My ears picked up the sound of someone opening the door, but my brain decided not to do anything with the information until several seconds later. There was a gentle 'thumping' sound, a surprised squeal, and the laughter of two voices.
"Uncle Prism!" Gilly did her best to chastise the sudden intruder.
It was clear by the way he squished her by laying on top of her that our uncle had chosen to lovingly and teasingly wake her up in a ridiculous manner. Gilly's brows furrowed as she tried to frown, but the tickling of her sides by Uncle Prism prevented her fake annoyance from lasting for a single second.
"Dad, c'mon. My alarm hasn't even gone off yet. Some of us still have to go to school." Canary mumbled, giving us a sleepy glance before turning away from everyone and pulling her sheets closer.
"Good morning, and hello," Uncle Prism greeted us while ignoring her, "Glad to see you all made it safely. Sorry I couldn't make it yesterday."
"Well, then we wouldn't have arrived safely. We heard you really wanted to prank us." Gilly responded merrily with a raised brow as she sat up.
"A lost opportunity, but I'm sure I'll make up for it somewhere."
"Just as long as we get to help you prank dad when he comes down."
"Oh, definitely. I've got a whole list intricately planned for when he arrives." Uncle Prism smirked.
At that, his attention turned to me. I didn't like the expression on his face. Then, with a great heave, he basically launched himself from Gilly's bed to mine where it was my turn to be crushed under his loving might. Gilly and I laughed a mile a minute, Canary couldn't help but to chuckle, and we let the morning get off to that upbeat start. Canary, realizing more sleep before her alarms went off wasn't going to happen, got up with Gilly to go get dressed. Uncle Prism teased me a minute more by refusing to let me get up, and I got some revenge when he stood and I lightly jumped at him. He quite impressively caught me. I planted a big kiss on his cheek.
"It's good to see you again," I said before giving him a proper squeeze, "There's your grandma hug."
"Thank you, and it's good to see you too. I hope this whole situation hasn't been too rough to handle." Uncle Prism spoke more seriously, although he still smiled.
"I'm really missing Doodle, I'm worried about dad and grandpa, and I don't want us to lose the house, but I feel better about it than I did before." I explained.
"That's something. Hopefully today will make you feel even better too. Taffy and I have planned a grand tour around town for you all."
"Ooo, that sounds like fun."
"It should be. Why don't you go ahead and get prepped for it? If you don't make use of the bathroom before Canary takes her shower, you'll be waiting forever." Uncle Prism warned with an entertained shrug.
He left. I hurriedly got my moment to use the toilet and freshen up before Canary got her monopoly on the room. Sharing bathrooms was another dilemma I hadn't thought of. Here at Uncle Prism's house we had more people and less bathrooms than we did at home. I really did begin to hope it wouldn't take long to find a separate place.
Gilly and I were dressed and ready by the time Uncle Prism snuck into Crescent's room to wake him and Merlot up in much the same manner as he had us. He and Blaze joked for a long while after Crescent pouted as he'd failed to convince his father to let him have the day off from school in order to hang out with us. Canary and Crescent didn't even get the bigger breakfast the rest of us had. They had time to get an acceptable amount of plain pancakes down, but Uncle Prism only just started on the fancier ones with chocolate and fruit by the time their ride for the day came to pick them up. Taffy usually took them, but a friend's parent came by now so Taffy and Prism could focus on us.
"So where are we going first?" I wondered.
"The main park is the plan. There's lot of attractions there, and given how you guys haven't had much sun I thought it would be a nice opportunity to get out and stretch your legs."
"Definitely," Gilly nodded, "I actually want to exercise. That's how badly we've been cramped up."
"I see." Uncle Prism laughed.
Honestly, I could have just laid in the sun all day and that would have been fine with me. My eyes seriously started to water with light tears when we reached the park and I saw that endless stretch of blue sky. How greatly I had taken the good weather in my life for granted. Gilly and Merlot booked it over to the skating rink, so mom followed. My sister invited me to join along, but I stood watching for a bit first while catching up with Uncle Prism. Out of my siblings, I'd somehow ended up being the closest with him. I wasn't sure if it was because I was the bestower of grandma's hug, but it made sense that might have something to do with it. We chatted, I reveled in the warm breeze, and when Gilly pouted enormously in my direction until I did relent to join her in the rink.
