by Audrey Lewer
A golden blanket of joy swept around her as an ocean of fog awaited her at the bottom of the grassy hills.
“Good morning, Mum!” Violet exclaimed happily, her short caramel-brown hair hanging above her shoulders.
Quickly, she picked up her plate and drink. Violet glanced down at her plate, which was home to a sandwich containing her favourite things. She pulled open each drawer, looking for the cutlery. Violet pushed them all back in and sighed, realising they hadn’t set up the kitchen yet.
She had just moved to this house, and it was far from her best friend, Patricia. The town Violet used to live was a place called Pucklechurch. Now she lived in Elqawor, on Peak View Lane. She missed Patricia and her friends from school. It felt as if a piece of her soul had been left there.
Violet pulled out a coffee chair with a scarlet cushion as dark as old blood and sat down. She placed her plate on the small, circular table and turned on the TV to channel 16.
“The weather today will be, for some, not the best,” the weather reporter chirped formally. “It will be rainy and cold, nearly always drizzling,” she reported, looking down at her notes.
Violet groaned; she had her first soccer training session today. “Darn it. I am going to miss soccer!” she said, setting her drink down on the timber stand.
She dashed to the sink, holding her plate in one hand and her cup in the other.
“Hold your horses, Vi!” her mother called, as she exited the lounge room.
“Just making up for my missing soccer training today, Mum!” Violet bolted up the stairs, towards the bathroom.
After her shower, she got dressed into her midnight blue and lemon-striped school uniform and picked up her onyx backpack. Her brushed hair was in a tidy braid and swung over her shoulder. Violet took her bag off her shoulders and placed it on the kitchen counter. She grabbed her lunch box, stuffed it with the food her mum had made her, and zipped it up, then put it in her bag. Violet turned the thin black screen off and paced towards the shoe stand.
“Time to go!” her mum echoed, as Violet did up her shoes.
“Coming!” she responded, standing up and swinging her backpack over her shoulder.
In the car, Violet could see the lush branches of trees swaying slightly in the wind. Tiny rain drops splattered down the car windows, the morning light slowly disappearing behind the cloudy curtains. Violet liked to pretend they were dragons, racing to the bottom. She imagined many things. Sometimes she was a dragon soaring through the clouds, the sun glistening on her scales. Her dragon-self had four wings, with the pattern of a moth on them. They were an iridescent blue with illuminous glowing patches as bright as the sun. In her mind, she could control them to make them say different things, like a dragon-scale-morse-code. She had a long, broad tail which, on the end, had an azure blue scorpion-tail-barb.
*
When she made it to school, her eyes were spinning everywhere, trying to take in the beauty of the buildings. Deep shades of indigo, marigold, crimson, and azure blue orchids sprouted along the entry to the school. A grand black fence towered over her menacingly. Trees danced in the frosty wind, making a hushed whistle. The pavement was full of a grey-to-orange ratio of colours, engraved into the poshly clean concrete.
Berry bushes stood awaiting her presence, and there was an oak sign saying, ‘take 5 please’ with a neatly drawn smiley face drawn at the bottom of the plank. Birds tweeted and chirped, singing their appealing, calming, and soothing songs.
Violet said her goodbyes to her mum and was greeted by many excited students. Heaps of ‘Hi!’ and ‘Hello!’ streamed into her ears madly. Violet just waved and lowered her head. She spotted a tall, shy student, standing just out of the crowd. The student was gazing down at a book, reading the blurb. She had a shining amber earring that hung just short of the bottom of her earlobe. Violet felt drawn to the earring, yet she shook her head and turned her attention to the other students.
The bell rang and the crowd shook off, running to class. “Hi,” the shy girl said, slowly approaching Violet.
“Oh-Hey!” Voilet responded, more confidently than she felt. ‘I was wondering if you could direct me to class 5F?’
The girl pondered distantly. “Oh uhm … sure! We are in the same class,” she said, looking up and then pointing to a building.
