The Phantom of the Opera: Phantom's Apprentice (Complete)

Chapter 1

             The day was bright and the sun shone through the window. There was a light breeze through the air and birds were heard from a far. The young child sat at the window with bright eyes, watching as the birds did their dance over the tree that sat in the front yard. Back and forth her eyes went watching as the wings of the cardinals went from one side to the other. A strand of light brown hair blew lightly in front of her face, but she did not mind it. The twittering was music to her ears. She leaned her head out the window, though only enough to where her forehead lightly touched the iron bars that were set in front of the window. Standing on her tip- toes and grasping the bars, she continued to watch in amazement.

"Darling, what are you doing by the window?" The child turned to her mother in the chair, reading from a book. The woman's glasses were sitting on the end of her nose as she turned her head toward the child for a moment to see what she was doing. Her hair was pulled up in a bun like fashion with a few flowers placed inside.

"Watching the birds," the child answered in a happy tone. "They make such sweet music. It is almost as if they are singing a birthday song to me." The woman laughed at her child's comment. Placing the book down, she removed her spectacles and strode over to where the child was. She crouched down and watched the birds along with her daughter. The little girl's eyes danced with the birds and soon a sound was coming from her. She began to hum the birds little tune along with them. Her mother grasped her daughter's shoulders and looked slightly away to the clock on the wall. It read 11:30am.

"What is taking him so long?" She thought to herself. After a moment, she began to hear her daughter evolve her humming, into singing. It was as sweet as the bird's tweeting. Quickly she turned back to her daughter. "Darling, do you not think the birds would like a chance to sing?" The child stopped her singing and turned to her mother with a concerned and confused look on her face.

"I was only joining their song." Her mother smiled slightly and closed the window. At that moment the door to the parlor opened to reveal a man in a well-made suit and long hair. "Father!" She ran to the man with open arms. He embraced the child happily.

"Oh my dear child," he spoke happily, releasing his embrace. "I have a wonderful surprise for you." The child gave a wide smile.

"What is it?"

"A trip! A trip fit for a birthday girl." The child clapped in a happy response. The mother gave a concerned look in response. "We are going to Paris!" The little girl squealed with delight and embraced her father once again. Her mother sat down in shock of the surprise and placed a hand on her forehead. The man looked up and saw this response, then looked back to his child. "We will be leaving soon. Go and retrieve your hat and coat and meet us by the door." Without a moment of hesitation, the child ran out the door. Her footsteps were heard rushing down the hallway. The man then turned to his wife who still had her head in her hand.

"Paris Raul," His wife exclaimed, looking up at him? "You could not have asked me whether it was a good idea." He walked over to his wife and placed his hands on her shoulders and ran his fingers through her hair.

"My darling Christine, it has been seven years since we had been in Paris." She looked up.

"For a good reason Raul. There are too many memories and many of them painful ones." She explained, walking away towards the barred windows. "I know you are doing this for our daughter, but what if something happens? What if he is still there?"

"Nothing will happen my love. I can assure you of that." Raul explained, coming up behind Christine and placing his arms around her. "Do not worry. She will be fine." Christine turned around to face her husband. "Besides there is business I must attend too in the city. I requested that it be taken care of here but they would not hear of it," he tried to explain. "Plus our daughter would love to see the city." Christine dropped her head and walked towards the window. She looked down to see her child waiting patiently, watching the birds and she could see her singing along with them.