When the dizziness of going round and round in circles spun our sight too intensely, we finally called it quits to take advantage of all the other fun stuff. There were arcade games, food eating competitions, random other contests, and different attractions all beaming with colored lights. It took about and hour and a half for me to feel like I'd properly scouted out everything and tried everything I wanted to do at least once before I sought out Blaze. He was over in one of the quieter corners swinging on the little golf range.
"Careful not to hurt your back." I warned teasingly as he lined up a shot.
"I did not keep my body in near perfect condition all my life to become frail and weak just from old age." Blaze boasted back proudly.
He solidified the lining of his shot, took a grand swing, and sent the ball flying without a single problem. His body moved as smoothly as one would expect from someone in good health, and he turned back to me with a wide smile.
"See?"
"Maybe you might indeed make it to see all your great-great grandchildren." I laughed.
"It is well within reality for me to have several more decades of life." Blaze nodded along confidently.
Although off to a marvelous start, the day couldn't be all good. I wandered over mom's way to get some money for a snack, and I found her and Ember staring at mom's phone with downcast expressions.
"What's up?" I asked.
"Here," mom offered me to take a glance at the screen, "It's a news feed from Berrybrook. The first edges of the hurricane are starting to hit the city. Everything's already getting crazy."
I took a look. Difficult to see at first with the bright sun streaming down, mom eventually tilted the phone enough for me to see what was going on at home. There was true flooding taking over roads I knew well. The edge of the sea frothed and raged like a monster, and wind dangerously took down large branches and bushes. The highways out of the city were jam-packed with fleeing people while a dark horizon seemingly signaled utter doom.
"Are grandpa and dad really going to be okay?" I had to question with immense worry.
"They'll be alright. They volunteered to help, but they're obviously still not first responders. They won't be allowed to do anything until they're given permission. I talked to Coal not too long ago. Right now, they're bunkered down at the stadium with lots of other people. It's one of the buildings that's going to be okay."
"I hope so." I mumbled.
"Everything will be fine," mom promised, placing a hand on my shoulder, "I've planned to call Coal again in another hour or so. I'll make sure you get to talk to him and Amaranth, okay?"
That helped me to feel somewhat better. I continued on my way...until a chill ran down my spine. A familiar sensation, it was one I hadn't felt in some time. It was the sensation of being watched. It took me several minutes of intently watching my surroundings, yet with every second that passed I noticed more and more. For being a weekday morning, the park was sufficiently crowded with people. People who seemed to have a heightened interest in my family. Many of them pointed to Prism. Many of their stares turned to us when they realized we were with him. I saw multiple cameras and phones rise to snap picture or take videos. I'd been at the park for over two hours, and it took all that to remind me that my family's famous status was something people paid attention to in Tinseltown. People knew our family in Berrybrook, but no one really cared.
"Excuse me."
The man's voice came from behind me.
I instantly spun on my heel and took a small step back. It was countered by the man taking a step forward. He gave me a smile, and I didn't return it.
"Yes?" I replied tentatively, my mind obviously going back to what happened last year with the red man.
"My apologies. I don't mean to alarm you. I just happened to take notice that you're here with Prism." the peachy-pink colored man began to explain.
"Yes." I repeated.
"You know him?"
"Maybe." I gave the dodging answer, learning my lessons from last time.
"It's alright. I know him quite well," the man comforted, "Let me see, you're..."
I gave him a studious look as he looked at me. His attention turned to Uncle Prism, and then he sought out mom and my siblings. Gears were whirring in his mind, and they didn't have to work too long before they came to a conclusion.
"You're Dianthus, right? One of Coal's daughters?"
I gave him a different kind of look, and my shoulders relaxed. Okay. Maybe the man did actually know my uncle.
"That's right." I answered less defensively.
"Thought so. What are you doing down here in Tinseltown? Here for a visit?"
"Not really. Berrybrook's about to get hit by that hurricane, so my siblings and I came down here with mom and Blaze while dad and grandpa are helping people out back home."
"I see. That sounds like quite the troublesome situation. How have you been holding up with it all?"
I opened my mouth to answer, but my next words were silenced by Uncle Prism abruptly brushing past me. He stood before me protectively, and, although he smiled, he looked really angry.
"Gladi, what the fuck you doin', buddy?" Uncle Prism spoke with such a venomous sweetness another chill ran down my back, "I thought I told you if you ever got close to any of my family again that there would be hell to pay."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I just thought I'd stop and have a nice conversation with someone. I didn't realize she was related to you." Gladi, or whatever his full name was, answered, unaffected.
