Galleria
She was bored. Life in Simpleton, Montana wasn't exacty what she'd consider a thrill ride. Sure it was nice enough, but not enough for her. It was a typical small town with well-manicured lawns, nice, well-tended gardens, and neat, well-kept houses lined up in perfectly straight rows on each of their little mirrored streets. There was a tiny mall with a few stores, a Dollar General, and a refreshment stand; there was also a little general store, a gas station, and a muddy lake on the outside edge of the town. It was boring. There wasn't anywhere she could go for fun and a little bit of adventure.
Leave it to Muggles to come up with a town like this, she thought with a rare smile touching her usually very carefully kept blank face.
As she lay on her bed in her tiny little bedroom, her thoughts turned towards Nouveau Monde. It meant "new world" in French, and it seemed exactly that. When the fall term started-and it wasn't all that far away-she'd be far away from this tiny, utterly unimaginative town and back at the place she loved. School.
She smiled dispite herself.
Nouveau Monde was located in a lush valley deep in the Rockies. Surrounded by towering, snow-capped mountains, they were pretty much isolated away from the rest of the non-magical world. The school itself was built into the side of the mountains, making it impossible for Muggles to find it if they just so happened to stumble upon it. That was if they managed to get past all of the magical barriers that surrounded the school's property. If they managed that, then they simply see a crumbling old mountainside.
The grounds themselves were dotted with Mountain Laurel's, Oak, Redwood, and Fir trees. The grass was crsip and springy, a rich, satiny green color. And the air! Oh the air was absolutely wonderful! So cool, clean, and utterly untouched by pollution.
Yes, she thought, I can't wait.
Closing her unusual violet eyes, she sighed with pleasure at a gust of cool air wafting in through her open windows as she basked in the thought of Nouveau Monde.
"Galleria!"
Galleria's eyes opened slowly to see her eldest sister, Lanai, standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips and an annoyed expression on her plain face.
"What?" she asked in a bored, monotone voice.
Tucking a lock of her long, rich brown hair behind her left ear, she shook her head. "Daydreaming again, eh Galleria?" She wrinkled up her nose. "Now come on. Mother and Father want us in the living room. Apparently it's something important."
Galleria watched her sister turn and saunter out of the room in a confident way that only Lanai could pull off. Rolling over, she lazily climbed out of her bed and made her way into the living room where the rest of her family was waiting for her.
*********************
"What?" Galleria shrieked, jumping up from the squashy armchair she was sitting in. "But Mum, London is so far away!"
"Now Galleria," her mother said slowly. "It's not really all that far away and-"
"Not that far away!" Galleria screamed. "Mum, it's 8,000 miles away from here!"
"-and I think it would be good for you and your sisters," her mother finished, seemingly unperturbed by her middle daughter's tone of voice.
"Good for me?" She echoed incredulously. "What would be good for me is to stay here and finish school at Nouveau Monde. I'm not the only one this is affecting either. What about Lanai? She's going into her last year come September. And Parrish!" She said, referring to her youngest sister who had been quiet throughout the entire conversation. "Parrish loves it here! We all do. What if we hate it there?"
"Tammy," their father interjected quietly. "Perhaps we were a bit hasty in our decision."
Mrs. Summers shot her husband a sharp look. "Paul, what on earth do you mean?" She said, her English accent becoming more and more pronounced with each word spoken. "I think it was perfectly reasonable. After all. I grew up there and I loved it. I'm sure the girls will too."
"Mum, we grew up here-"
"Parrish, you keep quiet!" Mrs. Summers said, staring her youngest daughter in the eyes.
Tucking her legs beneath her, Parrish averted her eyes to the large bay windows in the living room and bit her bottom lip. That was something she did when she got nervous. Her mother made her nervous a lot. Seeing the look on Parrish's face, Lanai spoke up. "Mother, Father, maybe you just haven't given yourselves enough time to think. You should give it a while longer."
"Lanai is right, dear." Mr. Summers said, but a piercing glare from Mrs. Summers silenced him.
"We're going and that's all there is to it." She set her jaw in a way that said if you messed with her you' die a horrible death. "We leave in five days. Better get packing. Off you go now, go on!"
"But Mum-"
"Now!" Mrs. Summers said in a final voice.
Galleria, Lanai, and Parrish hurried off to their own rooms to begin packing while Mrs. Summers shouted after them, "And by the way, it's not London we're moving to. It's Ottery St. Catchpole!"
I'm going to hate this, Galleria thought. I'm going toto be miserable.
