Miranda came home long after James dragged his feet home.
She settled down at the frilly table of her whimsically pink private tearoom where her friend and, now Duchess Helen of Dunwiddie sat, sipping her tea with a pinky up in the air like a petty frog.
"What's the matter, dear?" Helen, pardon, the Duchess of Dunwiddie asked her friend.
"Are you trying to patronize me?" Miranda snarled as she stood up violently.
The white metal chair behind her tipped left, then right, then left, then right, then left again until it had settled down.
"Don't forget, Helen, that I was the one who made you Duchess! Thanks to me, you know longer have to work as a pathetic butterfly instructor in patchy clothes."
"Calm down, sweet pea," the Duchess of Dunwiddie merely said.
Miranda sighed. "You're right. I'm just really tired having of to rear children."
"Not your fault, honey. Just do what I did with Ruby, put them up for adoption."
Miranda gasped in horror. "How can you just say that?' Helen, that's a bad idea. Remember that I'm not single anymore like you."
"Girl, what you need is a girl's day out."
"Omg yessss!" Miranda squealed. Then the two women held hands and pranced around in circles.
.
.
.
Whack!
Amber gave her brother a hard slap.
"Wtf was that for?!" James asked, rubbing his burning cheek.
"What are you watching?" Amber demanded.
"Anime," James responded flatly.
"Which anime?"
"Avatar the Last Airbender."
"Liar!" She delivered another blow across his other cheek. "Avatar is not a real anime. Real anime is Cory in the House or Shrek. I know you're watching Dora."
Even though she is a superficial snob, Amber could look deeply into people's personalities because she is a people person manipulator. She also saw that the image in the cauldron, which they used as entertainment by mixing drugs and magical potions instead of a tv, since there was no electricity, a small pixel of pink, orange, and a brown bowl cut football head.
"Definitely Dora."
"Fine, you caught me. But what are you gonna do about it?"
"Make you stop. I can't have you watching lame shows. I can't let Prince Hugo know that my family watches stupid things."
"Amber, that's a bit harsh," Sofia chimed in. "I'll have you know about the self-evident truth that all men are created equal."
"Yeah, equally stupid. Besides, they're talking about men, not women. As for equal, why do you think we have social classes? Why do you think we're still a monarchy with no legitimate right to rule other than centuries of incestuous bloodlines?"
"Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and property, Amber."
"Shut up. What lands do serfs have, hm? Life is meant to be unfair and we are the ones at the top exploiting those at the bottom, so just shut up already!"
This can't be, poor, confused Sofia thought.
All of a sudden, her amulet started glowing. Then it started rising the way it would with a man's....bread and started pulling Sofia toward a direction.
She followed her amulet until it led her to the secret library.
It felt very fresh with the cold breeze of the underground sewer water.
"Oh, secret, forbidden library of Alexandria," Sofia murmured, "bring a book that will answer my questions."
In response, a book floated down from the shelf, glittering in red.
The book landed in Sofia's hands—a red cover with a curious yellow insignia. There was also a picture of two bearded men, both of whom she presumed to be Santa Claus.
The words on the cover read: Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