"But you knew my name and who my dad was." I mumbled the contradiction.
"Just a good guess, I guess." he joked lamely with a bright smile and shrug.
Uncle Prism's smile shifted into a scowl before he took a threatening step closer to Gladi.
"Last warning, you piece of shit. Stay away, or I will make your life a nightmare."
"Of course. I don't mean to cause any problems. I'm just here at the park everyone's welcome to be at having a harmless conversation with this nice young lady, and here I am stepping away when it's requested I do so."
Gladi smiled brighter, gave me a seemingly friendly departing nod, and took off towards the other edge of the lot.
Without waiting, Uncle Prism took my hand and led me in the opposite direction.
"Sorry about that. That's the only effective way to handle him." he apologized.
"And who is he? He's not actually your friend then?"
"Far from it," Uncle Prism scoffed, "His name is Gladiolus, and he's one of the most annoying paparazzi I've ever had to deal with. He's obsessed with our family. Even all of you guys out in Berrybrook he's studied heavily. The worst thing about him is he knows how far he can tip-toe around the law and boundaries without getting in trouble. There hasn't been a single thing he's done I can actually get him for, but I know how to do research of my own. I dug up enough on him to at least keep him at bay for the most part. You want to know what kind of birthmark he has on the top of his butt?"
I laughed but shook my head.
"A wise choice," Uncle Prism chuckled, "In any case, just ignore him. Ignore anyone else you see watching you. Tell me, Taffy, Holly, or anyone else if they do try and approach you, but I'm normally on top of it. They shouldn't have the opportunity in the first place."
"Thanks. It was starting to feel really weird. I really did forget you're super famous. You're just Uncle Prism to me."
"I like being Uncle Prism." he replied with a happy smile.
He and I spent a bit more time together, and when I questioned him when we would be having lunch he revealed it was time to leave the park. Our group of eight collected together before Aunt Taffy took the lead. Down the sidewalks we went, passing fancier after fancier building. Billboards and signs crossed our path in ever increasing frequency, and I understood I would simply have to do all I could to ignore the stares. Us walking in such a large group caught attention naturally, and everything else came about by Uncle Prism. Almost everyone we walked by took a second glance. Several people even rushed up to ask for autographs and pictures. Uncle Prism politely declined them all. We were on a time sensitive mission. On a time sensitive mission to what, one might ask? Only a restaurant with the most delicious food I'd ever eaten, that's what. The grilled chicken I ordered with some sort of caramelized apple sauce melted in my mouth. That was nothing to say of how miraculous dessert was.
Afternoon was devoted to going to the shops Uncle Prism and Aunt Taffy liked the most. Some were normal, some were extravagant, and some weird just strange. I assumed it was for the weird factor that we ended up in some magic shop. Not a magic shop devoted to the kind of magic tricks Papa Al did. The shop offered up what it claimed to be true magical items, like the kind witches and wizards would use. Half the people in there looked like they seriously believed the wares worked, and the other half looked more like us. Just there for the bizarreness of it all.
"I wonder what kind of curses lie within." Gilly spoke ominously as we approached some sort of alchemy set-up and the gigantic book set on the pedestal.
"You should open it and find out." I prompted.
"What if it is actually magic? What if it actually curses me, a non-believer, instead?" Gilly joked dramatically.
"Then I guess that'll make more space for Canary and I in the room." I laughed back.
Gilly huffed in fake insult and confidently reached her hand out for the book. We both expected something to happen and nothing to happen, so when something happened we both stood there for a second in stunned awe. As soon as Gilly's hand touched the cover, there was some sort of pull. Like a wind, it gently rattled the bottles and attempted to flip open the nearby books.
"O...kay..." Gilly mumbled, taking a step back.
"C'mon, Gil. Look over there. Someone just walked inside. It seriously was just the wind." I pointed out with a chuckle.
"Oh, yeah," Gilly laughed along with a hand over her heart, "That was a ridiculous coincidence though."
The event made good material for me to tease my sister with, and my mood rode high. Until mom came and ruined it. Just getting off the phone, I wondered if dad had called again or something. However, she had different news.
"That was the uniform shop. They said they didn't have any appointments open when I called them this morning, but a spot opened up for this afternoon. I talked to Prism. We're basically done with the tour, so he and Taffy are going to go home while I take you guys out to get fitted for your uniforms." she explained.
