CHAPTER ONE: THE GARNET FIRE (Draft 1)
A young, green-eyed boy, with blazing red hair, stared at an old, faded picture of two young girls who looked alike, as if they were sisters. The older sister showed off a radiant, cheerful smile, as opposed to the younger sister who frowned severely. He continued to stare moodily at the aged photograph when a girl, with a similar shade of hair and the same emerald-green eyes, burst into the room.
“FLAME! HAVE YOU HEARD WHAT HAPPENED TO THE GARNETS?”
Flame Speed audibly groaned as his cousin sister sped towards him and sat down hurriedly on his bed with the weekly newspaper in hand. She shoved the paper in his face only to have him push it away, extremely annoyed.
“Come on Blaze! Who reads the newspaper anymore?”
Blaze Speed rolled her eyes before continuing to persist. He finally gave in and glanced at the paper: ‘GEORGE AND VANESSA GARNET PERISHED IN FLAMES’.
Simultaneously, a woman, who appeared to be a matured version of the older sister in the picture, sat in her warm, cosy study, blankly staring at the newspaper in her hands, lost in a train of thoughts and overwhelmed with emotion.
It was raining heavily outside. Lightning struck and the thunder roared, but it didn’t faze her at all.
She finally decided to look up from the devastating news and direct her attention to a wooden picture frame, sitting on her neat, organized, wooden desk, containing a similar, faded photograph of the two young girls.
“Ashlynn…what are you up to now?”
She muttered to herself, staring thoughtfully at the younger sister in the picture, as another bolt of lightning lit up the dark sky and the thunder rumbled blatantly outside the large, clear glass window behind her.
“Who is she?”
A curious stranger and her friend stared at a dark-haired girl with blue eyes, around their age, from behind a bookshelf in the public library. The stranger continued in a hushed voice,
“I’ve never seen her around before. Have you?”
“No. But I hear she’s staying with the Garnet family. She’s not the only one.” Her friend replied.
“But that’s impossible! Didn’t you hear? There was a fire. The Garnets are gone, it’s all over the news.”
“Of course I heard about the Garnets! I’m talking about George Garnet’s younger brother and his wife. They adopted six kids earlier this summer, she’s probably one of them.”
“Six?”
“Yeah, I heard they came out of nowhere! Don’t you think it’s strange?”
Suddenly, a voice behind them spoke.
“I’ll tell you what’s strange, talking about people without their knowledge.”
The girls gasped and turned around to find a boy, about their age, glaring at them. He too had dark hair and blue eyes.
“Stop staring at my sister, it’s rude.”
He pushed past the strangers and leisurely walked towards to his sister who had been sitting politely and quietly reading a book. Afraid and flustered, the strangers left without saying another word.
The boy sat next to his sister and frowned impatiently,
“This place, this city. It’s so unusual. How long do we have to stay here again?”
His sister sighed,
“For as long as we must, James. And the only reason it’s unusual is because it’s all new. Our new parents, Richard and Lucinda, they seem nice, don’t they? They’re even letting us go to school. Our homeschool days are over.”
She finished with a smile as her brother scoffed,
“Public school! You know Cherry? We’re probably gonna be stuck together for every single class!”
Cherry groaned,
“Ugh! You’re annoying enough as it is.”
“It’s the blessing of having a twin brother. You should be grateful! Unlike me, I’m cursed for life with 5 sisters!”
James counted with his fingers and proudly showed them to his sister, who merely shook her head and asked,
“Speaking of sisters…where are the Gemstones?”
James thought for a while, “I think I left them in the park to play with Prince!”
He happily smiled while Cherry frowned thoughtfully.
“Isn’t it raining?”
James’ eyes widened as the pair shared a worried glance before frantically sprinting out of the library into the pouring rain.
A young, green-eyed boy, with blazing red hair, stared at an old, faded picture of two young girls who looked alike, as if they were sisters. The older sister showed off a radiant, cheerful smile, as opposed to the younger sister who frowned severely. He continued to stare moodily at the aged photograph when a girl, with a similar shade of hair and the same emerald-green eyes, burst into the room.
“FLAME! HAVE YOU HEARD WHAT HAPPENED TO THE GARNETS?”
Flame Speed audibly groaned as his cousin sister sped towards him and sat down hurriedly on his bed with the weekly newspaper in hand. She shoved the paper in his face only to have him push it away, extremely annoyed.
“Come on Blaze! Who reads the newspaper anymore?”
Blaze Speed rolled her eyes before continuing to persist. He finally gave in and glanced at the paper: ‘GEORGE AND VANESSA GARNET PERISHED IN FLAMES’.
Simultaneously, a woman, who appeared to be a matured version of the older sister in the picture, sat in her warm, cosy study, blankly staring at the newspaper in her hands, lost in a train of thoughts and overwhelmed with emotion.
It was raining heavily outside. Lightning struck and the thunder roared, but it didn’t faze her at all.
She finally decided to look up from the devastating news and direct her attention to a wooden picture frame, sitting on her neat, organized, wooden desk, containing a similar, faded photograph of the two young girls.
“Ashlynn…what are you up to now?”
She muttered to herself, staring thoughtfully at the younger sister in the picture, as another bolt of lightning lit up the dark sky and the thunder rumbled blatantly outside the large, clear glass window behind her.
“Who is she?”
A curious stranger and her friend stared at a dark-haired girl with blue eyes, around their age, from behind a bookshelf in the public library. The stranger continued in a hushed voice,
“I’ve never seen her around before. Have you?”
“No. But I hear she’s staying with the Garnet family. She’s not the only one.” Her friend replied.
“But that’s impossible! Didn’t you hear? There was a fire. The Garnets are gone, it’s all over the news.”
“Of course I heard about the Garnets! I’m talking about George Garnet’s younger brother and his wife. They adopted six kids earlier this summer, she’s probably one of them.”
“Six?”
“Yeah, I heard they came out of nowhere! Don’t you think it’s strange?”
Suddenly, a voice behind them spoke.
“I’ll tell you what’s strange, talking about people without their knowledge.”
The girls gasped and turned around to find a boy, about their age, glaring at them. He too had dark hair and blue eyes.
“Stop staring at my sister, it’s rude.”
He pushed past the strangers and leisurely walked towards to his sister who had been sitting politely and quietly reading a book. Afraid and flustered, the strangers left without saying another word.
The boy sat next to his sister and frowned impatiently,
“This place, this city. It’s so unusual. How long do we have to stay here again?”
His sister sighed,
“For as long as we must, James. And the only reason it’s unusual is because it’s all new. Our new parents, Richard and Lucinda, they seem nice, don’t they? They’re even letting us go to school. Our homeschool days are over.”
She finished with a smile as her brother scoffed,
“Public school! You know Cherry? We’re probably gonna be stuck together for every single class!”
Cherry groaned,
“Ugh! You’re annoying enough as it is.”
“It’s the blessing of having a twin brother. You should be grateful! Unlike me, I’m cursed for life with 5 sisters!”
James counted with his fingers and proudly showed them to his sister, who merely shook her head and asked,
“Speaking of sisters…where are the Gemstones?”
James thought for a while, “I think I left them in the park to play with Prince!”
He happily smiled while Cherry frowned thoughtfully.
“Isn’t it raining?”
James’ eyes widened as the pair shared a worried glance before frantically sprinting out of the library into the pouring rain.
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