The Candlestick People

Chapter 4

  I nearly screamed. "WHAT?! Really?!" I exclaimed.

"Yes! Aren't you so excited? Aaron is taking us out for dinner!" she said. My Dad's name is Aaron.

I went and got Delilah, and we went to Stickgetti, the best place on the Candleworld to get stickgetti (hence the name). I love stickgetti, but my favorite food was made (originally) by my mom: statuesticks. They look amazing, but the best thing is the flavor; I cannot even begin to describe it, but I will try: try to imagine chocolate, sugar, honey, caramel, red velvet, cheesecake, vanilla, and any other most delicious things ever made mixed (but somehow separate), because that is what it tastes like. It looks like anything you want, and it reconstructs itself into your chosen temperature and color.

We got out of the car, and Katya suddenly started talking. "So, what'd ya do today?" she said in a silly tone of voice, "I went and played TAG!" She slapped me on the arm and ran off. Geniveve and Hannah raced off. I looked at my parents in confusion and then, suddenly, it dawned on me. She had tagged me. I raced off to get Katya and we played tag until my parents said that we had to stop and be quiet. We found a table and ordered. I had a stickgetti (of course). Dad had to feed Delilah off of his plate. After we ate dinner, we ordered some ice candel and celebrated. We got home and went to bed. I decided to read a bit and then went to bed as I would not be falling asleep anytime soon.

I had a very weird dream that night. Something about a little boy and a puddle.... Anyway, why had I woken up? Was someone singing? I looked at who was singing and listened. They were singing, "Happy Birthday". I said, "Thanks, guys. I completely forgot it was my birthday today! Now, where are my presents?"

Everyone laughed. "They're downstairs. Come on, let's go open them." Mom said. I rushed downstairs to find my presents. This year they were just on the couch. Some years they are hidden, but not this year, I guess. I took them to my room and got ready for school. I told Mom that I would open them after school and headed to school. Everyone congratulated me and I thanked them and all that stuff. Sera handed me a present and I opened it. It was a Perry Xailey Pop Socket for my candlephone. When I got home, Geniveve yelled, "I WANT A CANDLEPHONE!" I kissed Delilah, and Mom said that Geniveve could pay for a phone if she wanted to get it now, but if she waited until she was my age, then they would get her one. She whined, "But I want one now!" I ran upstairs to check my candlephone for any messages from Unknown without anyone seeing me. I had looked around at school and had not seen anyone watching me. I was not disappointed. He said:

Hey there,

If you are reading this after school, you must be excited, and if not I have to try to be more interesting. Anyway, I saw you looking around to see me. I would be surprised if you did see me. By the way, happy birthday.

Unknown

Wow. He read my mind. That is weird, but it just shows how well he knows me. I WAS confused about how he hid from me. I have really good eyesight. Anyway, I should probably go do my homework and practice for the play, I thought.

I started practicing first. When I was about to yell, "Behold The Candleworld!", I glanced out the window and saw a flash of red. I thought, that's him. I know it. I ran outside to see where (and who) he was. I saw him running away, into the woods behind my house. I tried to chase after him but was soon interrupted.

"Susan! What are you doing? Get back to practicing your play! You aren't done yet!" A voice from inside yelled. It was Mom.

"Sorry, Mom! I just thought I saw a deer! I'll be right in!" I fib. I could not let her know, at least not yet. I did not know how she would react. I did not want to scare her, somehow. I went back inside.

And almost immediately Hannah asked, "What color is it and how old did it look and where did it go and did you..." I drifted off. Where did Unknown live? I thought. And why had he run off? And where? And, most importantly, how did he run so fast? I am the fastest runner I know!

"SUSAN! I AM ASKING YOU AN IMPORTANT QUESTIONS!! AND YOU ARE IGNORING ME!" Hannah screamed. I pretended to describe in detail to her all the questions I heard and she asked me more.

"Hey, Hannah, I think I saw one of your toys outside. You better go get it or else the candogs will." I hastily said to stop the onslaught of interrogations. When she ran outside, I rushed back to doing the play so Mom would not think something was up.

Just when I was about to continue, Mom yelled for me to go to her room. I went up to her and Dad's room. Katya was also there. I said, "What is this about? Did I do something?"

"Of course not. We just wanted to talk to you about something. You know Bella, right?"

"Yeah. She's our babysitter," Katya said, "Of course."

"Well. her dad can't take care of her anymore, so the government asked us to foster her, most likely permanently." Mom said, her face smiling but her eyes showed hints of sadness.

"Really!? Are we adopting her?" I exclaimed.

"No, she gets to choose if we adopt her or not, but we will be her guardians," Dad said, importantly.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" me and Katya screamed.

"Why aren't Geniveve and Hannah here and do you not want them to know and why and is it a surprise?" I ask quickly, trying to get it all out at once.

"They aren't here because we didn't want them telling everyone yet, because we don't know if Bella wants to tell people yet. And we don't want you two to either." Mom explained. I noticed that Mom had been doing most of the talking. Of course, that is normal, because Dad usually agreed with everything Mom said, so she does not get mad at him. 'Happy wife, Happy life' he says.

"I better go do my homework. I promise I won't tell anyone." I said. I ran off and finished my homework. I was really happy because I was in two high school courses, Algestick 1 and Candlese. Algestick is such fun. I loved it. Prooobably because Dad loved algestick, too. OK, I needed to go to bed now. It had been a great day. I saw Unknown (I have to find out what his real name is), I got a calligraphy set (one of my presents), plus, IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY!

The next day, when I woke up, I realized that we were going to see Bella, and it was a Saturday. I quickly did all of my chores and read a bit, and when it was lunch, I simply ate and then went back to my room and read some more. I went down to watch a movie when I had finished two or three books. I do not remember how many I read. It was one of those blah days until Bella finally came. We ate dinner and played a few games. We had a great time until Bella had to leave. We said our goodbyes and everything.

Soon she moved in and we had tons of fun. Then it was a few weeks later, and I was thinking about Unknown before I fell asleep. I wondered if I would ever find out who he is, and what...

Sheesh! I fell asleep midthought again. I could not even remember what I was thinking. However, I DID have a weird dream again. But I cannot remember that, EITHER! I was so mad, I could not remember anything anymore! I looked up. "AH!" I opened my mouth to scream. The person standing there clapped his hand over my mouth.

"Quiet! If you scream, your parents will come in and I won't be able to talk. My name is Sawyer. I'm surprised you can see me."

"You're in my room, I'm going to have to ask you some questions first. First off, HOW IN THE WORLD ARE YOU IN MY ROOM?" I screeched at him.

"Quiet! Not so loud. I -" he inhaled sharply. "So that's how you can see me. I can't answer any of your questions yet, but one. I'm Unknown."