"I mean, we could just go tomorrow or something. That's fine too. This is the only day Uncle Prism was able to get off from his shoot. We should spend as much time together as possible." I tried.
"Yeah, no. This is going to happen, baby, whether you like it or not." mom ruffled my hair.
"I don't."
"Duly noted." she simply shrugged.
We went, and I didn't like one moment of it. I thought I could get away with Gilly taking the measurements for both of us, but mom and the workers insisted I get mine done separately. Gilly did turn out to be half an inch taller than me, so I guess that made a difference or something. Thankfully, the whole thing didn't take long. They really did just get our measurements and feet sizes. Then we were back on our way home. Canary and Crescent returned only minutes after we did, and so some time was spent with our cousins before Uncle Prism and Aunt Taffy got them started on their homework. They got them extra motivated by promising to take us all out for dinner that evening if the two of them got their work done right away. The bribe proved effective.
"Hey, Aunt Holly, is it okay I take a little walk around the neighborhood? I just want to see the places around us."
Ember approached mom as the rest of us sat at the table reading. Canary and Crescent were buried into schoolbooks while Gilly and I had found interesting stuff on the bookshelves to try out.
"Hmm, I suppose that's fine. Just make sure to be back before five."
"Of course." Ember promised brightly.
I watched my sister as she left, and I made an excuse so that I could sneak over to the windows by the front door after she'd left the house. I couldn't tell you what it was, but something about Ember screamed deception. Perhaps it was all my time sneaking around with Timber that made me much more perceptive to it. Ember had been on her phone a lot that day. I'd assumed she was texting Melrose and the rest of her friends. However, what if that wasn't it? As Ember walked away, she walked with purpose. A purpose that was more than simply a lazy walk to check out the nearby houses.
I kept track of my sister until she was completely out of sight. Then I formulated a plan that kinda went against the resolution I'd made at the beginning of the year to not fall back on bad habits. My curiosity demanded it have some answers though. Mom had moved into the kitchen, and I went up to her with as natural a walk as possible.
"Mom, do you think I could talk a walk around the neighborhood too? Aunt Taffy said there was a family a few streets down with some kids our age we might get along with." I asked.
"Sure, if you give me about ten minutes or so. I'll come with you."
"I mean, that's okay. I don't mind going by myself."
"Let me rephrase, I'm going to come with you because you're not going off by yourself." mom pointed out with a smile.
"You let Ember go off alone." I pouted.
"She old enough to go off alone. You're not."
"You let me walk around back home." I reminded her with a frown.
"That was back home. I don't know this place, and for the time being I don't want you, Gil, or Merl wandering around by yourselves. Besides, there is the fact that you and Timber-"
"Mommm!" I whined, ignoring the fact that I complained about her not trusting me about doing stuff I wasn't supposed to when my plan was to follow my sister and do stuff I wasn't supposed to do.
"Hey, if my mom and dad still get to gripe about the stuff I did when I was little, I get to gripe about the stuff you do too." mom teased.
I pretended to be more insulted than I actually was to get out of going out with mom. I didn't really care about meeting those other kids at the moment, and my feet tired of walking didn't want to walk anymore that day if I didn't have to. The supposed mystery of what Ember was up to would have to wait for another day. All I could do was hang out with the rest of my family, watch the clock, and frown when Ember returned well within her given time-limit.
My complaints ceased after dinner. We all got somewhat dressed up before heading off to a restaurant that was even nicer than the one we went to for lunch. Tinseltown would be amazing if I got to eat like that all the time, but Canary and Crescent warned me today was an outlier. They often got peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch just like every other kid did. Figuring that would be the case, it didn't disappointment too much. The rest of the day passed smoothly, and before bed I made sure to get in another call with dad.
"Yeah, it's bedtime and the sun's still up," I relayed the information after he asked me to remind him what nice weather was like, "The clouds are all white and fluffy, and I could actually run around without struggling to keep a grip on my umbrella."
"Sounds heavenly," dad laughed, "I can't wait to get over there."
"How long do you think it'll be before you can come?" I wondered.
"Not for some time. This hurricane and its aftermath alone will keep dad and I here for several weeks. Then we have to deal with whatever comes next, which includes possible rebuilding. Even with the sandbags, the bookstore already has half a foot of water in it on the bottom floor. There's no way I'm getting out of rebuilding it." he sighed heavily.
"I'm sorry. How about the house?"
"The water hasn't hit it yet, but with how it's supposed to be tomorrow I'm sure it will then."
