"Say goodbye to Luke now, Violet." said my mum as we stood before Luke and his parents outside the train station. It was the school holidays, and Luke and his parents were going to visit his grandma somewhere far off for six weeks. Alston, Bella, Niles, Cleo, Resus, Mum and I stood before Luke and his parents, me the saddest of all as I walked up to Luke. "Promise you'll always write to me every day?" I asked. "I promise," said Luke. "I'm going to miss you so much." "I'm going to miss you too, Vi," he said, and he grasped me in one last gentle hug. I started crying, overwhelmed by Luke's fond embrace. Cleo and Resus ran to hug him too, but we had to let go once Luke's dad, Mike, said, "Hurry up, Luke, or we'll miss our train!" The entire family and I waved as Luke went into the station with his parents, my werewolf brother waving back. As soon as he got onto the train, and it hummed out of sight, I sighed softly. A frown plastered my once friendly smile once we got back in the car.
I stayed silent all the way home. Resus and Cleo tried to reassure me that Luke might come back. "It's only for six weeks," smiled Cleo. "Six weeks…yeah, right." "Yeah right? No yeah right, just make it sooner! We're still there for you, right?" smiled Resus. I still sighed like a depressed donkey. "How's about we turn on some happy music on the radio? That always cheers you up." said Alston, switching to Radio 2. I just clapped my hands over my ears as Cleo and Resus sang along. "Don't encourage her," said Mum, "Violet's just upset because Luke left." Alston quickly turned off the radio. "Oh! Oh dear, er, sorry." "And the radio hosts are always screaming and arguing!" I said, quite irritated now. "That was what we used to do," said Bella, "But at least the love spell you worked on with Luella made us learn our lesson." "Yeah, right…happy times," said Resus. "Happy times?" I looked out the window and saw a flock of birds flying outside, shadowed by the sunset. I smiled at the sight, not bothering to look at the cars passing by, and my eyes widened and sparkled in the light. "Look!" cried Resus, but then I frowned once again, fearing Luke may stay with his Grandma forever.
Once we got home, I sat on the couch in silence. "Ah, don't worry, Luke will be back in a few weeks." said Alston. "Are you hungry? Why not have a bacon sandwich for dinner?" I shook my head. "How's about a ride on my shoulders?" asked Niles. I shook my head again. "What about watching some cartoons on the telly?" This made me grit my teeth and slam my fist down on the sofa. "Woah, Violet, there's no need to get angry!" cried Niles. "You know cartoon channels on the telly - they focus on one programme and one programme only. CBBC is now Americanised and focuses on cartoons, and just look at Cartoonito! All it ever airs is Fireman Sam!" I growled. "Well, we have some VHS tapes of Kipper, maybe you could watch those." My anger softened. "Someday….maybe later," I said, and I went off upstairs to our room, still upset. Resus and Cleo looked up. They always understood my feelings, but this was a crisis they always take to heart. "I think we need to talk with her," said Resus. "But how? She'll be the one who turns into a werewolf next." "Not every werewolf becomes this way when they lose their temper," said Resus, "Mum said the best thing to do when someone in the family gets angry or upset is talk with them." "He's right, you know," Bella called from the kitchen. "Let's go then!" said Cleo, and off they went upstairs. Dig and Lulu wanted to see what was going on, so they followed them up the stairs towards our room.
In our room, I lay on our bed listening to sad music on a gramophone and staring up at the ceiling which was plastered with glow in the dark moons and stars. The room was dark, save for the sunlight shining through the window. There was a framed photo of me and Luke by our bed, and I took the photo and stared at it, tears filling my eyes. I held the photo to my heart and cried. Luke was the strongest out of everyone in my family, mainly due to his werewolf quirk, and he was always there to protect me and hold me in his strong arms. He liked playing games with me the same way Bluey and Bingo played with Bandit next door. I still hear Bluey and Bingo's squeals of laughter muffled from next door as Bandit carried them to bed. I slumped on the bed and sighed. Everything felt really, really lonely.
Just then, Resus, Cleo, Dig and Lulu came in. "Hey….Violet," said Cleo. "Are you alright?" "A little," I said. "Things won't be the same if Luke leaves us forever." "It's not forever, it's only for six weeks," said Resus, "Come on, Violet, aren't you too young to understand any of this?" "I don't know why people leave sometimes. Luke is a part of you two! He's third banana, he's a part of our family, he….he…." "No words, eh?" said Resus. "Your team won't be complete without him!" Resus and Cleo looked at each other and kissed me one by one. I giggled a little. "See? You can cope without Luke there to give you a kiss." said Cleo. Dig leapt up onto the bed and licked my face, causing me to smile for the first time in an evening. Lulu slimed up to Resus and kissed him on the cheek, causing him to laugh. As I wiped the dog drool off my face, Cleo said, "Just imagine: every kiss Luke gave you upgraded you as you grew up, and now, you get to have a superpower of your own!" "What superpower is that?" I asked. "We'll talk about it in the morning. Let's head to bed now."
We brushed our teeth and snuggled down into bed. I felt safe snuggled up beside Resus and Cleo, but I lay awake, staring at the ceiling, hoping Luke got to his Grandma's alright. I kneeled up in bed and looked out the window. Everyone was in bed, and stars shone in the sky. I kissed my hand and blew my kiss out into the inky night, whispering "Good luck, Luke. Please come back soon." I then slid under the covers in between Resus and Cleo and snuggled down to sleep.