She was bored. Life in Simpleton, Montana wasn't exacty what she'd consider a thrill ride. Sure it was nice enough, but not enough for her. It was a typical small town with well-manicured lawns, nice, well-tended gardens, and neat, well-kept houses lined up in perfectly straight rows on each of their little mirrored streets. There was a tiny mall with a few stores, a Dollar General, and a refreshment stand; there was also a little general store, a gas station, and a muddy lake on the outside edge of the town. It was boring. There wasn't anywhere she could go for fun and a little bit of adventure.
Leave it to Muggles to come up with a town like this, she thought with a rare smile touching her usually very carefully kept blank face.
As she lay on her bed in her tiny little bedroom, her thoughts turned towards Nouveau Monde. It meant "new world" in French, and it seemed exactly that. When the fall term started-and it wasn't all that far away-she'd be far away from this tiny, utterly unimaginative town and back at the place she loved. School.
She smiled dispite herself.
Nouveau Monde was located in a lush valley deep in the Rockies. Surrounded by towering, snow-capped mountains, they were pretty much isolated away from the rest of the non-magical world. The school itself was built into the side of the mountains, making it impossible for Muggles to find it if they just so happened to stumble upon it. That was if they managed to get past all of the magical barriers that surrounded the school's property. If they managed that, then they simply see a crumbling old mountainside.
The grounds themselves were dotted with Mountain Laurel's, Oak, Redwood, and Fir trees. The grass was crsip and springy, a rich, satiny green color. And the air! Oh the air was absolutely wonderful! So cool, clean, and utterly untouched by pollution.
Yes, she thought, I can't wait.
Closing her unusual violet eyes, she sighed with pleasure at a gust of cool air wafting in through her open windows as she basked in the thought of Nouveau Monde.
"Galleria!"
Galleria's eyes opened slowly to see her eldest sister, Lanai, standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips and an annoyed expression on her plain face.
"What?" she asked in a bored, monotone voice.
Tucking a lock of her long, rich brown hair behind her left ear, she shook her head. "Daydreaming again, eh Galleria?" She wrinkled up her nose. "Now come on. Mother and Father want us in the living room. Apparently it's something important."
Galleria watched her sister turn and saunter out of the room in a confident way that only Lanai could pull off. Rolling over, she lazily climbed out of her bed and made her way into the living room where the rest of her family was waiting for her.
*********************
"What?" Galleria shrieked, jumping up from the squashy armchair she was sitting in. "But Mum, London is so far away!"
"Now Galleria," her mother said slowly. "It's not really all that far away and-"
"Not that far away!" Galleria screamed. "Mum, it's 8,000 miles away from here!"
"-and I think it would be good for you and your sisters," her mother finished, seemingly unperturbed by her middle daughter's tone of voice.
"Good for me?" She echoed incredulously. "What would be good for me is to stay here and finish school at Nouveau Monde. I'm not the only one this is affecting either. What about Lanai? She's going into her last year come September. And Parrish!" She said, referring to her youngest sister who had been quiet throughout the entire conversation. "Parrish loves it here! We all do. What if we hate it there?"
"Tammy," their father interjected quietly. "Perhaps we were a bit hasty in our decision."
Mrs. Summers shot her husband a sharp look. "Paul, what on earth do you mean?" She said, her English accent becoming more and more pronounced with each word spoken. "I think it was perfectly reasonable. After all. I grew up there and I loved it. I'm sure the girls will too."
"Mum, we grew up here-"
"Parrish, you keep quiet!" Mrs. Summers said, staring her youngest daughter in the eyes.
Tucking her legs beneath her, Parrish averted her eyes to the large bay windows in the living room and bit her bottom lip. That was something she did when she got nervous. Her mother made her nervous a lot. Seeing the look on Parrish's face, Lanai spoke up. "Mother, Father, maybe you just haven't given yourselves enough time to think. You should give it a while longer."
"Lanai is right, dear." Mr. Summers said, but a piercing glare from Mrs. Summers silenced him.
"We're going and that's all there is to it." She set her jaw in a way that said if you messed with her you' die a horrible death. "We leave in five days. Better get packing. Off you go now, go on!"
"But Mum-"
"Now!" Mrs. Summers said in a final voice.
Galleria, Lanai, and Parrish hurried off to their own rooms to begin packing while Mrs. Summers shouted after them, "And by the way, it's not London we're moving to. It's Ottery St. Catchpole!"
I'm going to hate this, Galleria thought. I'm going toto be miserable.