"Mmm." I mumbled, hoping for better news.
No better news came. The only good news we did get from home each day was that dad and grandpa were fine. Other than that, my siblings and I rushed down each morning to see how much more our hometown fared. I cried a little on Saturday when a news crew managed to get down to our neighborhood to show how far underwater everything was. We even got to see our house in the distance. The flooding did almost reach up to the second floor. The rest of what we saw was just as depressing. However, I did feel proud of dad and grandpa. On one report afternoon, they were actually the main people the reporters interviewed. They had spent a lot of money to hire extra boats from out of town to come help with everything and to get extra food and supplies sent to the people who were still stuck in the city. Everyone praised dad and grandpa for being so generous to the community.
And so, the days did pass. By Sunday, the worst of the hurricane had come and gone. Things still were terrible in Berrybrook, yet the majority of the danger had passed. Our attention had to turn to other things. Such as school. Mom went into town on Sunday and came back with our new uniforms from the shop. She made me try it on. Dark blue, navy, and gold, putting on those colors certainly felt strange. The uniform wasn't nearly as ugly as I expected it to be, and there was some sort of satisfaction in being able to roll out of bed the next morning and not have to think about what to put on at all. The thing that was most annoying was mom gushing over us. She insisted we take some pictures, and take a thousand pictures we did before Aunt Taffy reminded her it was time to leave for the majority of us to begin our first day at our new school.
Gilly and I were dressed and ready by the time Uncle Prism snuck into Crescent's room to wake him and Merlot up in much the same manner as he had us. He and Blaze joked for a long while after Crescent pouted as he'd failed to convince his father to let him have the day off from school in order to hang out with us. Canary and Crescent didn't even get the bigger breakfast the rest of us had. They had time to get an acceptable amount of plain pancakes down, but Uncle Prism only just started on the fancier ones with chocolate and fruit by the time their ride for the day came to pick them up. Taffy usually took them, but a friend's parent came by now so Taffy and Prism could focus on us.
"So where are we going first?" I wondered.
"The main park is the plan. There's lot of attractions there, and given how you guys haven't had much sun I thought it would be a nice opportunity to get out and stretch your legs."
"Definitely," Gilly nodded, "I actually want to exercise. That's how badly we've been cramped up."
"I see." Uncle Prism laughed.
Honestly, I could have just laid in the sun all day and that would have been fine with me. My eyes seriously started to water with light tears when we reached the park and I saw that endless stretch of blue sky. How greatly I had taken the good weather in my life for granted. Gilly and Merlot booked it over to the skating rink, so mom followed. My sister invited me to join along, but I stood watching for a bit first while catching up with Uncle Prism. Out of my siblings, I'd somehow ended up being the closest with him. I wasn't sure if it was because I was the bestower of grandma's hug, but it made sense that might have something to do with it. We chatted, I reveled in the warm breeze, and when Gilly pouted enormously in my direction until I did relent to join her in the rink.
When the dizziness of going round and round in circles spun our sight too intensely, we finally called it quits to take advantage of all the other fun stuff. There were arcade games, food eating competitions, random other contests, and different attractions all beaming with colored lights. It took about and hour and a half for me to feel like I'd properly scouted out everything and tried everything I wanted to do at least once before I sought out Blaze. He was over in one of the quieter corners swinging on the little golf range.
"Careful not to hurt your back." I warned teasingly as he lined up a shot.
"I did not keep my body in near perfect condition all my life to become frail and weak just from old age." Blaze boasted back proudly.
He solidified the lining of his shot, took a grand swing, and sent the ball flying without a single problem. His body moved as smoothly as one would expect from someone in good health, and he turned back to me with a wide smile.
"See?"
"Maybe you might indeed make it to see all your great-great grandchildren." I laughed.
"It is well within reality for me to have several more decades of life." Blaze nodded along confidently.
Although off to a marvelous start, the day couldn't be all good. I wandered over mom's way to get some money for a snack, and I found her and Ember staring at mom's phone with downcast expressions.
"What's up?" I asked.
"Here," mom offered me to take a glance at the screen, "It's a news feed from Berrybrook. The first edges of the hurricane are starting to hit the city. Everything's already getting crazy."
I took a look. Difficult to see at first with the bright sun streaming down, mom eventually tilted the phone enough for me to see what was going on at home. There was true flooding taking over roads I knew well. The edge of the sea frothed and raged like a monster, and wind dangerously took down large branches and bushes. The highways out of the city were jam-packed with fleeing people while a dark horizon seemingly signaled utter doom.
