Madeline Williams is a normal teenage girl.
Her birthday is July 1. She lives in Canada with her father, after her mother died giving birth to her. Madeline, who bears a striking resemblance to her mother with her wavy golden blonde hair and deep blue eyes, inherited her father's mild-mannered disposition.
Madeline enjoys going to school. She is almost always at the top of her class and is often found with her nose stuck in a book. Madeline takes great pleasure in studying the languages, culture, and history of other countries.
Despite her gentle temperament, she is competitive and fierce when it comes to her two favorite sports: hockey and lacrosse. Many opponents of hers have been left beaten and battered, whether on the ice or the field.
However...
Madeline Williams is not a normal girl.
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It started when she was younger. Due to her shyness and hesitation to approach others, Madeline did not have friends. She would sit alone in a corner of the playground reading while the other children ran around playing games. She longed to be a part of those games but did not know how. Her teachers and father attempted to teach Madeline how to socialize with others, but their efforts were in vain.
So it came to be that on one particular day, Madeline was no longer alone. While she was reading as usual, she felt a weight on the top of her head. Madeline's hand automatically reached up to pat the source of this peculiar new weight. She felt something...soft? Startled, Madeline retracted her hand and felt the weight leave her head. She closed her eyes and when she opened them again, she saw a bird perching on her lap.
"A...birdie? Birdie, why are you on my lap?"
Madeline did not expect the bird to reply because she knew birds couldn't talk. So imagine her surprise when her new feathered friend did exactly that.
"Because you looked like you needed a buddy!"
That was how Madeline met her first friend, the raven she named Inkblot. Madeline knew Inkblot was special. He looked like no other raven; glowing blue patterns covered his head, back, tail, wings, and chest. His eyes shone with the same light.
When Madeline attempted to show her teachers her new companion, they smiled and introduced themselves to the space on Madeline's right shoulder. Inkblot perched on Madeline's left. She came to understand that no one else but her could see Inkblot.
Inkblot enjoyed playing pranks on anyone who isn't Madeline. He will often take small items like hair ties, bracelets, etc. and hide them from their hapless owner until Madeline scolds him to return the belongings. Madeline's father is not exempt from this behavior. He often finds himself missing his keys, socks, watch, etc.
The presence of her "imaginary" friend made Madeline much happier. With Inkblot's unwitting help, Madeline was able to approach her classmates more often. She shared lunches and stories with them, they made drawings together, and played games. Madeline had Inkblot at home, but now she had friends at school too.
⚘
The party of two became three the next year.
Madeline was exploring her father's garden. She caught sight of a butterfly and attempted to catch it. As she flailed her arms around and ran after it, she shouted.
"Wait! Pretty butterfly! Please stay still! I want to show you to dad!"
Inkblot was flying overhead, struggling to warn Madeline to slow down before she...
"Ow!"
....fell.
Madeline shakily stood up and looked around for what she tripped on. Her eyes widened and she gasped when her sight fell upon the object of her curiosity.
It was a turtle, but not just any turtle. The turtle's shell shone with the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and violet. It was a beautiful sight. What was not so beautiful was the expression on the turtle's face.
"Hey kid, can't you see I'm walking here?"
Madeline felt the beginning of tears coming to her eyes.
"I'm really sorry, Mr. Turtle. I just wanted to catch that butterfly! Now I've gone and lost it, and clumsy old me wasn't watching where I was going, and I tripped on your shell, and what if you're hurt, and it's all my fault, and...."
"Hey, hey, hey. Stop your crying kid. It's okay. My shell's indestructible! It'll take more than some tike like you to break it."
On the turtle's face was an expression of remorse.
Madeline immediately brightened upon hearing the turtle's reassurance. Her sadness was gone, replaced by a strong interest and desire for knowledge.
"What's your name, Mr. Turtle? Why are you in my dad's garden?"
"I'm not Mr. Turtle, kid. I don't got a name. Never needed one. And for your information, I'm looking for a new home. Must have taken a wrong turn somewhere to end up in this neighborhood..."
"You don't have a name? But everyone has a name, Mr. Turtle! What about I give you one?"
"You? Kid, please. Like I said, I've been fine with no name, and I don't-"
Madeline was about to cry again.
"Alright, alright! Just stop with your waterworks kid. Fine. Give me a name. And it better be good, y'hear?"
Madeline adopted a thinking pose.
"Hm...Well, you're really good at hiding, Mr. Turtle. How about I call you...Sneak!"
"Sneak, huh? Sneak the turtle. Has a nice ring to it."
"Yay! Oh, and I never introduced myself. My name is Madeline. My friends call me Maddie. And speaking of friends, there's one right there!"
Madeline excitedly pointed to a tree a distance away. Perched on the tree, silently watching the entire exchange, was Inkblot. Upon his discovery, Inkblot flew to perch on Madeline's shoulder.
