The next morning I had awoken late. I knew this because when I sat up in my bed, I heard the children playing down on the terrace. I slipped out of bed, and crossed the room to the balcony. I stepped out into the morning sun, my black nightgown swaying around my ankles. Below me, the children laughed stridently as they chased one another around in the light of the morning. The air smelled crisp. It was hard to believe that in a few hours everything would be encased by bombs and fire, only to wake up tomorrow morning and do it all again.

"Morning, Minnette," called Claire from below.

I giggled. "It is a fine one, isn't it?"

Bronwyn, the girl I learned could lift extremely heavy things, was at Claire's side. "Come down and play with us!" she cheered.

It sounded like fun. I quickly put on the same dress I had worn on my trip- all I had otherwise was black jeans, and in this world, the girls paraded around in dresses. I wanted to be a part of this world as much as I possibly could. I grabbed my camera, quickly changed the film roll, and headed down to the terrace to romp with my new friends. When I got out there, Bronwyn and Claire met me by the front door.

"You have a camera?" Claire asked.

I nodded. "Would you like me to take your picture?" I asked.

Claire nodded. "Take it with Bronwyn."

Claire and Bronwyn posed happily in front of Miss Peregrine's house, and I snapped the shot. They then began making silly faces at one another, giggling as they did so. I hadn't had the pleasure of actually speaking to Bronwyn, so I was a bit surprised when she strode right up to me.

"What makes you peculiar?" she asked happily. She pushed a brown strand of hair from her face.

Claire began to do a little dance. "Yeah, Minnette! What can you do?"

The fact that I truly didn't know saddened me a bit. I lowered my head. "I don't know," I replied.

"What do you mean?" asked Bronwyn. "Are you even Peculiar?"

I nodded, trying not to let it bother me too much. "I am. Only Miss Peregrine said that my power will only emerge when I am ready for it."

Bronwyn stared at me oddly. "I ain't never heard that one before."

Without much notice, Claire grabbed my camera from my hands. "I wonder if your power is speed!" she shouted playfully as she ran for the back of the house.

"Let's get her!" Bronwyn cheered, charging after her.

I shook my head, then took off after Bronwyn. I found myself in a game similar to bumper tag. We ran round the house about a million times. Bronwyn covered the left side of the house, and she'd attempt to grab Claire as she tried to avoid us. Bronwyn was strong, but not fast enough for young Claire. Each attempt at grabbing her ended with Bronwyn falling face-first onto the ground, where she'd laugh hysterically the hoist herself back on her feet. I wasn't worried about my camera; I knew Claire wouldn't let anything bad happen to it. The next thing I knew, Emma joined in. Claire tossed her my camera, and, jokingly, I threatened her between giggles and took off after her.

The game actually made me remember all of their names, for soon all of Miss Peregrine's children were playing. It was me, Horace and Bronwyn against Emma, Jacob, Millard, Enoch, Olive, Fiona, Claire and Hugh. I caught their names through expressions such as "I'm going to get you, Enoch," or "Hey, Fiona, over here!"

We romped about for what seemed like endless hours. In fact, I think this was good for my relationship with them all, because, once the game ended; we all lay on the ground in a circle, our heads touching.

"What a day, what a day," remarked Horace smoothly. He had taken off his top hat, and it sat on top of him.

"The day's not yet over, Horace," giggled Claire. "It's not even midday."

The Emma gasped. "I have an idea!" she rang out. "Perhaps Miss Peregrine would allow us to go swimming."

Everyone began to remark that that was a great idea. Little did we know that Miss Peregrine had snuck up on us while we chatted away.

"You know the rules, Miss Bloom."

We all gasped to ourselves and sat up. Miss Peregrine stood on the front stoop, looking out at us, tapping her foot impatiently. She softened when she looked at me. "Ah, Miss Stonington, I see you and the other wards are getting on pleasantly."

I nodded. "Yes, Headmistress, I rather enjoy their company."

She raised her nose in the air. "Excellent." She turned to Emma. "And as for you, Miss Bloom, as you recall, venturing down toward the docks is against my regulations."

Everyone moaned disappointedly.

"But, Miss Peregrine!" moaned Claire.

Miss Peregrine raised a finger to quiet her. "But! I have not yet contracted a rule saying you children cannot enjoy the ocean with myself present. Considering the circumstances, I am willing to accompany you down to the beach on the southern side of the Island." By now all of our faces were lit up. "But! You must be on your very best behavior," she warned.

"Yes, Headmistress," we all chirped.

"Excellent. Go now and ready yourselves."

Luckily I had been smart and had packed a black sundress that would be perfect to swim in. Although I was in Europe in a different time period, it was quite warm out for it being September. I gathered my camera from the lawn and attached the UV ray filter for clear shots of the water. Ironically I thought of my mother, I was going to the beach with my friends! I was excited as I had been when we took a trip to the planetarium in seventh grade. When we all grouped in front of the house, Miss Peregrine met us. She was wearing a black hat with a dainty veil that covered part of her face. It must have been for protection from the sun. Tucked underneath her arm was a black parasol. In her other arm was a picnic basket. Behind her, Bronwyn stood carrying a stack of old blankets to set down so we wouldn't get sand and filth on our clothes.

"Everyone ready?" asked Miss Peregrine.