"Are grandpa and dad really going to be okay?" I had to question with immense worry.
"They'll be alright. They volunteered to help, but they're obviously still not first responders. They won't be allowed to do anything until they're given permission. I talked to Coal not too long ago. Right now, they're bunkered down at the stadium with lots of other people. It's one of the buildings that's going to be okay."
"I hope so." I mumbled.
"Everything will be fine," mom promised, placing a hand on my shoulder, "I've planned to call Coal again in another hour or so. I'll make sure you get to talk to him and Amaranth, okay?"
That helped me to feel somewhat better. I continued on my way...until a chill ran down my spine. A familiar sensation, it was one I hadn't felt in some time. It was the sensation of being watched. It took me several minutes of intently watching my surroundings, yet with every second that passed I noticed more and more. For being a weekday morning, the park was sufficiently crowded with people. People who seemed to have a heightened interest in my family. Many of them pointed to Prism. Many of their stares turned to us when they realized we were with him. I saw multiple cameras and phones rise to snap picture or take videos. I'd been at the park for over two hours, and it took all that to remind me that my family's famous status was something people paid attention to in Tinseltown. People knew our family in Berrybrook, but no one really cared.
"Excuse me."
The man's voice came from behind me.
I instantly spun on my heel and took a small step back. It was countered by the man taking a step forward. He gave me a smile, and I didn't return it.
"Yes?" I replied tentatively, my mind obviously going back to what happened last year with the red man.
"My apologies. I don't mean to alarm you. I just happened to take notice that you're here with Prism." the peachy-pink colored man began to explain.
"Yes." I repeated.
"You know him?"
"Maybe." I gave the dodging answer, learning my lessons from last time.
"It's alright. I know him quite well," the man comforted, "Let me see, you're..."
I gave him a studious look as he looked at me. His attention turned to Uncle Prism, and then he sought out mom and my siblings. Gears were whirring in his mind, and they didn't have to work too long before they came to a conclusion.
"You're Dianthus, right? One of Coal's daughters?"
I gave him a different kind of look, and my shoulders relaxed. Okay. Maybe the man did actually know my uncle.
"That's right." I answered less defensively.
"Thought so. What are you doing down here in Tinseltown? Here for a visit?"
"Not really. Berrybrook's about to get hit by that hurricane, so my siblings and I came down here with mom and Blaze while dad and grandpa are helping people out back home."
"I see. That sounds like quite the troublesome situation. How have you been holding up with it all?"
I opened my mouth to answer, but my next words were silenced by Uncle Prism abruptly brushing past me. He stood before me protectively, and, although he smiled, he looked really angry.
"Gladi, what the fuck you doin', buddy?" Uncle Prism spoke with such a venomous sweetness another chill ran down my back, "I thought I told you if you ever got close to any of my family again that there would be hell to pay."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I just thought I'd stop and have a nice conversation with someone. I didn't realize she was related to you." Gladi, or whatever his full name was, answered, unaffected.
"But you knew my name and who my dad was." I mumbled the contradiction.
"Just a good guess, I guess." he joked lamely with a bright smile and shrug.
Uncle Prism's smile shifted into a scowl before he took a threatening step closer to Gladi.
"Last warning, you piece of shit. Stay away, or I will make your life a nightmare."
"Of course. I don't mean to cause any problems. I'm just here at the park everyone's welcome to be at having a harmless conversation with this nice young lady, and here I am stepping away when it's requested I do so."
Gladi smiled brighter, gave me a seemingly friendly departing nod, and took off towards the other edge of the lot.
Without waiting, Uncle Prism took my hand and led me in the opposite direction.
"Sorry about that. That's the only effective way to handle him." he apologized.
"And who is he? He's not actually your friend then?"
"Far from it," Uncle Prism scoffed, "His name is Gladiolus, and he's one of the most annoying paparazzi I've ever had to deal with. He's obsessed with our family. Even all of you guys out in Berrybrook he's studied heavily. The worst thing about him is he knows how far he can tip-toe around the law and boundaries without getting in trouble. There hasn't been a single thing he's done I can actually get him for, but I know how to do research of my own. I dug up enough on him to at least keep him at bay for the most part. You want to know what kind of birthmark he has on the top of his butt?"
I laughed but shook my head.
