Author's Notes: Hey readers. Sorry I haven't uploaded in a while but I break up for Christmas tomorrow so I should be able to write mre Chapter's for bot my FF's. But then again I might not because my exams are in January and I have a lot of revision to do if I even want to think about passing. :D
No promises but I'll try and upload sometime after Christmas!
Please Review. Whenever I get a review it make my day a lot more happier.
x
1st August 2007
Sophia woke up that morning to something nibbling at her fingers. It took her a while to realise that it wasn't a dream and there was in fact something in her room nibbling her. She shot up in bed which obviously startled whatever was attacking her because it fell on the floor. Sophia carefully peaked over the side of her bed to see the most beautiful bird she had ever seen sat on the floor sorting its feathers out.
The bird was a gorgeous golden colour with pale brown wings and white circles around its eyes. Looking closer Sophia realised that there was something attached to its leg. Slowly Sophia reached her hand out and cautiously patted the bird on its head. He felt silky smooth and she started to stroke the animal which rubbed its head against her hand in appreciation. The bird suddenly flew into the air making Sophia jump, the bird flew around the room a couple of times before landing on the side bed railing and holding its leg with the letter on it out. Sophia assumed he wanted her to take it off so she obliged. After being freed from the letter the owl flew over to the window and perched itself on the window ledge. Sophia stared at it for a few seconds in amazement before opening the piece of paper which turned out to be a letter from December and Car.
Dear Sophia,
I told you I would write in the morning. I hope Dilly doesn't annoy you but I've told him to stay with you until you write a letter in reply.
Have you been grounded? If so how Long for? I wasn't too sure what grounding was but my Mam said it is when a naughty child has certain privileges such as going out without the parents, eating sweets and watching television taken away. I'm not sure what a television is either. Could you tell me please?
Is being grounded is bad as my Mam described because I don't think I would be able to survive if I didn't go into the garden at least once a day.
I hope you didn't get into too much trouble. My Mam said a child shouldn't be punished unless they've made the same mistake often enough to know not to do it. I agree with her.
Write soon,
Love Ber X
P.S. Caragh has also added her letter with mine.
Hello Phia,
I hope you're alright, I heard your mother shout at you just as I went around the corner. I hope you didn't get into lots of trouble.
I know you've already said you don't want to talk about it but whatever happened between you and Eli, but it can't have been that bad if he's forgiven you for whatever you did. Eli seems like a really nice person. Sovereign really liked him as well. Sov also says sorry for leaving before he got a chance to say bye but Thaz was getting restless. He said he'll come to the pub to see you before he goes to back to school. I know you might not be allowed to see him because you're grounded, I told him this, but he said 'there's no harm in trying'. He's so philosophical and weird.
Please write back and ask if you need anything because Dilly can carry quite a lot of weigh.
Love Car x
Sophia stared at her letters off her new best friends. They had put love and then their names and a kiss. Sophia knew it was stupid but she felt loved for a change. She knew Eli loved her but he had been at University for the past 4 years and she hasn't seen him a lot during that time. Her mother and father loved her in a 'you're my daughter so I have to love you' way but they never showed her how proud they were of her. Soraya had loved her at one point but over the past two days, neither girl liked the other very much.
Sophia got out of bed and decided that she wouldn't bother getting dressed as it was highly unlikely that she would be leaving her room at all for the rest of the holiday since she had a toilet and shower in her room. Phia went over to her desk and got out a note pad and a pen and began to write. Even though she was only six year old she could write better than most six year olds. The only six year old she knew who could write better was Caragh.
To December,
Dilly is a beautiful owl, he did nibble at me this morning but it didn't hurt. It was more of a friendly nibble.
Yes, I've been grounded until 1st January 2008. It's forever. My brother has told me what it was like when he was grounded. He said that my Mam and Dad barely fed him because he had a cooked dinner at school. I'm going to be so hungry.
How do you not know what a TV is? It's a machine that you can watch programmes on. I'll show you if you ever come over after my grounding is over.
I also agree with your mother.
I probably won't see you again until school begins in a month so I hope you can send me more letters with Dilly.