They started walking towards the brick building the mysterious girl had pointed to. Violet found out that her name was Harriet, and she too loved the subject and dragons.
Violet met up with Harriet’s friends, Jake and Amelia. They had similar likings, and she could tell they all were going to be good friends.
After school, Violet caught the bus with Jake and Harriet, finding out that they live a couple blocks away, although Amelia lived in a different suburb, Limewood, which was only a couple of kilometres away, and maybe a forty-five-minute bike ride. The bursting bus filled with kids of all different ages and heights. Most of them she could recognise, as she had either passed them in the playground or they were in the same class as she was. However, she noticed the children at the back had different uniforms. Oh. They were from another school. Where, though? This was the only one in Elqawor. There were only four seats left, meaning only one more person was able to get on.
The chattering of the children streamed into Violet’s ears, giving her a small headache. Violet introduced Harriet and Jake to her favourited game to play on the bus, Yes or No. She told them how to play. “Each house you go by, you have to choose if you want to live in it,” she told them eagerly, pointing her finger at a random house that shot by. “Now, if you would live in it, say yes. If you will not, say no!”
She hummed to herself and looked out the foggy window. “It’s a bit obvious. It just gets to know someone’s sense of taste,” she added smoothly.
Violet turned around to stare into the questioning eyes of Harriet and Jake. “I meant, for future reference! Not to be judgmental!”
“It’s alright. We knew what you meant!” Harriet and Jake looked at each other and giggled in unison.
Violet took a big breath in and out, devastated for making a fool of herself. She hugged her knees and turned her head toward the window, sighing.
“Uhm, Violet? We want to give this to you …” Harriet cupped a long-stringed gemstone necklace. Embedded in carved silver lay an azure-blue topaz. It glittered under the phone light Jake had cast over it. “I understand if you don’t want it,” she added quickly.
“No, it’s beautiful! It’s stunning! Magnificent!” Violet complimented, her eyes not able to leave the shimmering, glimmering necklace. She observed the patterns that lay along the string of the amulet.
*
When she got home, Violet placed her backpack next to the doorway and slammed the door shut, the floor underneath her shuddering slightly like a small earthquake. She peeled her shoes off and paced down the hallway, stopping at a portrait of her father. She smiled softly and glanced around before she walked to the living room. She greeted her little brother in the living room, who simply stared up at her with bright sage eyes. Violet smiled at him and patted his head. She turned away and made her way up the stairs, grasping the railing on her way.
She sprang onto her bed, laying there for a few moments. Hold on. She pulled herself upwards, glancing down at the necklace Harriet and Jake had given her. She pulled it upwards and kept eye contact, studying the amulet. This looks a lot like Harriet’s. She sighed, letting go of the gem.
Violet rolled onto her belly and felt something stabbing her in the throat. “Ack!” she exclaimed, pushing herself up.
Her hair was a curtain to hide anything that wasn’t the amulet.
“What …?” she said, staring down in shock at the floating orb that once was her necklace. “Uhm-! What in the world?”
The string tugged against her neck, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. Nope, not today! Violet wrestled the necklace off, her hair springing out of the way. She held it from the end, studying it as it struggled towards the window.
Violet crawled over her bed, grasping the windowsill. She flicked the lever to unlock it and pushed it open, the chilly air biting at her. Violet ducked over slightly so she could just see the orb and paused. Hold on … Does it want me to go there? To the forest? she pondered, pulling the orb back into her room and shutting her window. Then I shall!
Violet pressed her fists to her hips, thinking about what she needed to prepare. I need to stop this orb from going anywhere, that’s for sure! I need a bag, but I can’t use my school bag. It has my things from school.
She crouched and hopped off her scarlet and marigold covers, pulling a small rectangular box out from the darkness that waited under her bed. This’ll do for now. Violet pulled it into the crimson circular rug that lay in the middle of her room. She tipped the small wooden box on its side, pressing down on every spot possible. A compartment shot out of the side of the box, faded black hues spotted all over it. It had an encased picture of a red dragon silhouette.
