Stolas wouldn't be home till past twelve that night, which meant that Charlie was in charge of getting dinner ready for Octavia and herself. She served PB sandwiches and potato chips with a glass of apple juice to drink. A simple meal that would keep them filled up until breakfast the next morning. After dinner they did their homework, Charlie watched TV while Octavia played with her toys. When it got late, Charlie ran a bath for Octavia and sent her to bed then took a shower before retiring to her own bed. She wasn't sleepy just yet so she decided to do a little reading. She would normally re-read a book that she was well versed in because that was less likely to keep her awake, but her curiosity led her to read the new book Gina had given her instead.
She sat up in her bed, opened up the new book, choosing to look over the illustrations of the page first. This book had quite an unusual collection of pictures. So many images of obscure creatures, some were funny and impish, a few were grotesque and petrifying, and others were among the most beautiful creatures she had ever seen. In a storybook that is.
Once upon a time...
There was another world that existed behind the mirrors of the world where mortals would dwell. One where the inhabitants sang and danced, played nasty tricks and thought of sneaky schemes. Where houses were filled with calliopes and music boxes, mechanical dolls and cuckoo clocks. But also filled with deep tunnels, basements and dudgeons that had darkness at every corner. Beautiful flowers and green trees grew yet sharp thorns and shadowy trees grew along with them.
This was a world created by imagination, here anything is possible and things are not always what they seem. Your dreams could be made real but so could your nightmares. This kingdom could bring a smile to your face or tears to your eyes, granting wishes or realizing fears. It was here where wonder and terror go together hand in had.
To survive in this world, you must keep your wits, have faith, and guard your heart and your eyes carefully.
"Well that's an interesting way to start off a story." Charlie thought.
She was just about to turn the next page when she heard the floor creak, followed by the creaking of her door opening. She sat up quickly, at first startled by who it could be, but she became less tense upon seeing that it was only Octavia standing in the doorway.
"Octavia are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Charlie asked her. "What are you doing up at this hour? You should have been asleep by nine."
"I couldn't sleep." She said clutching her beloved plush owl whom she had named Prince Orion. "I'm scared and Daddy isn't home yet. Can I sleep with you?"
Charlie gave a little huff, but she pulled back the covers and moved over to make some room. Octavia quickly crawled in next to her.
"What scared you?" Charlie said covering Octavia with the blanket. "Monsters in the closet again?"
Clearly this was not a one-time occasion.
"No, monsters in my mirror." Octavia answered.
"In your mirror? Well that's one I've never heard before. What did they look like?"
"I don't know. I couldn't see them and I couldn't hear them but I know they're there. They're watching me."
"And how do you know that if you can't see or hear them?"
"Because I believe they're real. You once told me that kids like me can know special things because they believe in things that grown ups normally wouldn't."
"Well yeah but I was talking about nice things like Santa Clause or the Tooth Fairy."
"But if nice things like Santa are real, doesn't that mean bad things like monsters are real too? Just like how good and bad people are real?"
Charlie was too tired to explain everything, so she decided to tell her a little story to make her sleep easier the next time she thought a monster was watching her.
"Octavia do you know why your daddy buys you so many dolls and stuffed animals?"
"Because I like them?"
"Well yes but can I tell you a little secret?"
"What?"
"Dolls and stuffed animals have magical powers."
"They do?"
"Yep and they love you just as much as you love them, so when you go to sleep at night they'll watch over you and use their powers to keep you safe from all the monsters."
"Is that why you still keep toys in your room? So they'll protect you from the monsters?"
"Yes." Charlie said. "When I was your age I was scared of monsters too, so my daddy gave me Razzle and Dazzle over there to keep me safe at night. I was never scared to go to sleep as long as they were there."
"Will Orion protect me?"
"Yes he will. He loves you very much and you take good care of him. If you love and take care of your toys, they'll never let any monsters get you."
"Charlie?"
"Yes Octavia?"
"Are you a princess?"
"Why do you ask that?"
"Because I heard Daddy say that your mommy looked like a queen. Does that mean she was a queen, and that you're a princess?"
"No Octavia. Your dad said that because my mother was an actress, and she wore costumes that made her look like she was royalty or something. It was a compliment. It doesn't mean she was an actual queen."
