Chapter 3

"Is that all you would be needing? Usually the basic Angel pack isn't enough for most buyers-" Sari looked down at the measly few packets with barely contained disappointment. Oh, well. Who was she to persuade the girl when these things cost so much?

"No, no. I've got all I require...for now at least." Bianka smiled and was handed her bank card back. She slipped that and her Angel Layer parcels into her school bag, thanked the assistant and went outside.

Just as her retreating form disappeared into a crowd of shoppers a lone person gave her one final glance and entered the store she had just left.

Bianka began to sag under the weight of her bag. She breathed out a sigh of relief as her home swam into view through the sudden mist that had rolled in. She couldn't wait to open that Egg but that would have to wait for tonight. Her mum would find it weird if she suddenly took a bath in the middle of...

BEEP!

A motorist blew their car horn at her warning her off the road. Bianka gave a start and leaped the last few steps off the road. The car sped off. Phew. Bianka's heart beat erratically in her chest and she sank onto the soft grass beneath her. That car had just missed her. She picked herself up and hefted the bag onto her shoulders. She turned around and walked up the drive towards her front door, and inserted her key clumsily into the lock not able to stop the shaking in her fingers.

"Hello Muggie!" (Muggie was the pet name her mother gave her meaning little fruit bug in Afrikaans) Bianka was enveloped in a bone crushing bear hug her mother's sweet perfume clung faintly to her clothes and after the shock she'd just had Bianka happily breathed in the familiar scent; I made her feel safe again.

Her mother let go and wiped off the flour she had left on the back of her daughter's shirt. "Sorry, dear, I've been baking bread and I forgot to wipe my hands clean after I had rolled the dough," she smiled at her daughter her blue eyes twinkling and her short boyish styled honey blonde hair fluffed up and speckled with flour. How did that get there? Bianka thought thinking sceptically of her mother's baking skills. Sure she could fry, dice, chop and do anything else culinary related except bake and Bianka wasn't looking forward to tonight's meal not if it involved this latest experiment.



Her mother saw that look and placed her hands in a mock angry position on her hips. "Not to worry, Bianka dear. I've followed the recipe to the book this time and I won't add any strange ingredients like last time. I never thought that pepper would make chocolate muffins taste so...bad. So, tell me what you've been up to?" She led her daughter into the spotless kitchen that was clean except for a large mound of dough and scattered flour on the nearby countertop. While her mother rolled out and kneaded the dough with her knuckles Bianka told her about buying an Angel, what the dolls could do and she carefully evaded telling mum what it had cost. Through it all her mother only grunted a few times and nodded her head between sentences. At the end of her account her mother turned to face her and smiled.

"Whatever such a doll cost you better not grow out of it and you better look after it well. I don't want any complaining later on that you should've spent the money on something else. Now quickly help me clean up while I set this baby to rise. After that you can scram." And with that her mother dusted her hands off, placed the dough in a plastic bowl and set it down in the sunniest spot inside the house. Bianka sighed as she cleaned. If her mother hadn't noticed it was over-cast and misty. That bread definitely won't be ready by tonight.

Inside her room Bianka unpacked her school bag which only contained her purchases, a few pencils and her sketch pad from which she removed the sketch of the Angel. She then took out the Angel Egg from one of the pink plastic bags and carefully unwrapped the glittery crinkly pink paper that it was protectively wrapped in. Her face glowed with joy as she once again marvelled at the Angel inside's design. She then removed the contents of the other parcels and sighed looking at the pieces of material she had chosen. How was she ever going to make her doll's costume? She could barely stitch on pockets and buttons to shirt and fix tears. Unless...

"Mum!" she called crashing downstairs.

"Okay...Now I should just open the Egg under the water and... viola!" The plastic see through Egg container opened without a sound and the Angel floated out into the warm bath water.

"I feel ten again," Bianka whispered plucking up the Angel from where it had sank to the bottom of the bathtub. She had finally decided on the Chinese model when she had thought back to what Indwe had said in class.

She had chosen a doll with almost the same colour skin as hers (There had been five to chose from) where hers was real the doll's was sprayed on mechanically nevertheless both Bianka and the doll were glowing by the time Bianka got out of the bath. (AN: Too much bubble bath I reckon) She 

quickly changed into her pyjamas, and cradling the doll to her chest made her way to her bedroom, flopped down on the bed and stared at her doll.

"What to name you..." Bianka pondered whilst making the doll do a Can-can on her pillow. She made her doll twirl and do a forward flip onto the sheets and give a bow to an imaginary crowd.

"I wish I could dance... You shall become that wish." Then Bianka leaned over and grabbed one of the pencils which she had thrown onto the floor earlier. With a neat flourish she gently brought the pencil down on each of the Angel's shoulders while saying, "I dub thee, Bailarino do Luna, Dancer of the Moon..."

Weird name I know. It's Portuguese, and just sounded cool.

Since I'm Afrikaans myself there will be Afrikaans words and names in this story but I'll try to explain what each means as the story goes along. Oh, I'm sorry I didn't say this last time but Rand is much weaker than the American dollar (1about R6) and the pound and Euro (£1about R9), so therefore the dolls cost quite much and I'd thought I'd have a chapter on that i.e. the last chapter about the cost of these dolls something no one has tackled yet which I think is a very important aspect being quite a stingy and money saver person myself myself.

Oh and please comment, give constructive critic, anything as long as I know someone's actually reading this story. Thankies and cyber hugzzz to those of you who have!