Violet turned the key and pushed open the small chest. A cornflower cushion lay at the bottom of the wooden planks. She grabbed the floating orb she had cupped against the bedside table and laid it down on the cobalt blue pillow.
Violet pulled her father’s aged leather and vintage satchel over the pillar of her timber bed frame, hanging it over her shoulder and securing it. She placed the chest in there, along with a notepad and pen, compass, binoculars, a pouch of her favourite snacks and a slim water bottle. At that point, the satchel was completely full, and Violet had to check if the seams would burst or not.
Violet pulled on a pair of old work boots that barely fit her. She buttoned up her pearly white yet stained blouse and slipped into faded-black jeans with grass stains midway down the legs. She tucked her hair into a low ponytail and brushed out her fringe as the frigid winter air had messed it up. She placed a blush pink, moonlight white and sapphire blue brimmed hat on her head and smiled into her mirror. I am ready! Oh gosh. What am I doing? Following a floating, glowing orange orb on a string that was once a necklace into a dark but beautiful forest!
Violet frowned and glanced out of her window, her palms still attached to her hips. She felt as lost as a baby lamb in a never-ending grassy plain. She huffed and pulled open her door, sneaking through the corridor. Violet heard the slicing of something in the kitchen. She glanced down the stairs to see her mother chopping up carrots and celery for her brothers.
Oh no … Uh- I have an idea! She tiptoed down the hallway, towards an old shelf that was home to a pot plant, a photo frame holding a picture of her whole family (with her dad in it, too), a vanilla bean scented candle and plenty of books. Violet pulled a series of seven books and set them up like dominos, hoping they would fall and make a loud bang. Shocked by the loudness, she covered her ears as she rushed to her room and hid behind her door. She grasped the golden handle and waited for the sound of her mother’s footsteps.
“Vi? Was that you, honey? Are you alright?” her mother called after many breathless moments, her voice ringing in Violet’s ears.
Her mother’s footsteps echoed up the hallway. Finally, Violet recognised that she had stopped at the hallstand.
“What on earth?”
Violet peered around the door and watched as her mother sorted and colour-coded the books.
She’s distracted. I should go now. She slipped out of her room and pushed her body against the walls.
Violet rushed down the stairs and out of the kitchen. It seemed as if the floorboards creaked louder more than ever. She spun through the garage door and shut it quietly but quickly behind her. Relieved, she bent down and rested her palms just above her knees.
“Close call,” she muttered under her breath, advancing through the garage to the door that led outside.
Violet heard her mother’s footsteps above her. I must wait until she is downstairs or she’ll see me out the windows, she realised. However, her mother’s noises disappeared. Whatever. I’ll just go. Violet swung the door open and ventured through the yard to the tree line, attempting to not step on any of the wildflowers.
She gazed into the forest, little golden rays of happiness pouring from the gaps of the canopy. Twisting roots hugged tulips, ferns, chamomiles, white calla lilies and wild orchids. Stones captured moss, vines and lichens, their billowing-smoke hue standing out from the fallen leaves. Hunter green vines clung onto the bark of the thick, broad trees.
“Woah …” Violet scanned the scenery, her jade eyes gleaming brightly. She unclipped the satchel and neatly pulled the chest out, unlocking it with ease. The orb flew out of the chest, the string trailing above it as it floated into the distance.
“Wait!” She chased after it, carefully avoiding the twisting tree roots and stones poking out from the soil.
Violet flicked a branch out of her view, flocks of marigold, crimson, scarlet, monarch orange and sage green rose past the foliage. She paused; a rushing river lay before her.
Violet froze, glancing at the glowing ring of light that hung on the other side of the river. “Oh, shucks!” She scanned the floor, brushing away the amber and apple leaves.
Violet bent down and ripped out the buried branch. She paced over to the water’s edge and stuck the stick in, holding it tight so it didn’t wash away. Violet pulled the branch out, observing the depth of the river. Alright, I can do this. Not too hard, right, Violet?
