Look Before You Seek

Chapter 3

Minnie sat down and started to read again. But before long she began to think. She wouldn't let herself think about her friends or her home back in Australia, no, that would be to painful. Instead, she thought about the school. It seemed pretty big. She glanced out the window, wondering.

Just outside her window, she saw a cluster of trees, almost like the woods from the fairytale that she loved to read. Minnie wanted to have her own special place, where she could be alone to think, to read, and to write...

Minnie's first passion was reading. She would take her special book-bag where ever she went. It had all of her favorite books in there, such as 'Inkheart', and 'The Dragon Keeper', as well as a few of the classics, such as 'Peter Pan', and 'Cinderella'.

Minnie's second passion was writing. She could weave words to create new worlds, and with a pen in her hand, she could unlock a marvelous tale. But she had only ever completed one story, and it was only 21 pages long. It wasn't really what she could call a story, more of a short story. Most of the stories she started had never gotten past the prologue or the first chapter.

Minnie's third passion (and this might sound rather silly to you) was thinking. Yes, thinking was a passion to Minnie. She could spend hours and hours thinking about one thing or another, unraveling the mystery's of life, or something as little as wondering why they didn't make 1 cent coins. Thinking as a passion.

Minnie needed her own special place. Back in Australia, she would go to the park and sit on the grass, or climb up a tree. It would have to be somewhere outside, because that's where she felt the most connected. As Minnie looked down at the tree cluster outside her window, she knew that it would be the perfect place for her.

She looked at the clock. It was 5:45. Mr. Delmas had told her that dinner was served at 6:00, but Minnie didn't feel hungry at all. She grabbed her yellow book-bag and stuffed a pen and notebook inside, along with all of her reading material. She walked quickly towards the door, opened it, and quickly rushed out.

She was very surprised to see the hallway crowded full of people, all heading in the same direction. They were all making quite a lot of noise, and Minnie wondered why she hadn't heard them earlier. Minnie guessed they were all heading down to the dining room. Staying very close to the wall, she shuffled and nudged her way through in the opposite direction.

As she bumped and squeezed past people, she was given poisonous looks from some people, but others just ignored her completely.

"Hey, watch it!" Cried a squeaky voice. A girl with long dark hair stared at her with mean looking eyes. Minnie imagined that they would be the eyes of one of the self-absorbed evil witches in her fairy tales.

"I'm sorry," Minnie began, but the girls expression had suddenly changed.

"Ulrich, darling!" She cried, rushing towards someone further on in the crowd.

"Get away from me Sissi" Minnie heard 'Ulrich' reply.

Not wanting to stick around until the wicked witch 'Sissi' came back, she quickly made her way through the crowd. She eventually made her way out the other side, gasping for breath.

By the time she had regained her posture, the hallway was deserted. After looking around for anyone, she quickly made her way to the fire exit, which was the only exit nearby. She didn't worry to much about the noise, as when she opened the door, the only sound was a faint bleep.

Once outside, Minnie started to run towards the trees. Minnie sat down under a tree and lent her back on the trunk. She took out her book and a penlight and started to read. She needed the penlight as it was starting to get dark.

She hadn't been reading long before she heard voices. Voices and footsteps. They were coming closer and closer. Minnie quickly stuffed her book back into her bag and crouched behind a bush, as she didn't want to be discovered.

As the voices came closer, she was able to make out some of the words.

"When was the tower activated?" Asked a voice.

"Has X.A.N.A.s attack started yet?" Asked another.

"I don't know, but we have to get to the factory quickly. Ulrich, call Yumi and tell her to come to the factory now. We'll need her help."

Ulrich? Wasn't he that guy in the hallway before? What's X.A.N.A.? Minnie had a million questions running through her mind.

And then, a horrible thing happened. Minnie had always had very bad hay fever. She takes very strong medication to prevent it, but she still has a few loose sneezes here and there. And that's what happened. The voices where very close, and she could hear feet just inches away from where she was hiding, and she sneezed. And it wasn't just any sneeze, it was a very loud sneeze.

The footsteps stopped, as did the voices.

"Jeremie," Asked a timid voice. "Do bushes usually sneeze?"

Minnie panicked, not knowing whether to run away, or just stay there hopping that they'd just go away, or whether to ask them for a tissue. She was frozen in fear.

After a few seconds, Minnie heard footsteps coming towards the bush. She shut her eyes tight, grabbed the crucifix around he neck and prayed like there was no tomorrow.

"How much did you hear?" Said the voice she had heard in the hallway earlier. He used the exact same tone of voice too. Minnie sniffed.

"Nothing," she lied. She knew that lying was wrong, but she didn't seem to have much of a choice.

"Stand up," Ulrich commanded. Minnie stood up obediently.

"Minnie?!?" Aelita cried in astonishment.

Chapter 3 finished. What did you think? Please review.

Thanx

OcyTaviAh