There are three songs in this chapter so you might want to look them up and play them as you read that bit.
They are:
Try Everything-Shakira
Hushabye Mountain-Alexander Armstrong (though it's only one verse)
I Know How The Moon Must Feel-Dayna Manning
…
The apartment was dark so Sylvia nudged the light switch on with her forehead so as to not wake the sleeping platypus in her arms.
Since Sampson and Sylvia's other brothers travelled to America so often, they had bought an apartment in Danville, and this is what Sylvia was using. She was on her own; Sampson was flying to Brazil to visit a friend for a vacation. His flight was at midnight.
Sylvia lay Nicky gently down in his cot and covered him with a blanket. As she showered and got ready for bed, she reflected on the day. Her limbs were aching and she still had not properly caught her breath. Perry had forced her to do the same moves over and over and over again. He was acting as if he only had a week to train her instead of three weeks. She just didn't understand why Perry hated her so much. She had briefly considered that it was just that he hated everyone, but at one point during training, a Chihuahua and a fennec fox had come in and Perry had been slightly more civil with them as he had been with her. She wished that he would go easier on her; it wasn't as if she was a machine, able to go a long time without rests. Perry hadn't even let her take a drink of water until she was literally gasping on the floor.
As she switched the water off, she felt one of her songs come into her head, a motivational song that she had written on the plane coming to America:
I messed up tonight
I lost another fight
I still mess up but I'll just start again
I keep falling down
I keep on hitting the ground
I always get up now to see what's next.
She danced along her evening routine, singing her song:
Birds don't just fly, they fall down and get up
Nobody learns without getting it wrong.
I won't give up, no I won't give in
'Til I reach the end, and then I'll start again
No I won't leave, I wanna try everything
I wanna try, even though I could fail.
As she went to turn the light out, she heard Nicky wake up and start to cry. She quickly went to his cot and found that she had forgotten to give him his favourite toy: a small pink plush rabbit that was the same size he was. Sylvia's grandmother had given her the toy when she was little, and she had held onto it for her future child.
She dug it out of her suitcase and dropped it into the cot next to Nicky, who sniffed at it and then hugged it tightly.
"Moofie!" he proclaimed.
"How about we call your rabbit Moofie?" grinned Sylvia. "Would you like that?"
"Moofie," agreed Nicky solemnly.
"Let's christen him."
Sylvia placed her finger on the rabbit's forehead and pretended to baptise him. Nicky giggled and copied the movement with his own finger.
Before she realised what she was doing, Sylvia was singing again:
A gentle breeze, from Hushabye Mountain
Softly blows o'er Lullaby Bay
It fills the sails of boats that are waiting
Waiting to sail your worries away.
She paused to see if Nicky wanted the rest of the song, but her baby son was asleep, one arm around Moofie and his other thumb in his mouth. Sylvia's heart melted with the amount of cuteness. She quietly snapped a photo on her phone, when the thing began ringing. The caller ID said Sampson.
She answered it: "Hey Sam."
"Syl! How's my favourite OWCA agent?"
"I'm not an agent yet," laughed Sylvia. "But I'm good. You?"
"Wishing I'd slept more during the day," was Sampson's answer, making Sylvia giggle. "How's Nick?"
"Fast asleep. You know that toy rabbit Granny gave to me that I gave to him?"
"Yeah?"
"We christened it Moofie."
Even though Sampson didn't actually sigh, Sylvia heard it in his voice when he said: "So now there's a permanent reminder of my slip of the tongue? Great."
Sylvia giggled again.
"So how was training?"
The smile quickly slid off Sylvia's face. "It was…uh…interesting."
"Did he hurt you?" Sampson demanded.
"No-no." Sylvia shook her head hurriedly, even though Sampson couldn't see that. "He just…pushed me a little hard, that's all." She sat down on the sofa and felt herself wince at the pain in her legs and lower body. "I'm stiff now."
She forced a laugh but Sampson didn't sound amused. "I swear, if he doesn't let up on you, I will sprout wings and fly back over here and kick his butt."