"Yo. The name's Inkblot. I'm Madeline's first friend, and don't you forget it pal."
"Hah! Who said I want to be pals with you?!"
So the rivalry between Inkblot the raven and Sneak the turtle began. Sneak "moved in" with Madeline and though he would never say it out loud, he grew a soft spot for her. Sneak was the more level headed and grounded of the trio. Inkblot encouraged Madeline to be more outgoing, but it was Sneak who always reminded her to never forget her true self.
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Madeline's group of magical friends continued to grow.
When she went hiking and camping with her dad, she met a sasquatch who she dubded Mr. Link. The aforementioned Mr. Link preferred the name Susan. Susan helped Madeline look for wood to start a campfire. While Madeline and her dad were enjoying the smores they made, she secretly snuck a few to Susan. Her dad knew she loved sweets, including pancakes and anything with maple syrup, but even he was slightly surprised how many smores his daughter could eat.
Susan was tired of his home in the forest, so he followed Madeline all the way back to civilization. Susan became well acquainted with both Inkblot and Sneak; he preferred Sneak, who took the time to educate Susan on human inventions and customs while Madeline was away at school.
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When Madeline met "Oggy" the Ogopogo, she was swimming in the waters of Okanagan Lake as her father watched her to be safe. That day was a rare day when there weren't many people out enjoying the warm weather, so Madeline had plenty of space to swim and frolic. Madeline was practicing holding her breath underwater when she spotted a...tail? She went up for air, took a deep breath, and dived underwater to see if she could spot the tail again. Instead of a tail, what she saw was a creature that was perhaps 9 meters (30 feet) long. It had a sleek, serpent like body, whiskers, big eyes, and flippers. The spine of its body was curved, as in the shape of waves. The ogopogo waved its flippers at Madeline in greeting, and in the blink of an eye, it was gone.
Madeline encountered Oggy later in, of all the places, her bathtub. Oggy was smaller this time around to fit the bathtub. In his regular form, Oggy most likely would have filled the entire room. Madeline had a great time blowing bubbles with Oggy. Oggy would use magic to reshape them into ships, mermaids, and wherever her imagination took her.
Oggy could appear without a body of water, but in the water, he moved much quicker. When he was dry, Oggy tended to move slower because he was so big. As a result, Oggy kept his size to no more than five feet. He wrapped himself around Madeline's neck if he wanted to travel with her.
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Madeline had strange dreams. She dreamed of a boy that looked like her. The only difference was their eyes. His eyes were violet. He was often alone, and he was sad. When Madeline woke up from her dreams, she could not recall what happened in those dreams. She only remembered the boy.
One night, Madeline saw him again. He was running away from something, but what, she could not tell. Only darkness was discernible to her. The darkness was closing in on him. He ran and ran, but he could not outrun the shadows.
Madeline woke up in a cold sweat. She sluggishly got out of her bed and moved to the window. The moon was full tonight. Madeline admired its light. There was nothing of note aside from the tree in her backyard.
A spark of blue caught her eye. If Madeline squinted, she could almost see a pair of eyes. The eyes stared back at her. The blue light glowed brighter. Slowly, Madeline could make out a beak, feathers, wings. It was an owl.
She watched the owl as it flew towards her window and then tapped on the glass. Madline supposed it was asking her to let it in. So she did.
"Hoot!" the owl called out to her.
"Hello, my name's Madeline. What is yours? Or would you like me to name you?"
"Hoot!"
Madeline thought of a cartoon she had watched recently. Peanuts. The name of the little yellow bird was...
"Woodstock!"
"Hoot!" the owl seemed satisfied.
"Can you talk, Woodstock?"
"Hoot!"
Well, that was fine. Oggy couldn't talk either.
Woodstock flapped to Madeline's bed and pointed his wing at her.
"You want me to go back to sleep?"
She received an affirmative hoot in reply.
"But I had a scary nightmare...I don't want to go back to sleep..."
In response, Woodstock only grew more luminescent. His blue light encompassed all of Madeline's room. He was like a nightlight, but one that never needed new batteries.
Madeline felt Woodstock's light blanketing her. It felt warm and comforting. She knew she could sleep soundly with Woodstock by her side.
⚘
Time passed. Madeline grew older. She no longer talked to her magical friends when anyone else was around, only in private.
As a result of her adventures with her father, Madeline developed a passion for traveling. More than that, she developed a passion for photography. Her dad invested in cameras and photography gear for her. Madeline liked taking pictures of easily overlooked subjects. Macro photography, she later learned it was called. Making the miniscule larger than life. She started a blog where she posted her pictures; she won contests. She interviewed people for newspapers and magazines. Her passion grew with the encouragement of others around her.
Madeline had a happy childhood.
I wanted to give Madeline some magical creature friends. It'll play into the story later with England (maybe Norway and Romania?). I was inspired by Canadian folklore.