Two – Skye aged 8
Dear Diary,
Yesterday was so funny in town. Rhydian and I went to all these shops and tried on loads of clothes. Rhydian looked so funny. I knew he was doing it to make me laugh. I mean who really wears socks, sandals, jeans with one leg rolled up to a knee with a bright orange vest top and flamingo print shirt over the top with spotty sunglasses and an Australian hat? According to Rhydian it's all the fashion at the moment. I just laughed and told him he looked stupid. Although the clothes themselves looked fine if he wore them with the right things.
As I suspected Rhydian brought loads of shorts. I swear he has an obsess… obsse… I don't know. Something where he can't get enough of them. Mummy said it was an obsidian but that doesn't sound right. Maybe you know what it is.
Anyway after we got Rhydian some clothes, we went to a shop that sells sparkly things. Like bracelets, and necklaces. Rhydian picked out some very sparkly and pretty gemstone earrings and a locket for mummy. We then went to a book store for daddy and got him some new cookbooks he has been wanting for ages. Rhydian says I had to promise not to tell anyone that he had brought presents, but you don't count. It's not like mummy or daddy read you or you can tell them and I just had to tell someone otherwise I would burst.
Today mummy and daddy are working so Rhydian is taking me to the beach with his friends on the bus. I like buses. Buses are fun but the journey is very long.
Write soon,
Skye.
"Come on Skye, let's go," Rhydian said putting his head round my door. I slam my notebook shut and scowl at him. "Sorry. I forgot. Your diary," he said backing out my room. I threw my pillow at his retreating head but he slammed the door shut and the pillow just thumped off the door. I sighed and carefully put my diary away in its hiding place. Advantage to putting your own clothes away, no-one knows where I keep my diary. I grabbed my sunglasses which being the nature freak I am are cow patterned and my encyclopaedia of animals and ran down the stairs. Rhydian was waiting at the bottom, scowling at me. I frowned. I didn't think I had done anything wrong.
"Now, don't freak Skye but I need to put sun-cream on you or mum will have a go when you burn," he said. I looked at my pale arms and legs showing in my denim shorts and crop top and pouted holding out my arm to him to be subject to the cold, sticky liquid. Rhydian sprayed it on and rubbed it thoroughly into my skin. I hated sun-cream. "There we are, all safe from the sun," Rhydian said when we were finished. "Do you want to put your rockpooling stuff in a bag?" he asked looking at my encyclopaedia in my hands, the magnifying glass on the table and the collapsible net by the table. I nodded and he got my bee striped bag out the cupboard so I could put my stuff in alongside my frog wellies. He smiled at me and took my hand and led me outside. He locked the front door and we walked to the bus stop, me admiring the butterflies and the birds that were flying in the trees outside our house.
We got to the bus stop where Rhydian's friends were waiting for us. Jessica, Louisa's little sister was also there. I ran over to her. "Hey Jess," I said. Jessica was 11 so three years older than me. She looked at me with my bee rucksack and laughed.
"Hey Skye, see you haven't grown up," she said spitefully and then ignored me. I felt very confused and sighed before walking back to Rhydian and standing behind him so that I could observe the butterflies without the pitying eyes of Jess watching me. As we stood at the bus stop saw a beautiful blue butterfly land on the road and I gasped. I inched closer to it to get a better look at it.
"An emperor," I whispered before my breath got rushed out of me as I hit the ground.
"Skye! What were you doing?" Rhydian shouted at me. I opened my eyes and saw we were on the other side of the road and a car had just driven right where I had been standing.
I felt tears prick my eyes and I started to cry. "I'm sorry. I… I was looking at the butterfly," I cried. Rhydian sighed.
"Not in the road though Skye," he said quietly, upset in his voice. I looked at the ground. Across the road I could hear Jessica laughing and the others all whispering. "I always said you're animal watching would get you killed," he muttered. "And it almost has." He stood up and pulled me up. "Skye you're eight. You need to grow up and look after yourself." I nodded and we crossed back over to the bus stop. The bus pulled up soon after and we got on and settled down for a long journey to the beach. I sat quietly in the back seat next to Kai. I think everyone could tell I was feeling bad as at one point Kai hugged me tight. I smiled at him weakly. He was like a brother to me.
"So your brother is heading to Africa. I heard you helped him with the clothes shopping," Kai said trying to distract me. I nodded.
"He looked so funny Kai. I couldn't stop laughing," I said quietly. Kai squeezed my shoulders.
"Hey cheer up, he's not angry. He was just worried. We all were," Kai explained. I nodded and the pointed.
"Sea, I win," I said. He laughed and complained about how it was unfair because I was distracting him by being miserable. I giggled and shrugged as the bus slowed down at a bus stop. We all stood up and headed down the stairs to get off. Once off the bus I breathed in deeply – filling my lungs with oxygen and enjoying the sea breeze.
We headed onto the beach and I headed straight to the rock pools to do some investigating. I dug my net out my bag and reattached the bottom of the pole and began swirling it in the water trying to collect the creatures. I'd seen several star fish and a few crabs. I found a crawfish at one point.
There was a shout from behind me. "Skye, lunch," Rhydian called. I carefully put the crawfish back and ran over to him and sat on the picnic blanket next to him. He handed me the French stick sandwich he'd made me. I smiled and bit into it, liking the way it went crunch whenever I took a bite.
After lunch I lay down on the sand for a bit just enjoying the sun. Until Rhydian came over with the sun cream and told me I had to put some more on. "But I haven't been in the sea!" I moaned.
"Mum will have my head if you burn," he said as he grabbed my arm and squirted the cream on me. I pouted as he rubbed it into my skin. "there all done. That wasn't so bad was it?" he asked. I just scowled.
"Can I go swimming now?" I asked. He shook his head.
"Not for half an hour," he said. I sighed and flopped backwards onto my towel.
Dear Diary,
We had so much fun at the beach. I'm writing this in bed with my torch because mummy and daddy said I had to get some sleep but I just had to tell you about my day.
I went rockpooling! I saw seven starfish, 39 molluscs, 12 crustaceans, 4 crabs and a crawfish. It was so cool. I've never seen a starfish before. I also went into the sea and saw four types of seaweed and 3 fish. I collected some shells as well for my collection. One is an oyster shell and it is sooo shiny. I love it. I think it is my favourite shell.
Shhh! I can hear footsteps. Got to go,
Write soon,
Skye.
A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews. They mean a lot and I'm glad you are enjoying reading it. These beginning chapters were the hardest to write as they take place outside the dumping ground so I had to know the extra characters inside out. Also it didn't help that in my head I knew how she was going to get to the care home but not specifically when. Plus Skye is currently missing what will become prehaps the most important part of the story at this moment in time.