"Platypuses can't sprout wings," grinned Sylvia.
"Then I'll be the first. Seriously, Syl. Once I'm in Brazil, I'll have Wi-Fi and I'll be able to FaceTime you every night and you're going to tell me everything that's happened that day. If I hear of him abusing you or hurting you in any way, I will fly back over here and kick his butt. Don't protect him or hide anything, okay, Sylvia?"
Sylvia nodded solemnly. "Okay, Sampson."
"Moofie!"
Sylvia turned to see Nicky, using the side of the cot to stand up. He had a goofy grin plastered on his face, and Moofie was dangling in his right paw.
"Sason!" he yelled.
"Is that my favourite nephew?" Sylvia could hear the grin in Sampson's voice.
"It's the nephew who should be asleep in bed because it's way past his bedtime," said Sylvia, only half-stern, to her son. "Come on, now, back to sleep."
She got up and went over to the cot, still holding the phone in her hand. She tucked it between her neck and her shoulder as she tucked Nicky back into bed and placed Moofie next to him.
"And whose fault is it that it's way past his bedtime?"
Sampson's tone was teasing but it stung Sylvia because she knew it really wasn't her fault.
"I'll try and make Perry let me go earlier than ten pm tomorrow," she said, a little more savagely than she had intended.
"He only let you go at ten o' clock?" Sampson paused. "That's it. Where does he live?"
"Sam, please, just forget about it." Sylvia sighed and rubbed her eyes with her fingers. "I'm sorry."
"You have nothing to be sorry for."
"Please just forget about it," Sylvia repeated. "I'm fine."
There was another pause. "Fine. But when I FaceTime you, I'll be able to see your face and tell if you're lying."
"I'm not lying."
"I'll let your eyes by the judge of that."
"My eyes?"
"I have a system to tell when you're lying."
"Tell me."
"Nope. Then you'll stop doing it."
Sylvia laughed and clutched the phone tighter, not wanting to stop talking to her brother, who was—apart from Nicky—her only link to home.
"Sing something for me, will you?"
Sylvia smiled, even though again she knew that Sampson couldn't see her. "What do you want me to sing?"
"Something upbeat."
Sylvia thought for a moment.
I know how the moon must feel
Looking down from the heavens
Smiling at the silly things
We put ourselves through
Missing magic each day
And not seeing the wonder
That's how the moon must feel.
"That's not really upbeat," commented Sampson.
"Do you want me to stop?"
"Never said that."
Biting back a grin, Sylvia continued:
I know how the moon must feel
Starry-eyed and contented
Everything is beautiful
As it all should be
Far away from it all
Never needing to hurry
That's how the moon must feel.
Sylvia paused.
"Please finish the song?" asked Sampson. "My flight leaves soon and I won't be able to stand not hearing my sister's beautiful singing voice until I land."
Sylvia grinned this time and obliged:
From up there our worries must seem very small
Maybe that is why he wears a smile
I'm sure he knows if there is more to life
Wish I could be him for a while.
(chorus)
I know how the moon must feel
Looking down from the heavens
Smiling at the silly things
We put ourselves through
Missing magic each day
And not seeing the wonder
That's how the moon must feel.
Sylvia hummed the instrumental break that she had put in.
I'm sure he knows if there is more to life
Wish I could be him for a while.
(chorus)
I know how the moon must feel
And I can't say I blame him
Smiling at the silly things
We put ourselves through
Never taking our time
Always running in circles
That's how the moon must feel.
Sampson paused as if imagining the closing music playing.
"Beautiful," he stated. "Oh, that's my call. They're calling my flight for boarding. I have to go now."
"Have a good flight and may all the crying babies and seat-kickers be relegated to seats nowhere near you."
"I thank you," said Sampson grandly. "Love you."
"Love you too."
The line clicked off. Smiling, Sylvia got herself into bed and was asleep before she had even switched the light off.
…
I do not own any of the songs in this chapter.