We started to make our way down a wooded path that led from the back of the house. Fiona was out front, and if there were any branches in the way, she'd swing her arms outward, and the trees would move backward, removing their branches from our path. It was one of the most skillful things I had ever seen. I admired the way Fiona charged down the path, making two, three trees move at once. We walked for about ten minutes before the forest opened onto a very picturesque beach. I fell behind the children as I stood and looked around. Miss Peregrine halted at my side.

"Are you all right, Miss Stonington?" she asked, concerned.

"I'm well. It's just….. I've never been anywhere so beautiful."

Miss Peregrine smiled slightly. "'Beautiful' does not even begin to describe this place."

I followed her down toward the water. As they children ran and played, I aided Miss Peregrine in setting out the blankets. When we were finished, she reclined back on one of them, under her parasol, and pulled a novel out from the picnic basket. She looked comfortable, so I left her be.

I waded into the water with Emma, Claire and Hugh.

"I cannot wade too far. The bees do not like water," said Hugh.

"Bees, Hugh?" I asked.

"Do you not know?" Emma asked. "Hugh was born with a bee hive in his belly."

"How peculiar," I replied, tilting my head in curiosity.

Emma nudged Hugh, "Peculiar, indeed. Why don't you show her, Hugh?"

Hugh nodded, then, opened his mouth as wide as he could. All of a sudden, a whole swarm of bees flew from him. They circled the three of us a few times, then, returned to his jaws. I applauded his wondrous skill. Beside me, Emma shrieked when someone splashed her with water. She whirled around to see Jacob laughing. Emma lowered her head and raised her hands. She cried out some kind of battle cry as she tossed a fireball at Jacob. She didn't throw it directly at him, but in his general direction. The fireball hit the water and hissed until it evaporated into steam.

"If I was a hollow, I would have been toast; literally," Jacob teased.

"What exactly is a hollow?" I asked.

"Blimey!" said Fiona as she strode over to the group. "You don't know what a hollow is?"

I shook my head.

"Their big, scary monsters," said Claire loudly.

"With enormous, juicy tongues that'll lick your face right off of you head!" threw in Enoch.

Since I had seen the impossible already, I had no choice to believe them.

Emma put her hands on her hips. "Don't listen to them, Minnette. They're a peculiar's biggest enemy, beside the Wights, of course."

I listened intently. "How do they connect?" I asked.

Emma furrowed her brow. She grabbed me by my arm and began leading me down the beach. "Come, we will talk."

We strode along the shoreline in our bare feet. I liked the way the wet sand formed around my footsteps and got caught between my toes. Every few steps I wriggled my toes just so I could feel the sand. Emma began by telling me how hollows were created to kill peculiars. "If a hollow consumes enough peculiars, they become a Wight," she explained. "Wights are tricky. They live among the normals. Miss Peregrine once said that they know how to control hollows." She sighed, and looked over her shoulder at Jacob, who was splashing water back and forth with Horace. "Jacob is the only one who can see hollows, though. They look like shadows to the rest of us. And Wights look like normal people- like you."

I could tell that something was bothering Emma. In hope that she and I could be friends someday, I decided to ask her what was wrong.

She kicked a stone. "Within the past month, we've learned that the Wights are going around abducting ymbrynes." She stopped walking and faced the ocean. "I'm so afraid that they'll get Miss Peregrine. I mean, we're strong enough to chase them off, but what if they manage to get her?" She had a single tear on her left cheek. She wiped it with the back of her hand. "The others think I don't like Miss Peregrine, but I do."

My heart was being torn for these children. "It'll be all right, Emma. We will protect Miss Peregrine with all of our might." I sighed. "I know that I don't have my power yet but I am peculiar. My whole life I've been mistreated because of the way I am, then I come here and it's like…everything's all so perfect. I actually feel like I belong here."

Emma looked at me oddly. "You've made that observation in only two days?" she asked.

She had a point.

"Yes. But these have been the best two days of my entire life." I was speaking the pure truth but I was hiding something. "I just can't figure out how to make my power emerge. I feel so different from all of you because I have a power, but I can't use it."

Emma looked off into the distance, as if she was contemplating something. "Would you like to know how I got my fire to emerge?" she asked. She held up her hands and began to play with her fire. I nodded. "I got really angry one day, and it just happened."

"You want me to make myself angry at something and my power will appear?"

She shook her head. "No. Let the anger come naturally. Allow it to control everything inside of you. Ask Hugh, that's how he discovered his bees."

"Got it."

Emma and I made our way over to Miss Peregrine, who did not raise her attention from her book. We took a seat on the quilt beside her own. I felt a spark of trust being passed between Emma and me at that very moment.

"If you do not mind me asking," I said. "How old are you?"

Emma smiled. "I lost track at one hundred. You?"

I pursed my lips, knowing that she'd think that my low age number would be funny. Ever since Miss Peregrine had told me about the loop I had gotten into the habit of reminding myself that these children were decades older than me. Of course, I wondered Miss Peregrine's age, but I'd never ask her. That was utterly rude.

"Eighteen," I replied wearily.

Emma sat silent. She looked at the rest of the children as they horsed around in the ocean. "You're young!" she said stridently.

Emma's remark made Miss Peregrine smile behind her book. "I do not think our dear Miss Stonington realizes just how young she really is," she countered. She sat up and pulled a pocket watch from somewhere on her person. "My heavens look at the time!" Then without any foreworn, she cupped her hands over her mouth and sang: "Children! It's time for midday meal!"

We then were served the most delicious finger sandwiches I had ever tasted. I sat on the quilt next to Emma and Jacob as the twelve of us laughed and jabbered through the rest of the day.