Violet ran through the trees, scanning for any large rocks hiding in between tree trunks. She paused, realising she found a group of perfect matches for the depth of the rushing river. A tower of stacked, medium-sized rocks stood, peering from behind the trunk of an out-standish tree.
*
Violet sat next to the water, crossing her legs. She was utterly exhausted like a baby polar bear that had gone three days without food. Violet wasn’t even hungry; she just wanted the ring of light to go back to the necklace so she could continue her normal life. She hadn’t even realised it, yet this place had reminded her of her old friend Patricia’s backyard. It had tall trees, with plenty of wildlife. It looked as if somebody had released a zoo of stunning animals into her backyard.
Violet missed Patricia. They had met at the park when they were five. Now, six years later, she didn’t even live in the same country as her, let alone go to the same school. Those were the best six years of Violet’s life. Her father passed away when she was eight, and it was hard for her. Really, really, hard. Patricia made her feel better, like she should keep going, like that’s what her dad would want for her. To keep going and pursue her dream of writing and become the wisest, boldest, most creative author in Alika! Yet, Violet hadn’t heard from Patricia for three weeks, ever since she sent her first letter. She could be caught up in homework … Or … or… the shipping process is super long to here! I mean, we are in completely different countries … It could be possible. Would she ignore me? Forever? No … She’s not like that. I hope.
She sat up, determined to get the orb. She brushed the muck off her jeans and picked up the nearest stone she had collected. Violet flung the first stone in, fleeing back before the splash could hit her. She picked up the next and hopped onto the other stone, placing it down carefully. Violet placed the next one down and leaped onto it, looking back at the other side of the river, and securing her satchel with both hands before springing to safe, hard ground.
Violet crouched before straightening her posture, dusting off her black jeans. She was safe and committed to getting the orb back, no matter what. The orb shook slightly and floated slowly into the canopy. Violet leaped, grabbing the orb with both hands. Oh no. Oh no, no, no! What am I doing! It is going to take me Jamicon! She attempted to pull it down, yet the string resisted with ease.
“Ugh! Stupid, stupid necklace! Why would they give this to me?” Violet spat, staring down at her dangling feet.
Suddenly, the necklace quivered and swivelled, as if attempting to make her let go.
“Ha! Nice try! I am going to pull you down and return hooo- Ahhh!” With the speed near of a bullet train, the necklace hurried into the trees, leaving her flying through the foliage.
“Ahhhhhhhh!” Violet screamed as a nearby branch nearly pierced through her heart. “Let me go!” she howled, thrashing her legs around recklessly. She thought those were going to be her last minutes. However, the orb abruptly threw her into a neatly racked pile of candlelight orange and bronze cotyledon.
“Ack-! Curse you, orb!” Violet wailed, rubbing her head restlessly and looking around for her hat. She observed her surroundings, questioning how she would get home.
Violet sighed, giving up and sitting cross-legged in the candlelight leaves. “It is not worth it … I will just die here! In a forest in my backyard, my mum completely unaware of where I am!” she huffed, leaning backwards slightly until she lost her balance and fell. Behind her, there was a long, makeshift ladder made from limewood planks and heavy-duty rope. As her head hit a step, the ladder trembled and shook.
“What? What is that?” Violet paused, gulping. A treehouse? Here? In the middle of the woods? Should I go up?
She stood up silently, afraid the orb was up there and ready to attack her again. Oh god. I should just go. This is stupid. She reached for her satchel before being interrupted by multiple footsteps above. Yep. I’m leaving!
She opted to make a run for it, yet her plans were cancelled as someone spoke from above. “Violet? Oh no. It was hers. The necklace was hers! The one I gave to her! How could I be so stupid?” Harriet popped her face out from the balcony and turned her head as if she were talking to somebody up there.
“That darn necklace is cursed. Destroy it!” Violet wailed, grasping a piece of rope connected to the ladder.