"What's an actress?"
"It's when a woman pretends to be a character in a story that's performed on stage. I want to be an actress like her someday."
"Daddy calls me a princess. Is that just a complement too?"
"No Octavia, you are a very special princess. You're one who doesn't need a tiara or a castle to let the world know what your title is."
"What does that mean?"
"Well everyone thinks that a princess is a girl who wears fancy gowns and tiaras, lives in castles, rides horses or attends balls. But my mother always said that real princesses don't any of those things. Real princesses just need to be kind, clever, and courageous. You have all those qualities so that makes you more of a real princess than any of the ones you've read in storybooks."
"Then that means you're a real princess too."
"No I'm not. I stopped being a princess a long time ago." Charlie said softly. "Now that's enough talking for one night. We both have school tomorrow, so go to sleep."
"Okay, goodnight Charlie."
"Goodnight Octavia." Charlie said turning to over on her side.
"I love you." She said so very simply and naturally. Just as she did when she told her father that she loved him.
"I..." Charlie paused, feeling surprised by the child's words. "I love you too."
Finally the two girls fell asleep. Four hours later, Stolas finally came into the house after a painfully long day of filing out papers and reading files sent to him by his lawyers. Then he had to mail in his recent reports on the new plant samples that were sent in. Once he stepped into the front door, he was ready to just go straight for bed and sleep until he was forced to wake up again. But he was never too tired to give his daughter a goodnight kiss.
He went upstairs and down the hall, toward the door on the left which was to the bedroom where his little Octavia slept. The door was wide open though and the bed was empty.
"Octavia?"
He briefly panicked and hurried to the bedroom on the right, ready to wake up Charlie and demand where his daughter was, but the tender sight he beheld in that room put all his fears to rest. There was his sweet Octavia, fast asleep in bed and right next to Charlie who was also sleeping soundly. He smiled and quietly crept over to the side of the bed where Octavia slept, kissing her forehead.
"Goodnight Via, I love you more than the whole wide world." He whispered lovingly.
Next he walked over to the other side where Charlie laid and kissed her temple just as he had done to his own child.
"I know I'm not your father and I would never want to take his place." He whispered in the same loving tone of voice. "But I love you just as much as he did, and I will try to raise you the way he would have wanted."
That was the last thing he did before leaving the bedroom, closing the door so carefully that not even the hinges would creak and wake the girls, then approaching the room at the other end of the hall for a long awaited sleep.
The next morning, Charlie was once again awakened by the tap-tapping on her window by an owl. The very same owl who had come by earlier.
"Octavia." Charlie whispered to the girl and shaking her lightly. "Octavia, wake up."
"Huh?" She yawned. "Is it breakfast time?"
"Octavia look."
Charlie pointed toward the window where the owl stood on the ledge.
"An owl." She smiled, as those were her favorite animals. "A real live an owl."
She was instantly awake now, and slipped out of bed, hurrying to the window.
"Calm down." Charlie told her. "Don't get overexcited, you might frighten him away."
Charlie then carefully lifted the latch and opened the window.
"Hello again." Charlie greeted. "He's beautiful, isn't he?"
"He's fluffy." Octavia said. "Can I pet him?"
"I don't think he'd like that."
The owl raised one talon that clutched something and dropped it into Octavia's hands. It was a crystal ball with snow and a porcelain tree which held porcelain owls on the branches. A grey owl, a snowy owl, a spotted owl, a horned owl, and a little burrowing owl.
"Thank you." She said shaking up her gift and looking at the contents inside.
The owl then raised it's other talon and dropped something for Charlie into her hand. Her gift was a heart-shaped locket.
"Well this is pretty." She said. "Thank you but where are you getting all this stuff?"
The owl didn't answer, though it's not like Charlie was really expecting it to answer her. Silently, the bird spread it's the magnificent wings and flew away from the window, heading off to Heaven knows where.
"Wow." Octavia said. "I didn't know owls could give you presents."
"Neither did I." Charlie said. "I swear, things around here just keep getting weirder and weirder."
She closed the window and locked it again.
"Come on, as long as we're up, we might as well get ready."
She sent Octavia back to her room and proceeded to start getting dressed, her mind wondering about the odd events that had taken place recently.