A young girl woke up and rolled over onto her back. Her curly, black hair was spread out across the pillow. Her gray eyes scanned the room.
"Cirius!" a woman's voice called from down stairs.
"Coming Mother!" she responded. She walked across the room and opened the door. She slowly walked down the stairs. It was her birthday. Today she turned eleven. Today she got her letter. She reached the main floor as her younger sister, Regla, came up from the basement dining room.
"Mother says to tell you that breakfast is ready," Regla muttered, pushing past Cirius. Cirius went down to the dining room. She sat down at her place at the table and reached for a piece of toast.
"Cirius," her mother said, "your letter came." She gestured to a thick envelope lying on the table. Cirius reached forward and picked it up. Her finger ran under the flap, breaking the seal. She pulled out the letter and read it carefully. She finished her toast and went back upstairs to her room. She slipped on her jumper and opened the widow. She took a breath of cool, autumn air. Tonight there would be a party. Her family members would come over and 'celebrate' her birthday. She climbed out the window and onto the roof. Swinging her legs out over the edge, she laid back on the roof. She took out her letter again, her hands shaking slightly. This was her ticket out. Her ticket away from her family.