“Uh … Cannot do that. We need it. For a- uh- uh- project! Yes, uhm- out of school project!” Harriet called, giving double looks to whoever accompanied her up there. She fiddled with the sleeve of her mulberry shirt.
“I am done with this. Pull her up,” Jake’s voice called from the other side of the tree.
Violet stepped away from the ladder, letting go.
“I am going home … Keep that necklace, please. I do not want to see that monster ever again. It nearly killed me!” she exclaimed, edging away.
“No can do. Move as little as possible, please,” Amelia spoke quietly, leaping up onto the railing.
Amelia slipped a ring onto her pinky finger and closed her eyes. She lifted her open palm towards Violet, her pear green gem glowing brighter every second.
“Uh- What’s happening?!” Violet shrieked, when she started to lift off the ground.
“Hush. She is concentrating,” Jake whispered under his breath, watching her as she rose closer towards them.
Is this … telekinesis? But how? Nope. I am dreaming. Yes, and the necklace will be normal when I wake up. No need to panic, right?
As her shoes hit the ground, Amelia dropped both palms to the railing and her knee to her chin. She opened her eyes, a faint green glow growing in the iris of her eyes. She held the ring in her hand, muttering, “Return with the intention of Adjourn” repeatedly.
“What. In. The. Name. Of. Alika?!” Violet squealed.
“Uh- haha … You can look around, if you like,” Jake blurted, barely answering her question.
The treehouse had a spiralling staircase made of singular planks that circled around a broad tree trunk. Hanging from several of the steps were lanterns shaped near to identical to the trees surrounding them. Six coffee-coloured chairs with a scarlet cushion as dark as old blood gathered around a circular, colour-matched table with a crimson tablecloth. The tapestry was the sun, bright and colourful, with strands of marigold, blush, coral, violet and iris hues in a spiral pattern. On the table was a detailed, decorative, moonlight white, marble pot plant. On the rim, it looked as if small pillars were covered in crawling vines that were constantly moving.
“What is this place?” Violet muttered, advancing across the planks to the other areas.
“Oh, it’s our hangout.” Amelia spoke quietly, slipping off her ring and hanging it somewhere Violet could not see. “We spend our afternoons here,” she continued.
“When it’s not pouring down rain,” Amelia added quickly, shooting a look at Jake. He simply shook his head.
“And we aren’t going to talk about how she literally just lifted me up here?!” Violet pointed at Amelia then looked at Jake, then at Harriet.
“Yeah. We have some explaining to do, too.” Harriet walked over to where Amelia had hung her ring and beckoned them all over. A large, thick vine twirled around the tree. It was slightly hidden under the stairs, but it was still quite noticeable. There were six leaves shaped as a hook attached to the lowest point of the vine. On one of them, she could see her necklace, which had turned back to the version it was when Harriet and Jake had given it to her. The topaz in the centre was still perfectly intact even though it had hit so many branches. Violet could see Amelia’s pear ring, which had an emerald embedded in it.
Harriet brought her hand to her ear, slipped her monarch orange earring out and clipped it through a small hole in the leaf-hook. From memory, Harriet’s earring was made from amber. Jake smiled slightly and pulled up his sleeve until it was midway up his forearm. He unclipped the bracelet from the opening and closed it again, hanging it on his larger hook. Implanted on a silver hold was an opal. It shone as the light hit it, casting a haze of hazel glare around it.
“Jake’s is the most powerful amulet there is. He has the power of creation when wearing it.” Amelia had dragged a chair over and sat cross-legged on it. She had pulled off the crimson pillow and was hugging it instead.
“It’s not the most powerful. Haven’t we already talked about this? The opal is for creation, the emerald is for telekinesis, the topaz is for teleportation, the amber is for leafspeak. The ruby is for fire and the Elqawor is for all!” Jake clicked his tongue, running his hand below all the amulets. Gold plated words labelled where each object went, telling you when they were made and what they did.
“Wait, like as in Elqawor the suburb? Where me, Harriet and Jake live?” Violet asked, studying the gold-plated words.