Love Sophia X
To Caragh,
I'm fine, thanks for asking. I'm sorry you had to hear my Mam shout like that but I'm also glad because now you know she isn't as nice as she was acting last night. You're right, I thought that what I did to Eli was really bad but he forgave me and explained and he's going to help me with my problem. I'm sorry but I can't tell you about the problem.
Tell Sovereign that I probably won't be able to see until after my grounding is over but tell him to still try because you never know.
Could you maybe send me a book with Dilly? Any book, I don't mind. All my books are on the bookshelf in the front room and I can't get them because I'm not allowed to leave my room.
Love Sophia X
P.S. Could you also send me some plain paper to draw on, please? X
Sophia tied the letters onto Dilly's leg and the owl flew out the window and toward where she assumed the Phelps lived.
Sophia laid back down on her bed after Dilly left. She didn't know how long it would take them to reply. She decided to get a bit more sleep since she didn't know what she was going to do for the rest of the day. She didn't know what she was going to do for six months.
Six whole months she was going to be locked in her room. Eli had told her the longest he had been locked up was for 2 months. She was already bored out of her mind and it had only been a few hours.
After the incident with her sister Sophia had laid down in her bed. She had only been lying there for a few minutes before she was fast asleep. She had been lying in bed for about five minutes when there was a quite knock on her door. It was around nine in the morning so she assumed it was her mother bringing her breakfast.
"Phia, it's me, Eli. Open the door." Elijah's voice came through the door in a whisper.
Sophia jumped out of bed and opened the door for Eli. She hoped he was brining her breakfast. Stood on the other side of the door was her brother holding two plates of food. He pushed his way into the room and placed the plates on her desk. Sophia stared at the plates in hunger, licking her lips. Elijah must have noticed as he started to chuckle.
"Breakfast is served." Elijah announced in a posh voice whilst bowing.
Sophia giggled but then she couldn't stare at the food any longer. She sat down at her desk and began to eat the meal her brother had made. There were pancakes with syrup, bacon, eggs, sausage, beans, toast and a glass of apple juice. Elijah had a bit of the bacon but let Sophia eat the rest of the food. After she had eaten the food Eli had given her, she realised he was risking a lot by bringing her food. What if her parents found out?
"What if Mam finds out?" Sophia nervously asked her brother.
"Don't worry about it Phia, Mam and Dad have gone shopping to by you some bread." Eli explained to her but Phia didn't understand why she needed bread. She looked at him with a frown urging him to explain further. "They'll only be feeding you toast for breakfast and tea until the New Year."
"The New Year, I'll starve." Sophia shouted at her brother.
"Shhhh, Raya is still asleep. Oh and do you know anything about the burn mark on Raya's wrist." Eli asked her with a knowing look.
"It was an accident. I promise. She grabbed my arm and I was surprised." Sophia started to explain but Elijah stopped her.
"It's ok, I'm sure she deserved it. Anyway, I'm going to help you control your gift. We won't be able to start until school. You can come to my classroom at lunchtime on a Monday and Friday. I'll have to do research before we can start. We need to find out if there any other peop… They're back. I better get these plates back to the kitchen. Don't tell them anything. I'll come see you before me and Myra leave. Bye Phia." Elijah said before kissing the top of her head and leaving, shutting the door behind him.
Sophia pulled her desk chair over to her window and sat down gazing out of it longing for Dilly to return with letters from her new best friends.
It had been an hour since December had sent Dilly to Sophia's bedroom window and she still hadn't had a reply yet. She had been sat in the garden next to the rose bush since she sent the letter and she was beginning to get bored. She decided to read a book while she waited so she went inside and into the study where the family's bookshelf was. She took a few minutes to decide which book to read before setting on her brother, Sovereign's, Herbology text book from first year called 'One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi'. After taking the book of the shelf she went back outside and sat back down next to the rose bush and started reading about the Shrivelfig.
After ten minutes of reading, December heard a hoot from above and looked up to see Dilly returning. She jumped up, closed the book and ran to the door but before running into the house she stopped and waited for Dilly to land on her shoulder. Once Dilly had landed, December ran into the house, up the stairs and into Caragh's room where she was sat at her desk writing something.
