybe?

No, I shouldn't.

The little girl has made up her mind. Of course, it seems so hard and even impossible to get that mug by herself but Claire doesn't want to bother anyone. She wants to be brave like others. She doesn't want to rely on them anymore. She wants to prove that she is as strong as Bronwyn, as clever as Millard, and, most important, wants to make her Miss P proud of her.

Little Claire can imagine her headmistress smiling in astonishment after realizing how she gets her pretty cup without anyone's help. Maybe, if Miss P is so happy, she might carry me up, or give me a hug.

Yes, Claire has never been familiar with Miss Peregrine's boundary and regulations. Her headmistress barely touches the children and every time she does that, especially, when she holds the twins' hands, Claire's little face will turn red. She's jealous of them. She wants to be loved again, to get Miss P's attention like when she was younger.

Little Claire cannot remember the days in the past that much. But at least, the girl knows that when she's just a toddler, Miss P always holds her up, and gives her a hug, or even a kiss. She cannot recall this, but Millard insists that she used to sleep in Miss P's bedroom so that the bird can lull her back to sleep in case she wakes up in the middle of the night. The little girl hates herself that she can't remember that moment. Now, every night, it's just her and Miss Teddybear on a cold big bed surrounded by scary darkness. Of course, Miss P is there sometimes to tuck her in, but doesn't give her a goodnight kiss anymore.

No one knows that the more Miss P keeps her children at a distance, the more Claire feels unloved. Sometimes, in her bedroom, she cries silently, asking her teddy bear, does Miss P still love her? She knows she's such a very big burden for Miss P and everyone, and she's so afraid of being hated, or worse, being abandoned again. What will she do, if they all agree to leave her somewhere she doesn't know, on some unfamiliar street or in the dark forrest, where there're bad people and monsters?

That's why she has to be able to rely on her own as soon as possible. This is not a big problem at all. I can do it! I'm gonna make them proud. I'm gonna make my Miss P proud!

The little girl hugs her teddy bear tighter, her eyes lock on the pink mug. She sits her bear on the kitchen table to witness what she's about to do and moves a chair to a wooden counter. She takes a deep breath, then, climbs up, using the chair to get on the counter where she can stand up straight and touch the cabinet's knob.

'Got it!' She smiles, while standing on tiptoe at the edge of the counter.

It takes some time before she can open the cabinet. The cup is there, not far from her, just a reach away. So, Little Claire gets nearer and in doing so, she can no longer see anything inside the cabinet. She's too short. All she can do now is reaching her hand out as much as she can to find her mug in there like when she gropes in the dark, struggling to find a light switch. Her arm hurts but she will not give up. Not so easily. She will keep finding it no matter what.

'Dishes...nope….nope….Ahh,' she found it at last, her lovely tiny mug.

Claire is so happy that she pulls her cup out at once without giving it a thought. She smiles from ear to ear, but her smile doesn't last long when piles of dishes have been unintentionally pulled out as well. A dozen of glass dishes fall from the cabinet and crashes to the kitchen floor, shattering into pieces, making Little Claire jump with fright. She loses her balance and slips down the counter, screaming at the top of her lungs.

After a few seconds, the whole house can hear a very loud wailing of their youngest sister. They all immediately rush to the kitchen for they know that their Little Claire is in trouble for sure.

How is it? Thank you so much for reading it. I really mean this.