“Precisely. It’s not its real name, but we named it that. Here is a picture of them all. We found this under a rug,” Harriet answered.
Harriet lifted the rug and pulled out a stack of photos, sorting through them. She stopped at one and showed it to Violet. It was of a hand holding a heart-shaped, yellow diamond. Before Violet could look at it any further, Harriet pulled it away and sat down on the floor, re-doing her hair.
“Okay, okay. So, we have the opal, emerald, topaz and amber here. But where is the ruby and ‘Elqawor’? And what’s Leafspook, wait … no. Leafspeck? Leafspree?” She gasped before adding, “Did you lose it? Did someone steal it!”
Jake looked around restlessly, grinding his teeth nervously. “Uhm, not quite. It was not here when I discovered this place.”
“Can’t you just make it with your creation power?” Violet asked, still observing the treehouse’s beauty.
Amelia got up from her chair and approached her, holding something behind her back. “Violet? Do you mind if we call you Vi?”
Amelia turned her head ever so slightly to the right, smiling softly. Violet looked up at her and she could still see the green in her eyes. “No, not at all,” she smiled, collecting and organising her thoughts as if it were her bedroom, which was not good at all.
Shhoow, Clink, Puh. Amelia pulled her hands out from her back, and Violet flinched slightly. In her hands lay Violet’s necklace and hat.
“Oh, uh. Thanks. Where did you find it?”
Amelia shrugged, smiling. “It’s something that comes with the telekinesis powers. I can just summon things. Like I did with your necklace. And, well, your hat.”
Violet smiled and placed her hat on her head.
“What do I do with this?” She referred to her necklace, which was menacingly lying in her hand.
The others looked confused.
Jake pointed to the gold plates, particularly at one of them, which read teleportation. Violet felt drawn to it, like she did when she first saw Harriet’s necklace.
“Teleport, of course!” Harriet said finally, pointing where she must have thought Violet lived.
“And-uh, how do I do that?” Violet gulped, lowering the necklace over her head.
An indigo and ivory haze shifted over them, like candlelight in a shadow-filled room. Violet looked down at her lap, sighing. “I am giving this back to you at school tomorrow. I like this friendship and everything, but I cannot deal with a power I do not know how to control.”
She held the necklace in her cupped palms, which were laying on her lap. “So, I close my eyes and hold it to my forehead and think of the place I want to go. And if I never have seen that place before, it’s certain I will not end up there?” Violet brushed her hair behind her ears with two fingers.
“Yes, same with Amelia’s power,” said Harriet. “She cannot draw it to her if she has not seen it before. She saw your hat …?”
“On the floor. Under a few leaves,” Amelia answered slowly, spacing out.
“But wait. These amulets. There is a reason we took yours back. Once all six are together on the hooks, our powers are all the most powerful on earth. We are not power hungry, but it would be cool if we could. Imagine! Saving lives here and there! Daily! We wouldn’t have to go to school! We’d be famous. Of course, we’d have to hide our real identity … But still!” Harriet chirped, completely forgetting what she was talking about. “Ah shoot. I did it again.” She huffed and dropped to the floor, hugging her knees.
“Woah,” said Violet. “So, once they are all hooks, they become the most powerful thing? That’s craz– cool. That’s cool.”
“Well, two of them got sent to Pucklechurch. The ruby and the Elqawor. We don’t know where. But we know it was to Pucklechurch, Amelia’s dad works at the post office and she wrenched it out of him,” Jake said, fiddling with his hair.
Violet looked as if a skunk had just sprayed its scent into the treehouse. “Pucklechurch. Where I just flew from, three weeks ago?” Violet blinked slowly three times and put her palm to her forehead, staring at the floor. She placed her elbow on the railing, lost in her own thoughts.
“Oh, yeah. Haha …” Amelia muttered, looking around nervously.
“To return your eyes to normal you must close your eyes and say, ‘Return with the intention of Adjourn’ a lot, alright?” Jake nodded as the sky shifted slightly. He dropped next to Harriet on the serene, snug serape floorcloth.
