He had short, curly golden-brown hair, and hazel-grey eyes, but didn't really mind whether people thought he was cute or ugly.
He had one older brother and one younger brother. Their names were Jefavre and Olivier, respectively. Jefavre was fourteen, and Olivier was eight.
Tomorrow was special. Tomorrow was Orleander's eleventh birthday. Orleander had had ten birthdays previously, but he was even more excited about this birthday because it fell on a very special day for him. Why, you may ask? Well, for starters, his birthday was on 11 May, and eleven was his favorite number. He wasn't completely sure as to why, but it was, and had always been.
Orleander couldn't wait for his birthday, so he kept himself busy the entire day, never complaining once, in hopes that it would make time seem to fly by faster. It did. At 8:00, he brushed his teeth, took a shower, and got ready for bed without a fuss. He kissed his mother goodnight (his father being away on a business trip) and went straight to bed, falling asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.
The next morning, he woke up early, much earlier than he usually did. He usually slept in. He bounded down the stairs at about five-thirty in the morning and decided to sit down in the study and play some computer games.
At about seven, his mother woke up and came downstairs. Orleander switched off the computer and ran to greet her.
"Morning, Oreo." smiled his mother. "Happy birthday!"
"Morning, mum." he replied with a wide grin. "What's for breakfast?"
"Hmmm... I think you ought to decide."
Orleander thought hard. What should he have for breakfast today? "I know! Blueberry hotcakes with exactly eleven blueberries in each cake."
His mother smiled. "All right, if that's what you want, dear." She went into the kitchen, and Orleander sat down in the breakfast nook at the table.
His mother brought out the plate with blueberry hotcakes at about 7:15, and Olivier, Orleander's little brother, came down the stairs at about 7:30. Jefavre, Orleander's older brother came down at about eight.
Orleander ate two hotcakes right away, and then slowly ate a third one. When he was done, he went outside and he and his brothers passed around a football, with Jefavre playing goalie.
At about 10:30 they piled back into the house and plunked down on the couch in front of the tv, all tired out. They watched a show, but never were completely interested.
At eleven, the doorbell rang, and their mother called out to the three boys "Ollie, Oreo, Jeff! Come see who it is!"
The boys reluctantly walked over toward the sound of their mother's voice, but ran as soon as they saw who'd come to pay them a visit.
"Father! Father!" called the boys as they ran to give him a hug.
"Well, well. Nice to see you three." chuckled thir father. "And happy birthday, Oreo." he smiled as he pulled out an envelope and handed it to Orleander.
"Thanks, father!" Orleander tore open the envelope and found that it contained about fifty pounds.
"All right, boys. Let's get father into the house first."said their mother, as she helped father out of his coat.
They fairly dragged father into the house and sat him down in his favorite chair. Orleander thought his birthday couldn't have been any more exciting and fun, but he was to find out otherwise...
At about 2:00, just as the Isondomier family had finished eating a luncheon of little white sandwhiches, the doorbell rang again. Orleander, who had finished first, ran to see who it was. "Mum! Could you com here a minute? I don't know who it is."
Mother stood up and walked to the door, and openned it to find the smiling face of an old man wearing a violet coloured cloak staring down at her.
"Happy birthday, young man." he said to Orleander, as he handed an envelope made of parchment to the boy. He turned to Orleander's mother. "Excuse me, ma'am, if I seem to be intruding, but I need to talk to you and your husband for a moment." With that, he stepped into the house, closing the door gently behind him.