"A wise choice," Uncle Prism chuckled, "In any case, just ignore him. Ignore anyone else you see watching you. Tell me, Taffy, Holly, or anyone else if they do try and approach you, but I'm normally on top of it. They shouldn't have the opportunity in the first place."
"Thanks. It was starting to feel really weird. I really did forget you're super famous. You're just Uncle Prism to me."
"I like being Uncle Prism." he replied with a happy smile.
He and I spent a bit more time together, and when I questioned him when we would be having lunch he revealed it was time to leave the park. Our group of eight collected together before Aunt Taffy took the lead. Down the sidewalks we went, passing fancier after fancier building. Billboards and signs crossed our path in ever increasing frequency, and I understood I would simply have to do all I could to ignore the stares. Us walking in such a large group caught attention naturally, and everything else came about by Uncle Prism. Almost everyone we walked by took a second glance. Several people even rushed up to ask for autographs and pictures. Uncle Prism politely declined them all. We were on a time sensitive mission. On a time sensitive mission to what, one might ask? Only a restaurant with the most delicious food I'd ever eaten, that's what. The grilled chicken I ordered with some sort of caramelized apple sauce melted in my mouth. That was nothing to say of how miraculous dessert was.
Afternoon was devoted to going to the shops Uncle Prism and Aunt Taffy liked the most. Some were normal, some were extravagant, and some weird just strange. I assumed it was for the weird factor that we ended up in some magic shop. Not a magic shop devoted to the kind of magic tricks Papa Al did. The shop offered up what it claimed to be true magical items, like the kind witches and wizards would use. Half the people in there looked like they seriously believed the wares worked, and the other half looked more like us. Just there for the bizarreness of it all.
"I wonder what kind of curses lie within." Gilly spoke ominously as we approached some sort of alchemy set-up and the gigantic book set on the pedestal.
"You should open it and find out." I prompted.
"What if it is actually magic? What if it actually curses me, a non-believer, instead?" Gilly joked dramatically.
"Then I guess that'll make more space for Canary and I in the room." I laughed back.
Gilly huffed in fake insult and confidently reached her hand out for the book. We both expected something to happen and nothing to happen, so when something happened we both stood there for a second in stunned awe. As soon as Gilly's hand touched the cover, there was some sort of pull. Like a wind, it gently rattled the bottles and attempted to flip open the nearby books.
"O...kay..." Gilly mumbled, taking a step back.
"C'mon, Gil. Look over there. Someone just walked inside. It seriously was just the wind." I pointed out with a chuckle.
"Oh, yeah," Gilly laughed along with a hand over her heart, "That was a ridiculous coincidence though."
The event made good material for me to tease my sister with, and my mood rode high. Until mom came and ruined it. Just getting off the phone, I wondered if dad had called again or something. However, she had different news.
"That was the uniform shop. They said they didn't have any appointments open when I called them this morning, but a spot opened up for this afternoon. I talked to Prism. We're basically done with the tour, so he and Taffy are going to go home while I take you guys out to get fitted for your uniforms." she explained.
"I mean, we could just go tomorrow or something. That's fine too. This is the only day Uncle Prism was able to get off from his shoot. We should spend as much time together as possible." I tried.
"Yeah, no. This is going to happen, baby, whether you like it or not." mom ruffled my hair.
"I don't."
"Duly noted." she simply shrugged.
We went, and I didn't like one moment of it. I thought I could get away with Gilly taking the measurements for both of us, but mom and the workers insisted I get mine done separately. Gilly did turn out to be half an inch taller than me, so I guess that made a difference or something. Thankfully, the whole thing didn't take long. They really did just get our measurements and feet sizes. Then we were back on our way home. Canary and Crescent returned only minutes after we did, and so some time was spent with our cousins before Uncle Prism and Aunt Taffy got them started on their homework. They got them extra motivated by promising to take us all out for dinner that evening if the two of them got their work done right away. The bribe proved effective.
"Hey, Aunt Holly, is it okay I take a little walk around the neighborhood? I just want to see the places around us."
Ember approached mom as the rest of us sat at the table reading. Canary and Crescent were buried into schoolbooks while Gilly and I had found interesting stuff on the bookshelves to try out.
"Hmm, I suppose that's fine. Just make sure to be back before five."
"Of course." Ember promised brightly.
