For once, a oneshot that's not about Harry Potter. Nya.
This will make more sense if you actually read the book but I guess it's not that necessary.
Glad To Be Home
Melanie stepped out of the hospital for the first time in weeks.
She enjoyed the feeling of natural light on her face and a clear blue sky above her head. After basking in the glowing sunlight for a few more moments, she followed her mother to the car to go home at last.
Melanie was finally cured of her terrifying ailment - anorexia. After the other anorexic girl had died her head was cleared and she realized that being too skinny was dangerous as well as ugly.
The car pulled into her driveway. The first thing she did was run to her bedroom to put away her stuff and straighten up any of her things that had been moved or misplaced while she was gone. As she was re-organizing the trinkets on her shelf, her older sister Katie approached the room cautiously.
"Uh... hi, Melanie," she said, lingering at the doorway. Melanie turned and smiled at Katie.
"Hey. Thanks for keeping my room in order," Melanie said.
"Yeah. I just wanted to say that... that I missed you. And I'm glad you're better now."
"Thanks. It's good to be home."
Katie smiled at her and left the room.
When Melanie was finished making sure her room was neat, she remembered that she still had the model engine Dan McLaughlin had sent her. She decided to return it right then.
She went next door and knocked on the door. After a minute, Dan's mother answered the door.
"Is Dan here? I wanted to return his engine," Melanie said.
Mrs. McLaughlin nodded. "He's down in the basement with those trains, as usual."
Melanie thanked her and hurried downstairs.
"Dan, hello! You here?" Melanie called when she reached the bottom of the stairs.
Dan looked up from his engine set and smiled warmly.
"Hey, I didn't know you were back home!"
"I just got back a little while ago," Melanie said as she sat next to him. She handed him the engine and tracks she had come to deliver. "Thanks for this, it really saved me from going insane with boredom."
"I think that's sort of an exaggeration," Dan said. Which was true. He examined the engine. "Wow, it looks better than it did when I sent it."
"Oh... well, that my fault."
Dan raised his eyebrows. "Your fault? It's a bad thing that it looks better?"
Melanie laughed. "Actually, I threw sort of a temper tantrum and it fell and got a little bit damaged. Luckily the hospital engineer was able to fix it," Melanie confessed.
Dan almost looked upset for a second, then he smiled and said, "It's all right, as long as it's fixed now."
Dan and Melanie spent an amiable 10 minutes running the trains around the layout and talking about whatever came to mind, when she subject of her experience with anorexia came up.
"So... Do you feel better now?" Dan asked cautiously.
Melanie nodded. "I can't believe how stupid I was to think I looked good like that. I'm never dieting again."
"Good. You look fine as you are."
"Yeah."
They spent another few minutes running the trains in silence before talking again.
"Want some hot chocolate?" Dan asked.
"Definitely!" Melanie grinned.