After him, Amelia did too, as if they were circling around to protect her, like muster dogs to herds. Violet shifted in her seat and closed her eyes. She lifted her fringe out of the way and brought the azure blue semi-precious stone to her forehead. She imagined her bed, the scarlet and vermillion matching pillows. The ivory bed cloth and the deep oak timber bedframe. Violet pictured her cerulean fluffy dragon teddy her dad had given her for her third birthday. Suddenly, the memory disappeared, returning to a blank, bare, black canvas.
There, in the darkness of her eyes, was a golden glare. It was moving at the pace of a bullet train, swivelling left and right every now and then. Yet, it halted like a steed when its bridle is pulled. The glare’s glow fainted and flashed, before it disappeared with the spark of her memory.
The memory was back, yet it seemed as if she could move and control it. Violet forced open her eyes, a throbbing headache kicking her multiple times in the head. She gasped for air, catching her fall with her hands.
Violet rolled onto her back and looked around, feeling the floor beneath her. My head … It hurts so bad. She rubbed her eyes and sat up against the frame of her bed. “Woah. I did it.”
She scanned her room, pushing herself upright. I did it. I just teleported. I just teleported.
*
Violet buttoned up the last buttons of her pyjamas, staring at the satchel she had left on the floor. Today was crazy. I don’t even know how to explain it. Violet sighed and bent down to the satchel. She unclipped the flap and flipped it over. Violet pulled out the dark oak wooden box and sighed. She pushed up the lid and rested it on her timber floor. Violet then slipped her necklace off and gently placed it down on the royal blue cushion. She pressed the lid down and sighed.
Violet unpacked the notepad and pen, compass, binoculars, the pouch of snacks and the slim water bottle. She opened the bottom drawer to her bedside table and placed the binoculars and compass in. Violet pushed the drawer closed quietly and set the notepad and pen onto the nightstand, particularly close to her ivory-glazed lamp. She drank the water in the bottle and positioned it next to the pen. Violet left the rest on the cochineal-coloured mat and flopped, belly-first, onto her bed.
She sighed and hugged her dragon, closing her eyes. Violet was suddenly interrupted by two knocks at her door, tip tap.
“Violet, are you in there?” her mother called from the other side of the door.
“Come in,” Violet groaned, wrapping her hands tighter around the toy.
Hhh, Shwooo. The door swung open slowly as her mother entered. “Are you alright?” her mother asked, sitting at the end of her bed.
Violet sat up and frowned. “Yeah. Just a bit tired.”
Grasping Violet’s hand, her mother smiled softly. “That’s a shame.” Her mum sighed before subtly smirking and added, “Patricia’s post came in the mail today.”
Violet shot up, grinning, her cerulean dragon dropping off the covers of her bed.
“Really! I have been waiting for sooo long!”
Violet beamed as her mother handed her a twine-wrapped envelope. A cerise wax stamp enclosed the envelope, the design, a raven. Violet had given her that stamp for her ninth birthday and they used it on everything they had made together. They had stamped it on a tree that was in Patricia’s backyard and even on the side of her shelf they built together.
Violet smiled happily and untied the string, settling it next to her. She quickly put the envelope down and picked up her dragon once she had seen him on the floor. She stowed him back against her scarlet, serene and snug pillows.
Violet carefully peeled back the vermillion wax stamp. She folded the flap back and pulled out the postcard. “Found this at a jewellery store, do you want one?” Violet read out loud, looking for the picture.
“I think it’s still in the envelope?” her mum suggested, letting go of Violet’s hand to point at the casing of the letter.
Violet slipped it out, her eyes widening as she stared at the necklace.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it,” her mum breathed, observing the necklace in the picture.
“Yeah, uhm, it is,” Violet muttered, staring at the necklace.
Around Patricia’s neck was a heart-shaped, butterscotch necklace. Yet, this wasn’t any necklace from a jewellery store in Pucklechurch. The necklace in the picture was the Elqawor necklace.
