the past of the real world takes place sometime in the 1800s. i figure that's as good a place to start as any.

THE PAST

Samantha hated watching her stepbrother. Not only did she have to watch her stepbrother but also has to do it with her other stepbrother, who was the same age as her. Harold was annoying and very flouncy and Jared was nothing but a snot-nosed little six year old. She hated Jared the most. All he did was take her things and go in her room, but he was never punished for it. Her mother always told her to share her things with him. Just because she collected dolls didn't mean that he could play with them. And he was six years old, for crying out loud, so why couldn't he say his own name?

"Mother, get him some help. He's six years old and he can't say 'Jared'." Sam said as she did needlepoint in front of her mother on the other couch.

"He'll grow out of it." Her mother said. "There's no reason to be so harsh to him. You're always so mean."

"I'm not mean to him. He just does stuff that makes me mad. And you let him! You let him go in my room and get my things, mess it up… then everyone tells me that it's my fault! I was collecting dolls long before he arrived and now everyone says it's my fault and that I shouldn't have started collecting such a thing."

"Oh, Samantha, stop being so over-dramatic. Jared just wants to be close to you."

Samantha made a face as she briskly tried to finish her needlepoint and get out of the presence of her mother. She hated that her mother always took Jared's side no matter what she said. She makes me feel like an evil stepsister no matter how hard I try… she thought.

"Mother," Harold said, walking in from the stairs. "May I meet George and Aaron in town? They say they have, get this, a horseless carriage! Can you believe it? So I'm going to go and see what all the fuss is about."

"Of course, dear."

"May I go too, Mother?" Samantha asked, starting to stand.

Harold scoffed at her. "As if you could make it to town in that bustle."

Samantha put her hands on her hips. "I'll have you know that I could probably do more in this dress than the three of you could do in your lifetimes-"

"Children, please… If you go to town with Harold, Samantha, you will have to take Jared with you."

"I'm not taking care of him." Harold said, holding up his hands. "That's your job, Sam."

Samantha glared at him as he smirked at her, his green eyes daring her to say anything else. Samantha knew she was defeated because she didn't have to deal with Jared right now. Harold wasn't the best of brothers and so he never wanted to take care of Jared himself. Although, why did she have to take care of him?

"Mother, why do I have to take Jared with me? Won't you be home to watch him?"

"I am to go to a tea party with Lady Bigglesby at two. I thought I mentioned it to you last week?"

"No! What if I had had something planned?"

"Well then you should have told me. I didn't think you would mind since you didn't say anything."

"But you didn't even ask!" Sam said, stomping her foot. "You don't even ask me anymore, you just assume I will watch him! Why can't Harold watch his own brother?"

"Because I have a life." He said with a smirk.

"Please, Samantha, stop being so over-dramatic. What harm will it do to take Jared along with you to town? It will do you both good to get some fresh air. Now, I am going to get ready to go to Lady Bigglesby's home. I will let Jared know that you will be taking him to town."

Her mother left the room and Harold laughed.

"Ha ha, you get stuck with the brat."

"I shouldn't get stuck with anything. He's *your* brother. I don't appreciate having to take care of him."

"That's because you're a homebody and don't do anything. Your mother would probably be more apt to letting you do stuff without him if she knew you had that thing called a life. See me, I'm always on the run, doing all sorts of things. I'm busy, so I don't have time for little pests."

Samantha made a face as she went to go find a bonnet to wear to town.

She opened the door to her room and gasped, seeing one of her dolls missing and a porcelain one busted open. She ran from her room and down the hall to her mother's room.

"Mother! He got into my stuff again! Now he's broken Matilda!"

"Well you shouldn't have her sitting so high. She can fall."

Samantha wanted to strangle her mother and better yet, get rid of that stupid little boy. She went to Jared's room and opened the door. Jared looked up, holding one of her dolls in her hand.

"Give her back to me. Give her back!" she yelled, holding out her hand to him.

Confused, he handed the doll back and she hugged it to her chest. She pointed a finger at him.

"Don't go into my room anymore, do you hear me?"

"I'm sowwy."

"No you're not. If you were then you wouldn't do it in the first place. Get dressed so we can go to town."

"Can we go to the libwawy?"

"Why, you can't read."

"I can!"

"What's the difference, you can't say things right. So why bother?"

"I'm twying! That's why I need to go to the libwawy!"

"You better be glad that I want to return some books. Hurry up and get dressed."

He nodded and went to find some clothes to get on.

As Samantha looked around the shelves, she came across a book that was titled "The Labyrinth". That sounded interesting so she took it down and began to read it. It was so good that she didn't put it down for a second until she felt someone tug at her dress.

"Sam… Sam, can we go now? I'm done with my books."

"I'm still reading mine."

"You can check them out, wemember?"

Sam looked up and looked at Jared as he stared at her, his strange blue and green eyes making her uncomfortable. She stood up and took the book to the counter to check it out.

"Excuse me, how much would it be to actually buy this book?"

The librarian looked at the book for a moment and made a face, thinking about it.

"About ten."

"Just ten? That's it? It's a wonderful book."

"You may think so but as you can see, it's pretty old. Not many people even check this book out. See? The last time it was done was almost ten years ago and even then, only four people have read this book."

"Why? It's a great read."

"I've heard tale that it's a cursed book."

"Cursed?"

"Those who read it lose something…"

Samantha turned her head at that but brought out a ten to give to the librarian. They took it and she left the library, Jared in tow.

"What's your book about? Can I wead it?"

"No."

Jared frowned, never noticing the horned owl that seemed a little too keen on watching the two go back home.

so we have some familiar lines in there and it seems that someone is watching them. hoo could it be (omg owl joke) anyhow the speech problem is imperative to the story. it's not just something random. and he was playing with her doll kind of like an action figure. he was using it for his own purposes, not like a sissy thing jsyk