"Dilly's back." December exclaimed from the doorway. At the sound of his name, Dilly gave a loud hoot and stuck his leg with the letter on it in the air for December to take the letter off. December carefully took the letters off and gave Dilly some owl treats from her cloak pocket. After nibbling his treats the owl flew out of the open window.
"Did she write two letters or just one to the both of us?" Caragh asked excitedly as she jumped up from her desk chair after carefully hiding whatever she was writing in a desk draw. December made a note to have a look at whatever it was later.
"There's two letters." December answered and gave Caragh her letter as she opened her own.
To December,
Dilly is a beautiful owl, he did nibble at me this morning but it didn't hurt. It was more of a friendly nibble.
Yes, I've been grounded until 1st January 2008. It's forever. My brother has told me what it was like when he was grounded. He said that my Mam and Dad barely fed him because he had a cooked dinner at school. I'm going to be so hungry. How do you not know what a TV is? It's a machine that you can watch programmes on. I'll show you if you ever come over after my grounding is over.
I also agree with your mother.
I probably won't see you again until school begins in a month so I hope you can send me more letters with Dilly.
Love Sophia X
"Oh my, she's been grounded until the new year." December announced out loud.
"WHAT," Caragh shouted out shocked. "They can't do that to her. What else has she written?" Caragh asked.
"Erm, she says that when her brother was grounded they barely fed him much. Oh Merlin, she's going to be so hungry. She also says a TV is a machine you can watch programmes on.-" Ber was interrupted by Car.
"What is a 'Programme'?" Car asked confused
"I don't know, I'll ask her, now shush and let me finish." Ber answered with a frown. "She says she'll show us if we come over after her grounding is finished. Aw that's ages to wait. She agrees with Mother that a child shouldn't be grounded. Oh, and she wants us to send more letters with Dilly. What does yours say?" December asked her sister who was now re-reading her own letter.
Caragh was re-reading her letter.
To Caragh,
I'm fine, thanks for asking. I'm sorry you had to hear my Mam shout like that but I'm also glad because now you know she isn't as nice as she was acting last night. You're right, I thought that what I did to Eli was really bad but he forgave me and explained and he's going to help me with my problem. I'm sorry but I can't tell you about the problem.
Tell Sovereign that I probably won't be able to see until after my grounding is over but tell him to still try because you never know.
Could you maybe send me a book with Dilly? Any book, I don't mind. All my books are on the bookshelf in the front room and I can't get them because I'm not allowed to leave my room.
Love Sophia X
P.S. Could you also send me some plain paper to draw on, please? X
December had asked her what Sophia had sent her.
"She says she's fine, she's sorry and glad at the same time for me hearing her Mam shouting at her. She says that Eli has forgiven her and is going to help her with her problem-"Car was interrupted by Ber.
"What problem? I didn't know she had a problem. Did you?" Ber asked confused.
"I don't know, I'll ask her, now shush and let me finish." Car imitated Ber which always annoyed her sister. "Oh, she says she can't tell us her problem. She wants me to tell Sov that he probably won't be able to see her but that he should still try. She wants us to send her a book to read because her books are in her front room but she's not allowed out of her room to get them and she would also like some plain paper to draw on. Hmm, I didn't know she drew."
"I'm going to get her a few books to read and you can get the paper." December bossed Caragh. Caragh sighed and did as she was told. She hated being told what to do, especially by her little sister.
After collecting the paper she met back up with December in the study where the bookshelf was. December was staring at the bookshelf obviously no sure about which books to send to Phia.
"Well we can't send her a book on anything magical, so just pick a couple of Sov's Muggle books, like 'The Chronicles of Narnia'?" Caragh offered her opinion to December. She noticed Ber was thinking about it so she placed her hands on her hips and started tapping her foot, pretending to be annoyed.
"Yes, we'll send the Narnia books. There are seven books all together so it will probably last her until the New Year." December took the books off the shelf and placed them into a bag with the paper. They then went to find Dilly and give him the bag to take back to Phia. Once they found him, they gave him another treat to convince him to take the heavy load, and then watched as he flew off in the direction of Phia's bedroom window. After Dilly could no longer be seen Car and Ber went back into the house to wait for the return of their owl.