Love, War and Peace - Chapters 1 and 2

1 - Night Memories

The broken-hearted little girl sobbed her heart out, "No! Don't go! Please..." Her voice was desperate and pleading, urgency crept over her when the snow-white haired, wrinkled angel shook her head in despair.

"It's time," she said softly, "Now be a good little girl while I'm gone. I promise you that we WILL meet again." She sniffed sadly but carried on, "I'll miss you, my little Cherrydrop."

And with that, she walked away, her head disappearing slowly and then her body.
"No! You can't go! Not like this! Please don't leave me! Please!' The little girl begged desperately, trying to stop the fading body that was parting away from her.

The dear old woman didn't give a glance to the poor little girl. She knew she had to go. There was no one stopping her. It's what life intended. Therefore she must reach her destined fate.

"NO! Please... Stay... STAY!"

The hushed atmosphere harshly slapped the girl and she knew it was too late. Her precious Grandmother has gone.

The little girl could feel her lungs squeezing up roughly. She let out a loud gasp as she fell into oblivion. Her skinny, shaky body came in contact with the ground with such force, that it echoed thunderously. The tremendous sound just kept getting louder and louder...

*****************************************************************

I immediately inhaled a large amount of air, as I woke up, startled. I felt sweat dribbling down the side of my forehead. After I had stopped breathing heavily, I calmly let go of my scrunched up bed sheet wrapped in my fists.

I crawled out of bed and wandered off into the toilets. Having such a nightmare, or should I say bad memory, I was relieved that the toilets were right next to my room.

I splashed refreshing cool water against my hot bothered face. I caught my reflection gazing back at me. I can't say I'm the prettiest girl in the entire world, because I'm not. I guess I'm just an average 15 year old blonde with dark brown eyes.

Funny to say that I don't like that pretty yet my twin sister looks stunning. You may think what's the difference? Actually a lot. Even way before she dyed her hair mad, bouncy orange.

Anyone could tell a major difference between us. She would always be one of those ups and downs kind of person. She'd never keep still! Nowadays, she seems to be getting into a lot of trouble. Mostly because of getting into fights, breaking rules or staying out way too late.

I don't even fit into any one of those categories. I hardly ever (OK never) get into trouble and I'm definitely NOT a party person. I'm more of the bookworm label.

But the surprising thing is that no matter how angry Stella gets with Mum and Dad, she's never mean or vicious to me. She's actually really gentle, and an amazing, wonderful, caring twin. I have to admit, I am very caring myself. I care for others and help them in any way I can. You could nearly always find me helping out in the rescue center or doing the basic stuff, like helping others cross the other side. If not, then I'm probably in the library.

I love to help, I truly do. But the real reason as to why I do such goods all the time is to satisfy my Grandma.

You see, she was a lovely person in her days and she only had one big selfless dream. To bring world peace.

Like one time, there was this construction that was going to take place and in the process many animals' lives would be at risk. However, my Grandma put up a stand, a peaceful protest, and with doing so, she managed to grab thousands of supporters by her side! It was truly amazing. My Grandma managed to save deforestation from occurring! I remember the many happy faces that day - well everyone's except the company that had to move to a reasonable location.

Also, there was another time, when my Grandma helped out at the little children's hospital. She wanted to brighten up the lives of many miserable souls. And you know what she did? She dressed up into her home-made clown costume, that she stitched up herself, and rode the unicycle around in circles whilst juggling! Everyone's spirit started to rise then and they all watched her in awe. Then she performed a funny clown show and I got to help! I was her assistant and.... It was so hilarious!

I remember laughing so hard that day that I couldn't even pick myself off the floor! My Grandma hauled me up, but by then I had a pretty weak stomach and a blurry vision. It was fantastic.
Brrr...illiant! But seriously, I better get myself to my warm bed. It's freezing! I strolled into my room, which was previously really dark blue, but now a lighter shade. I tiptoed and climbed into my bed, as to not wake up my sleeping twin.

I thought about my Grandmother and her many wonderful helps. I remember her exact words, for me to be a good little girl. I vowed to her that I would. But lately, I've been doing the same things over and over. I almost feel as if I'm getting nowhere. That is when the idea came to me. My Grandmother always does different things! She rises up to the challenge and then confronts it. So I thought, why not?

Tomorrow is a new day. A new challenge!

*****************************************************************

Chapter 2 - Gingerbread Men

A nice way to start off your first day in school... Make gingerbread men!

I pre-heated the oven to Gas Mark 4 and raided the cupboards for a mixing bowl. When I found one, I turned to Stella and asked, "Did you measure everything like I told you to?"

Stella stopped playing on her phone and guiltily shook her head. I groaned. Quickly, I measured the plain flour, light soft brown sugar, butter, golden syrup, bicarbonate of soda and ground ginger. I also grabbed 1 medium egg.

Three guesses as to what I'm making. That's right, gingerbread men!

After everything was measured, I quickly mixed the flour, butter, ground ginger and bicarbonate of soda with my fingertips until they were crumbly. I added sugar, syrup and egg. Stella punched the air triumphantly, "YES!" She caught me looking and grinned, "New high score."

"Congrats," I said, smiling. She beamed. "Can you please help me?"
Stella nodded her head and put her phone away. She took the mixing bowl and formed the mixture into a firm pastry mix.

Satisfied, I grabbed the rolling pin and rolled the pastry. Well, I was about to until -
"Please can I?" Asked Stella, puppy dog eyes. I laughed at how cute she was and then handed the rolling pin over. She jumped about excitedly.

"Don't forget to dust the surface and rolling pin." I instructed her. She immediately got on with it. I reached for the pastry cutters. At last! The best bit! Well that and then decorating.
"Can I?" Asked Stella. I nodded my head and said, "As long as I do too!"
We both eagerly cut out shapes and after we had done plenty, we set them onto the baking tray.
"So," Stella said, "How come we're doing this again?"

"Because of the new school." I informed her, "It's a nice way of getting to know others."
"Oh... But can't, we just have these for ourselves?" Stella asked greedily. I shook my head and tried to put on a serious face. I wasn't very good at this, I ended up laughing.

I put the baking tray into the oven, whilst shaking my head continuously to Stella's protests.
"But... But..." She whined, "It's not fair!" She stamped her legs and crossed her arms.
I put a comforting hand on her shoulder and whispered, "Don't worry; they'll be plenty for us. I promise you."
Stella sighed, OK then."
"Here," I said, trying to cheer her up. I grabbed a handful of chocolate chips, "You can decorate the gingerbread men!"

"Yay!" She bounced with glee, "I love decorating."
"Me too." I agreed. I glanced at the time. 7.56 am.
We better get a move on!

15 minutes go by and the gingerbread men were ready. Mmm, smells delish! We waited patiently for it to cool down and after Stella finished decorating, we quickly grabbed our bags and set off down the road.

"Which rooms are we in?" Stella asked anxiously, "I want to be with you, not with any other strange faces."

"Don't worry, I rang up school and made a few arrangements. I managed to put us in the same form, but about the lessons...." My voice trailed off. Stella's face fell. "Don't worry, Stella. No one will have the guts to pick on you." I assured her.

Stella shook her head, "No. Do you even know which SCHOOL we're going to?"
Yes, I know. The school with the bad reputation. The school that actually made it into the newspapers. The school covered with depressed people. The school where you can find cigarettes littering the playground. The school with many graffitis scribbled everywhere. Yet somehow, that school is still here today.

There's a whole lot more to say about JTC school, mostly negative things, but I'm going to put a stop to that. Things are about to change...