I watched my sister as she left, and I made an excuse so that I could sneak over to the windows by the front door after she'd left the house. I couldn't tell you what it was, but something about Ember screamed deception. Perhaps it was all my time sneaking around with Timber that made me much more perceptive to it. Ember had been on her phone a lot that day. I'd assumed she was texting Melrose and the rest of her friends. However, what if that wasn't it? As Ember walked away, she walked with purpose. A purpose that was more than simply a lazy walk to check out the nearby houses.
I kept track of my sister until she was completely out of sight. Then I formulated a plan that kinda went against the resolution I'd made at the beginning of the year to not fall back on bad habits. My curiosity demanded it have some answers though. Mom had moved into the kitchen, and I went up to her with as natural a walk as possible.
"Mom, do you think I could talk a walk around the neighborhood too? Aunt Taffy said there was a family a few streets down with some kids our age we might get along with." I asked.
"Sure, if you give me about ten minutes or so. I'll come with you."
"I mean, that's okay. I don't mind going by myself."
"Let me rephrase, I'm going to come with you because you're not going off by yourself." mom pointed out with a smile.
"You let Ember go off alone." I pouted.
"She old enough to go off alone. You're not."
"You let me walk around back home." I reminded her with a frown.
"That was back home. I don't know this place, and for the time being I don't want you, Gil, or Merl wandering around by yourselves. Besides, there is the fact that you and Timber-"
"Mommm!" I whined, ignoring the fact that I complained about her not trusting me about doing stuff I wasn't supposed to when my plan was to follow my sister and do stuff I wasn't supposed to do.
"Hey, if my mom and dad still get to gripe about the stuff I did when I was little, I get to gripe about the stuff you do too." mom teased.
I pretended to be more insulted than I actually was to get out of going out with mom. I didn't really care about meeting those other kids at the moment, and my feet tired of walking didn't want to walk anymore that day if I didn't have to. The supposed mystery of what Ember was up to would have to wait for another day. All I could do was hang out with the rest of my family, watch the clock, and frown when Ember returned well within her given time-limit.
My complaints ceased after dinner. We all got somewhat dressed up before heading off to a restaurant that was even nicer than the one we went to for lunch. Tinseltown would be amazing if I got to eat like that all the time, but Canary and Crescent warned me today was an outlier. They often got peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch just like every other kid did. Figuring that would be the case, it didn't disappointment too much. The rest of the day passed smoothly, and before bed I made sure to get in another call with dad.
"Yeah, it's bedtime and the sun's still up," I relayed the information after he asked me to remind him what nice weather was like, "The clouds are all white and fluffy, and I could actually run around without struggling to keep a grip on my umbrella."
"Sounds heavenly," dad laughed, "I can't wait to get over there."
"How long do you think it'll be before you can come?" I wondered.
"Not for some time. This hurricane and its aftermath alone will keep dad and I here for several weeks. Then we have to deal with whatever comes next, which includes possible rebuilding. Even with the sandbags, the bookstore already has half a foot of water in it on the bottom floor. There's no way I'm getting out of rebuilding it." he sighed heavily.
"I'm sorry. How about the house?"
"The water hasn't hit it yet, but with how it's supposed to be tomorrow I'm sure it will then."
"Mmm." I mumbled, hoping for better news.
No better news came. The only good news we did get from home each day was that dad and grandpa were fine. Other than that, my siblings and I rushed down each morning to see how much more our hometown fared. I cried a little on Saturday when a news crew managed to get down to our neighborhood to show how far underwater everything was. We even got to see our house in the distance. The flooding did almost reach up to the second floor. The rest of what we saw was just as depressing. However, I did feel proud of dad and grandpa. On one report afternoon, they were actually the main people the reporters interviewed. They had spent a lot of money to hire extra boats from out of town to come help with everything and to get extra food and supplies sent to the people who were still stuck in the city. Everyone praised dad and grandpa for being so generous to the community.
And so, the days did pass. By Sunday, the worst of the hurricane had come and gone. Things still were terrible in Berrybrook, yet the majority of the danger had passed. Our attention had to turn to other things. Such as school. Mom went into town on Sunday and came back with our new uniforms from the shop. She made me try it on. Dark blue, navy, and gold, putting on those colors certainly felt strange. The uniform wasn't nearly as ugly as I expected it to be, and there was some sort of satisfaction in being able to roll out of bed the next morning and not have to think about what to put on at all. The thing that was most annoying was mom gushing over us. She insisted we take some pictures, and take a thousand pictures we did before Aunt Taffy reminded her it was time to leave for the majority of us to begin our first day at our new school.
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