When Mia met Casper

|Chapter Two| - Miracles in December

| C H A P T E R T W O | - Miracles in December

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27TH JANUARY 1997

        It is seven o'clock on a bright and sunny morning, which is very odd because it was the middle of winter when the streets were veiled with snow. The sun is hanging high in the sky, spreading its warmth and colour thought-out the town. The sound of cars moving across pavements; voices of people chatting and laughing, the smell of freshly made bread coming from the little bakery across the road; the taste of warmth and sunshine and the feel of the light breeze that escaped through the open windows, was not enough to keep Mia awake as she sat around the kitchen table with the rest of the care kids. The kitchen was puzzling with exciting chit-chat and loud laughter.

        Mia takes occasional spoonful's of cereal whilst she listens to Joshua -or was it Joseph? She still couldn't differentiate the twins apart- yapper on about something he had watched on telly the night before.

        "And then he dissected her, removed all her organs and put them into these empty glass jars--"

        "Uh-huh."

        "--and then slit her throat open so it was literally hanging off her neck like a thin piece of string, ready to snap off any moment and--"

        "Yeah," Mia says absentmindedly. She moves her spoon in a circular motion around her empty bowl, her eyelids threatening to close.

        "--and then it eventually snap--," Joshua -or was it Joseph- stops midsentence and cocks an eyebrow at Mia, "Are you even listening?"

        Mia pushes her bowl forward, crosses her arms in front of her on the table and then buries her head into them. "Loud and clear."

        Joshua/Joseph pokes her arm with a fork. "Are you okay?"

        "No."

        "Why?"

        "Because...," she drawls, "today's my first day at WestWoodlends Primary School and I'm tired and I think I'll end up passing out for not getting enough sleep." Mia muffles into her arm. She is slightly suffocating but she is far too tired to raise her head. Dying from lack of oxygen didn't sound too bad. Dying meant missing school and sleeping for all of eternity.

        Joshua/Joseph laughs and someone else -she bets her old sneakers that it was Evelin-begins to giggle. "Are you always this moody in the morning?"

       "I'm not moody, I'm tried. Now let me sleep or I will hold you responsible if I happen to pass out."

       "I'm beginning to think that you're actually a moody teenager trapped inside an eight year olds body," Evelin muses, her voice thick with amusement.

        "Interesting theory," Joshua/Joseph accords.

       Mia doesn't bother replying as she shuts her eyes and shuffles in her seat until she is in a comfortable position. The kitchen continued to buzz with laughter and voices but Mia is too tired to even notice. A lack of sleep does that to people. It turns them into semi-deaf zombies with slight anger issues.

☾☀ 你永远是我最好的朋友。☽☼

        "Hello sweetheart," the woman says. Her fingers weave into Mia's hair as she plays with a brown lock. Twisting and untwisting it around her fingers.