Fantasia

Chapter 2

The next morning, they woke up with their mother calling out to them, as usual. Ellie brushed her hair and put on her most favorite hairband. Instead of coming down immediately, she went to Vicky's bedroom and was surprised to see the room clean and Vicky doing the same thing.

She was had her hair up into a ponytail, and was wearing the same thing Ellie was wearing, a t-shirt with her name on it and blue jeans.

The only difference was that Ellie's t-shirt was a delicate shade of lavender, and Vicky's was canary yellow.

'Wow, Vicky! How did you know I was going to wear the same thing?' Ellie asked.

Vicky shrugged. 'Great minds think alike.' She said, and together they went down for breakfast.

They boarded the bus after some time and everybody wished them.

School was okay, even Mrs. Finns didn't shout at Vicky and she didn't fall asleep.

As they walked back home, Ellie asked her, 'so, how does it feel to be 12?'

Vicky shrugged. 'I don't know, I still feel like 11.'

'I wish dad was here.'

There was silence for a moment, but they knew they were thinking the same thing. Their father was a military officer, and he had to stay at the borders. He came home for a month every year, or sometimes for their birthday.

'He'll be home soon.' Vicky said.

Ellie didn't say anything.

As they neared home, they could see a man in a military uniform. They knew who it was immediately, and their jaws dropped open in perfect unison. They ran towards the man, and threw their arms around him.

'Ellie! Vicky! How are you guys! It's been a long time since I saw you!' he laughed, ruffling their hair and giving them a huge hug. The man was just like the girls, with black hair and olive green eyes.

'Dad! How come you're here?' Ellie asked, smiling from ear to ear.

'Well, how could I miss my miss-know-it-all and my sleepyhead's birthdays?' They whined at their nicknames, but were still happy that their father was here.

Just then, Mrs. Barfield came out of the house and smiled. 'Surprise! I asked your father to come home for just a day to spend your birthday with you.'

In response, Ellie and Vicky hugged her.

They all went inside the house, and Mr. Barfield told them about his trips and what he did during his time in the boundaries of the country.

By the time Mrs. Barfield finished cooking the dinner, the sky had turned a vibrant shade of orange.

The bell rang, and Vicky said, 'race you to the door!'

In reply, Ellie laughed, 'you're on!'

They raced to the door, and since Vicky had practice, she won. She giggled and opened the door, while Ellie stomped her foot and whined.

At the door was a petite woman who was probably in her 50's. She wore a pink dress and a matching pink jacket, had a blonde pixie cut and wore cat-eye glasses with fake gems on the frame.

'hello, Mrs. Gordon!' Vicky and Ellie greeted the woman with a hug.

'Oh girls! Happy birthday! Here's a small thing for both of you.' She said, and handed a parcel to each of them.

They kept it on the couch, where the rest of the gifts were. After a nice dinner and cutting a big cake, (Ellie cut one half and Vicky cut the other) they sat to open the gifts.

The gifts were named to either of them, so it was easy to see which one was for who.

Ellie got a book set of classic fairy tales, a lego castle set, her own writing kit, and a customised notebook with a picture of her and Vicky.

Vicky got a new basketball, running shoes that glow in the dark, a lego basketball court set and a customized t-shirt with her name and a caricature of herself.

They admired their gifts and thanked Mrs. Gordon, Mr. Barfield and Mrs. Barfield for the gifts.

'oh! I forgot to give you guys just one more thing.' Mrs. Barfield exclaimed, and she ran upstairs to her bedroom and came down after a few minutes, with a jewellery box. She sat on the floor, where Ellie and Vicky were already sitting. She opened it and took out two necklaces, both very similar to each other.

The chain was silver, and the pendants were shaped like drops. The gems in them looked exactly the same, except that one was lavender and the other was yellow.

Mrs. Barfield gave the lavender one to Ellie and the yellow one to Vicky. Ellie's eyes grew wide. She took Vicky's necklace and examined the jem. Then, she examined hers. 'Mom, are these quartz?' she asked.

Mrs. Barfield smiled at her daughter's knowledge and said, 'it sure is. In a mine where you only get lavender coloured quartz, they were mining and they found a yellow quartz, right next to the lavender one. It seems that in this mine, there was yellow quartz before the lavender ones. A jeweller made them into necklaces, and I bought them. This happens only once in a millenium, and my girls are lucky enough to own them!'

Vicky and Ellie grinned from ear to ear, knowing that they were special. They put on the necklaces, and the they simply looked radiant.

Mr. Barfield had to leave the next morning, so he went to bed. Mrs. Gordon also left. Mrs. Barfield said that she would go to bed, too. This left the twins to change into their pajamas, drag their sleeping bags down to the hall, get their favourite snacks from the kitchen, and put a movie of their choice.

The twins had a kind of ritual that they would follow on their birthday. They would spend the whole day together, trying not to fight, and sleep together. They chose the movie "inside out" to watch and put it on. As they watched, they munched on chips, pretzels, ate ice cream and drank soda. By the time the movie was over, it was past midnight.

Both of them yawned, and they settled into their sleeping bags.

'Good night, vicky. And once again, happy birthday.' Ellie yawned.

'ditto.' Vicky replied, already half asleep. Ellie too drifted off.